Key Takeaways
- Along with swapping heroes, countering Pharmercy relies on smart positioning to prevent the duo from being effective.
- Hitscan damage (DPS) heroes counter Pharmercy because they can reliably hit shots on her, even if she only peeks for a second or two.
- Tank heroes should look to enable their damage (DPS) heroes while trying to reduce Pharmercy’s effectiveness.
- Support heroes can provide assistance damage to counter Pharmercy while being sure to stay alive and keep their teammates healthy.
- If your teammates are unable to help you counter Pharmercy, use the Z League app to find skilled teammates who will work with you.
Team Playstyle Adjustments vs. Pharmercy
Although it’s important to swap heroes to counter Pharmercy, part of playing against the duo is adjusting your positioning. Regardless of your role, you should always be sure to know where Pharmercy is. By understanding the enemy’s positioning, you can make sure you don’t get hit by stray projectiles. The less damage you take, the more you and your team can focus on aggression.
Making use of natural cover is important when playing against Pharmercy. Force the duo to come out into the open if they want to target you; if the duo can do damage while playing safely, countering them becomes more difficult.
Damage (DPS) Pharmercy Counters
Damage (DPS) heroes have the role of killing Pharmercy. To reliably kill Pharmercy, they need to be able to reliably hit shots. Projectiles are, for the most part, off the table. A hero like Mei can provide supporting damage, but core damage usually needs to come from a hitscan hero like Cassidy or Ashe.
Although every hitscan hero can theoretically counter Pharmercy, they’re more effective if they can deal burst damage through healing to potentially kill Pharah or Mercy first. Widowmaker is best, with Ashe and Cassidy following behind her. Soldier 76 is worst because he can lose the duel against Pharmercy even if he can reliably hit bodyshots on Pharah. Mercy’s healing is simply too powerful.
Tank Pharmercy Counters
Tanks counter Pharmercy by enabling their damage (DPS) heroes and by providing supporting damage.
D.Va is the best tank counter to Pharmercy. Her Defense Matrix allows her to reduce the duo’s effectiveness substantially. She can use her mobility and hitscan primary fire to assist in doing damage. Winston and Wrecking Ball are also decent against Pharmercy for similar reasons.
As tank, it’s important to not get tunnel vision on the opposing team’s Pharmercy. After all, there are still three other enemy players to think about. Tank players are most able to follow up on poor positioning from the rest of the opposing team. For example, if Pharah and Mercy are both distracted, Wrecking Ball can easily single out a support hero like Baptiste and turn the tide of the fight.
Support (Healer) Pharmercy Counters
Support players lack the ability to directly counter Pharmercy. Their damage output simply isn’t enough to kill a skilled Mercy player, or a Pharah player who’s receiving constant healing. Similar to tank players, support players should instead look to assist ally hitscan players in dealing with the duo. Heroes like Baptiste and Ana are perfect for accomplishing this task.
During a teamfight, support players need to be sure to constantly assist any allies that are dueling Pharmercy, similar to how Mercy is constantly assisting Pharah. Even though hitscan heroes counter Pharmercy, it’s still a 1v2 if an allied hitscan goes up against the duo alone. Mercy players in particular should look to pocket allied hitscan heroes, and supports like Zenyatta can provide support by keeping Orb of Discord on Mercy or Pharah to force them to play more passively.
