In the upcoming release of Overwatch 2, the popular DPS hero Pharah is receiving a major rework in Season 9. Amidst the various balance changes and Competitive Play overhaul, Pharah's kit is undergoing significant updates, including the introduction of a brand new ability. Let's delve into the details and break it all down.
To start off, Pharah will receive a health increase from 200 to 250, the same as every other hero in Season 9. Additionally, she will now be able to fire her Rocket Launcher slightly faster, with the recovery time reduced from 0.85 to 0.80 seconds. Moreover, her Rocket Launcher's projectile speed is increasing from 35 to 40 meters per second. In terms of self-damage reduction, Pharah will now take only 25% damage from her rockets' explosions, down from the previous 50%.
An exciting change for Pharah lies within her Hover Jets ability. She will now experience an increased speed boost, upped from 20% to 40%. However, to create a balance, Pharah will need to touch the ground to recharge the Hover Jets' fuel for the most part. To compensate for this limitation, players can utilize the ability without consuming fuel to slow their descent—a functionality similar to that of Echo or Mercy.
Pharah's ultimate ability, Barrage, also undergoes adjustments. Activating Barrage will instantly replenish her Hover Jets' fuel, serving as a significant advantage. Additionally, when using her Jump Jet ability, Pharah will receive 50% of the fuel back, which can exceed the maximum fuel amount for a short time. Nonetheless, this is combined with a 20% reduction in the vertical height boost provided by Jump Jet, and an increase in cooldown from 10 to 14 seconds.
The rebalancing extends to Pharah's Concussive Blast ability as well. The cooldown is being increased from seven to nine seconds, and the knockback effect will be reduced by 10%. Moreover, the explosion radius is tuned down from eight meters to six. However, to offset these changes, the Concussive Blast explosion will now deal 30 damage to enemies.
Excitingly, Pharah is also gaining a completely new ability called Jet Dash, assigned to the Secondary Fire input. Jet Dash allows Pharah to quickly dash horizontally in the direction she is facing. Players will have the option to set up Jet Dash to trigger upon double jumping, mirroring the mechanics of abilities possessed by Lifeweaver and Hanzo. This ability has a cooldown of eight seconds.
According to Blizzard, their goals for Pharah's rework were threefold. They aimed to enhance Pharah's effectiveness at higher ranked thresholds and as a solo hero, while also addressing the challenges players face when fighting against Pharah. Blizzard acknowledges that Pharah's presence can sometimes limit the effective hero pool of the opposing team. This rework aims to create a more active Pharah, promoting a healthier game environment and enabling new levels of skill expression.
Although Pharah is already susceptible to decent hitscan players, the increased size of her projectiles may make it even easier for enemies to take her down. However, giving Pharah more control over her movement, specifically through the introduction of horizontal dashes, could assist Pharah players in evading the crosshairs of heroes like Ashe or Widowmaker more efficiently. This increased mobility may help Pharah players find advantageous angles to rain down rockets from above, leading to more strategic and engaging gameplay.
While it may take some time for Pharah players to adapt to this reworked kit, especially as staying airborne indefinitely will become more challenging, the ability to move horizontally with greater agility should compensate for this limitation. Additionally, the inclusion of the new Jet Dash ability, in combination with Concussive Blast, can provide Pharah with additional opportunities to surprise her opponents and unleash devastating attacks from unexpected angles.
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