Okay I got questions for this ability.
One, what is the best way to use it? For mobility or for booping someone (off a ledge or into your team whatever booping helps do)?
Two, Why is this thing blue lol
Three, is there any specific tricks that can be performed using its effects?
Thats… about it. I don’t main Pharah or play her much, but I’m generally just curious.
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All of what you mentioned are great uses. It’s good to get her quickly high up in the air on almost any occasion and boops off map are an intuitive use case.
In my opinion, you should be using it quite frequently.
Those who main Pharah, or have a lot of time on her, will have excellent shot prediction… so this can be combined with the concussive blast as a way to kill or finish off enemies.
Booping an enemy eliminates their ability to choose their direction for a short duration, so if timed properly, Pharah can boop them in a determined direction (often inward, closer toward her / her team) and take a shot at where their new position is / will be.
This is also effective for enemies who are trying to fall back, or are too far forward. I often like to bully Reinhardts that get too far separated… just boop him into your team (if you know he isn’t going to throttle anyone).
You can also use the boop to disrupt hard counters, especially Widow or Ashe. knocking her off her ledge can be performed quickly or safely, buying you time if you plan to deal with either of them at a closer range.
Concussive Blast is also great on attack segments where the enemy team are bundled up on high ground, like Gibraltar or Dorado, if you can land it closely behind them. knocking a full team down, or even supports or tanks can leave the rest of the team exposed. I really like running Pharah into Bastion picks because he just eats rockets… they often get up to move, so bumping them down disrupts him greatly.
It is good for evasive maneuvering as well. Unlike Mercy and Echo who can change their fall speeds in an attempt to throw off the aim of incoming attacks, Pharah’s a little slow (predictable) to hover up and is limited on fuel, so sometimes a concussive blast can throw you in the direction of cover. Better if done pre-emptively, because if you’re already getting lit up, you’ll feel like Tracer with no blinks or recall.
Oh, a last one that’s pretty good… You can do it to offset Reinhardt’s charge (granted you don’t bump him into someone else). It throws him a good ways, so he’ll end up slamming into walls or over-shooting his target. If he’s already charging someone, you can bump him back to chance him running out of steam before getting to a wall… also gives time for a bubble or sleep dart. the bump back is quite substantial if you land it right in front of him.
Occasionally, you can also disrupt ults like sound barrier or shatter… either by elevating them slightly (so it can be predicted / avoided) or by throwing them somewhere where it is ineffective. Edit: If Rein shatters, and it isn’t a complete mop job, you can bump him back since he’s likely looking to melee the pile. This often triggers them to charge as a last ditch effort to get value.
Suppose you could also use it to peel Mei off freezing your team mates, as well. I do that with Lucio.
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Nine out if ten times I use it for mobility, but it’’s also great for booping enemies into corners and out of cover/immortality fields/healing fields. It’s also really good for disturbing Widow’s aim.
And of course environmental kills, but that’s opportunistic.