Season 9 of Overwatch is full of promising new content, not only just amazingskinsbut reworks of some characters, like Pharah. She might finally be a worthwhile Damage to play, without a pocket Mercy. Here’s all the details!
All changes to Pharah in Overwatch 2 Season 9
There were plenty of gripes with Pharah leading up to this point, mostly centered on her mobility and capability. She tends to die too quickly and really isn’t worth having without a healer constantly on her. Thanks to the reworks, she may be able to stand as a solid Damage character on her own. According to well-known Overwatch playerFareeha, Pharah is now “unbelievably dynamic and fun to play AND play against.”
The first step to fixing one of Pharah’s problems wasincreasing her health from 200 to 250, making her slightly more enduring than before and hopefully less reliant on healers. However, a health change is only the beginning of her changes. Take a look at the rest of them below:
Pharah New Ability - Jet Dash
One of the most significant changes coming to Pharah is her new ability,Jet Dash. This ability basically redefines her as a character; instead of relying solely on height, she can stay right in the action with this quick dash. The Jet Dash willboost Pharah in the horizontal directionshe is moving, and can be activated on a Double Jump. It has an8-second cooldownbetween activations.
With this being a quick burst dash, Pharah can more easily dodge incoming fire (rather than just feathering her up and down movements), and it will be much easier to stay on target with her own attacks.
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Pharah Jets Rework - Hover Jets and Jump Jet
Another significant change for Pharah is an overhaul of her Jets and how they can be used. Along with her new Jet ability, her usual flying abilities will also work a bit differently to allow for better mobility and a fairer fight against her.
If used correctly, Pharah’s Hover Jets would allow her to be off the ground constantly, as long as you feather your boosts and allow your fuel to keep filling itself back up. Now, the Jets willrequire land to recharge, restricting players from always staying up in the air. However, you canactivate your Hover Jets to slow descentto the ground, even without fuel, and thespeed of the boost is increased to 40%to ensure her flying stays balanced. Plus, you can useBarrage to fill your fuel instantly.
Along with her Hover Jet changes, her Jump Jet will also see some nerfs. Most importantly, her boostheight is reduced by 20%, meaning she can no longer be so high that players have a hard time seeing her. To avoid players from relying on height even more, thecooldownof her Jump Jet has also been increased to14 seconds. However, you may use her Jump Jet torestore 50% of her Hover Jet fueland brieflyoverfill the fuel maxas well. Used correctly, this can help keep you in the air a bit longer while still being fair and keeping Pharah amid the action.
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Pharah Rocket Launcher Rework - Rockets and Concussive Blast
Pharah’s rockets already pack a punch if they can actually hit an opponent. However, they can also be detrimental to Pharah’s players with just how much damage they do against themselves (we’ve all been there). Thankfully, they were changed up to allow for smoother and less risky attacks.
The Rocket Launcher will now have ashorter recoverytime from 0.85 to0.80 seconds. Thespeed of the rocketsis increased from 35 to40 meters per second, giving her a better chance of hitting her targets. And theself-damage explosionwill now only do25%rather than 50%.
Along with Pharah’s regular rockets, her Concussive Blast (a real annoying asset perfect for knocking enemies off the edge) has also been changed up a bit as well. Although you can still use it for knockback, it will focus more on dealing damage now. The explosion will deal30 damageto enemy targets but with areduced radius of 6 metersand10% less knockback. The good news is thecooldownhas been decreased to7 secondsto allow you to use it more often.
Overall, these changes to Pharah will make her less of a floater, staying high in the air, and more of a hero who can remain in action, using her new Jet Dash to cover distance fast horizontally instead. With these little and big changes, she will hopefully prove to be a more effective hero without the help of healers and easier to play in general.
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