Armed with a versatile jetpack and a spammable rocket launcher, Pharah is an incredibly oppressive assault hero. Boasting remarkable mobility and damage capabilities, a talented Pharah player can ravage entire teams single-handedly.

Playstyle

Pharah is a projectile-based hero who packs a punch with her high-damage rockets and her team-wiping ultimate ability. With these offensive capabilities combined with her phenomenal vertical mobility, she can lay waste from high above in both the offensive and defensive roles.

While hovering about in the sky allows you a great vantage point to melt enemies from, it also paints you as an easy target for ‘hitscan’ (linear-pathed, instant damage) heroes, like Soldier: 76, McCree and Widowmaker, who can mow a Pharah down quickly from afar. Be aware that if you can see them, they can see you too.

Pros:

• High damage output
• Area control
• Punishes immobile targets
• Unmatched vertical mobility

Cons:

• Very vulnerable to hitscan weapons
• Struggles against high mobility heroes
• Weak in closed areas

Ability Breakdown

Rocket Launcher (Primary Fire)

• 120 Damage (Direct Hit)
• 13 - 80 Splash Damage
• 40 Max Damage to Self (caught in blast radius)
• 6 Ammo

Pharah’s rockets move along a linear path at a medium speed, and their damage dealt is unchanged by distance travelled. Typically, you want to aim around your targets’ feet or adjacent surfaces to hit them with splash damage reliably. Aiming for direct hits is a more valid option against slower, less mobile targets such as Roadhog or Reinhardt.

Predicting enemy movement will enable you to nail successive rocket hits and dwindle down foes from afar. Learning to correctly evaluate rocket travel time and distance will help you land shots, and will take practice. During moments of downtime outside of combat scenarios, feel free to spam your rockets at doorways, junctions or enemy paths to harass and deter incoming foes.

Jumpjet (Ability)

• Launch yourself upwards
• 10 Second Cooldown

Jumpjet serves a multitude of uses, and makes Pharah different from other heroes with this uniquely powerful ability. Use Jumpjet to make your ascent into the skies for optimal vantage points for your Rocket Launcher, or use it to move atop hard-to-reach places like rooftops. It’s also an effective escape tool to evade close-quarters foes such as Mei, Roadhog or Reaper.

Be aware that Jumpjet is immediately cancelled upon making contact with horizontal obstructions. Even if you narrowly clip the edge of a ceiling, the thrust will halt and go on full cooldown. Familiarize yourself with map layouts and remain aware of protrusions or overhanging rooftops that will ground you in crucial moments. This ability can also be ‘queued’, meaning that you can hold down Jumpjet’s input key while it’s unavailable, and it will be activated the very moment that it comes off cooldown. This is useful in clutch situations where you need to jet away ASAP.

Hover (Ability)

• Lightly propels you upwards
• 2 second total duration
• 2 seconds to regenerate from empty

Hover enables Pharah to elevate herself slightly and to remain airborne, typically following usage of Jumpjet. Hover can be held down to raise yourself higher, or lightly tapped to maintain verticality.

Maneuvering with Hover can take practice. When maintaining altitude, use brief thrusts of Hover to help redirect horizontal momentum and steer your path accordingly.

Concussive Blast (Ability)

• 0 Damage
• Knocks targets away from point of impact
• 12 Second Cooldown

Concussive Blast serves as a form of crowd control, enabling you to knock away foes, split them apart or knock them off ledges.

Concussive Blast can be used to propel yourself around, providing a lot of instant momentum. Placing a concussive blast between you and a close-quarters foe is an effective way of separating yourselves from one another. When fired against an adjacent wall or surface while flying, you can launch yourself in another direction to cover a decent distance and redirect your flight momentum.

Credit to /u/kabaine

Furthermore, you can aim straight down at the ground and blast yourself while jumping to launch yourself a few metres in the air, useful when you need to ascend short distances while Jumpjet is on cooldown.

Barrage (Ultimate)

• Unleashes a flurry of mini-rockets
• 120 rockets fired over 3 seconds, 30 damage each (3600 total)
• Immobilizes Pharah
• Channeled ability, cannot be cancelled

Barrage is potentially the most powerful ultimate in the game, delivering enough damage to melt entire enemy teams within an instant. However, this ability is extremely dangerous as it completely immobilizes you, rendering yourself vulnerable to disruption by a Widowmaker or Roadhog. This ultimate is best chained together with allied ultimates such as Zarya’s Graviton Surge or Reinhardt’s Earth Shatter, which draw together and stun multiple targets.

Be sure to ping and alert your allies when your ultimate is ready, so you can combine your abilities accordingly. Before casting your ultimate, take care to evaluate which heroes are present and who will have a line of sight on you.

A key fact to remember about Barrage is that any mid-air momentum is halted once you begin your channel, meaning that you can cancel Jumpjet’s upwards momentum by unleashing your ultimate. An effective way to use these abilities together is to emerge from behind a wall with Jumpjet, and cast Barrage mid-ascension the moment that you are ready to fire. This will surprise enemies and leave them with little opportunity to react.

General Tips

Correctly prioritize foes with armor. Pharah’s rockets are one of the most effective tools to shred through armor-empowered foes, since each rockets’ high damage will suffer less from damage reduction compared to most weapons. You can find a full explanation of armor here.

Pharah is one of the strongest countermeasures against stationary targets like Bastion or Torbjorn’s turrets. Find a clear angle against one of these foes, and step in and out of cover whilst firing rockets to whittle them down safely from afar.

Avoid close-quarters confrontation whenever possible, as you'll be outdamaged by most short-range heroes. You'll struggle to fight upfront foes without damaging yourself with your own rockets.

Pharah’s a flighty offense hero who can bombard enemies from lofty heights. Accurate rockets, well-placed Concussive Blasts and coordinated ultimates will help you clear the way to victory!

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