Pharah is now one of the better damage dealers in the game and in this video freedo shows you exactly how using her movement to your advantage can help you snowball fights in a big way! Let us know what you think and be sure to drop a Like & Subscribe if you enjoyed!
Pharah seems a lot easier to play now, it's almost like the general player base has forgotten how to really counter her. Because she's been underplayed for so long, no one ever really looks up in the air anymore.
actually i've had that happen a few time when i do the same thing as he did in the video against the tracer on Nepal, except the guy is way more focused on killing me and even looks down from the edge so i have to go lower and more against the wall
hahaahahaha come on dude, you know what he means. He's trying to say that don't taking damage and doing as much damage as you can is the main objective, using your movement the most.
For anyone who want to experiment more with the possible usage of Pharah's E ability, the concussion blast, here are some of my personal recommendations (detailed list): If you want to focus on the basics of concussion movement vs scattering the enemy team, I'd say use both, but of course depending on the situation you might want to try and foresee what will happen so you don't waste the ability. It is a very impactful ability that sometimes need to be saved for a higher purpose, but I'll get to that. Saying point blank to only use it for one thing is literally removing 90 percent of Pharah's E potential. Here are some examples on what you can use E for, and when in my opinion to use them: 1. Use it for mobility if you are far away from your team and need to catch up. Also use for mobility if you are at close range to an enemy that potentially could out-damage you (use it in a similar style to tracer's blink, so you move swiftly into a new and more advantageous position to either deal damage or get a safe distance). 2. Use to put distance between you and an unexpectedly close enemy, that you don't mean to engage (like roadhog, zarya, mccree, etc). 3. Use to disrupt a big group of enemies when your team is either pushing a tight spot, or if the enemy team's coordination is superior and you need to split them up so your team can more easily engage them 1 on 1. 4. Use it to feed an enemy through a choke, so your team can take them out quickly. Few people expect this, and it might be a good idea to inform your team beforehand so they are ready to get a Reinhardt in their face. 5. If someone is close to a map edge, give them a helping hand :3 (also get potg by pushing 6 people off the bridge on Lijang Tower: Garden :D) 6. Be aware of dangerous enemies that are getting too close to allies who are unable to take a fight (example: enemy Rein pushes out and gets close to ally Zenyatta). Use E to put distance between your ally and the enemy hero. That way Pharah can also act as defensive support character. 7. Use to push enemies back when they initiate to push through a choke. Again, acting as support hero, like how Mei would stop them with a wall, etc. If you are good with aim you can even place the concussion so that the most forward enemy hero gets pushed towards your allies, while the rest of the enemy team gets pushed back so they don't push at the same time, which likely results in their offense falling apart. 8. You can also push back enemies who are trying to avoid ults like Hanzo's dragons, Mei's ice, and D'Va's blast radius. This is actually very effective, because people's escape path is always very obvious since it is typically the straightest line towards nearest cover/out of ult zone. 9. Last point is something that is primarily usable on attack points, where the enemy team has taken any sort of high ground with a Reinhardt. It's very easy as Pharah to get above them and use E to push down the Reinhardt. This both feeds him to your team, as well as leaving everyone behind him exposed to your team's fire (and often they don't really know what to do because they all were set up around the Rein). The maps I personally use this with highest impact are as attacking team on Route 66, Temple of Anubis, and Dorado. If you want some advice for more general times to use E as movement or disruption, I'd say that it depends if you play passively or aggressively. With this I mean, if you play aggressively you are in the face of the enemy, flying around them, flanking them and going for the kills. Here you typically want to save your E so you always have an escape plan if things get dicy. If you play a more passive damage dealer where you stay at long range and outside of most potential harm, you should definitely use E as often as possible as long as it does not upset your own team's engaging. Pharah players use E far too rarely, and it's sad because it is a great tool to constantly mess with the enemy players' flow and aim when they are constantly being pushed around every 10 second and can't keep a steady position and hold a spot. It also opens up more opportunities for them to position badly afterwards because their defenses are scattered. Yes, the Concussion blast is a very complex ability that has immense skill potential, and is one of the main reasons to why Pharah has an extremely high skill ceiling similar to Genji. Very difficult to master, but has potential to have huge impact on any game regardless of what role you need to fill on the team. - Yours sincerely, a Pharah primary main.
Great idea. My muscle memory for concussion is with E now, but I did bind melee to right-click instead. Much easier to punch people on the go or in the air, and that levitation for right click is useless anyways :b
I appreciate how devoted you are not only to this game but also towards those looking to get better. You choose to quite your full time job for the channel, thank u
This "new" playstyle is how I've been playing Pharah all along: Do damage, avoid direct line of sight from hitscans, try to survive on my own without stealing one of my healers all to myself and of course... location, location, location. Which... as far as I know is pretty much the only way to play her and have value. But I know... clickbait title and all that. Which I can forgive because the video isn't bad or unrelated.
Maybe you didnt' play after the first big nerf patch, when Widow and McCree both became objectively 'bad' and before Ana was in the game.? With that, Pharah's only "counter" was Soldier and his ranged damage was even worse than it is now... With that being said, Pharmercy could roam wherever she wanted -- further, without the Thruster buff, she _couldn't_ stay where she wanted as she'd _always_ fall back to the ground... So no, although yes this is how should _could_ play since the thrust buff (as said in the video) seeing as the Tank Meta didnt really make a massive opening for Pharah, most players still play her as in the old Pharmercy days. -F
I've been playing mostly her since almost the launch of the game, and I think the things I just mentioned applied even during the peak of the Pharmercy era... especially when playing solo q or without a Mercy for any other reason. She was probably easier to play when she almost had no counters, and now she's insanely easier to position since the thrusters buff, but using those things I mentioned and you also mention in this video, she was even viable during the tank meta. At least for me. Maybe because I don't usually play in a full team and had to learn to survive mostly on my own if I don't have reliable healers, or maybe because I never made it even to masters so far, but I reached Diamond for the first time playing almost exclusively Pharah in solo Q during the peak of the tank meta.
I agree, Pharah should always have been played this way. Maybe not constantly being floaty around cover but it's common sense to do that whenever you had to, hitscans or not. She's been my favorite and most played hero since even before release. I always took Your Overwatch's videos with a heavy dose of salt because so many times that he'd talk about pharah I would facepalm at how much he wrote her off. I'm glad he released this and changed some of his views but to call it 'advanced' seems a bit silly to me as well. I think most people only play her occassionally in a 'just fly above the enemy and shoot' kind of way though, so it would still be helpful for many. It's good to show other people her true potential instead of the same old 'they have hitscan, you're ineffective!' mantra. Even before her buff, a lot of maps have little 'birds nests' where you can very quickly recharge thrusters, which made this 'playstyle' viable. Her movement abilities are very versatile, and she can make a good flanker and diver as well.
Hey remy what is your accuracy, elims per life, and win rate with Pharah? the highest average I reached was like 3.30 elims per life during a winstreak that took me to high mid plat but since then it's been all elo hell for me and my elims per life is down to like 2.75
Ben Elster She's useful in defend maps. Hack health packs, sneak then kill the squishy enemies. Is someone about to use a Ult? Hack them. Annoying Attack Torbjorn or Bastion hack them and turn that 6v6 into a 4v6
except no one knows how to play her correctly and she's been branded as an even more useless hero than hanzo or widow right now by most people, so really doing what you're talking about doesn't work most of the time also hacking bastion will not put him off his turret mode and he can still shoot (though torb's turret WILL get deactivated)
Ben Elster We all understand her. She's a "support" who delivers final blows and kills weak enemies as her abilities are surrounded around that. But it's such a shit and underwhelming playstyle. Jeff thinks that when people are low health they'll just hide in a corner and easy for you to take out, but that's not the case because he forgot the other 5 enemies that are shooting you at the same time.
Love these type of videos guys! A similar video os Tracer was navigated by liam, about positioning and blink uses. That guide was one the most helpful factor for me becoming into a Tracer main. Similar videos about for different heros' (Mccree, I prefer) positioning, initiation and utilizing specific kills of that hero would be very helpful to inflate my hero pool. Thanks again! Great work guys!
Freedo! I watched this vid last night and immediately tried out your tips. I won 4 games in a row using your new methodology for Pharah, and you've make me seriously consider playing her more often. Thanks for the help!
I think at the end of the video you should recap everything taught like. 1) use phara movement wisely 2) don't take damage 3) some other stuff I think that would be good but you could also use time stamps to give each "chapter" or something.
Pharah has always been one of my favourites, even pre-buff. Now I absolutely love her. The angles you can take, the places you can go and shoot from is really amazing. She's always been my top 'gold medalist'. Great tips and I will be using more of her in competitive
THANK YOU! You don't know how many times i've suggested the pharah genji combo for those exact reasons and got shutdown. It's nice to know i'm not the only one
you will love fareeha when you get good enough to be able to evade by running away, doing a split second 180, using your pulse boop on the ground to fling you backwards thru a hallway, then immediately blast upwards and out of sight
I've been using pharah lately in comp and she's pretty disruptive for the enemy team. Targeting from a vantage position and at safe distance, combined with her "shock" bomb makes it easy to separate tanks from healers, and thus able to kill basically anybody. Positioning also is a must and i learned a few additional things from the video. Thanks for it.
I think widowmaker is a good counter to the pharah, but its the same as most "counters" in overwatch where its a skill based counter. Widow for the most part will be immobile while shooting the pharah at range (unless you can snipe a pharah with a grapple shot). Pharah also has a 3 dimensional movement option where most heroes have a 2 dimensional movement option (jumping excluded) making her more unpredictable for the widow. She has more options for jukes then the standard crouch spam.
Nice video. Latelly I'm playing mostly pharah, and I agree. Pharah is a nightmare to deal with, if played correctly. I've seen teams tilt and rage when no one could counter the enemy Pharah. Since she can attack from any angle, there's the element of surprise and unpredictability, and that makes her very opressive to fight againts.
lately, my movement with pharah has been insane. i used to play very risky, taking on duels that i would have a hard time winning, but now i have been utilizing cover on high ground, conc'ing my self across maps to find my healer or health kits, but most of all: booping. on lijang, pharah is a must pick, she has so many opportunities to kill anything instantly.
Honestly... This video helped a lot. Mechanically I am still learning Pharah (especially getting concussive shot value) but she used to be my worst hero (aside from genji). I went into Overwatch today and played some games as pharah and man I had so much fun. I was actually doing well with pharah. So thanks Freedo. The positioning tips were great. Now I just suck with genji but whatever.
HOLY SHIT, I'm a pharah main at 2900 and this game play made me cry, sooooooo gooood man. Thanks for the tips. I normally play with a support main, but I need to get used to solo play with out the constant heals. Great tips. Also would you recommend going over the top for eichenwalde or around the right side on attack.
I played and play Pharah anytime I want. In or out of the meta shes fun for me and I get a lot of value out of her nomatter what hitscan is op at the momment. The meta is overrated.
IMO the meta is part of what makes the game so toxic. Especially with diamond and master ranks in my experience. The moment the meta is broken it's a salt explosion. Some people will throw the game before it even starts and you better believe every time your team loses a fight or someone dies it is the fault of the non meta character. I literally won a game the other day playing as Sombra where I finished gold in elims with 42 or so and the world was constantly hacked and that entire game even to the finish a group was nonstop mad because of the pick. Meanwhile Zarya's repeated panic ults at the end of fights was never called out.
+Davi Sto 42 elims as Sombra! Damn, I'm glad someone knows how to play her. I would love to see some Sombra plays, other than milking the hack health packs for Emp cause that's cheesy and boring to watch.
super koopa 64 Well maybe you gotta play her like Reaper. Sneak up on enemies and either shoot or hack them. I know Reaper and Tracer will do more damage at close range fights, but Sombra can do a decent amount too and maybe hacking them will give her the edge. I don't know, I just like to see different heroes get used and some Sombra gameplay sounds interesting to watch.
I feel this is also part of the issue with the Overwatch community and the meta. It's a strategy based game with countless ways to play it but so much of the community obsess over playing it the way the majority of the pro level players do and you see a lot of people confidently following "alternative facts" =p For example let's start on Sombra's damage. While she isn't on the elite levels of damage dealers and she shouldn't be your primary DPS she does do effective damage. Her gun has 60 rounds and fires 20 per second doing 2.4 to 8 damage per body shot with a fall off starting at 15 meters and ending at 25, her gun also gets the critical hit bonus. This means from 15 meters and in her DPS is 160 to 320 depending on your ability to land headshots. In other words you can still drop 200HP characters in a second even if they are full and her clip is big enough to allow room for error before reloading. As far as her class goes she is actually in the middle of the pack for DPS. The issue is people are struggling to use her package to make the most of this. For me I feel I am most effective as Sombra when I play a lot of the game from vantage points. Her hack ability has a range of 15 meters (same as the damage drop off) and with her translocator you can easily get on various buildings (very quickly) and posts most other characters cannot get to. This makes hacking extremely easy. You can consistently remain in places where you can hack whoever you want (including opposing Reins) and fire down for full damage while able to avoid the damage you would get hit with on the battlegrounds themselves. 15 meters also extends all ways keep in mind, this can give you some free hacks on Pharah as they often tend to stick around higher grounds or objects. Hacking a Pharah makes her a sitting duck. Hacked health packs also make you tanky. Sometimes if you just stand and shuffle on a hacked health pack you can 1v1 enemies you normally should lose to including some tanks. Even if they have a better DPS they have to go through more than 200HP to kill you. You can also create kills for your team based on exploiting the nature of other characters. Tracers and Genji's will often breach your lines looking for your healers or simply easy targets. Hacking them when they do this turns the tables hard on them as they are now usually stuck and outnumbered. Or of course coordinating with say your Hog, hack the opposing teams Rein and at least for a moment he is a free hook. Also understand the value of your hacks and who you can handle. Hacking a 76 and trying to take him is still extremely dangerous just based on his DPS. It also doesn't add much value if you are trying to break a choke and hack the 76. It's best to target someone who loses a strong ability and creates opportunity for your team. For example taking away Mei's walls and Cyro or maybe Ana so she doesn't have sleep or biotic grenade for your teams push/ults. I am no expert on Sombra and only bothered to learn her a few weeks ago trying various things but I feel those types of things have worked for me as the character. IMO using higher ground in fights has been the most effective thing I do with her. Consistently moving up and down and targetting who I feel has the most dangerous ability for the other team in the moment.
The only thing missing from this is mentioning that Zenyatta can also be an answer to Pharah. Widow is good, IF the player is good. Ana might be bogged down with the healing duty. Zenyatta can assist a Soldier or McCree to get enough damage to kill or force pharah to retreat faster than she can kill them. This assumes she sin't ambushing anyone, however...
+Your Overwatch i was literally trying to explain this to my friend last night thank you for giving me a video I can just link him to EDiT: I've also always said Pharah + Tracer make a deadly team for DPS, esp for a dive comp. Pharah is so good at applying damage to whoever she sees fit and the tracer is so great at finishing off those kills. Add a lucio speed boost and the mobility of this comp seems unrivaled.
As a Pharah main, this is how I've always been playing her - the point of having a jetpack is to get high / unorthodox angles on the enemy team. What was your old style of play? Indoor Pharah? I pretty much never have had the luxury of a pocket Mercy.
pharah is my main, took a long time to learn her properly and know when and where to position and attack/get healed. but once you know her, its so much fun.
Didnt even know you played Pharah. Shes a hero i never picked up and I see a lot of carry potential in her. I feel her strength is splitting the teams attention and tilting them honestly.
When you're ulting as Pharah a doorway CAN be an effective location. Your mobility is irrelevant in the middle of an ult; you're looking for a position where you can't be hit quickly by numerous opponents.
Pharah main here, the part where you talk about how some pharah mains rely on pocket mercy/harmony orb had me rolling, but my teams literally never give it to me :'(. I play her in a very get in get out style, which keeps me safe from most hitscans unless the players are particularly good, in which case I ninja dive them (Nobody notices a pharah until she shoots) I used to like market gardening in tf2 so I like being everywhere at once.
Pharah on Ilios Ruins is nasty. You can easily get 50% ult charge at the very beginning of the match just by throwing out missiles toward the other side of the pit. I've gotten several 1st picks on lucio, zen, and tracer this way.
I don't know that I'd call this a "new" playstyle so much as it's the proper one. It seems to me like this is how she's always been intended to be played, though she couldn't pull it off as well prior to the thrust buff.
What I do as pharah is I imagine that every enemy is a giant and I have to hit them in their feet so I will actually hit the player and I go behind the imaginary giant and it helps a lot
oh man, that lucio speed boost is such a boon to pharrah. She goes from gently floating around to jetting. I think i honestly prefer just having a lucio speed boosting than having a mercy even.
Good video, I love being an untouchable rocket barrage. nice tips, I tend to spam my rockets when I start missing, and that causes me to miss, and so on and so forth. I also tend to forget to use my concussive burst. Pharah is good when she's good and bad when she's bad. as are most heroes.
You have any tips for breaking bad habits? I mostly use projectile weapons and before OW I played a lot of Battlefield so hitscan weapons aren't really my forte since I'm too used to leading my shots. I'd rather be Widow or Soldier to take down a Pharah but I can never seen to hit her because I'm always trying to shoot where she's going to go instead of where she is.
thank you so much for these guides of phara, they're so useful, forcing me to find the right place to place rockets. (maybe if you guys could speak a bit slower sometimes it would be awesome for me but anyway thank you )
This guide, just like all of the others, is very helpful. But, could you tell me how to handle a D.Va that constantly dives you. I know it is probably best to switch off, but I am just curious.
So just so I'm following this correctly, a good pharah should be getting behind the enemy defense, take out the defensive turrets (symettra/torbjorn), take a few good shots at the focused enemies and then get the heck out of dodge when you start feeling pressure?
Pharah is now one of the better damage dealers in the game and in this video freedo shows you exactly how using her movement to your advantage can help you snowball fights in a big way! Let us know what you think and be sure to drop a Like & Subscribe if you enjoyed!
now we wait until blizzard nerfs her coz she's in the meta....
Pharah seems a lot easier to play now, it's almost like the general player base has forgotten how to really counter her. Because she's been underplayed for so long, no one ever really looks up in the air anymore.
What if Soldier + McCree DPS combo is the meta, and I definitely think it very well could be.
This is a new playstyle? Seems like how you were always supposed to play her honestly..., still. glad shes in a good spot in the meta.
Your Overwatch can you pls do a pro or advanced Mercy video pls?
I think the saddest thing i've ever seen is me booping a Pharah off a clift
Ty Langs Ha! Amazing 👌😂
I've seen worse, a Pharah accidentally falling off a cliff. :D
actually i've had that happen a few time when i do the same thing as he did in the video against the tracer on Nepal, except the guy is way more focused on killing me and even looks down from the edge so i have to go lower and more against the wall
I cant count how many times I actually run out of fuel while hanging on my death lol. Tried to be sneaky but death got me first.
how does that even happen lol ? That's so sad , if I was that pharah player I would be incredibly embarrassed
Don't take damage and kill stuff.
I should try that one time
Shit, I've been playing her wrong this whole time.
hahaahahaha come on dude, you know what he means.
He's trying to say that don't taking damage and doing as much damage as you can is the main objective, using your movement the most.
Nicolás Cristal it's a joke
"GET KILLS DONT DIE."
You want to stay Phar away from any damage
I'll leave
ZenHog main I was thinking about saying 'Pharah way' after I posted the comment
Ikr pharah is my tank of choice
No you are in wrong way.
Pharah is the first hero I had a "click" moment with
Genji Shimada wat do you mean by that
He and the hero clicked when he played her. He understands her kit and playing her comes naturally.
For anyone who want to experiment more with the possible usage of Pharah's E ability, the concussion blast, here are some of my personal recommendations (detailed list):
If you want to focus on the basics of concussion movement vs scattering the enemy team, I'd say use both, but of course depending on the situation you might want to try and foresee what will happen so you don't waste the ability. It is a very impactful ability that sometimes need to be saved for a higher purpose, but I'll get to that. Saying point blank to only use it for one thing is literally removing 90 percent of Pharah's E potential. Here are some examples on what you can use E for, and when in my opinion to use them:
1. Use it for mobility if you are far away from your team and need to catch up. Also use for mobility if you are at close range to an enemy that potentially could out-damage you (use it in a similar style to tracer's blink, so you move swiftly into a new and more advantageous position to either deal damage or get a safe distance).
2. Use to put distance between you and an unexpectedly close enemy, that you don't mean to engage (like roadhog, zarya, mccree, etc).
3. Use to disrupt a big group of enemies when your team is either pushing a tight spot, or if the enemy team's coordination is superior and you need to split them up so your team can more easily engage them 1 on 1.
4. Use it to feed an enemy through a choke, so your team can take them out quickly. Few people expect this, and it might be a good idea to inform your team beforehand so they are ready to get a Reinhardt in their face.
5. If someone is close to a map edge, give them a helping hand :3 (also get potg by pushing 6 people off the bridge on Lijang Tower: Garden :D)
6. Be aware of dangerous enemies that are getting too close to allies who are unable to take a fight (example: enemy Rein pushes out and gets close to ally Zenyatta). Use E to put distance between your ally and the enemy hero. That way Pharah can also act as defensive support character.
7. Use to push enemies back when they initiate to push through a choke. Again, acting as support hero, like how Mei would stop them with a wall, etc. If you are good with aim you can even place the concussion so that the most forward enemy hero gets pushed towards your allies, while the rest of the enemy team gets pushed back so they don't push at the same time, which likely results in their offense falling apart.
8. You can also push back enemies who are trying to avoid ults like Hanzo's dragons, Mei's ice, and D'Va's blast radius. This is actually very effective, because people's escape path is always very obvious since it is typically the straightest line towards nearest cover/out of ult zone.
9. Last point is something that is primarily usable on attack points, where the enemy team has taken any sort of high ground with a Reinhardt. It's very easy as Pharah to get above them and use E to push down the Reinhardt. This both feeds him to your team, as well as leaving everyone behind him exposed to your team's fire (and often they don't really know what to do because they all were set up around the Rein). The maps I personally use this with highest impact are as attacking team on Route 66, Temple of Anubis, and Dorado.
If you want some advice for more general times to use E as movement or disruption, I'd say that it depends if you play passively or aggressively. With this I mean, if you play aggressively you are in the face of the enemy, flying around them, flanking them and going for the kills. Here you typically want to save your E so you always have an escape plan if things get dicy. If you play a more passive damage dealer where you stay at long range and outside of most potential harm, you should definitely use E as often as possible as long as it does not upset your own team's engaging. Pharah players use E far too rarely, and it's sad because it is a great tool to constantly mess with the enemy players' flow and aim when they are constantly being pushed around every 10 second and can't keep a steady position and hold a spot. It also opens up more opportunities for them to position badly afterwards because their defenses are scattered.
Yes, the Concussion blast is a very complex ability that has immense skill potential, and is one of the main reasons to why Pharah has an extremely high skill ceiling similar to Genji. Very difficult to master, but has potential to have huge impact on any game regardless of what role you need to fill on the team.
- Yours sincerely, a Pharah primary main.
Nice and informative :) And you even used paragraphs!
Also, I found binding concussion blast to right mouse button to be quite handy.
Great idea. My muscle memory for concussion is with E now, but I did bind melee to right-click instead. Much easier to punch people on the go or in the air, and that levitation for right click is useless anyways :b
I appreciate how devoted you are not only to this game but also towards those looking to get better. You choose to quite your full time job for the channel, thank u
This "new" playstyle is how I've been playing Pharah all along: Do damage, avoid direct line of sight from hitscans, try to survive on my own without stealing one of my healers all to myself and of course... location, location, location.
Which... as far as I know is pretty much the only way to play her and have value. But I know... clickbait title and all that. Which I can forgive because the video isn't bad or unrelated.
Maybe you didnt' play after the first big nerf patch, when Widow and McCree both became objectively 'bad' and before Ana was in the game.? With that, Pharah's only "counter" was Soldier and his ranged damage was even worse than it is now... With that being said, Pharmercy could roam wherever she wanted -- further, without the Thruster buff, she _couldn't_ stay where she wanted as she'd _always_ fall back to the ground... So no, although yes this is how should _could_ play since the thrust buff (as said in the video) seeing as the Tank Meta didnt really make a massive opening for Pharah, most players still play her as in the old Pharmercy days. -F
I've been playing mostly her since almost the launch of the game, and I think the things I just mentioned applied even during the peak of the Pharmercy era... especially when playing solo q or without a Mercy for any other reason.
She was probably easier to play when she almost had no counters, and now she's insanely easier to position since the thrusters buff, but using those things I mentioned and you also mention in this video, she was even viable during the tank meta.
At least for me.
Maybe because I don't usually play in a full team and had to learn to survive mostly on my own if I don't have reliable healers, or maybe because I never made it even to masters so far, but I reached Diamond for the first time playing almost exclusively Pharah in solo Q during the peak of the tank meta.
Pharah players are always smug
I agree, Pharah should always have been played this way. Maybe not constantly being floaty around cover but it's common sense to do that whenever you had to, hitscans or not. She's been my favorite and most played hero since even before release. I always took Your Overwatch's videos with a heavy dose of salt because so many times that he'd talk about pharah I would facepalm at how much he wrote her off. I'm glad he released this and changed some of his views but to call it 'advanced' seems a bit silly to me as well. I think most people only play her occassionally in a 'just fly above the enemy and shoot' kind of way though, so it would still be helpful for many. It's good to show other people her true potential instead of the same old 'they have hitscan, you're ineffective!' mantra. Even before her buff, a lot of maps have little 'birds nests' where you can very quickly recharge thrusters, which made this 'playstyle' viable. Her movement abilities are very versatile, and she can make a good flanker and diver as well.
Hey remy what is your accuracy, elims per life, and win rate with Pharah? the highest average I reached was like 3.30 elims per life during a winstreak that took me to high mid plat but since then it's been all elo hell for me and my elims per life is down to like 2.75
i love how you can tell just by the intro music whether it will be Freedo, Liam or Eddie doing the vid. Good job on the content ID guys
"Have a Widowmaker on the Pharah" Pharah is a hard counter to Widowmaker on console.
LimeGreenTeknii I'm a dimond player on console. and I don't agree with this
LimeGreenTeknii Pharah counters everything on console ex de
Tyler Moradel I don't agree with it either.
THE SLOTH ew is this what PC players say... console for the win !!!
Ca Shunn Harris icky console peasant
Wow love the vids helped me go from bronze to high gold thanks so much
Nick Thibodeau the vid has only been out for 3 mins
Epic Lauchpadder nice history, the video is like 10 min ago
Epic Lauchpadder he means their vids in general I think
I don't understand how people can rank bronze
Pzuh people that go straight into comp when they buy the game
one of best vids lately
agreed
Again, great video. You folks do a really good job explaining and illustrating points of technique -- first rate.
i think the most misunderstood hero is sombra because nobody understands her according to jeff
Ben Elster She's useful in defend maps. Hack health packs, sneak then kill the squishy enemies.
Is someone about to use a Ult? Hack them.
Annoying Attack Torbjorn or Bastion hack them and turn that 6v6 into a 4v6
except no one knows how to play her correctly and she's been branded as an even more useless hero than hanzo or widow right now by most people, so really doing what you're talking about doesn't work most of the time
also hacking bastion will not put him off his turret mode and he can still shoot (though torb's turret WILL get deactivated)
Bastion pops out of sentry mode when you hack him, yes he can shoot you, but its with his normal assault rifle weapon, not his sentry gun
shes a new hero. shes not in the game for a long time, give her time and u see Pharah is a misunderstood hero
Ben Elster We all understand her. She's a "support" who delivers final blows and kills weak enemies as her abilities are surrounded around that. But it's such a shit and underwhelming playstyle. Jeff thinks that when people are low health they'll just hide in a corner and easy for you to take out, but that's not the case because he forgot the other 5 enemies that are shooting you at the same time.
Love these type of videos guys!
A similar video os Tracer was navigated by liam, about positioning and blink uses. That guide was one the most helpful factor for me becoming into a Tracer main.
Similar videos about for different heros' (Mccree, I prefer) positioning, initiation and utilizing specific kills of that hero would be very helpful to inflate my hero pool.
Thanks again! Great work guys!
Freedo! I watched this vid last night and immediately tried out your tips. I won 4 games in a row using your new methodology for Pharah, and you've make me seriously consider playing her more often. Thanks for the help!
I've started playing pharah a bit and this helps me a lot. Keep up the good work.
I think at the end of the video you should recap everything taught like.
1) use phara movement wisely
2) don't take damage
3) some other stuff
I think that would be good but you could also use time stamps to give each "chapter" or something.
how to get out of bronze and silver, play pharah; people don't look up and you can just shred through clueless reinhardts
THIS !
It's so true it hurts !
Soap bronze And silver pharah cant fly :/
Or play Zarya at high charge by getting fed by everyone shooting mindlessly at your bubbles
Soap I’m in bronze and they do ngl
Very nice! Pharah is one of my best as well and this will help to refine what I need to do. Congrats on leaving your real job for a dream one!!
it makes me feel good that i have learned a good bit of this stuff on my own from playing her so much recently! great video!
that helix rocket to kill the mercy mid-air suprised me lol. was a good shot
good luck! cool to see that your playstyle is almost the same thought process as mine. looking forward to more guides.
this is how I've been telling my friends to play pharah. I think you did a great job on this video.I love pharah!
Pharah has always been one of my favourites, even pre-buff. Now I absolutely love her. The angles you can take, the places you can go and shoot from is really amazing. She's always been my top 'gold medalist'. Great tips and I will be using more of her in competitive
Thanks a lot for the guide, I've been needing this!
Freedo
i really love these analysis videos, super informative, thanks guys
Thank you for this video! It's really helped me (I think) understand what I'm doing wrong as a Pharah. I've been playing like the opposing Pharah.
Dat Lucio POTG though
I just started playing pharah and I was wondered what other characters have a similar playstyle so I can have a few "mains"
That trick shot 6:55 where you boop the Roadhog *into* your rocket. Savage.
THANK YOU! You don't know how many times i've suggested the pharah genji combo for those exact reasons and got shutdown. It's nice to know i'm not the only one
You must know that I was looking for an advanced Pharah guide. Thx guys!
you will love fareeha when you get good enough to be able to evade by running away, doing a split second 180, using your pulse boop on the ground to fling you backwards thru a hallway, then immediately blast upwards and out of sight
I've been using pharah lately in comp and she's pretty disruptive for the enemy team. Targeting from a vantage position and at safe distance, combined with her "shock" bomb makes it easy to separate tanks from healers, and thus able to kill basically anybody.
Positioning also is a must and i learned a few additional things from the video. Thanks for it.
Freedo your aim is scary and positioning is really good thank you for making this video
thanks for the tips. actually helped me out a lot as an aspiring pharah player.
3:39 HOLY SHIT FREEDO SOLDIER GOD CONFIRMED
always played her. and really like the tips. her and ana have always been my mains.
I've never been this early
A....
Let's see how far we can get
Epic Lauchpadder not far
😭
B
C
7
I think widowmaker is a good counter to the pharah, but its the same as most "counters" in overwatch where its a skill based counter. Widow for the most part will be immobile while shooting the pharah at range (unless you can snipe a pharah with a grapple shot). Pharah also has a 3 dimensional movement option where most heroes have a 2 dimensional movement option (jumping excluded) making her more unpredictable for the widow. She has more options for jukes then the standard crouch spam.
Pharah is in every game
So I have to be low enough to not be shot be a soldier but High enough to not get hooked? Thats pretty high.
When you're in a doorway you play phara wrong.
0:50 You play her wrong
That shot on the Mecry tho..dang.
I'm glad you say her name correctly, unlike most of the overwatch community.
Never heard anyone say her name incorrectly before.
I love it when justice reigns from above
Nice video. Latelly I'm playing mostly pharah, and I agree. Pharah is a nightmare to deal with, if played correctly. I've seen teams tilt and rage when no one could counter the enemy Pharah. Since she can attack from any angle, there's the element of surprise and unpredictability, and that makes her very opressive to fight againts.
lately, my movement with pharah has been insane. i used to play very risky, taking on duels that i would have a hard time winning, but now i have been utilizing cover on high ground, conc'ing my self across maps to find my healer or health kits, but most of all: booping.
on lijang, pharah is a must pick, she has so many opportunities to kill anything instantly.
Honestly... This video helped a lot. Mechanically I am still learning Pharah (especially getting concussive shot value) but she used to be my worst hero (aside from genji). I went into Overwatch today and played some games as pharah and man I had so much fun. I was actually doing well with pharah. So thanks Freedo. The positioning tips were great. Now I just suck with genji but whatever.
That helix shot at 3:37 on mercy thooo lol fuckin sick
>Avoid Damage as phara
>comes up literally inches to Roadhog's face.
B O I
Want to know the forecast?
HOLY SHIT, I'm a pharah main at 2900 and this game play made me cry, sooooooo gooood man. Thanks for the tips. I normally play with a support main, but I need to get used to solo play with out the constant heals. Great tips. Also would you recommend going over the top for eichenwalde or around the right side on attack.
Yah both seem to work well, but I think the over the top method could allow for faster pushes and less time allowed for your team to get picked off
I played and play Pharah anytime I want. In or out of the meta shes fun for me and I get a lot of value out of her nomatter what hitscan is op at the momment. The meta is overrated.
IMO the meta is part of what makes the game so toxic. Especially with diamond and master ranks in my experience. The moment the meta is broken it's a salt explosion. Some people will throw the game before it even starts and you better believe every time your team loses a fight or someone dies it is the fault of the non meta character. I literally won a game the other day playing as Sombra where I finished gold in elims with 42 or so and the world was constantly hacked and that entire game even to the finish a group was nonstop mad because of the pick. Meanwhile Zarya's repeated panic ults at the end of fights was never called out.
+Davi Sto 42 elims as Sombra! Damn, I'm glad someone knows how to play her. I would love to see some Sombra plays, other than milking the hack health packs for Emp cause that's cheesy and boring to watch.
Lucky Bill sombra can't do enough damage to make good plays. emp is the only thing she has that can make an impact
super koopa 64 Well maybe you gotta play her like Reaper. Sneak up on enemies and either shoot or hack them. I know Reaper and Tracer will do more damage at close range fights, but Sombra can do a decent amount too and maybe hacking them will give her the edge. I don't know, I just like to see different heroes get used and some Sombra gameplay sounds interesting to watch.
I feel this is also part of the issue with the Overwatch community and the meta. It's a strategy based game with countless ways to play it but so much of the community obsess over playing it the way the majority of the pro level players do and you see a lot of people confidently following "alternative facts" =p
For example let's start on Sombra's damage. While she isn't on the elite levels of damage dealers and she shouldn't be your primary DPS she does do effective damage. Her gun has 60 rounds and fires 20 per second doing 2.4 to 8 damage per body shot with a fall off starting at 15 meters and ending at 25, her gun also gets the critical hit bonus. This means from 15 meters and in her DPS is 160 to 320 depending on your ability to land headshots. In other words you can still drop 200HP characters in a second even if they are full and her clip is big enough to allow room for error before reloading. As far as her class goes she is actually in the middle of the pack for DPS. The issue is people are struggling to use her package to make the most of this.
For me I feel I am most effective as Sombra when I play a lot of the game from vantage points. Her hack ability has a range of 15 meters (same as the damage drop off) and with her translocator you can easily get on various buildings (very quickly) and posts most other characters cannot get to. This makes hacking extremely easy. You can consistently remain in places where you can hack whoever you want (including opposing Reins) and fire down for full damage while able to avoid the damage you would get hit with on the battlegrounds themselves. 15 meters also extends all ways keep in mind, this can give you some free hacks on Pharah as they often tend to stick around higher grounds or objects. Hacking a Pharah makes her a sitting duck.
Hacked health packs also make you tanky. Sometimes if you just stand and shuffle on a hacked health pack you can 1v1 enemies you normally should lose to including some tanks. Even if they have a better DPS they have to go through more than 200HP to kill you.
You can also create kills for your team based on exploiting the nature of other characters. Tracers and Genji's will often breach your lines looking for your healers or simply easy targets. Hacking them when they do this turns the tables hard on them as they are now usually stuck and outnumbered. Or of course coordinating with say your Hog, hack the opposing teams Rein and at least for a moment he is a free hook.
Also understand the value of your hacks and who you can handle. Hacking a 76 and trying to take him is still extremely dangerous just based on his DPS. It also doesn't add much value if you are trying to break a choke and hack the 76. It's best to target someone who loses a strong ability and creates opportunity for your team. For example taking away Mei's walls and Cyro or maybe Ana so she doesn't have sleep or biotic grenade for your teams push/ults.
I am no expert on Sombra and only bothered to learn her a few weeks ago trying various things but I feel those types of things have worked for me as the character. IMO using higher ground in fights has been the most effective thing I do with her. Consistently moving up and down and targetting who I feel has the most dangerous ability for the other team in the moment.
Genji vs pharah is always interesting as neither have fall off and find it hard to hit each other
The only thing missing from this is mentioning that Zenyatta can also be an answer to Pharah. Widow is good, IF the player is good. Ana might be bogged down with the healing duty. Zenyatta can assist a Soldier or McCree to get enough damage to kill or force pharah to retreat faster than she can kill them.
This assumes she sin't ambushing anyone, however...
+Your Overwatch i was literally trying to explain this to my friend last night thank you for giving me a video I can just link him to
EDiT: I've also always said Pharah + Tracer make a deadly team for DPS, esp for a dive comp. Pharah is so good at applying damage to whoever she sees fit and the tracer is so great at finishing off those kills. Add a lucio speed boost and the mobility of this comp seems unrivaled.
That Lucio play of the game was really good.
Good content on Pharah
Nice, ty for the upload
Good video! very helpful
You have a typo in your description I think (quiet instead of quite)
top notch tut mate
As a Pharah main, this is how I've always been playing her - the point of having a jetpack is to get high / unorthodox angles on the enemy team. What was your old style of play? Indoor Pharah? I pretty much never have had the luxury of a pocket Mercy.
pharah is my main, took a long time to learn her properly and know when and where to position and attack/get healed. but once you know her, its so much fun.
honestly after seeing what happened at 3:26 the only buff I ask for sombra is 2 or 3 more seconds that an enemy is hacked for
That helix on that mercy was dirty
Yes my main!.. now I need to learn how to predict better and recover more often.
Didnt even know you played Pharah. Shes a hero i never picked up and I see a lot of carry potential in her. I feel her strength is splitting the teams attention and tilting them honestly.
When you're ulting as Pharah a doorway CAN be an effective location. Your mobility is irrelevant in the middle of an ult; you're looking for a position where you can't be hit quickly by numerous opponents.
Do you guys not have someone to proofread your video descriptions?
Pharah main here, the part where you talk about how some pharah mains rely on pocket mercy/harmony orb had me rolling, but my teams literally never give it to me :'(. I play her in a very get in get out style, which keeps me safe from most hitscans unless the players are particularly good, in which case I ninja dive them (Nobody notices a pharah until she shoots) I used to like market gardening in tf2 so I like being everywhere at once.
TheBirdMan lmao yes im a pharah main too, and healers often forget to look up to give heals to their teammate in the sky!
When you do get a harmony orb or the beloved pharmercy, it is a gift from the gods and you must rain justice from above in their names.
"Respect the Pharah" , I love it! She is my favorite
I feel like you missed a perfect opportunity in the outro to say "Play nice, play Pharah."
Pharah on Ilios Ruins is nasty. You can easily get 50% ult charge at the very beginning of the match just by throwing out missiles toward the other side of the pit. I've gotten several 1st picks on lucio, zen, and tracer this way.
That moment when your watching the vid and your dad calls you that your grandma passed away
Thank you for this
"How can you let Rowan logbook you" man, I love those automatically generated subtitles
"at this point you can go soldier or Makri"
I don't know that I'd call this a "new" playstyle so much as it's the proper one. It seems to me like this is how she's always been intended to be played, though she couldn't pull it off as well prior to the thrust buff.
What I do as pharah is I imagine that every enemy is a giant and I have to hit them in their feet so I will actually hit the player and I go behind the imaginary giant and it helps a lot
0:25 When you realize your not the only pharah who does this
I love Freedo's commentary
Misspelled quite in the description
oh man, that lucio speed boost is such a boon to pharrah. She goes from gently floating around to jetting. I think i honestly prefer just having a lucio speed boosting than having a mercy even.
awesome job man. your a brute with her.
i mean Phara, is basically about Position and movement prediction for your shots
Freedo are you going to talk about the recent overwatch tournament where teams used triple tank and quad tank? Im not sure how effective it was tho
Play nice, play pharah
Good video, I love being an untouchable rocket barrage. nice tips, I tend to spam my rockets when I start missing, and that causes me to miss, and so on and so forth. I also tend to forget to use my concussive burst. Pharah is good when she's good and bad when she's bad. as are most heroes.
You have any tips for breaking bad habits? I mostly use projectile weapons and before OW I played a lot of Battlefield so hitscan weapons aren't really my forte since I'm too used to leading my shots. I'd rather be Widow or Soldier to take down a Pharah but I can never seen to hit her because I'm always trying to shoot where she's going to go instead of where she is.
thank you so much for these guides of phara, they're so useful, forcing me to find the right place to place rockets.
(maybe if you guys could speak a bit slower sometimes it would be awesome for me but anyway thank you )
This guide, just like all of the others, is very helpful. But, could you tell me how to handle a D.Va that constantly dives you. I know it is probably best to switch off, but I am just curious.
4:09 being high from Road is not really enough range for him to not hook you. His hook range is so long, to a point so frustrating when it happens.
"You can do damage from really PHARAH way.
I love to abuse the no fall off damage from a far away awkward angle, it's awesome! Long range artillery FTW!
8:40 For a second there, I thought you got killed by Rein ult
Oh great now I'm gonna see even more new-made pharah mains in my matches.. Time to roll out the hitscan on defense every game!
So just so I'm following this correctly, a good pharah should be getting behind the enemy defense, take out the defensive turrets (symettra/torbjorn), take a few good shots at the focused enemies and then get the heck out of dodge when you start feeling pressure?