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Zarya is a Ranged Warrior Hero from the Overwatch universe. Until January 4, 2017, Zarya could be obtained for free via the Nexus Challenge.
Aleksandra Zaryanova is one of the world's strongest women and was a promising athlete, but all that changed when the Siberian omnium reawakened. As a soldier in the Russian Defense Force, she now proudly uses her strength to protect the ones she loves.
Zarya is a bruiser that can enable deadly allies and is good at preventing burst damage.
Background[]
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 robots 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.[1]
Gameplay Summary[]
Zarya is a Warrior who plays the role of a Bruiser and a Support at the same time. She is unique as she is capable of shielding both herself and her allies, and any damage absorbed by her shields contributes to her energy meter to increase her damage output.
Overall, Zarya fits well in a double Warrior composition, as long the other Warrior is a dedicated tank. She excels against teams that feature multiple burst-oriented Heroes.
Strengths[]
- Does not use mana, and instead uses Energy.
- Energy is filled up by absorbing damage with Personal Barrier and Shield Ally.
- Zarya's damage output is proportional to her current Energy.
- Very supportive playstyle that gives her a powerful teamfight presence.
- Flexible talent tree, allowing her to specialize into either support or damage.
- Particle Grenade is a very effective poking tool, and holds multiple charges.
- It can become very powerful when Zarya is at full Energy, if talented into.
- Graviton Surge can single handedly define the outcome of teamfights.
- Expulsion Zone has very low cooldown for a Heroic Ability, and it is great for defending objectives.
Weaknesses[]
- Highly dependent on her Energy in order to deal damage.
- Poor early gameplay and a lack of peeling or crowd control until level 10.
- No mobility.
- Susceptible to crowd control.
- Not ineffective against mobile Heroes.
- Skilled players can play around her shields and deny her Energy gains.
- Graviton Surge has a small delay, and is easy to avoid.
Abilities[]

Cooldown: 8 seconds
Launch a particle grenade that deals 71 (+4% per level) damage to enemies within the area. Deals 50% damage to Structures.

Cooldown: 12 seconds
Gain a shield that absorbs 583 (+4% per level) damage for 3 seconds.

Cooldown: 12 seconds
Grants an allied Hero a shield that absorbs 437 (+4% per level) damage for 3 seconds.
Traits[]

Each time Zarya's Personal Barrier or Shield Ally absorbs 9 (+4% per level) damage, her Energy is increased by 1. Each point of Energy increases Zarya's damage by 2%. After 0.5 seconds, Energy decays by 3 per second.
Heroic Abilities[]

Tier 4 (Hero Level 20)
Cooldown: 80 seconds
Launch a gravity bomb that detonates after 1 second and draws enemy Heroes toward the center for 2.5 seconds.

Tier 4 (Hero Level 20)
Cooldown: 45 seconds
Launch a gravity bomb that deals 129 (+4% per level) damage and creates an expulsion zone for 3.5 seconds. Enemies who enter the affected area are knocked back and have their Movement Speed reduced by 50% for 1 second.
Talents[]
Tier 1, Hero Level 1[]

Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)
Regen Globes now instantly grant 20 Energy. Quest: Spend 150 seconds at or above 50 Energy.
Reward: Gain an additional 20 maximum Energy.

Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)
Every 6 (+4% per level) damage done by allies while under Shield Ally contributes 1 Energy, up to 30 Energy per shield.

Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)
Zarya's Basic Attack deals 8.50% additional damage to enemies in melee range.

Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)
Quest: For every 5 enemy Heroes hit by Particle Grenade, its recharge rate lowers by 0.4375 seconds, up to 3.5 seconds.
Reward: Once Particle Grenade has hit 40 enemy Heroes, its radius is increased by 15%.
Tier 2, Hero Level 4[]

Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)
Shield Ally increases the allied Hero's Movement Speed by 50% for the duration.

Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)
Quest: Regeneration Globes increase Shield Ally absorb amount by 15, up to 300 permanently.
Reward: After collecting 20 Regen Globes, permanently reduce the cooldown of Shield Ally by 2 seconds.

Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)
Personal Barrier absorbs an additional 146 (+4% per level) damage.

Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)
Upon expiration or breaking, Personal Barrier and Shield Ally grant 75 Physical Armor against the next 2 Hero Basic Attacks for 6 seconds, reducing the damage taken by 75%.
Tier 3, Hero Level 7[]

Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)
Upon expiration or breaking, Personal Barrier explodes, dealing 104 (+4% per level) damage to nearby enemies.

Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)
While above 50 Energy your Basic Attack size is increased by 35%.

Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)
Particle Grenade deals 40% more damage to enemies hit by the center of the blast.
Tier 4, Hero Level 10[]

Tier 4 (Hero Level 20)
Cooldown: 80 seconds
Launch a gravity bomb that detonates after 1 second and draws enemy Heroes toward the center for 2.5 seconds.

Tier 4 (Hero Level 20)
Cooldown: 45 seconds
Launch a gravity bomb that deals 129 (+4% per level) damage and creates an expulsion zone for 3.5 seconds. Enemies who enter the affected area are knocked back and have their Movement Speed reduced by 50% for 1 second.
Tier 5, Hero Level 13[]

Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)
Personal Barrier makes you Unstoppable for up to 2.0 seconds.

Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)
Upon expiration or breaking, Personal Barrier grants a Spell Shield that reduces Ability Damage taken by 75% for 3 seconds.

Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)
While at or above 75 Energy, Zarya gains 20 Armor, reducing all damage taken by 20%.

Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Activate to consume all Energy and gain a shield that absorbs 0.5% of Zarya's maximum Health per Energy consumed and lasts for 3 seconds. Zarya may only have one personal shield active on herself at a time.
Tier 6, Hero Level 16[]

Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)
Shield Ally now grants an untalented shield to a nearby ally upon impact.

Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)
Particle Grenade slows Movement Speed by 35% for 2 seconds to enemies near the center.

Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)
Causes Shield Ally to remove all disabling effects and reduces its cooldown by 3 seconds.

Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)
While at or above 75 Energy, Zarya's cooldowns regenerate 25% faster.
Tier 7, Hero Level 20[]

Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)
Increases Graviton Surge's duration by 1 second and causes it to deal 175 (+4% per level) damage over the duration.

Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)
Increases Expulsion Zone's radius by 15% and Zarya's maximum Energy temporarily increases by 15 per enemy Hero hit for 10 seconds.

Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Activate to reset the cooldown of Personal Barrier and Shield Ally.
Talent Builds[]
- Energy Build: focused on maximizing the effectiveness of Zarya's Energy build-up, adding a good blend of damage and survivability. This build aims on keeping Zarya always above the threshold specified by her two key talents, Maximum Charge and Born in Battle to greatly increase her damage output.
- This build is recommended for most situations.
- Particle Grenade Build: focused on improving the damage and cooldown reduction of Zarya's Particle Grenade, allowing Zarya to deal consistent high damage and poke opponents more often.
- This build is recommended when the team lacks an additional source of damage. However, it is not recommended when fighting a very mobile team composition, as it makes harder to hit with Particle Grenade.
- Basic Attack Build: focused on improving Zarya's Basic Attack damage. The key talents are Feel the Heat and To the Limit, increasing Zarya's damage and radius, respectively.
- This build is recommended when fighting a team composed mostly by Melee Heroes.
Tips[]
- Don't be afraid to cast Personal Barrier and purposedly soak damage from enemy structures in order to gain quick Energy.
- Try to anticipate damage to get the best of Personal Barrier and Shield Ally.
- Positioning is key when using Zarya's Basic Attack, as it pierces all enemies in a line for 100% damage. Use this to quickly clear minion waves and Mercenary Camps.
- Use Graviton Surge when the enemy team is at a vulnerable state (such as casting an ability) or afflicted by another form of crowd control.
- Use Expulsion Zone to trap opponents on choke points.
Matchups[]
Pairings[]
Effective against[]
Effective foes[]
Skins[]
- Defender of Russia (base)
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Defender of Russia | Steel | Maroon | Industrial ![]() |
- High Gravity
100
- The Tobelstein Reactor is an emergent technology, and its full potential has yet to be tapped. Rumor has it that the Gravitic Harness is the next great advancement in energy projection.
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High Gravity | Cobalt | Quartz | Crimson ![]() |
- Cyberdemon
400
- Reverse engineered from Overwatch's cyberization techniques, the Jigoku battle armor offers most of the benefits of cybernetic augmentation without requiring invasive surgery.
- Features altered voice-over and themed abilities.
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Cyberdemon | Indigo | Cyborgdemon | Golden ![]() |
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Restored ![]() |
- Thunder Guard
400
- Armed with their Mjolnir Cannons, Zarya Aleksdottir and the Thunder Guard serve as the Midgard megalopolis' last defense against the Jotunheim Republic and their frost golem army.
- This skin is related to the Midgard themed-skins. Features themed abilities.
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Thunder Guard | Emerald | Spectre | Citrine ![]() |
- Phantom Knight
- The Black Knights have served as the mercenary protectors of Raven Court since age immemorial. It is only natural that their commander, Zarya, the Phantom Knight, serves as one of the four generals of the Raven Lord's army.
Trivia[]
- The "Cyborgdemon" variant of her "Cyberdemon" skin makes a reference to Genji, in both color scheme and name.
References[]
Patch changes[]
(Patch December 12, 2017) Note: Citrine Thunderguard Zarya and Industrial Zarya added.
(Patch October 17, 2017) Note: Crimson High Gravity added.
(Patch September 26, 2017) Note: Golden Cyberdemon Zarya, Restored Cyberdemon Zarya skins added.
(Patch April 25, 2017) Note: Cyberdemon Zarya, Indigo Cyberdemon Zarya, Cyborgdemon Zarya skins added.
(Patch March 28, 2017) Note: Fixed an issue that could cause players to stall when Zarya was affected by certain attack speed modifiers.
(Patch March 14, 2017) Note: Zarya's Basic Attacks can now be affected by attack speed modifications.; Damage that occurs just before Zarya’s Barrier breaks will now correctly grant her energy.
(Patch January 27, 2017) Note: Basic Attack damage reduced from 21 to 20.
(Patch January 24, 2017) Note: Fixed an issue preventing the “Drop and give me Twenty” quest indicator from disappearing after the quest was completed.
(Patch October 12, 2016) Note: Basic Attack damage reduced from 24 to 21; Base Maximum Health reduced from 2336 to 2225; Base Health Regeneration reduced from 4.87 to 4.64.
(Patch September 27, 2016) Note: Added.