Pharah Abilities and Strategy

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Pharah (Fareeha Amari) Guide Overview
  • 2. Pharah's Strengths
  • 3. Pharah's Weaknesses
  • 4. Pharah Synergies
  • 5. Pharah Counters
  • 6. Pharah Is Strong Against
  • 7. Pharah TL;DR Tips
  • 8. Reading Further for Pharah
  • 9. Changelog
• ×Abilities and Strategy
  • 1. Pharah TL;DR Tips
  • 2. Pharah's Abilities
    • 2.1. Hover Jets
    • 2.2. Rocket Launcher
    • 2.3. JumpJet
    • 2.4. Concussive Blast
    • 2.5. Barrage
  • 3. Changelog
• +Playstyle
  • 1. Pharah Playstyle Introduction
  • 2. Pharah's Positioning
  • 3. Pharah's Rocket Launcher
  • 4. How to Use Concussive Blast
  • 5. How Pharah Should Use Barrage
• +Synergies and Matchups
  • 1. Pharah Synergies
    • 1.1. Mercy & Pharah
    • 1.2. D.Va & Pharah
    • 1.3. Genji & Pharah
  • 2. Pharah Counters
    • 2.1. Widowmaker & Pharah
    • 2.2. Hanzo & Pharah
    • 2.3. D.Va & Pharah
  • 3. Pharah Is Strong Against
    • 3.1. Winston & Pharah
    • 3.2. Doomfist & Pharah
• +Maps
  • 1. Best Maps for Pharah
    • 1.1. Pharah on Numbani
    • 1.2. Pharah on Watchpoint: Gibraltar
  • 2. Worst Map for Pharah
    • 2.1. Pharah on Volskaya Industries

On this page, you will find a detailed overview of the abilities that Pharah has access to. We also explain how to best use these abilities.

The other pages of our Pharah guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

• Anticipating enemy movements is crucial to success. Before placing shots, remember to think about the current objective, whether the enemy knows you are aiming at them, and the target's current health.
• Concussive Blast should be used to put Pharah in position to use her Barrage.
• On Attack, Barrage should be used on the backline. On Defense, Barrage should be used on the frontline (preferably above a doorway).
• Just because Pharah can fly, it does not mean she should. If you are low, it may be better to stay grounded and get healed before taking flight.
• Concussive Blast has a large number of uses but a long cooldown, think through the current situation to identify the best use.

Pharah's passive is Hover Jets. Hover Jets is a mobility ability that allows Pharah to use the jets to boost herself into the air. These jets have a limited amount of usability as they are fuel-based. Therefore, Pharah only has enough fuel to use her jets for 2 seconds. However, Pharah will rarely use all of her Hover Jet fuel in two seconds, as she should be using the fuel to stay in the air after using Jump Jet, which means she will tap the fuel a little at a time.

While Hover Jets help Pharah gain altitude, her jump ability is still available. Therefore, Pharah's initial launch off of the ground is her jump first before she begins using her Hover Jets. The Jets are a staple of Pharah's playstyle as they are the main reason she can stay in the air for so long.

The ability regains fuel at the same rate that it uses it, which means the gauge takes 2 seconds to refill to maximum capacity. If Pharah uses her fuel wisely, she can stay in their air indefinitely as long as she supplements the ability with her Jump Jet.

Pharah's only damage-dealing ability aside from her ultimate, Rocket Launcher, is Pharah's main and only weapon. Rocket Launcher is a projectile dps weapon that fires rockets at a rate of 0.75 rockets a second. Once the Rocket is engaged and in the air, the round will travel across the map in a straight line from Pharah's initial line of sight. The rocket travels at a rate of 35 meters a second, and explodes once it hits an in-game object or an enemy character.

If Pharah hits an enemy directly, the rocket will deal a total of 120 damage to its target. If Pharah misses the target, the rocket will still deal explosive area of effect damage in a radius of 2.5 meters from the rocket's initial point of impact. The closer an enemy is to the point of impact, the more damage the rocket will deal.

Rocket Launcher has other mechanics

• Its splash damage can deal a maximum of 65 damage to a target.
• Its splash damage will deal a minimum of 20 damage on its outer rim.
• It can hold six rockets.
• It takes 1 second to reload.
• It can hurt Pharah, dealing a maximum of 40 self-damage.
• It displaces enemies who are caught in its blast.
• It also displaces Pharah if she is caught in the blast.
• Its amount of knockback is directly connected to its proximity to the target.
• It deals damage to all enemies within its radius.

Jump Jet is Pharah's primary mobility ability as it launches Pharah high into the air at an extremely fast rate of speed. Although the ability does launch Pharah more vertically than horizontally, the ability does launch Pharah in a forward arc rather than straight up into the air. Think of it like a more vertical and less horizontal Winston's Jump Pack ability.

The mechanics of Jump Jet include

• Jump Jet can be used in conjunction with Hover Jets to gain altitude at an even faster rate of speed.
• Jump Jet sends Pharah 20 meters into the air at its highest point.
• Jump Jet's cooldown is 10 seconds from its initial use.
• Players should remember that it sends Pharah horizontally as well as vertically, which means objects that are in front of and above Pharah can mess with its trajectory.

Concussive Blast is Pharah's primary crowd control ability. When used, Concussive Blast pushes enemies away from its blast radius at a high rate of speed. Enemies are not stunned or unable to use their abilities when caught in Concussive Blast's path; they are merely pushed aside in whatever direction the blast pushes them.

The mechanics of Concussive Blast include

• A straight travel path from Pharah's line of sight.
• A projectile speed of 50 meters a second.
• An area of effect of 8 meters.
• A cooldown of 9 seconds.
• It affects Pharah in the same way it affects enemies.
• Can push enemies just over 10 meters.

Barrage is one of the highest damage-dealing ultimates in the game when used correctly. Once used, Pharah's armor opens up to reveal hidden missile launchers that fire massive amounts of mini rockets in whatever way Pharah is currently looking at. These rockets travel at a rate of 28.5 meters a second and explode on contact with an object or enemy. Each rocket deals 40 damage, but Pharah launches 30 rockets a second, which means Pharah puts out a whopping 1,200 damage per second during Barrage. This ultimate lasts for 3 full seconds, which means Pharah's total potential damage count peaks at 3,600!

To counteract its high damage potentials, a use of Barrage forces Pharah to stay whatever position she is in when she unleashes rockets. Therefore, a Barraging Pharah is an easy target to kill if an enemy has a clear shot.

It should be noted that Pharah can be harmed by Barrage just like her enemies. Therefore, Pharah should not use Barrage when near walls that may get in the way of her shots, as a wall near Pharah can force her to kill herself with her own rockets.

It should also be noted that the mini rockets travel in a spiral, and the radius of the spiraling rockets is circular in nature. Therefore, Pharah should wait to use Barrage until she is close to her enemies, as the rockets are more likely to strike her targets if she is close by.

About our Author

Mournflakes is a flex Grandmaster Overwatch player who boasts a career high SR rating of 4433. His favorite heroes are Roadhog, Soldier: 76, and Ana. He has played Overwatch since its initial release, and has put over 700 hours into competitive play. When not writing guides, you can catch Mournflakes streaming on his Twitch channel.

• 10 Oct. 2018: Updated changes to reflect patch 1.29.0.1

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