With the release of Season 6 inOverwatch 2, the latest Support hero, Illari, has dropped. Hailing from Peru, this hero is the ‘last child of the sun’ and wields the power of the sun itself to her advantage. While she doesn’t have too much backstory so far, she does have an origin story that details her ascension to become an Inti Warrior and how it resulted in the destruction of her home.
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Her abilities are pretty simple, but there are a number of tips and tricks for you to get the most value out of her. This article will cover each ability and give some synergies that Illari has with other heroes.
Solar Rifle
Illari’s weapon of choice is her Solar Rifle, and it comes with two unique functions. Her primary fire is a medium to long-range rifle that charges up. The Solar Rifle has a damage drop-off range of 30m and takes around a second to fully charge up. At maximum charge, Illari’s weapon will deal 75 damage to the body and 112.5 damage to the head, meaning she can take on duels with the best of them. This follows the trend of Blizzard making Support heroes much more self-sufficient andmuch stronger overall. Her high damage and dueling potential mean that you should be looking to take small flanks during a fight to get picks. However, you need to verify that you are precise, as a good Illari can flank, secure a pick, and make it back to her team before they die.
The Solar Rifle’s secondary fire is her healing beam. Functioning quite similarly to Symmetra’s beam attack, Illari’s primary healing source is a short-range but very high healing beam, 120 healing per second, to be precise. A tradeoff for this incredible healing is the resource meter that comes with her healing. When using her secondary fire, a resource bar will drain. If this reaches empty, she cannot heal for a few seconds until it fully charges up, similar to Orisa’s overheating mechanic. Her low-range healing requires you to at least be close to your Tank, so if you want to take a flank to secure a kill, verify you may quickly get back to your team to keep them healthy.
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Outburst is Illari’s first ability and is this hero’s movement and escape tool. Word for word, Outburst’launches you in the direction you are moving, knocking back enemies.‘There are a couple of nuances with Outburst, mainly the fact that you may hold down the ability button to launch yourself higher. To get maximum height out of Outburst, you will want to jump and then hold down the ability button as you reach the peak of your jump height to launch yourself upwards. If you want to travel as far as possible forward, walk forward and tap the ability button. Outburst is unique in that it retains some of your momentum, meaning that if you jump as soon as you land, you can do a small bunnyhop, allowing you to travel just that little bit further.
Outburst can be used in a couple of ways. Like all support movement abilities, it is mainly used to escape. It is similar in function to Sojourn’s Power Slide or even thesecond newest support hero, Lifeweaver’s Rejuvenating Dash. Outburst is good for escaping a sticky situation as it not only moves you a decent amount but also knocks enemies away, increasing the distance between you and your enemy.
However, Outburst can also be used to get to high ground or a flank quicker to secure a kill. Thanks to Illari’s remarkable damage, players can use Outburst to get the drop on enemies and gain an advantage in the duel. Skilled Illari players will be looking for these opportunities. If coordinated with another team member, an Outburst into a powerful position to help a flanker secure a kill can quickly turn the tide of a fight.
Healing Pylon
Illari’s Healing Pylon is her second ability. This small, deployable turret fire bursts of 40 health which averages out at approximately 50 healing per second (hps). This healing, combined with her beam, means that you can output around 170hps which is no small amount. In fact, the pylon and beam combined heal more than Moira’s Ultimate, Coalescence, which only clocks in at 140hps meaning that despite Illari leaning more toward the damage-side of Supports, her healing is no slouch.
The Healing Pylon comes with 150hp, with half being regeneratable shield health. The pylon cannot be repaired or healed by Illari (or any healer, for that matter) and can be destroyed by enemies or Illari if she wants to reposition it. This healing turret also has quite a fair bit of range, meaning you should always look to take full advantage of it wherever possible. The Healing Pylon is an essential ability and can sometimes finish around a third or even half of your total healing done in a match.
The Healing Pylon can be used in several ways. It can be placed out of sight around a corner to support your team during a team fight. It can be used to help a teammate win a duel; this could be a Damage hero in a 1v1 or your fellow Support being attacked by a flanker. Or, you can be more selfish and use it while flanking to sustain yourself and, in turn, get more value out of your flank. This ability is incredibly dependent on the situation, and players should analyze in the moment to determine the best course of action.
Captive Sun
Captive Sun is Illari’s Ultimate, and it is remarkably powerful. Word by word, Illari will ‘fire an explosive ball of solar energy. Enemies hit are slowed and explode after taking significant damage.‘Captive Sun transforms Illari, allowing her to fly freely for around four seconds. The solar ball has a massive explosion radius, and enemies tagged are marked. Dealing 100 damage to an affected target will cause the mark to explode, dealing a further 120 damage. An explosion from another mark can set off another mark, meaning you can create a chain reaction of detonations.
This Ultimate is mainly used in aggressive fashions. Flying up and causing a massive explosion resulting in even more explosions, is a recipe for an easy teamfight victory. However, be careful; you can be hacked or stunned out of your Ultimate, losing the Captive Sun shot altogether. The attack is also very telegraphed and can leave you entirely exposed as you are literally glowing in the enemy’s face, potentially making you an easy target for an accurate Damage hero.
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Illari’s Synergies
Illari has certain heroes she is very strong with and others she is pretty weak with. Regarding team composition, Illari isn’t well suited for a team with high mobility, as her short-range beam and stationary turret can make it tricky to heal them. Playing Illari with Tanks like Winston, Doomfist, or D.VA can be a stressful nightmare. She is much better suited to slower, more brawl-focused tanks like Reinhardt, Ramattra, or Orisa. Orisa is especially good with her due to her solid range and good Ultimate combo with Captive Sun.
She pairs pretty well with most Damage heroes. She can be paired with a flanking, assassin-style hero like Genji and help them take out the backline, she can be paired with other mid-range duelist heroes like Soldier: 76 to support them in a fight, or she can work well with heroes like Bastion or Mei who like to stick with their team and disrupt the enemy frontline.
Illari is quite dependent on her fellow Support’s pick in the way that she can play. If she is paired with Ana, Baptiste, or Kiriko, the Illari player can focus on dealing more damage, as the other support can pick up the slack regarding healing. However, if she is paired with a Support like Zenyatta, Mercy, or Lúcio, Illari must focus much more on keeping her Tank alive as those supports don’t have much healing. Illari’s best synergy is with Ana, Baptiste, and Kiriko, as each of these heroes either has solid damage, a lot of utility, or solid healing capabilities, making them the best pairing with Illari to make up for her low utility or bolster her damage potential.
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