Zarya

Zarya
"Together we are strong."
Real Name	Aleksandra Zaryanova (Александра Зарянова)
Age	28
Nationality	Russian
Occupation	Soldier
Base	Krasnoyarsk Front, Russia
Affiliation	Russian Defense Forces Volskaya Industries (temporarily)
Voice	Dolya Gavanski (English) Alexia Lunel (French) Katharina Spiering (German) Maddalena Vadacca (Italian) Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese) Yang Yu-jin (Korean) Fernanda Mammana (Brazilian Portuguese) Irina Kireeva (Russian) Hong Haitian (Mandarin (China)) Laura Torres (American Spanish) María Jesús Varona (European Spanish)
Cosmetics	Cosmetic page
Quotes	Quotation page
Role	Tank
Health	200 (Open queue) 350 (Role queue)
Shields	200
Character Video

Zarya is a Tank hero in Overwatch.

Overview

Deploying powerful personal barriers that convert incoming damage into energy for her massive Particle Cannon, Zarya is an invaluable asset on the front lines of any battle.

Abilities

Energy

Type

Passive Ability

Damage blocked increases Particle Cannon damage.

• Details

Ability details:

• Energy is gained by blocking damage with Particle and Projected Barrier (max. 100%).
• Energy decays at a rate of 1.8% per second.
• Energy instantly resets to 0 upon death. ( Resurrect does not restore Energy.)
• The more Energy Zarya has, the brighter she glows.
• 50% or higher is considered "High Energy."

Particle Cannon

Type

Weapon (Primary Fire)

Effect Type

Beam

Zarya’s mighty Particle Cannon unleashes a short-range beam of destructive energy.

Damage:

95 per second (at 0%)
170 per second (at 100%)

Headshot:

✕

Rate of fire:

20 rounds per second

Ammo:

100

Reload time:

1.6 seconds

Max. range:

15 meters

Area of effect:

0.15 meter beam width

Example Video

Particle Cannon

Type

Weapon (Secondary Fire)

Effect Type

Arcing projectile
(Explosive)

Alternatively, Zarya can lob an explosive charge to strike multiple opponents.

Damage:

Enemy: 9.4-47 (at 0%)
Enemy: 19-95 (at 100%)
Self: 4.7-23.5 (at 0%)
Self: 9.5-47.5 (at 100%)

Headshot:

✕

Rate of fire:

1 shot per second

Ammo per shot:

25 rounds per shot

Ammo:

100

Reload time:

1.6 seconds

Area of effect:

2.5 meter radius

Projectile speed:

25 meters per second

Example Video

Particle Barrier

LSHIFT

10 seconds

Type

Ability

Effect Type

Self

The Particle Cannon can emit a personal barrier that shields Zarya against incoming attacks, redirecting their energy to enhance her weapon’s damage and the width of its beam.

Health:

200

Duration:

2 seconds

Area of effect:

1.5 meter radius

• Details

Ability details:

• Zarya gains 0.2% Energy per damage blocked by the barrier, or 1% Energy per 5 damage blocked.
• The barrier cleanses Zarya of most status and damage over time effects.
• While the barrier is up, Zarya is immune to all damage and most Crowd Control effects, even if the attack pierces barriers such as Rocket Punch.
  • Does not protect Zarya from knockback.
• Even if the barrier is destroyed, it will protect Zarya from the attack.

Example Video

Projected Barrier

E

8 seconds

Type

Ability

Effect Type

Targeted (allies)

Zarya surrounds one of her teammates with an energy barrier that simultaneously absorbs fire and boosts the power of her Particle Cannon.

Health:

200

Duration:

2 seconds

Max. range:

30 meters

Area of effect:

1.5 meter radius

• Details

Ability details:

• Projected Barrier behaves identically to Particle Barrier. For more ability details, see Particle Barrier.
• Although the barrier prevents the target from being hacked, slept, frozen, or stunned in the first place, it does not interrupt those effects once already applied.

Example Video

Graviton Surge

Q

2100 points

Type

Ultimate Ability

Effect Type

Arcing projectile
(initial cast)
Area of effect (ability start)

Zarya launches a gravity bomb that draws in enemy combatants and deals damage while they’re trapped.

Damage:

Impact: 5
Damage over time: 5 per second, up to 18.72

Duration:

4 seconds

Area of effect:

6 meter radius

Projectile speed:

25 meters per second

• Details

Ability details:

• Most movement abilities are disabled within the effect of Graviton Surge.
  • Exceptions: Reaper's Wraith Form and Moira's Fade.

Example Video

Strategy

Zarya is a challenging Tank to play, though one of the most rewarding when played well. She gains Energy by absorbing damage with her barrier abilities, increasing her own damage substantially. At maximum Energy, she is a monstrous threat to the enemy team, tearing them apart in seconds with her Particle Cannon. Her Ultimate has some of the highest playmaking potential in the game, with the ability to trap entire teams in a single spot for her allies to fire upon. All of this comes with a severe weakness: she is the softest of the Tanks, with the lowest base Health out of them (save for Orisa), no movement abilities, and only an infrequent, short-duration barrier to protect her and her team. She is heavily reliant on her teammates to charge up her Energy, provide cover/healing when she is out of position, and coordinate with her ultimate.

Weapons & Abilities

• Energy (Passive): Zarya spawns with 0 Energy and can gain a maximum of 100 Energy. Energy is gained when her Particle Barrier or Projected Barrier absorb damage, at a rate of 1% energy for every 5 points of damage absorbed. For every 1 Energy Zarya has, the damage of her Particle Cannon is increased by approximately .7895%. Energy will slowly decay over time at 1.6% every second.
  • Maintaining a high level of Energy is critical to Zarya's gameplay. At low Energy levels, Zarya isn't much of a threat. At high Energy levels, Zarya is a significant damage dealer that the enemy team ignores at their peril.

• Particle Cannon: Zarya's main weapon. The primary fire, when held down, shoots out a hitscan beam that deals continuous damage to the first enemy it hits. The secondary fire consumes more ammunition and shoots out a grenade-like ball of energy that detonates when it hits an enemy or solid surface, dealing damage in an area. This detonation will damage Zarya; the damage will be negated by Particle Barrier, but does not return any Energy.
  • The primary fire is useful for taking down single targets, while the secondary fire is useful for damaging groups or hitting particularly evasive enemies like Tracer. Switch between the two depending on the situation.
  • The primary fire pierces Genji's Deflect and D.Va's Defense Matrix. Contrary to some reports, it does not ignore enemy armor.

• Particle Barrier: When activated, Zarya will completely surround herself with a barrier for a brief period of time, absorbing a large amount of damage and making her immune to all negative effects (such as knockback or stun) while the barrier holds. Damage dealt to the Particle Barrier contributes to her Energy.
  • Be cautious when activating Particle Barrier. It has a lengthy cooldown time and a short duration, leaving Zarya vulnerable during the time when it's down. Don't activate it unless your enemies are already firing at you.
  • Particle Barrier is best used when you predict a sudden incoming burst of damage, such as running into a Reaper around a corner or when you see Junkrat's RIP-Tire getting within explosion range.
  • Zarya will receive knockback from any attack that pierce barriers. For example, if Zarya has a barrier on herself and is hit by one of Pharah’s concussive blasts, she won’t be affected, because the barrier blocked the effect. However, if Winston uses his ultimate and starts to swing at Zarya, it will now knock her back even if a protective barrier is active, since melee attacks pierce barriers.

• Projected Barrier: When activated, Zarya grants the targeted ally a barrier that will completely surround them for a brief period of time, absorbing a large amount of damage and making them immune to all negative effects (such as knockback or stun) while the barrier holds. Damage dealt to the Particle Barrier contributes to Zarya's Energy. This ability autotargets the ally closest to Zarya's crosshairs.
  • Projected Barrier behaves otherwise identically to Particle Barrier in terms of damage absorption and immunity to negative effects.
  • Projected Barrier has 2-seconds faster cooldown than Particle Barrier, which means that you can use it more often than the other one.
  • Much like Particle Barrier, the short duration of Projected Barrier means that you must choose an ideal time to use it. Predict when an ally is about to take a large amount of damage and use it to both keep them alive and give yourself Energy.

• Graviton Surge (Ultimate): Zarya's Ultimate ability. When activated, Zarya fires an energy projectile in an arc. When the projectile impacts a solid surface, it creates a temporary gravity well that continually pulls in all nearby enemies and deals damage over time to them. Movement abilities are disabled within the effect of Graviton Surge.
  • Although Graviton Surge is not a devastating Ultimate on its own, it is easily the most powerful Ultimate in the game when coordinated with other Ultimates.
  • The projectile from Graviton Surge is destroyed if it hits an enemy Zarya's barrier or D.Va's Defense Matrix, but if it hits Winston's or Reinhardt's barrier it will simply activate where struck. It is still not a good idea to fire it at those places, as they will lessen or negate your team's ability to combo with it. The projectile can also be deflected by Genji before it lands on a surface, effectively turning it against Zarya's team instead.
  • While most movement abilities are disabled when heroes are caught within the gravity well, certain heroes are still able to escape using certain abilities, including Reaper with Wraith Form and Orisa with Fortify.

General Strategies

• When played poorly, Zarya contributes only average damage, mild absorption with her barriers, and her Ultimate. When played well, Zarya is able to cleave through teams with the damage provided by high Energy and can save both herself and a single teammate from otherwise certain death. Despite her power when played well, however, she's still somewhat lacking as a Tank when it comes to either blocking off a point (like Reinhardt) or disrupting the enemy team (like Winston). Consider pairing her up with either of them instead of going as your team's only Tank.

• A good way to consistently gain Energy is to engage your opponents before activating Particle Barrier. Your enemies will have less time to react and stop hitting your barrier if they're already firing at you. Approaching your enemies and activating Particle Barrier immediately will likely cause them to simply retreat until the barrier is down before returning to firing at you.

• Exploit the secondary fire of Particle Cannon by firing it at oncoming enemies and then ducking back in behind cover to avoid return fire. Despite being a Tank, Zarya can generally absorb less damage than the other Tanks, making cautious play important. You should ideally try to minimize the amount of time you're exposed to enemy fire while still threatening enemies who get too close with your presence.

• Look for opportunities where you can predictably absorb damage with Particle Barrier, such as by running into the grenades from Junkrat's Frag Launcher or the attacks from several of Symmetra's Sentry Turrets. This will help you to maintain a higher level of Energy in order to threaten your opponents more effectively.
• Both of Zarya's barriers act like a separate health pool, If used to block high damage ults from heroes like Tracer, D.va, or Junkrat it will totally negate the damage and likely instantly bring you to full charge, but only if it stays active at the time of the explosion. This can also be exploited to save squishier heroes from such ultimates, if they are close enough and you have the reaction time.
• Using a particle barrier while being frozen by Mei's Endothermic Blaster or Blizzard will free the player from the slowing effects of freezing. Use this right before a Mei completes a freeze on a player to surprise the Mei and force her to retreat or use her Cryo-Freeze. Additionally, this can be used to free players trapped in Mei's Blizzard, as it gives 2 seconds for Zarya or a shielded player to leave the radius of the ultimate un-slowed.

• A substantial portion of Zarya's Health is composed of shields. When you see yourself getting below 50% Health, duck into cover to give your shields time to regenerate. This will allow you to keep fighting far longer than staying out in the open constantly will.

• Projected Barrier is one of Zarya's strongest abilities. It gives a single ally a substantial increase in Health, allowing them to absorb more fire than normal, as well as giving you Energy. Allies like Reaper and Roadhog benefit immensely from Projected Barrier, especially when they are using channeled Ultimates, as it will stop them from being interrupted temporarily. An ally Reinhardt holding up a barrier can also be a good Projected Barrier target, as all damage that would be absorbed by his barrier is instead absorbed by Zarya's barrier. It can also save an ally like Mercy from being killed by enemy flankers if applied in time. Rather than throwing it out randomly, consider the enemy team's composition and position and decide whether throwing it on an ally for extra Energy is better than saving it in case of a flank by an enemy hero like Genji.

• Graviton Surge is one of the trickiest Ultimates in the game to use correctly, but is devastating when deployed at the right time. It is also one of the slowest-charging Ultimates of any hero, making proper use of it critical. In general, pay attention to the Assault heroes on your team and wait for their Ultimates to be up before deploying Graviton Surge. Try to fire the projectile so that it will land in the center of the enemy team in order to catch as many of them as possible. When combined with an Ultimate like Reaper's Death Blossom or Pharah's Barrage, you can easily wipe out entire enemy teams in a single blow. Using it when none of your allies have their Ultimates will usually result in only one or two kills at the most, or possibly even no kills if the enemy team has a Reinhardt blocking most of the damage.

Match-Ups and Team Synergy

Tank

Hero	Match-Up	Team Synergy
D.Va	D.Va's Defense Matrix does nothing to stop your primary attack, making her an easy target. Barrier will either force D.Va to stop firing or provide you a large Energy surge, all while still letting you continue attacking. Your only concern against D.Va is her high mobility with Boosters; if you whittle her down to low health, either try to lob a few secondary fire shots at her, have a teammate chase her down and finish her off, or fall back and regroup with your team. Once out of her Mech, while D.Va is of little threat at close range, she can be extremely difficult to deal with at a distance. Her Light Gun has very little damage falloff and is extremely accurate, meaning if you aren't behind cover or protected by your Barrier she can land successive headshots on you while you have few means of attacking back. Hide behind corners and either try to flank her or have a more mobile ally deal with her. Protecting yourself and an ally with Barrier will negate D.Va's Self-Destruct, providing you a massive amount of Energy in return. Keep in mind that D.Va's Defense Matrix can negate your Graviton Surge, so try not to fire it when she's in front of you.	A team clustered together with Graviton Surge is a prime target for a friendly D.Va's Self-Destruct, provided your enemies aren't being protected by a Barrier.
Orisa	Be careful before using a Graviton Surge on Orisa, who can use Fortify to body block incoming damage for allies clustered behind her. To circumvent this, use Graviton Surge when Fortify is on cooldown.	(To be added)
Reinhardt	Reinhardt's Barrier Field can block most of your attacks. Should he try to attack you or a teammate with Fire Strike or Charge, be ready to absorb it with your Barrier. You'll survive a Charge even if you don't have a Barrier active, but you'll be left with minimal health, meaning you'll be quickly picked off if you don't quickly deploy a Barrier or get healed by an ally. When you're at high Energy, you can pressure his Barrier Field and try to shatter it. A quick Barrier will protect you and a teammate from Earthshatter, which can prove life-saving for a fight. Interestingly, anyone who stands behind a teammates with an active Barrier will likewise not be stunned by Earthshatter; with this in mind, if you anticipate an Earthshatter coming, you can position yourself in front of your teammates to shield them.	(To be added)
Roadhog	A well-time Barrier will disrupt Roadhog's Chain Hook, whether you use it to save yourself or shield an ally snatched by his Hook. The Chain Hook is dangerous while your Barriers are on cooldown, so try to stay behind cover until you're ready to use them again. At low Energy you'll find it difficult to out-damage Roadhog, especially when he's using Take a Breather to restore health. At high Energy, though, you should be able to kill him while Take a Breather isn't active due to his large frame and lack of self-protection. Keep in mind that your health is lower than most Tank heroes, and that Roadhog's Scrap Gun will tear through most of your health if you aren't careful.	(To be added)
Sigma	(To be added)	(To be added)
Wrecking Ball	(To be added)	(To be added)
Winston	Winston's constant mobility makes him capable of eaching you or your teammates with ease. His auto-multitargeting Tesla Cannon can harm both you and your teammates when you are clustered together. His Barrier Projector will protect himself from any harm he may take from your Particle Cannon, and it will be difficult to shatter when you are at low Energy. However, the situation will improve should you gain more Energy, as you can easily outdamage him after he's landed with Jump Pack if you're near his landing area. While your Particle Barrier won't absorb much energy from Winston’s Tesla Cannon, it will leave him few means of retaliating while you open fire on him. Winston’s Jump Pack can’t be used to escape from your Graviton Surge, which is especially useful when he activates Primal Rage. Try to stay close to your team, and you will be able to handle Winston fine.	(To be added)
Zarya	It's difficult to gain Energy from an enemy Zarya, as each of you can simply stop firing once the other puts up a Particle Barrier. Instead, focus on gaining Energy from your other enemies, then use that power to attack the enemy Zarya.	N/A

Damage

Hero	Match-Up	Team Synergy
Ashe	(To be added)	(To be added)
Bastion	In Sentry configuration, Bastion can tear through your barriers instantly and kill your before you can get up to full charge. If you catch Bastion by surprise at full-charge, you are more than capable of killing him, but this is extremely difficult if Bastion is set up in a good spot. Graviton Surge merely pulls Bastion into the vortex; it doesn't take him out of Sentry Configuration, which can cause more harm than good for your team.	A friendly Bastion in Sentry configuration can be a perfect target for Projected Barrier, especially in a "pirate ship" team composition on a payload map. In Sentry and Tank forms, Bastion can easily wipe out enemies caught in a Graviton Surge.
Doomfist	(To be added)	(To be added)
Genji	Genji's can't deflect your Particle Cannon's primary fire, but he can deflect your secondary fire, so try not to use it around him (or wait until Deflect is on cooldown). With enough Energy, you can tear Genji down in seconds if you aim precisely, but if a Genji is aware of this, he can keep himself in your face and attack you with Shuriken or Fan of Blades. Your Barriers can both protect yourself and your allies from Genji, but his low damage output won't result in high Energy charges. Don't chase him if he performs Swift Strike to flee; you are too slow to keep up with him. Keep in mind that your Graviton Surge can be Deflected, which can prove disastrous for your team. Be careful when using it around Genji, especially if you haven't seen or heard him use Deflect recently.	(To be added)
Hanzo	Hanzo can't shoot you down with one headshot, but he can still badly wound you with one shot. Hanzo excels in attacking at mid- to long-range, and when combined with his ability to climb walls and air dodge, he can maneuver to safe positions out of your range. Your Barriers can be used to help you and your team approach Hanzo without getting shot down. Your secondary fire can hit Hanzo with some adjustment on minor arcing. If you can spot him, try to time your Barrier right when he attacks to save yourself and gain some charge. A grounded Hanzo is less of a threat; if there are no walls to climb, you can approach him without fear and run him down.	While many Ultimates work well with Graviton Surge, Hanzo's Dragonstrike is one of the best matches. If you can pin a group of enemies together, even if they have barriers up, they won't be able to protect themselves from a Dragonstrike running through them. Your only concern will be a Zenyatta or Lúcio using their Ultimates, so be wary of them.
Junkrat	Junkrat's grenades can provide a decent amount of charge, although he will normally stay out of your primary fire's range. If he's watching a choke, though, you can put up Barriers to protect yourself and an ally while building up charge. If Junkrat dies near you, quickly apply a Barrier to absorb his grenades and gain charge in the process.	(To be added)
File:Icon-mccree.png McCree	McCree can attack you from far out of your effective range thanks to his Peacekeeper's high damage at medium-range. His signature Flashbang combo won't be as effective against you as weaker heroes, but it will still tear through considerable health. Your Barriers are a good block to McCree's high-damage single attacks, protecting you from damage while providing high amounts of Energy. Quickly deploying Barriers on you and an ally can also help counter Deadeye. If McCree is harassing you at long range, let your teammates deal with him while you hang back and focus on using Barrier to protect your team.	(To be added)
Mei	Mei can prove to be frustrating in many ways; Cryo-Freeze will force you to either walk away or waste energy waiting for Mei to thaw out, and Ice Wall will stop you dead in your tracks, as you have no mobility options outside of walking around it. Mei can outdamage you at medium to long-range thanks to her accurate Icicles. While Mei can be frustrating in both close and long-range, she lacks enough killing power to put you down for good, as you are capable of taking two Icicle headshot without dying. Barrier can remove Mei's freezing effect, helping you or a teammate stay unfrozen and kill her. You can burn Mei down within seconds when you have enough Energy, but she'll still be able to use Cryo-Freeze to heal herself and Ice Wall to disengage. With a well-placed Ice Wall, Mei may be able to protect her team if they are grabbed by your Graviton Surge, so be cautious.	(To be added)
Pharah	With Jump Jet, Pharah can maintain airborne attitude long enough to freely attack you without threat of your Particle Cannon reaching her. It will be difficult for you to contest Pharah in an open area; she will eventually descend when she runs out of fuel, but it will only be a moment before Jump Jet shoots her back into the air. She can also use Concussion Blast to keep you out of your ideal range. Your Barrier can absorb stray shots towards you or an ally, but it's not ample enough to block against Pharah's Barrage. Keep away from Pharah whenever possible, unless you lure her into a corridor where you can fight her at close range where you're more comfortable.	Pharah's Barrage and Zarya's Graviton surge make the two together a beast. The Barrage coming from Pharah with an active Graviton Surge can mean a huge amount of damage for the team, but with an active Sound Barrier or Transcendence from an enemy it could keep them on top of health. Use at your own risk, or reap the rewards.
Reaper	While you and Reaper both prefer to fight at close distances, Reaper's Hellfire Shotguns can chew through your health pretty quickly. Barrier can momentarily protect you, but he can simply cease firing to avoid giving you Energy. Should you activate it mid-fight, though, this will provide him less reaction time. If Reaper is heckling your teammates, be ready to protect them with a Projected Barrier. Be wary that his Wraith Form can allow him to escape Graviton Surge.	(To be added)
Soldier: 76	Soldier: 76's superior range and mobility can help him attack you from all angles. However, his high damage output can be a benefit to you should you absorb it with your Barrier, especially if he also uses his Helix Rockets. In close combat, Soldier: 76 can use Biotic Field to prolong the fight, but at high Energy, you should be able to bring him down without as much effort. If he tries to with Sprint, you can try to shoot him via secondary fire. If he gets to cover, though, don't try to chase him. Your Barriers can help keep you and your team safe during his Tactical Visor.	(To be added)
Sombra	Even when hacked, you can hold your own against Sombra due to the low damage of her Machine Pistol. Barrier will put a stop to Sombra's Hack, so if you notice one in progress on yourself or an ally, a quick Barrier deployment can cut her off. Sombra's superior mobility and escape tools can make her difficult to kill off, so stick with your team and be alert. EMP will not only nullify your abilities, but will eliminate any active Barriers while also depleting your 200 Shields to drop your health down to 200. Losing your active barriers(s) can be used to your advantage, though, as their destruction will provide you a massive Energy burst to your Particle Cannon. Don't get overly confident, though, as this while you'll be able to fend off attackers, your lowered health combined with your low mobility will make you easy prey.	(To be added)
Symmetra	The splash damage from Particle Cannon's secondary fire is useful for indirectly attacking Symmetra's Sentry Turrets. Conversely, you can charge into an area with Turrets set up and use Particle Barrier to soak up damage and convert it to Energy while destroying the Turrets. Likewise, if any of your teammates are caught by a Sentry Turret, be ready to give them a quick Projected Barrier to protect them and negate the slowdown effect. Only engage Zarya if you're at high Energy or if your Barrier is ready; while you'll win against her if protected by your Barrier, if you try to fight a prolonged battle with her, her Photon Projector's damage ramp-up will eventually run through you.	(To be added)
Torbjörn	The damage from Torbjörn's Turret is minimal, meaning blocking it with Barrier won't provide much Energy. Should you power up from other sources, you can tear through Torbjörn's Turret within seconds. However, your shorter attack range can mean that safely approaching Torbjörn and his Turret can be difficult. Try to safe your Barrier for when an ally is approaching the Turret to destroy it. Remember that your Barriers only last for 2 seconds; if you and your teammates can't get closer to Torbjörn, try to find cover to avoid taking fire from his Turret. Torbjörn himself can be dangerous, especially with Overload active, but you can handle him in a close-quarters fight if you have sufficient Energy.	(To be added)
Tracer	Tracer can dodge your beam with ease, even while it is on high charge, and her Recall lets her escape from a poor attempt at killing you. Pulse Bomb can instantly kill you when stuck to you, so be ready to use your Barrier if she approaches you.	Many ultimate abilities work well with the Graviron Surge, but Tracer's Pulse Bomb ultimate ability can cause mayhem, with multi-kills, if stuck onto an opponent in the Gravitron Surge. This could also mean a team kill, if a whole team is in the surge. As per usual, be wary of support-based ultimates.
Widowmaker	While Widowmaker can't kill you with one headshot, her extreme range makes her hard for you to handle. Her suppressing fire, along with her Grappling Hook that can help her relocate, can shut off an entire area for you to safely move through. Your secondary fire can hit a high-elevation Widowmaker with some arcing adjustment, but these attacks will rarely be enough to finish her off. Try to get another ally to approach and take down Widowmaker, and consider giving them a Barrier to protect them from her. While you are lacking in mobility, if you catch Widowmaker on the ground, you can tear through her in seconds regardless of your Energy level.	(To be added)

Support

Hero	Match-Up	Team Synergy
Ana	Ana's low damage won't provide very much Energy charge, and at lower Energy it will be difficult for you to kill opponents that are being healed by Ana. Ana's extreme attack range will allow her to stay outside of your effective range. However, Ana needs 5 shots to kill you at full health. You are both rather slow Heroes with no mobility abilities, so it can be difficult for either of you to disengage from a fight should you run into one another. You're an easy target for Sleep Dart and Biotic Grenade, but if you can either dodge these attacks or block them with a Particle Barrier, you'll generally have the upper hand in a close-range brawl. Projected Barrier can protect under the effect of Ana's Sleep Dart; while the barrier won't wake your ally up, it will stop your enemies from ambushing your teammate and will provide you with Energy if they choose to attack. Bear in mind that if Ana's teammates get caught in Graviton Surge, she can hit them (or herself if she's in there too) with a Biotic Grenade to quickly heal a large amount of damage.	(To be added)
Baptiste	(To be added)	(To be added)
Brigitte	(To be added)	(To be added)
Lúcio	Lúcio's mobility can make him a difficult target to track with your Particle Cannon, while his damage will provide very little Energy. Your Barriers will prevent his Soundwave knockback, though, which can save you when you're near a ledge. His healing will negate your damage if you're at low Energy, and his speed boost will make it difficult for you to chase him and his teammates. In general, rather than actively pursuing Lúcio, it's best to stick to your team and make him come to you; at high Energy and surrounded by your teammates, Lúcio poses very little threat. If Lúcio is caught in your Graviton Surge alongside his teammates, his Sound Barrier can shield his team from your team's efforts to kill your trapped opponents, so try to kill Lúcio before using Graviton Surge, or if you have a friendly Sombra, wait until she has EMP ready so she can use it to negate Sound Barrier.	With your low mobility, Lúcio's speed boost can be a huge help towards helping you chase down an enemy or flee from an oncoming attack. Keep an eye on your Lúcio and be ready to shield him with a Projected Barrier should he be in danger.
Mercy	Although Mercy has Guardian Angel to flee from most situations, it usually won't be far enough to send her out of your attack range. At low Energy, you may have difficulty finishing Mercy off, but at high Energy you should be able to rip through her before she can escape or heal herself. Mercy will usually stay behind her ally, so try not to engage in a 2-on-1 fight, as you will almost certainly lose.	(To be added)
Moira	(To be added)	(To be added)
Zenyatta	Zenyatta is a dire threat at range with his highly accurate Orbs of Destruction and his damage-amplifying Orb of Discord. However, his low mobility means that he won't be able to escape if you catch him off guard. You also lack mobility, though, so you'll need to take creative routes to flank him and will be incapable of chasing him if he flees. You shouldn't be flanking unless you're with your team, though, so better to leave Zenyatta for teammates who can handle him better. Your Barriers will remove Orb of Discord from yourself or an ally, but once your Barrier wears off, he can immediately reapply his Orb. While Zenyatta can't escape Graviton Surge with Transcendence, he can use it to protect all of his allies trapped in it from enemy attacks or Ultimates such as Dragonstrike or Death Blossom; try to kill Zenyatta before attempting a big play with Graviton Surge, or if you have a friendly Sombra, have her hack him prior to using your Ultimate.	(To be added)

Story

"Together we are strong."

Aleksandra Zaryanova is one of the world's strongest women, a celebrated athlete who sacrificed personal glory to protect her family, friends, and country in a time of war. As a soldier in the Russian Defense Forces, she is proud to use her strength to protect the ones she loves.

Zarya is distrustful of omnics, even those who seek co-existence with humanity. One of her personal heroes is Vasily Alekseyev. She enjoys eating cabbage pierogis.

Background

A magazine article on Zarya

Aleksandra was born in a remote Siberian village that was on the front lines of the Omnic Crisis, which began some thirty years ago. Although Russian forces defeated the omnics and shut down their omnium, the region was devastated by the conflict. Only a child at the time, Aleksandra was surrounded by the post-war destruction, and as she grew older, she swore that she would gain the strength to help her people recover.

Focusing on weightlifting and bodybuilding, Aleksandra was identified by the national athletics program as a potential star. She trained extensively, moving up the ranks while representing her country, and was expected to shatter longstanding records in the upcoming world championships.

But on the eve of the tournament, an attack came from the long-dormant Siberian omnium, and her village was thrust into war once again. Aleksandra immediately withdrew from the competition and rushed home to enlist in the local defense forces, sacrificing the life of fame and fortune she might have had. The magazine Богатыри reported on her departure. Now a member of the Russian Defense Forces, Zarya was deployed to the Krasnoyarsk front in Siberia. Serving as a soldier, Zarya became a symbol to some, a stalwart fellow soldier to others. But for Zarya, it was a chance to use her great strength to protect the ones she loves.

As the Siberian omnium continued its attacks, Atlas News interviewed Zarya. She achieved the rank of sergeant within the RDF. Over the course of her service, she destroyed hundreds of omnics.

Christmas War

'Christmas festivities'

Zarya spent Christmas fighting against the omnics alongside her fellow soldiers.

Searching

“	Do you know why you are here? I believe I do.	„
	~ Katya Volskaya to Zarya

Zarya is brought before Katya Volskaya

After a trio of Talon agents tried to assassinate Katya Volskaya of Volskaya Industries, Zarya was summoned to her office. After being asked whether she knew why she was here, Zarya responded that she believed she did. However, after being told about the nature of her mission, to track down Sombra (who was among the Talon agents who'd tried to assassinate Katya, Zarya realized that the assignment hadn't been what she'd expected. She told Katya that a spy would have been a better choice. Katya shrugged the suggestion off, and sent Zarya on her way. Over weeks of searching, she visited Lijiang Tower, Hanamura, and London. She reported to Katya that her leads had run dry. Katya sent Zarya to Numbani to meet a hacker.

Zarya was uncomfortable in Numbani, rankled at the sight of humans and omnics living together. Her mood wasn't improved when she discovered that her hacker contact was an omnic named Lynx Seventeen. She contacted Katya, asking if she knew the hacker was an omnic, but Katya explained that sometimes, one had to ally with undesirable allies in order to fight a common enemy. Lynx showed Zarya the data they had gathered on the "Sombra Collective." Zarya explained that the supposed collective was actually a single woman, and Lynx explained that given that Sombra's calling card was a sugar skull (similar to that of Los Muertos), and had implicated Guillermo Portero for corruption. Given all that, they headed for Dorado, Mexico, where they met with Portero himself. He wished them luck, but stated that LumériCo couldn't give them any aid.

Zarya battles Sombra

Not giving up, Zarya and Lynx began knocking on all the doors of Dorado, asking hundreds of people per day as to whether they'd seen Sombra. None of the people had seen Sombra, or if they had, weren't admitting it—Zarya noticed that they saw Sombra as being akin to Stepan Razin; robbing from the rich on behalf of the poor. They achieved a breakthrough at the Panadería Las Nieblas bakery, where they met a girl named Alejandra. Playing on the girl's emotions, Zarya asked her if she'd seen Sombra, and that if she had, she'd be a "hero" to her. The ploy worked, and Alejandra took them to the warehouse Sombra was operating from. Lynx deactivated the structure's security system, and as they did so, they discussed Zarya's history with the omnics, and her negative sentiment towards them. Their bickering was ended as Sombra revealed her presence. The two engaged in a battle of bullets and words, which ended as Zarya incapacitated Sombra with a graviton surge.

Zarya saves Lynx

Sombra demanded that Zarya let her go, or otherwise, the world would know Katya's secret, that she'd been receiving technology from omnics in order to fight against the Siberian omnium. Sombra also explained that she actually wanted Katya in power, as a 'friend' to help her peel back a global conspiracy she'd uncovered. Zarya was skeptical, but her hand was forced as Lynx collapsed—when them had hacked Sombra in Numbani, Sombra had hacked them right back, and now, the program was kicking in. Also, the warehouse would detonate in one minute's time. She decided to let Sombra go and rescued Lynx, escaping the blast with them. When they asked why she'd rescued them, Zarya stated that she didn't know, and that a few days ago, she might have killed them herself. She stated that she would head back to Russia to continue the fight against the Siberian omnics.

After parting ways with Lynx, she conversed with Katya again. Zarya asked as to why she hadn't confessed where she got her technology from, but Katya explained that her secret dealings with omnics had to remain secret for now. One day, Russia would understand, but that day wasn't here yet. Zarya agreed to keep her secret.

Achievements

Name	Icon	Description	Reward
Power Overwhelming		Keep Zarya's Particle Cannon above 70 power for 60 seconds in Quick or Competitive play.	Pixel
The Power Of Attraction		Capture 5 enemies in a single use of Zarya's Graviton Surge in Quick or Competitive play.	Cute

Trivia

Zarya as she appears in Heroes of the Storm

• Zarja (заря) is a Russian word for "dawn".
• Zarya's particle cannon was ripped from the hull of an armored vehicle during battle, and is too heavy for most soldiers to carry. Her gloves conduct and amplify the energy flowing through it.
• Zarya's design emerged from player demand for a greater diversity of genders, body types, and ethnicities.
• Zarya's kit may have been partially inspired by Iris, a hero created for the original Prometheus pitch meeting.
• With her hairstyle, she bears resemblance to a Russian Blizzard employee, Tamara Bakhlycheva. It's unknown whether it was intentional or not.
• The 512 tattoo on her shoulder is apparently her weightlifting record; two of her sprays depict a 512kg set of weights. This is a higher record than any woman's set in the Olympics to date, though not the highest ever recorded (although under the current format it exceeds all present records).
• Zarya is the only character in the game whose melee animation differs if viewed in 1st person versus 3rd person.
• Zarya is a playable character in Heroes of the Storm, as a ranged Warrior class hero. Her abilities are almost completely preserved from Overwatch, apart from her second ult called 'Expulsion Zone' that deals damage and pushes enemy heroes away from an area.
• A Zarya-themed hoodie is available from JINX.
• A Zarya Funko Pop figure will go on sale in 2018.
• In an arm-wrestling match between Brigitte and Zarya, Zarya would win (according to Michael Chu).

Balance Change Logs

Patch

Description

31 Aug 2020

Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)

• Ammo cost increased from 20 to 25

10 Dec 2019

Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)

• Explosion radius increased from 2 to 2.5 meters
• Ammo cost decreased from 25 to 20

Developer Comment: Zarya’s overall damage output is in a good spot but the secondary fire was left feeling a little too weak after the last set of changes.

17 Sep 2019

Particle Cannon (Primary Fire)

• Beam width is now 0.15 meters and no longer scales with energy
• Max Beam DPS lowered from 190 to 170

19 Mar 2019

Particle Cannon (Secondary Fire)

• Alternative Fire’s explosion radius changed to 2 meters, regardless of energy level

Developer Comments: Zarya’s damage greatly increases when at high energy, while also gaining increased beam size and a larger explosion radius. This often allowed Zarya to deal too much damage and made the explosions from the Alternate Fire on her Particle Cannon nearly impossible to avoid. This change will still allow Zarya to deal a lot of damage, but makes it more difficult to actually apply the damage.

9 Aug 2018

Energy

• Drain rate reduced from 2 energy per second to 1.6 energy per second

Graviton Surge

• Radius reduced from 8 to 6 meters

Developer Comment: The smaller radius on Graviton Surge makes it more reasonable for her enemies to try countering it by staying spread out, as well as putting more focus on Zarya to position the ultimate correctly to impact the most players possible. However, the intent of these changes isn’t to lessen Zarya’s overall power significantly so we’re reducing her energy drain rate, which should keep her energy higher on average resulting in more damage and quicker ultimate charge times. Overall, this takes some power out of her ultimate and distributes it else ware to add more counter play against her.

27 Jul 2017

Graviton Surge

• Now disables mobility abilities on all affected targets

Developer Comment: In the past, the abilities that allowed heroes to escape Zarya’s Graviton Surge felt fairly arbitrary. We’re cleaning this up and increasing Graviton Surge's overall power by rendering all movement abilities unusable when an enemy is trapped.

21 Mar 2017

Particle Barrier

• No longer protects Zarya from knockback

Projected Barrier

• No longer protects allies from knockback

Developer Comment: This is actually reverting a change that we made a few patches ago, which made players immune to knockbacks if they were hit by an effect from inside her barrier. This had some negative side effects, such as making targets immune to knockbacks from effects that pierce barriers, like Reinhardt’s charge and Winston’s Primal Rage punches. Now, these will cause knockback again. This does not affect knockbacks from effects that originate from outside her barriers, such as Pharah’s Concussive Blast. Those will still be blocked by the barriers, not causing any knockback.

28 Feb 2017

*New Hero Option: Projected Barrier Sensitivity

• • Allows players to adjust Projected Barrier’s targeting sensitivity

13 Dec 2016

Particle Barrier & Projected Barrier

• Attacks like Reinhardt's Fire Strike or Hanzo's Dragonstrike that deal damage to both the barrier and the hero within the barrier, no longer deal damage to the barrier twice

Developer Comment: This is a bug fix, but we think it's significant enough to warrant a separate note. We've had a long-standing bug that caused "piercing" damage to hit Zarya's barrier twice. Sometimes this benefited Zarya (for example, jumping in front of Reinhardt's Fire Strike was a good way to generate a large amount of energy quickly), and sometimes it really hurt her (Genji’s Dragonblade, for example, would cut through her shield in one swing, instead of two). This change isn’t intended to buff or a nerf to Zarya. We're simply trying get her abilities working as they should, and we’ll keep an eye on how it affects her balance.

15 Nov 2016

Particle Barrier & Projected Barrier

• Power gained from barriers decreased by 20%

Developer Comment: Considering her potential damage output, Zarya was starting to feel like a mandatory pick in most situations. Rather than reduce her damage output, this change makes achieving her maximum power and damage output slightly more difficult.

External links

• Official Site - Zarya
• Zarya Guide on Icy Veins