Forged in the blue (plate) flames of the Tribes series, I am a Pharah main. You may not come across many of us, but that’s because we have better things to do than play in the dirt with all the worms and Reaper mains. Things like owning the damn skies.
In a recent update on Overwatch’s PTR, Pharah got a big boost in the form of 35 percent more lift on her hover jets. What does this mean? Among other things, Pharahs do not have to touch the ground anymore. I got around to trying it out today, and sure enough, she can now fly like an eagle. Which is to say, indefinitely.
Goodbye, demigod status. Hello, actual godhood. Finally, everyone will recognize where Pharah really belongs: above them. Because she is perfect, and you are not.
Seriously, though, this is a nice change, especially with Sombra getting ready to hack the planet. Pharah can now stay comfortably above said planet and not have her most important advantage constantly stolen by a purple-clad boop machine. Thanks to Sombra’s SMG, I feel like she would’ve been too powerful against Pharah otherwise.
Plus, Pharahs still have McCrees and Soldier 76s to worry about. Also Roadhog hooks. You can’t take the skies from me, but you can definitely take me from the skies, is what I’m saying. With improved thrusters, Pharah can at least dodge better. She can still be countered, but now the counter’s a little more avoidable.
So that’s something, which is good, because Pharah doesn’t get enough love. I don’t care what anyone says: in a game of intensely satisfying mechanics, calculating rocket trajectories on-the-fly—while rocket-jumping, except there’s a damn button for it (!!!)—still feels better than anything out there. This change makes playing her feel even better. Perhaps, finally, Overwatch is moving in the right direction: up. And also the one where everyone understands and accepts that Pharah is simply the best, and then another Tribes game comes out, and people actually play it this time.
Now bow before your queen.