Zarya Abilities and Strategy

• Particle Grenade should be fired when at high Energy to deal more damage or to interrupt enemies who are channeling an Objective.
• Personal Barrier can be used to absorb damage from Structures in order to quickly fill your Energy.
• Try to anticipate incoming damage when using Shield Ally and Personal Barrier to maximize your Energy gain.
• You can use Expulsion Zone to block an enemy Hero in a corner.
• Graviton Surge requires you to predict how enemy Heroes move, else it will miss them.
• Zarya lacks mobility, therefore it is important to have a good position when enemy Heroes are nearby or missing.
• Zarya's Basic Attacks hit all enemies in a straight line and therefore should be used to hit multiple Minions or Mercenaries when possible.

Particle Grenade (Q) Zarya

• Charges: 4
• Recharge Time: 8 seconds

Launch a particle grenade that deals 75 (+4% per level) damage to enemies within the area. Deals 50% damage to Structures.

Stores up to 4 charges.

Particle Grenade is a Basic Ability that allows Zarya to deal damage from the distance, also useful for poking enemy Heroes who are trying to channel an Objective.

When clearing Minions, we generally do not recommend using more than one or two Charges of Particle Grenade because Zarya's Basic Attacks already hit multiple targets at the same time so you better not waste all of them this way.

If you want to maximize your damage during team fights, check how much Energy you have before casting Particle Grenade. Avoid casting them when having around 25 Energy or less and use them to burst down enemy Heroes when having around 75 Energy or more.

When pushing or whenever dealing damage to enemy Structures is an option, you should aim Particle Grenade at Towers when they are up. This way you can hit Tower, Gate, and side Wall together and maximize your damage output.

Personal Barrier (W) Zarya

• Cooldown: 10 seconds

Gain a Shield that absorbs 560 (+4% per level) damage for 3 seconds.

Personal Barrier is a Basic Ability that increases Zarya's survivability for a few seconds by giving her a personal Shield, also crucial to make her generate Energy while she takes damage and the Shield absorbs it.

To maximize the damage mitigation and the Energy generation, you should cast Personal Barrier on yourself the moment they are about to take heavy damage, especially when focused by enemy Heroes and/or Structures because they deal a lot of damage. If there are no enemy Heroes nearby that may engage on you, you can even force enemy Structures to fire at you by walking in their range.

Shield Ally (E) Zarya

• Cooldown: 12 seconds

Grants an allied Hero a Shield that absorbs 420 (+4% per level) damage for 3 seconds.

Shield Ally is a Basic Ability that allows Zarya to Shield allied Heroes and increase their survivability for a few seconds, also crucial to make her generate Energy while they take damage and the Shield absorbs it.

To maximize the damage mitigation and the Energy generation, you should cast Shield Ally on allied Heroes the moment you are about to take heavy damage, especially when focused by enemy Heroes and/or Structures because they deal a lot of damage. When going for a Mercenary Camp or Boss Camp with your team, you should try to alternate the aggro to absorb damage with Personal Barrier first and Shield Ally after, or the other way around.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Graviton Surge (R) Zarya

• Heroic
• Cooldown: 60 seconds

Launch a gravity bomb that detonates after 1 second and draws enemy Heroes toward the center for 2.5 seconds. Affected Heroes take 30 (+4% per level) damage a second.

Graviton Surge is a Heroic Ability that blocks the movement of all enemy Heroes caught in the area for a few seconds, however, they will still be able to cast Abilities.

Since the projectile of Graviton Surge takes 1 second to detonate, you should usually try to predict the movement of the enemy Heroes you intent to hit and then aim this Ability on their path rather than directly at their current location.

Similar to Zarya's other Heroic Ability, Graviton Surge works better on Maps with narrow choke points around Objectives (for example Cursed Hollow) because the enemy team will have less space to dodge and therefore it will be easier for you to catch them.

In this section we discuss how this Heroic Ability works and give some tips on how to use it. If you are looking for a detailed explanation on when and why you should pick it, check out the dedicated section in the Talent Build page.

Expulsion Zone (R) Zarya

• Heroic
• Cooldown: 45 seconds

Launch a gravity bomb that deals 124 (+4% per level) damage and creates an expulsion zone for 3.5 seconds. Enemies who enter the affected area are knocked back and have their Movement Speed reduced by 50% for 1 second.

Expulsion Zone is a Heroic Ability that denies all enemies to access the target area by pushing them away with a Knockback effect and then apply a moderate Slow to them.

If you use it when an enemy Hero is near a corner, Expulsion Zone can effectively trap them there for a few seconds because they will not have any path available to walk around it.

Similar to Zarya's other Heroic Ability, Expulsion Zone works better on Maps with narrow choke points around Objectives (for example Cursed Hollow) because you can use it to completely deny a path to enemy Heroes.

Energy (D) Zarya

• Passive

Each time Zarya's Personal Barrier or Shield Ally absorbs 9 (+4% per level) damage, her Energy is increased by 1. Each point of Energy increases Zarya's damage by 2%. After 0.5 seconds, Energy decays by 3 per second.

Energy is a Trait that allows Zarya to amplify her own damage output depending on how much Energy she has. To generate Energy, Zarya needs to absorb damage with her Shields. In case you skipped it, read the section dedicated to Personal Barrier and Shield Ally for more.

Check how much Energy you have before committing to a fight. When you have less than around 25 Energy, dangerous fights should be avoided. When you have more than around 75 Energy, you should not be scared to fight because your damage output will be a real threat for any enemy Hero within Particle Grenade range, especially if they are close enough for you to Basic Attack them as well.