Blizzard said they'd do console-specific changes. So where are the Pharah nerfs?

General Discussion
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Pharmercy on console is overpowered as hell.

It’s as simply as that. Her synergy with Mercy has been our defined meta for the absolute longest time now. For that same time I used to think it was Mercy who allowed this duo to be as uncounterable as it is, but now I’m very certain that it’s all on Pharah. Mercy has been changed and nerfed so many times that Pharah is the only one I can point to at this point.

Just look at our Top 500 lists. It is so chock-full of Pharah and Mercy mains that it’s absolutely disgusting. It’s been this way for SO LONG. Blizzard said they look at the stats when doing balance changes, well I highly doubt they’ve even glanced at how things look on console.

And before the generic “Hurr durr, use hitscans+Zenyatta” advice from Pharah mains come up, this is at the highest elos. Masters and up is Pharmercy Haven. In an area where the highest mechanically skilled players are (and the highest use of MKB) Pharmercy still dominates. It’s not about players refusing to counter her or people sucking, it’s about Pharmercy being THE meta. The dominating meta of console.

It needs to be nerfed. The hitscan buffs were negliable at best. So many changes have been done yet it persists.

Pharah is the problem.

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I play on PS4. Pharmacy was annoying but now with the Mercy healing nerf I see it less and less. They’re easier to take out now.

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Pharmercy is only strong on console.

Considering it appears that a large portion of the playerbase is on PC, it’s unwise to balance for console.

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What was the last console-specific change? Was it the Sym/Torb turret nerfs?

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Note the keywords: Console-Specfic balance changes.

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Yes. But this leads to different things.

Would the pros play on it? How would we keep it seperate with news/updates/youtube videos?

There’s a lot going on here.

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Why is Pharah still our most picked DPS? Why is Mercy still our most picked support? Why is every game I play in Masters and GM filled with Pharmercy?

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When they said “console specific changes” they meant “giving Ana allied aim assist”
And nothing else, haha

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What are you talking about? There is no pro scene on console Overwatch, and they have balanced separately before - Torb and Symmetra had different range/damage on console to compensate for the difficulty aiming.
This should be no different.

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More information is better then Pharmercy continuing to dominate.

And the pros? Lol, who cares about the pros when it comes to console?

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hitscans like soldier just got buffs.

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Turret nerfs which no one even wants anymore, might I add. Symmetra and Torb are barely used on console.

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I dunno. I’m in Plat. Surely player in Masters and GM have Godlike tracking so this should be easy? :man_shrugging:t2:

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Pharmercy is counter-able but still very effective, especially on certain maps.

Discord+mccree or widow is a lethal counter, along with dva matrix while flying at the pharah.

edit: I play in masters and see pharmercy combo a lot, no doubt. But I don’t think it’s 100% dominant persay. Anecdotally, I played only hanzo/brig and did just fine in placements. Both heroes that are typically hard countered by a good pharah.

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15

You clearly did not read the topic.

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Not only that, but the Hanzo (and I guess Symmetra’s ultimate) rework, the hit-scan/Mei fall-off changes, Ana coming back into the meta, Wrecking Ball as a highly mobile tank (harder for her to farm ultimate). Overall, her power has decreased substantially. I no longer feel as though she needs nerfed, if anything, doing well on Pharah now takes relative skill. I never thought I would see the day!

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It isn’t. Despite effective aiming, Pharmercy is still our meta.

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This must be a PS4 problem because on Xbox most players I’ve seen go after the Pharamercy. Kill the Mercy first than Pharah.

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They have already done console specific balance changes. That is not the reason and they have explicitly said they would make console specific changes.

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Nah, as you get into Diamond and approach masters, practically every game has a Pharmercy. That or some pathetic dude using keyboard and mouse to feel good about themselves…or to deal with Pharmercy, I dunno :man_shrugging:

Either way console is a very different place to play, and looking at top 500 should tell the devs that it needs to have it’s own specific balance tweaks.

1 Like