I think it is unfair that his arrow can do headshots:
Junkrat's grenade don't do headshots, Phara's rockets don't do headshots. It is as difficult with those heros to score a direct hit, or even a headshot!
But Junkrat, Pharah and Zarya weapons do AOE damage. Excellent when shooting at big groups of people. Easy 2x+ DPS against groups. Explosive weapons slightly knock back your opponent, making it harder for them to aim and slightly slowing them down (shoot explosives right in front of them when they are chasing you - a good strategy when playing Zarya and chased by Mei, Reinhard, etc). Also these weapons can occasionally push people to pits, if they are not careful.
The only thing that balances him is that on console it is really difficult to aim...and Tracer, Genji!
Tables are turned. Zarya eats Genji alive. I haven't had much problems with Tracer either. I move randomly and bunny hop like crazy, while shooting my grenades at their direction. Seems to do the trick against squishy characters. I still suck at aiming on consoles.
Potentially, a perfect Hanzo can take out a tank with his scatter shot first, then kill squishier heros with single arrows doing headshots...he can wipe out whole groups on his own in few seconds without even using his ult.
No other hero has this damage potential, right?
Scatter arrow is super random. Sometimes it hits right in front of people and all the arrows hit the same target. You can kill a tank with 375 HP left in a single shot. Especially bad against Zarya, since sonic arrow doesn't look any different than normal arrow, and she has only 400 HP. Sometimes you just die to a single scatter arrow.
Getting killed as Zarya is the worst thing that can happen to you. Your energy resets to zero and you are the slowest character to return to the battle. A low energy Zarya is a easy pray for any close combat hero. You even lose to D.Va in 1 vs 1. Dying again is a real risk. My Zarya K/D ratio doubled when I learned to survive a little bit better. If you win 1 vs 1 at low HP, you will be ready to face the next enemy in less than 10 seconds (both barriers back up, 50% of your HP regenerated). Surviving and maintaining high energy is the key. Needless to say, I hate scatter arrows
Some quick & easy Zarya +50% energy tips:
- D.Va self destruct: Ensure that your are in the LOS and use your personal barrier. Alternatively you can save your teammate with projected barrier. No risk +50% energy boost (or 100% of both barriers are used at the same time).
- Torbjörn turrets: Activate personal barrier when a turret starts shooting at you. It will not stop shooting. Alternatively do a projected barrier on a teammate that's being shot by a turret. No risk +50% energy boost.
- Junkrat RIP tire: Chase it. Activate the personal barrier when it's close. Don't activate too early! Alternatively when you see an teammate getting soon hit by a RIP tire, barrier him/her immediately. Saves a life and gives you +50% energy.
- Reinhard's shield: Projected barrier at your teammate Reinhard. Your barrier takes the hits before his shield starts to take hits. People are still shooting at him, giving you easy +50% energy.
- Roadhog hook: Teammate being hooked. Save him/her with projected barrier + get yourself +50% energy. Same applies when you get hooked. Activate barrier just before you arrive. Practice the timing. If the opponent sees the shield in advance, he/she might not shoot you.
- Symmetra turrets: Enter a room filled with turrets. Activate your barrier and lob particle grenades around to kill them all quickly. +50% energy.
- Symmetra orbs: Slow moving. Usually spammed around. Easy to intentionally hit them. Orb flies right through you and gives you +50% energy.
- Many ultimates such as Pharah's Rocket Barrage and Roadhog's Whole Hog offer chances to get +50% energy boost with either personal or projected barrier. These ultimates easily overwhelm a shield (repeated high damage bursts). Get to the cover ASAP even when shielded.
Most importantly, never use either Zarya barrier proactively. Always wait until someone is getting damaged. This will greatly increase your chances of getting energy charged up. People will not start shooting a character with a glowing barrier orb. 2 seconds is a short time, but 2 waiting two seconds doing nothing (not shooting back) when you are getting shot at is not easy. If you wait a bit with your barriers it is more probable that you have one ready when things listed above occur -> save someone's life + get +50% energy.
