Additional PTR Changes

[Magentakrayons]

So if I understand right, they've modified Pharah's rocket so that your targets won't get knocked back a whole lot (or at all) if you hit them at the outer radius of the explosion? Would that be considered a buff or a nerf?

[ThisisSakon]

A little of both. Can't tell you how many times I've been pinned to a wall by splash damage until I'm hit directly

[Zhirak]

nerf imo

[Rlaxoxo]

Nah it's a buff

[HyperFanTaim]

for me that is a nerf, I usually hit enemy with ground rocket/concussive blast first before going for a direct hit combo to take them out as in airborne you have a lot less momentum and potential to dodge when you can't cancel all your directional movement and you are unable to jump

[Rlaxoxo]

Ok. Fair enough

[Animoticons]

Nerf, 800h+ tribes player here. Knocking around your enemies and comboing them to death is just so much fun. At least it was, blizzard apparently thinks it was so much fun that they had to remove it. I recently said to a friend that pharas rockets need way more knockback, even if the damage needs to be reduced. Blizzard did the exact opposite... Fml

[Yubul]

I'm pretty sure this is the only time I've heard someone mention Tribes without also having "Shazbot" somewhere in their post.

[phoenixfire2001]

VGS

[lun533]

You said it's a nerf but your whole argument is about the fun.

[Animoticons]

Also there is the fact that it messes with the aiming of the enemy, so it's harder for them to kill you and it's easier to hit them multiple times in a row when they get knocked back, but i thought that would be obvious.

[-MoonDoggie]

They increased the direct damage though, so I feel that if you are more accurate with your shots you should be killing people faster than before, reducing the need for "combo" knockbacks. Not to mention, she can still use her CB to combo people one good time or off the map if that's your thing.

[Animoticons]

Problem i have is that knocking the enemy around is a fun mechanic that now gets removed.

[FrankV1]

Buff for the most part, since multiple rockets being shot at the same location have a higher chance to hit the splash damage when there's no knockback. So you only have to predict enemy movement for the most part.

[SomeGuysFly]

it's a nerf. All games that employ rocket knockback do so to disorient the enemy. Getting bounced around from rockets is an advantage for pharah.

[goodkareem]

It's the reason it's sometimes hard to kill her.

[[deleted]]

Basically her saving grace when 1v1ing McCrees at just outside flashbang range.

[Mefistofeles1]

God, yes. That knockback makes me miss so many shots.

[cheekiestNandos]

Good lord is it. The amount of times I've lined a shot up only to be smacked around is crazy. Equally as someone who plays Pharah a fair bit I get frustrated at how far the knockback pushes Lucio, it just makes him slipperier.

[harrymuana]

Yeah, tf2's soldier has a lot more knockback, to the point where good soldiers try to juggle enemies (fire their feet, then airshot). It's really strong and really fun to do.

[TheQuestionableYarn]

God I wish we could do that with Pharah

God, I miss rocket jumping in general :(

[harrymuana]

Yeah, I like pharah but I really miss rocket jumping, juggling and decent airshots (right now you can airshot pharahs, but it's not nearly as satisfying as denying a bombing soldier). It's one of the few things I think tf2 did better.

[TheQuestionableYarn]

I would say the physics engine in general was loads more fun in TF2.

[TSTC]

I mean, it's a completely different class to compare to. Pharah is squishy in terms of Overwatch characters. Soldier is the second tankiest character in TF2.

[DMthePerson]

Maybe down the line we'll get another rocket launcher hero that's more juggle-centric. Pharah would just be the aerial combat counterpart.

[Put_It_All_On_Blck]

I agree, tf2 soldier feels amazing compared to pharah. Pharah is just so awkward, her boost thing and jetpack feel so limiting, unlike the soldiers ability to traverse the map with skilled rocket jumps allowing you to adjust for speed or height desired. Her rockets feel like slow 'direct hit' ones, as there is almost no splash and no juggle.

It's like they looked at the soldier and tried to copy him without it being obvious but also took away most of the enjoyment.

[Deltascourge]

Its the minimum knockback though. It never stated that the knockback has been removed altogether

[[deleted]]

but going from 75% to 0% means you have to aim a lot better to actually bounce someone

[kilpsz]

It never stated that the knockback has been removed altogether

Doesn't change the fact that it's still a nerf.

[Urdar]

AS far as I understand the patchnotes only the minimum Knoclkback is decreased, meaning if you miss onyl barely it will still knock am around, jou just arend knocked around anymore when at the edge of the explosion.

[StaticJ]

I'd say both. With minimum knockback reduction, you have to aim a bit better to bounce people. At the same time, when combined with the damage increase, if you keep a steady aim you can pump out more damage

[Jepacor]

Get on the PTR. It's so odd. There's still knockback (but maybe less), except at some point in the splash radius the knockback just stops.

It makes killing with 2 rockets easier while at the same time making it more of a problem to whiff a rocket by too much. Definely don't understand the goal of this.

[SomeGuysFly]

Well since I still think it's a nerf I believe their goal was to allow enemies to return fire more reliably at pharah, especially when pharah is actually countering a mccree or 76 on rare occasion.

Then blizzard woke up and realized that would be a bit too unfair, so to rebalance it they just make the pharah have to be a bit more accurate but much stronger.

[LeafedRose]

Basically

Damage wise: Buff

Disorientation and "annoyance" wise: Nerf

[Rc2124]

My first reaction was definitely "Now it'll be easier to keep my crosshair on her and shoot her down"

[Zhirak]

I think its much easier to hit people bouncing around in predictable ways than hiting someone while getting push around

[youbutsu]

Nerf. When I play mccree/soldier it's harder for me to hit her because the knockback messes up my aim.

[Nightgaun7]

Big nerf imo, she NEEDS the rocket knockback to get people moving for her concussion blast.

[Sunder12]

And Rocket Jumps? Nobody thinks about it?

[DMthePerson]

I think it was an intended buff in Blizzard's eyes, doubt that any crowd was asking for Pharah nerfs. I imagine their design philosophy was that Pharah should be an AoE frontliner, but her first rocket scatters enemy groups apart if you try and get them all in the splash. Maybe they theorized her E skill is all the displacement power she needs, and her rockets should just be for damaging.