Overwatch 2: Pharah The Protector of the Innocent

With Overwatch 2 set to drop in October, we take a closer look at the role Pharah might fill.

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Despite the fact that Overwatch gives us access to a couple of top-rated DPS heroes, not all of them are popular among high-rated and pro players. Aside from Bastion and Torb, Pharah is another hero you can rarely see once you boost your ranking. Even though this hero provides tons of damage, she is not a popular pick.

There are many reasons why Pharah failed to become the go-to hero. She was popular a couple of metas ago due to her ability to do a lot of AoE damage. However, once people see her in-game, they often pick one of her counters and kill her in seconds. Needless to say, Pharah has many problems against heroes like Widowmaker and Ashe because they can snipe her from a distance.

Fortunately, Pharah is a pretty popular DPS among lower-ranked players because of her huge damage output. Most of them combine the hero with Mercy and use the combo to escape the “ELO Hell”. With that being said, it seems like Pharah will be an even better option for Overwatch 2 because the hero receives a couple of buffs.

The first one is related to her Rocket Launcher reload, which now starts faster than usual. As a result, the hero will have even more uptime, which is vital for every AoE damage dealer. Aside from her reload speed, Pharah’s Concussive Blast now deals additional knockback if you land a direct hit and inflicts 30 damage. This makes it a lot more dangerous, primarily if you use it while playing on some of the newest maps.

Now that we know more information about the hero in Overwatch 2, let’s learn more about the hero’s role in Overwatch 2.

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Combos

Pharah is one of Overwatch’s heroes notorious for the different combos. Even though it may seem like she won’t work well with that many heroes, this is usually not the case. 

The first combo we think we will see in Overwatch 2 is the infamous Pharah and Mercy. As mentioned earlier, this is the most popular hero combo in the game, so it will continue to be popular in OW 2.

Like Pharah, Mercy received a couple of buffs, such as the one to her passive healing. This should make the hero even more dangerous, especially when used in combination with others. 

Sadly, this combo also has its drawbacks because Mercy needs to focus on Pharah in order to be effective. Consequently, she won’t pay any attention to the rest of her team, which makes the job of the other healer even more difficult. It will be interesting to see whether this will be the case in Overwatch 2, considering the fact that teams will only have five heroes.

In addition to Mercy, Pharah also works well with almost everything that has some sort of CC. The first name that comes to mind is Zarya and her ultimate. If the two heroes combine their ults, they can easily wipe the entire team in a matter of seconds. After all, Pharah has one of the highest damage outputs in the game.

Counters

Aside from the potential combos that you can run with Pharah, people who want to play with the hero must know more about the counters. We’ve already mentioned that Pharah is not that popular mainly because of the many counters that can kill her from miles away.

Widowmaker will definitely continue to be the primary weapon against Pharah. However, there are a couple of other heroes that deserve more attention, including Sojourn. This is the newest hitscan hero in Overwatch, and she will definitely be a pain to deal with as Pharah. Besides her crazy burst damage, Sojourn can also dodge some attacks, making her even harder to kill.

Speaking of counters and Pharah, we also have to mention Solider:76 and Ashe. Even though they are not as effective as the ones mentioned above, they can make Pharah’s life a living hell. That’s one of the reasons why most people only pick this hero alongside Mercy.

Potential problems in Overwatch 2

Despite the fact that Overwatch 2 includes a lot of new things, elements of the new game look pretty similar to the original version. Consequently, many things that apply to Pharah there will be valid for OW 2.

In addition to the many counters, people who want to play with this DPS hero need to know that she does not work on every map. Due to the fact that some maps have tons of hiding places, enemies can easily avoid most of Pharah’s damage and kill her. 

Of course, the fact that a given map has covers means that you can use them to your advantage and dodge some of the incoming damage. Since you don’t know which heroes you have to play against, always be careful and play defensively. If you notice that the enemy team has no counters, try to be as aggressive as possible so you can make the most of Pharah.

By the looks of it, Pharah will be stronger in Overwatch 2 because the hero has a couple of buffs. They may not seem that special, but they will make the hero a good option in many situations. After all, she has one of the highest overall damage in the game.

Unfortunately, Overwatch 2 does not address the hero’s core problem – her vulnerability. Although she is like most DPS when it comes down to her HP, Pharah is weak against pretty much hitbox DPS in the game. The lack of defensive abilities is one of the big reasons why many people prefer to pick something else.

We wouldn’t be surprised if Blizzard decides to make some changes to the hero once it becomes available. Adding a defensive ability that allows her to dodge the first shot or something similar will make Pharah a lot more popular and stronger. This might be enough to make the hero the go-to option, even in pro games.

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