Overwatch

Date played: October 8th, 9th and 10th
Platform: PS4

Today's hero is Pharah.

Role: Offense
Difficulty: ★
HP: 200
Armor: 0
Shields: 0
Total: 200

Favorite quote: "Rocket jump? That sounds dangerous."

Favorite map to play on: Eichenwalde

Appearance

Pharah is a heavily armored Egyptian soldier. She wears a fancy helmet and her suit kind of has little wings on it. Her rocket launcher is prominently displayed at all times. She also has jets on her back to launch her high into the air. She has an Egyptian-looking tattoo under her eye. She is also Ana's daughter, who was an original member of Overwatch.

Skills

• Rocket Launcher: Pharah's main weapon. It's loaded with 6 rockets that travel relatively slowly and deal a good amount of damage in a small area.
• Concussive Blast: A special rocket that knocks enemies back but deals no damage.
• Jump Jet: Thrusters on Pharah's suit propel her very high into the air.
• Hover Jets: Hovers in mid-air. It has a slight lift to it, but there's not much fuel. Fuel refills on it's own after a few seconds.
• Ultimate - Barrage: Launches a salvo of mini-rockets in a wide radius in front of Pharah. "JUSTICE RAINS FROM ABOVE!"

Strengths

• Air superiority. There is absolutely no one that controls the skies better than Pharah. She can be hell on heroes with limited long range options, such as Junkrat, Reinhardt, Mei, Torbjorn, etc.
• Pharah can easily bypass many choke points by simply flying over them. She might have a hard time surviving the trip, but she can get through.
• Barrage, her ultimate, can be devastating, though it's best used in combination with another ultimate. Works well with Reinhardt's, Zarya's and Mei's ultimates.
• In maps that offer potential environmental kills, Pharah can send many enemies flying to their death with her Concussive Blast.

Weaknesses

• Very easily shot down by heroes with instant hit weapons. McCree, Soldier 76 and Widowmaker are her worst enemies. She is also very vulnerable to Torbjorn's turrets and Bastion's sentry configuration.
• If her jump jets are on cooldown, Pharah is a sitting duck to most heroes. She really needs to gain high ground to be effective.
• Her Barrage ultimate is pretty hard to pull off effectively. While she is firing it, she is exposed to enemy fire, so it's easy to get killed.
• Some maps are just bad for Pharah. For example, on the last portion of Route 66, there's just not enough room for her to maneuver as well as usual.

Comments

I've recently started using Pharah more often. I got her in the mystery heroes brawl a few times and surprised myself at how well I could handle her. It's tricky though because she can be taken down very easily by almost any hero if she doesn't keep her distance, and more importantly, her high ground advantage. 

I find myself using her quite a bit on the more open maps, where her jump jets can be most impactful. There's nothing like jumping from the highest point in the map, then hovering to ground level as I fire rockets at unsuspecting targets. 

The only real problem with her is that if there's a good McCree, Soldier 76 or even Widowmaker, she becomes rather useless. They can take potshots at her from a distance and take her out with ease. She also pairs up really well with Mercy, who can kind of fly with her, healing and damage boosting her.

I'm still struggling to use her ultimate correctly. I had a few good moments with her, but I have to real careful not to overexpose myself. In fact, I've had more success launching it from ground level than from the air, simply because that makes me harder to shoot. The fact that her ultimate voice line is one of the loudest and easily recognizable doesn't help either.

Still, there's a time and place for Pharah. Getting harassed by Mei and Junkrat? Take Pharah out for a spin. Need someone to break through a chokepoint? Pharah can do it, at least temporarily. Got lots of fools fighting on the edge of a cliff? Send them flying with Concussive Blast.  

I love playing Pharah because she offers a fresh perspective on the battlefield, from the air. She is lots of fun to use and when things are going well, they are going damn well. You just have to know when she's outmatched and switch to another hero.

Worst enemy: McCree

Best teammate: Mercy
Most satisfying kill: Mei. Fuck Mei.

Rating ★★★