Pharah’s changes were a nerf, not a buff

General Discussion
1

I’m working on a stat compilation and chart comparing my Pharah stats from across the seasons.

But recently Bliz put direct hit accuracy into the stats for Pharah, and honestly I’m a bit concerned.

Pre change Season 10 - 28% direct hit accuracy
Pre/Post Change Season 11 - 21% direct hit accuracy
Post change season 12 - 17% direct hit accuracy

Also bare in mind that damage went down as well.

Season 10 average damage output was the about 16k, season 11 was 14k, and season 12 was 13k.

I called it a nerf from the get go, and so far it’s starting to show.

Accuracy:
Season 10 - 53%
Season 11 - 48%
Season 12 - 48%

Direct Hit Accuracy:
Season 10 - 28%
Season 11 - 21%
Season 12 - 17%

Damage:
Season 10 - 16k
Season 11 - 14k
Season 10 - 13k

My stats were actually really damn good, even when taking into account that I was playing the way the Devs had stated the changes would benefit. But in an attempt to take advantage of the changes, the stats suffer.

Will post results overall after I compile and average.

But the firerate increase wasn’t a buff, it was a nerf, and especially with Ashe on the horizon, Pharah’s gonna need some love.

2

Your damage got worse over time because your accuracy got worse over time. You aren’t doing less damage because it’s a nerf (which it isn’t btw. it’s a buff), you’re doing less damage because you can’t hit your shots.

6 Likes
3

Yes because I’m attempting to take advantage of the fire rate increase

4

More rockets = possible higher damage over time.

Nothing has changed that should lower your accuracy with direct hits.
Rockets deal more damage over time now, the better accuracy you have.

5

So why, oh why, did my accuracy take a literal nosedive over the course of 3 seasons?

My accuracy was above average, and was like that for the seasons before too, in the course of 1 season it plummeted, and it can be pinpointed at the nerf.

6

There should’t be any reason. Other than your own gameplay.

The rockets aren’t slower.
They dont explode over a smaller area.

They do deal less damage if you rely on splash damage, but they should do more damage if you hit directly.

7

Which I was doing, my gameplay hasn’t changed, but my stats have fallen.

With no other explanation, and no changes to my personal way of playing other than attempting to use the fire rate increase, my stats have literally plummeted since the change. I have every reason to assume that’s the pivoting point, and that the changes are the reason.

8

The fire rate increase is in no way a nerf.

You can still fire just as slowly as before.
Your accuracy wouldn’t go down at all.
But your damage could go down due to splash damage not being as good as direct hit.

9

They reduced the knockback by 20% so you’ll have to adjust for hits after the first…

1 Like
10

Well the splash damage radius is still the same, and that wouldn’t even account for direct hit accuracy. And again, as I haven’t switched anything up I should’ve seen a stabilization or slight increase in effectiveness given my stats were representative of a higher tier of Pharah play.

But it was the opposite. My gameplay hasn’t changed, but my stats have. I’m taking on water here and can’t find the leak other than the iceberg that I just scraped up against in the form of a slight rework.

I need answers that I can work with, not just a “ur bad”. Because I was actually really good.

11

They were a buff my friend. And for once, she’s also balanced. People that abused her for the splash damage can’t use her anymore either. Only the real Pharah mains can use her and get the benefits of the buff. She was balanced and buffed my friend. Even on PS4, she isn’t an issue anymore. She still gets picked and Pharmacy is still around.

12

Buddy I am a real Pharah main.

Nearly 500 hours on her, next highest at 28 hours.

I’m someone who should’ve benefitted if this was in fact a buff.

1 Like
13

100% accuracy with direct hits should deal the same damage as always.
But you shoot faster.
That is a buff.

If you had 0% direct hits, but 100% splash hits, your damage per hit would go down 15.
But you shoot faster.

If you have low accuracy, you will deal lower damage.
If you have high accuracy you will deal more damage.

If you spam, and that is causing you to miss more shots, that is your fault. You haven’t adjusted to the aim needed for more rockets, or you fire faster than you should. Causing you to miss shots.
Again. Shoot slower and you should hit exactly as much as before.

You are rushing. And that is your own fault. It’s not a nerf.

1 Like
14

Maybe they changed the way they calculated those stats, as well. Wouldn’t be surprised with the undocumented stuff I’ve seen already.

15

Actually, something has. With the faster fire rate, Pharah has less time to aim between rockets, and also can’t see the results of her last rocket before a new one is fired. Rockets bounce targets around, and it’s now impossible to adjust for a followup shot because you don’t know which direction they will bounce.

1 Like
16

But they bounce less.

17

May have been a nerf on PC, I’m not sure, but for console it makes a Junkrat’s life so miserable. She spans her rockets now at the same rate of Junkrat, but it’s near impossible to airshot a Pharah on Junkrat, It’s even more impossible with his smaller projectile size, and inconsistent mines.

Don’t know about you PC players, but hitscan is harder to play with a controller. And all my games for some reason have to have a Symmetra now. I don’t know why, but it seems that way.

18

Less bounce has also made displacement by CB harder as well. It used to pop the enemy up a bit to uproot them essentially. Now it barely does a thing.

But it’s the fire rate for sure or whatever changes were implemented. Take a look even at high ranked players on the leaderboards, you’ll see a common trend in the decrease of direct hit accuracy across the board.

1 Like
19

Ironically they wanted to fix spamming Pharah’s. By increasing the RoF…What?

In order to take advantage of the new RoF it does not require “greater aim”. It simply requires changing your position from 20-25m’s range to 10-15m range. That way your rockets hit before your next one is available.

Being at really close range does not require a lot of accuracy. It just requires you to spam and just hope to kill them before they kill you.

The new Pharah does not encourage accurate play. It encourages close range spam play…

3 Likes
20

The increase in fire rate is technically a buff if you look at it solely from a numbers stand point. The reduction in time for concussion blast is also a buff from any point of view. The reduction in splash damage and knockback is a nerf from any point of view. The rate of fire increase is a nerf if you look at it from a gameplay and playstyle view point as it makes it far more difficult for pharah mains to play the way they know.

2 Likes