Reaction diagnostic
Why Isn’t Overwatch Working in STAR WARS Zero Company?
“Overwatch is not working” is not one failure. It is at least four: the reaction never triggered, it triggered and missed, it hit and the enemy kept moving, or the enemy turn itself broke. This page walks the reaction pipeline in order and tells you which of those you actually have.
What Happened to Your Overwatch?
Pick the closest symptom. It sets the diagnostic below, and it decides which of these is even the right question.
Quick answer
An Overwatch that fails to fire is not the same problem as an Overwatch shot that misses or fails to interrupt movement. Identify whether the reaction actually triggered before you call anything broken.
- 01Enemy enters or acts in the placed area
- 02Did Overwatch trigger?
- 03A reaction shot occurs
- 04Did the shot hit?
- 05Did the hit interrupt the movement?
Status
- Verified
- September 20, 2026
- Game version
- 1.1
- Latest patch checked
- Patch 1.1 · September 9, 2026
Normal behaviour
What Should Overwatch Do?
Every diagnosis below depends on this one sentence, and it is the game’s own wording rather than a description of it.
Shipped Overwatch action
◆ Game data“Hold position and shoot enemies that Move or Act inside the targeted area.”
Two verbs matter. Moving into the area is the case players test, but acting inside it is a trigger too, and that answers a whole category of “it didn’t fire even though my Operator was aiming at them”.
Shape
◆ Game dataA directional area placed when Overwatch is taken — not a full circle around the Operator.
What provokes it
◆ Game dataAn enemy that Moves or Acts inside the targeted area. Both count.
How wide it is
◆ Game dataThe weapon profile carries its own Overwatch Range and Overwatch Arc.
Visibility
◇ DerivedBeing visible is not the same as being covered. A visible enemy outside the placed area is not watched.
How many reactions
? UnresolvedDepends on the Overwatch taken and the AP committed. This page does not print a fixed shots-per-AP number.
What sets the cone
◆ Game dataThe cone is not one fixed shape. Each weapon profile carries its own Overwatch Range and Overwatch Arc, so two Operators standing side by side can watch different areas with the same order.
| Weapon profile | Overwatch Range | Overwatch Arc |
|---|---|---|
| Longarm | 800 | 12 |
| Repeater | 800 | 16 |
| Blaster Rifle | 800 | 20 |
| Blaster Pistol | 600 | 24 |
Internal game distance value; not converted to real-world meters.
The full table lives in the Weapon Database.
Visible is not covered
Visible ≠ Covered.
An enemy standing in the open, on screen, and clearly shootable is not automatically inside the placed area. The single most common “Overwatch is broken” report is a visible enemy that was never in the cone.
Reaction pipeline
Where the Reaction Stops
Six stages resolve in order. Read the pipeline top down and the failing stage names the problem — and rules out the three problems it is not.
- Target actionDid the enemy move, or act, at all?
↓
- Cone checkWas that action inside the active area?
↓
- TriggerDid Overwatch react?
↓
- Reaction shotDid a shot actually fire?
↓
- Hit checkDid the shot connect?
↓
- Movement effectDid the hit interrupt the movement?
Crossed the area, nothing happened
- Target action✓
- Cone check✓
- Trigger✕
- Reaction shot—
- Hit check—
- Movement effect—
The pipeline stops at the trigger. This is a possible current Overwatch issue, not a hit-chance question.
Possible current issue
Fired, missed, enemy kept going
- Target action✓
- Cone check✓
- Trigger✓
- Reaction shot✓
- Hit check✕
- Movement effect—
The trigger worked. What is left is a hit result, which belongs to Overwatch Hit Chance.
Mechanic question
Fired, hit, enemy kept going
- Target action✓
- Cone check✓
- Trigger✓
- Reaction shot✓
- Hit check✓
- Movement effect✕
Only the movement effect is open. A hit and a movement stop are separate outcomes.
Mechanic question
This is why “Overwatch is broken” is a weak bug report. The first two examples above are not trigger failures at all, and only the first is a candidate current issue.
Symptom 1
Overwatch Never Triggered
This is the real “overwatch not triggering” case. It is also the case the official 1.1 notes do not claim to have fixed.
Check in this order
- Was the enemy actually inside the active highlighted area, not just visible?
- Did it move or act there — and not merely stand there?
- Was this Overwatch still active, or had it already resolved?
- Was there a line from the Operator to the target?
If all four are yes, the pipeline stops at the trigger, and that is a candidate current issue rather than a placement error.
Do not blame line of sight by default
Geometry and sight are worth checking first, because they explain most cases. But they are not the whole answer: current players describe a target crossing the highlighted area with no evident obstruction and no reaction resolving. When that reproduces, treat it separately from a placement mistake instead of assuming a hidden obstacle.
Was that Overwatch still active?
An Overwatch that has already reacted may have no reactions left. That is not a bug. The expected reaction count comes from the Overwatch taken and the AP committed, so this page does not print a fixed shots-per-AP number.
Symptom 2
Enemy Acted Inside the Cone
“It didn’t move, so nothing should happen” is not the rule. Acting inside the area is a trigger on its own.
Shipped condition
◆ Game data“Hold position and shoot enemies that Move or Act inside the targeted area.”
An enemy that fires, uses an ability or otherwise acts while standing inside the targeted area meets the condition. If a reaction never resolved there, that belongs with the trigger question above, not with movement behaviour.
The one case that is genuinely not a trigger is an enemy standing inside the area and doing nothing at all. The ability describes a reaction to a move or an action.
Symptom 3
Reinforcements Didn’t Trigger Overwatch
Reinforcement arrival is the case where the game’s own behaviour is least clear, so this page splits it instead of answering it.
They appeared inside the cone
A unit that materialises inside the area did not cross the boundary. Whether that counts as entering is not something this site can verify from the shipped text.
They moved through it after entering play
A unit that spawned elsewhere and then moved through the placed area is the clearer case, because it matches the condition the ability describes.
Player-observed only
○ Player-reportedPlayers report that a reinforcement arrival and normal movement do not behave identically, and that only the movement after the unit has entered play tends to provoke a reaction. That is an observation about the released build, not a rule, so it is not printed above as one.
Symptom 4
Overwatch Triggered but the Shot Missed
This is a hit-result question, not a trigger question. Treating it as a trigger bug sends you to the wrong page.
What the displayed percentage means
◇ DerivedOverwatch Hit Chance — the chance that the reaction shot hits.
It is not a separate chance that Overwatch will trigger at all.
This site’s combat layer models Overwatch on the ranged hit path and labels the result Overwatch Hit Chance. The same calculator states that it does not model whether Overwatch triggers.
Do not multiply the displayed number by itself to get a “chance to trigger and hit”. This site has no verified value for a separate trigger chance, so that arithmetic would be invented.
Symptom 5
Overwatch Hit, but the Enemy Kept Moving
Trigger, shot and hit all resolved here. The only open question is what a hit is supposed to do to movement.
The state that is actually unresolved
A successful reaction shot and a movement interruption are separate outcomes. Whether a hit always stops movement is not verified here.
“It didn’t stop them” is not a miss. A miss shows no damage; a hit that fails to interrupt shows damage and continued movement. Those are different reports and they belong to different stages of the pipeline.
Symptom 6
Overwatch Fired Late
A reaction that resolves after the target has already moved past where it entered the area is reported by current players, not described as intended.
Current player report
○ Player-reportedSome current-version players report reaction timing visibly resolving after the target has already moved beyond where it entered the cone. This page does not present that delay as normal Overwatch behaviour, and it is not an official rule either.
Symptom 7
Wrong Target or a Shot Outside the Cone
Both of these were on the official fix list, so the answer starts with the build rather than with the setup.
On version 1.0
Overwatch reacting outside the targeting cone and Overwatch attacking unintended units were both addressed in Patch 1.1. On the launch version these are the old, fixed behaviour — update first.
On version 1.1
If it still reproduces on 1.1, it is not the old bug. Record the setup and treat it as a current reproduction worth reporting.
Related search — enemies firing back through cover
“An enemy shot me through a wall after Overwatch fired” is the same patch bucket: Patch 1.1 fixed enemies firing through solid objects at an unseen Operator after a triggered Overwatch. It does not have its own page here; it is this page’s version check.
Symptom 8
Multiple Overwatch Cones Acting Strangely
One cone or several changes the diagnosis, because overlap is one of the most reported current patterns.
If more than one Overwatch was active
- Did only one of them fire?
- Did the second Overwatch disappear or get cancelled?
- Did the wrong Operator fire?
- Did the reactions resolve out of order?
Those four answers describe different patterns. Write down which one you saw before you change the setup, because the pattern is the useful part of the report.
Tactical use
Staggering cones to cover different path segments is a legitimate way to play, and it is strategy rather than a fix.
Community workaround
○ Player-reportedSome players report steadier behaviour when cones are staggered instead of perfectly overlapping. This is a workaround, not an official rule, and it is offered here only to isolate a reproduction.
Symptom 9
Overwatch Causes the Enemy Turn to Freeze
Once the turn state stalls, the reaction is no longer the subject. This stops being an Overwatch question.
Combat-state issue
○ Player-reportedPlayers report the enemy turn lagging or freezing around a reaction, and in bad cases having to close the game entirely. That is a combat-state problem, whether or not Overwatch was the last thing on screen.
What Patch 1.1 did and did not close
Patch 1.1 included combat-action processing fixes and general crash and stutter fixes, and it corrected a turn-order problem involving the Coil Captain and an Overwatch kill. It did not close every report of a reaction stalling a turn. Treat this as partially addressed with current reports still open.
Patch status
What Patch 1.1 Fixed
Patch 1.1 shipped on September 9, 2026. These are the Overwatch items it claims, and the item it does not.
Reactions outside the targeting cone
◆ Official patchOverwatch reacting to units that were outside the targeting cone.
Firing through solid objects
◆ Official patchEnemies firing through solid objects at an unseen Operator after an Overwatch shot.
Unintended Overwatch attacks
◆ Official patchSeveral Overwatch cases where enemies and Operators were attacked unintentionally.
Coil Captain turn-order problem
◆ Official patchA turn-order problem involving the Coil Captain and a target killed by Overwatch.
Combat actions not processed
◆ Official patchCombat actions that were not processed correctly, alongside general crash and stutter fixes.
Not claimed as fixed
The official notes do not claim that every case of Overwatch failing to fire on an enemy crossing the cone was fixed.
Still reported afterwards
Players continued to report that symptom after Patch 1.1, which is why this page keeps it separate from the fixed list.
This is why the page cannot answer “did 1.1 fix Overwatch?” with one word. Several behaviours were fixed, and one of the most reported symptoms was not on that list.
Current build
What Players Still Report on 1.1
These are observations from the released build, collected from player discussion. They are not official known issues, and this site does not upgrade them into game rules.
Cone crossed, no reaction
○ Player-reportedA target moving through the highlighted area with no obstruction, and no reaction resolving.
Delayed reaction
○ Player-reportedThe reaction appearing to resolve after the target has already moved beyond where it entered.
Overlapping cones resolving strangely
○ Player-reportedOne cone firing, the other not, or reactions resolving in the wrong order.
A second Overwatch cancelled
○ Player-reportedA second Operator’s Overwatch disappearing once another reaction resolved.
AI stutter or freeze around reactions
○ Player-reportedThe enemy turn lagging or freezing around an Overwatch reaction, sometimes badly enough to force a restart.
Diagnostic
Overwatch Diagnostic
Describe the reaction as it happened. The output names the stage that failed instead of guessing at a fix.
What you saw
Result
Possible current issuePossible current Overwatch issue
- Stage
- Trigger
The target met the shipped condition and no reaction resolved.
- The target moved through the active area, no reaction resolved, and that Overwatch had not already been spent.
- This matches the symptom current-version players keep reporting, and the official Patch 1.1 notes do not claim to have fixed it.
This diagnostic compares an expected state with the state you describe. It does not roll dice, and it does not estimate a bug probability — a percentage here would be invented.
Next step
Safe Workarounds
These are ordered so each step removes one explanation. None of them is presented as a guaranteed fix, and the official ones are marked.
1. Confirm the build first
◆ Official patchA launch-version Overwatch problem is not worth reproducing. Current build is 1.1.
2. Reproduce with a single cone
◇ DerivedRemove every other Overwatch from the equation before you decide anything.
3. Use a clearly unobstructed lane
◇ DerivedMake the geometry unambiguous so a placement error cannot be mistaken for a trigger failure.
4. Do not rely on the reinforcement spawn animation
◇ DerivedJudge the reaction on the movement after the unit has entered play.
5. Stagger overlapping cones
◇ DerivedSome players report steadier behaviour when cones cover different path segments instead of sitting on top of each other. This is a community workaround, not a rule.
6. Stop if combat starts freezing
◆ Official patchOnce the turn state breaks, saving and restarting is the only reliable path. That is a combat-state problem, not a placement one.
7. Report a reproducible case
◇ DerivedOne clean reproduction is worth more than a long list of attempts.
Aiming the cone directly at the enemy is not on this list as a fix. Players report point-blank targets inside a fully covered cone still failing to provoke a reaction, so it only helps rule out placement ambiguity.
Report it
Prepare a Bug Report
If the diagnostic lands on a possible current issue, the useful thing this page can do is help you write something a support team can reproduce.
Fields
Report text
STAR WARS Zero Company — Overwatch issue Platform: — Version: — Operator: — Weapon: — AP invested in Overwatch: — What the enemy did: — Cone coverage: — Obstruction: — Multiple Overwatch active: — What happened instead: — Reproducible: —
The version field matters most. A launch-version reproduction and a 1.1 reproduction are different reports, and support needs to know which one it is reading.
FAQ
Overwatch Questions
Why doesn’t Overwatch trigger in Zero Company?
Most of the time the target never met the condition: it did not move or act inside the placed area. If it clearly crossed the active area with no reaction and no obstruction, that is the symptom current 1.1 players keep reporting.
Why can enemies walk through Overwatch?
Either the path left the cone, the line was obstructed, or the reaction fired and missed. A shot that misses still looks like an enemy walking through from the player’s side. Only a target that crossed the active area with no reaction at all is a trigger question.
Does an enemy have to move to trigger Overwatch?
No. Overwatch shoots enemies that Move or Act inside the targeted area. Moving is not the only trigger.
Does acting inside Overwatch trigger it?
According to the shipped Overwatch description, yes. An enemy that acts inside the targeted area meets the same condition as one that moves through it.
Can Overwatch miss?
Yes. The reaction is a shot with its own chance to hit, so a fired Overwatch that deals no damage can be a miss rather than a failure to trigger.
What does the Overwatch percentage mean?
This site reads it as overwatch hit chance — the chance that the reaction shot hits. It is not a separate chance that Overwatch will trigger at all.
Does Overwatch always stop enemy movement?
A successful reaction shot and a movement interruption are separate outcomes. Whether a hit always stops movement is not verified here.
Why did Overwatch hit but the enemy kept moving?
Because a hit and a movement stop are separate outcomes here. Trigger, shot and hit all resolved, so the open question is the movement effect rather than the trigger.
Why did Overwatch fire outside the cone?
On the launch version that was a bug, and Patch 1.1 fixed reactions to units outside the targeting cone. If it still happens on 1.1, it is a current reproduction worth recording.
Why did Overwatch shoot the wrong enemy?
Patch 1.1 fixed several cases where Overwatch attacked enemies and Operators unintentionally. On 1.0, update first; on 1.1, document the reproduction.
Why does only one of my Overwatch Operators fire?
Multiple and overlapping cones are one of the most reported current patterns. That is a player-reported pattern, not a documented rule about how overlap should resolve.
Do overlapping Overwatch cones work?
Overlap is not described as a conflict in the shipped ability text. Players report more consistent behaviour when cones are staggered rather than stacked, but that is a workaround, not a rule.
Does Overwatch work on reinforcements?
Not verified. A reinforcement spawn and normal movement may not count the same way, so judge it on whether the unit moved through the area after it entered play.
Why does Overwatch trigger late?
Some current-version players report the reaction resolving after the target has already moved beyond where it entered the area. This page treats that as a player report, not as intended behaviour.
Why does Overwatch freeze the enemy turn?
That is a combat-state problem rather than an Overwatch placement problem. Patch 1.1 included turn and crash fixes, but reports around reactions continued afterwards.
Did Patch 1.1 fix Overwatch?
It fixed several things: reactions outside the targeting cone, enemies firing through solid objects after a reaction, unintended Overwatch attacks, and a Coil Captain turn-order problem involving an Overwatch kill.
Is Overwatch still bugged in Patch 1.1?
The official notes do not claim to have fixed Overwatch failing to fire on an enemy crossing the cone, and players continued to report that symptom after 1.1. Treat it as a current player-reported issue, not a fixed one.
How do I report an Overwatch bug?
Use the report builder on this page. A recorded Operator, weapon, AP, enemy action, cone coverage and result is worth far more than a description of the feeling.
How to read the marks
- ◆ Game data — Read from the shipped ability and weapon records this site already publishes.
- ◆ Official patch — Stated in the publisher’s patch notes, tied to the version it shipped in.
- ◇ Derived — Computed by this page from the inputs you give it. It classifies the symptom; it does not read your save.
- ○ Player-reported — Reported by players of the released build. Context, never a confirmed defect.
- ? Unresolved — This site has not verified the rule, so it is not stated as a fact here.
Keep going
Related Combat Guides
Diagnose Zero Company Overwatch problems including reaction shots not triggering, enemies crossing the cone, delayed shots, overlapping Overwatch, missed shots and combat freezes. Separate normal Overwatch rules from Patch 1.1 fixes and possible current bugs.