It would appear that the hitscan changes introduced in a previous update have rendered Pharah almost unkillable. Because of this, players are clamoring for Blizzard to make changes to the character or buff certain heroes to level the playing field.
For those of you who are not familiar, “hitscan” in Overwatch refers to any weapon that deals instant damage once shots have been fired. Think of McCree, Soldier 76, among many others.
That said, the changes that were applied in the July 1 update just make it so that the “hitscan heroes” will not deal lethal damage when shooting from afar. This change would require some heroes to be near the enemy to deal lethal blows and make their TTK (Time to Kill) as short as possible.
The Pharah Problem
Because some heroes cannot kill from long ranges anymore, the changes inadvertently hugely buffed Pharah.
The “Rocket Queen,” as she is sometimes referred to, has pretty much become unkillable, at least for some players.
Redditor @rd11490nba made a nifty data sheet that shows a rough estimate of how long it takes for players to kill Pharah with a Mercy pocket. The latter term just means that a player using Mercy would heal Pharah consistently as the Rocket Queen deals damage to their foes.
According to the data, it would take McCree 17.01 seconds to kill Pharah at 38 meters. Keep in mind that this doesn’t take into account Pharah shooting rockets at McCree, so players must also consider evasive maneuvers that are required for them to survive.
This is a pretty big deal, especially for McCree and Soldier 76 mains. Both of the aforementioned characters are the go-tos when it comes to dealing with “PharMercy” but the recent nerfs just make them quite ineffective against the tandem.
While many players are feeling that the hitscan changes have rendered some heroes useless against Pharah, some say that the almost invincible tandem can be countered.
Redditor @AlliePingu suggested that someone use an off-tank like DVa to counter Pharah, at least on this patch. The key here is to harass the Rocket Queen as much as possible, though DVa players must also know how to play the character to become effective.
It would be interesting to see how these changes would affect the upcoming Overwatch League Countdown Cup. Perhaps, some people can learn from the pros.
But what do you think? Are the changes to the hitscan heroes’ damage too severe, especially against a flying character?
