Master Overwatch 2: Dominating with Illari - Ultimate Pro Guide!

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Illari's Playstyle in Overwatch 2

Illari's Abilities in Overwatch 2

Tips and Tricks for Illari in Overwatch 2

Illari Combos in Overwatch 2

Illari's Strengths and Weaknesses in Overwatch 2

The release of Overwatch 2 Season 6 introduces exciting updates, including new game modes, maps, and the introduction of a new Hero. Joining the roster is Illari, a Support Hero from Peru, known for her solar-inspired theme and impressive set of abilities. While Lifeweaver focused on movement-based Support skills, Illari brings back a more traditional healing-focused approach in Overwatch 2, accompanied by her own unique set of tricks and tactics.

Illari, the first Peruvian hero in Overwatch 2, dedicated her childhood to preparing herself for the esteemed Inti Warriors, honorable guardians of their homeland and masters of solar energy augmentation. Undergoing years of intense training, Illari exhibited exceptional potential, leading up to the pivotal ceremony that bestowed each Inti Warrior with solar threading, enabling them to harness the sun's immense power.

However, to everyone's astonishment, Illari possessed latent abilities far surpassing expectations, resulting in a catastrophic surge of solar energy during the ceremony. Tragically, this unleashed blast eradicated the entire gathering of Inti Warriors, leaving Illari as the sole survivor. Plagued by remorse and haunted by the belief that the disaster could have been prevented had she not been driven towards greatness, Illari now navigates her journey alone. The weight of responsibility propels her to dedicate herself to relentless training and unwavering vigilance, persevering as the final remaining Inti Warrior.

Illari's Playstyle in Overwatch 2

Illari, a Support Hero with a focus on healing, possesses a primary weapon with impressive range and an Ultimate ability that requires a high level of commitment. Although Illari may not possess as many capabilities as Lifeweaver, mastering her abilities may still prove to be a challenge for players.

The Solar Rifle serves as Illari's sole offensive tool, aside from her Ultimate. It is a hitscan beam with a medium to long-range, requiring charging time between each shot. This grants Illari considerable ranged firepower, particularly in the hands of a skilled and precise player who can effectively time the charges.

"The primary method of healing for her Solar Rifle is through its secondary fire, a powerful beam of solar energy that can rapidly restore HP. However, the effectiveness of this healing is limited by a low capacity and lengthy recharge time when the rifle is depleted entirely.

Additionally, Illari possesses a second healing ability called the Healing Pylon. Similar to Torbjorn's turret, this device can be deployed on walls and ceilings. The Healing Pylon consistently restores health, proving to be a significant annoyance for opposing players, especially in defensive scenarios or when Illari successfully positions it in an inaccessible location."

Illari's Outburst not only grants her mobility, but also deals a knockback to nearby enemies, allowing her to swiftly move in the direction she is currently heading. It can serve as a means to reach elevated areas, although its reach falls short compared to Baptiste's or Lifeweaver's movement abilities.

On the other hand, Illari's Ultimate ability, Captive Sun, inflicts immense damage upon grouped-up enemies, making it a formidable tool when combined with certain Heroes. However, it is important to note that Captive Sun's effectiveness can be diminished through various means, such as a D.va destroying the projectile or a Kiriko cleansing the inflicted Sunstruck condition.

Illari's Abilities in Overwatch 2

Solar Rifle - Primary Fire

Illari employs a high-powered rifle for engaging enemies at medium to long distances. This cutting-edge firearm emits a hitscan beam, akin to Sojourn's Railgun, albeit with noticeably lower impact. The Solar Rifle carries a magazine containing 14 rounds, but each shot necessitates a brief pause to enable full power regeneration. Fortunately, this recharging process is automatic as long as Illari refrains from utilizing the weapon's secondary fire.

A fully charged Solar Rifle body shot inflicts 75 damage, whereas an uncharged shot only deals 25 damage. This significant decrease in damage strongly incentivizes players to exercise patience and wait for a second until the rifle is fully charged, rather than continuously firing uncharged shots.

Solar Rifle - Secondary Fire

Outburst

Illari's Solar Rifle boasts a secondary fire that serves as her primary healing tool, emitting a beam of rejuvenating energy with a medium range. When this beam makes contact with any ally, it bestows a restoration of 120 HP per second. This remarkable healing capability surpasses that of Mercy's Cauduceus staff, delivering twice the healing output. However, the Solar Rifle's potential is limited by its finite solar energy reserves. Illari can sustain the healing beam for approximately 3 seconds before depleting her solar energy, resulting in a subsequent cooldown period of 3.5 seconds before it can be employed again. This cooldown mechanism, akin to the Fusion Driver's overheat mechanic on Orisa, incentivizes players to employ the healing beam in intermittent bursts, ensuring it never fully runs dry.

Healing Pylon

Outburst is Illari's main ability for swift movement. It enables her to effortlessly leap forward in the direction she is currently moving by utilizing a burst of radiant solar energy. This powerful blast not only propels Illari but also repels any nearby adversaries, keeping them at a distance. By activating Outburst while holding down the jump command, players can achieve increased height but sacrifice some distance covered. This additional height gain allows Illari to cleverly navigate and effortlessly land on elevated terrain, giving her a strategic advantage.

Captive Sun

Illari possesses a second tool for healing, known as the Healing Pylon. This turret, containing 150 HP, can be hurled by Illari to automatically provide around 40 HP per second to nearby allies. Unlike Torbjorn's turret, the Healing Pylon can be positioned on vertical walls and ceilings, but its range is limited to a maximum of 15 meters. As long as wounded allies remain within its range, the Healing Pylon will continue to administer healing, unless it is destroyed by the enemy or deactivated by Illari. Notably, the Healing Pylon demonstrates priority towards allies with a lower percentage of their total HP remaining, ensuring that those in the most dire need of healing are attended to first before attending to slightly injured allies.

Captive Sun is Illari's ultimate ability, offering a powerful combination of control and damage when used in coordination with other Heroes. However, it is susceptible to counterattacks. When Captive Sun is activated, Illari ascends into the air, gaining the ability to fly freely for 4 seconds. In addition, she can launch the Captive Sun projectile.

Although the projectile moves relatively slowly, it inflicts 50 damage over a wide area when it lands. Furthermore, anyone within the area of effect or touched by the projectile will become afflicted with the Sunstruck condition. Sunstruck reduces their speed by 30%, which gradually diminishes over a span of 7 seconds. If the targeted individual sustains at least 90 damage during these 7 seconds, it will detonate a moment later, dealing an additional 120 damage to itself and any nearby allies.

Tips and Tricks for Illari in Overwatch 2

To maximize the effectiveness of Illari's Solar Rifle in both primary and secondary fire modes, mastering the timing is crucial. In order to achieve the highest damage per second (DPS) with the primary fire, players should allow it to fully recharge before firing each shot, incorporating a one-second pause between shots. Additionally, players should be adept at compensating for any recharge pauses resulting from using the secondary fire.

However, there are instances where it may be beneficial for players to fire before the rifle is fully recharged. For example, if there is an enemy Hero with very low health who may quickly move out of sight within a second, or if the enemy Hero is close to reaching the damage threshold for Sunstruck.

The timing of the Solar Rifle's secondary fire is different and resembles the balance of the overheat mechanic on Orisa's Fusion Driver. Illari players should utilize the healing beam in brief intervals, rescuing allies from imminent death before allowing it to recharge. During this downtime, the Healing Pylon or any allied Support can restore the remaining health.

As Illari's primary fire is challenging to use in close quarters and she lacks self-defense abilities, Outburst becomes essential in maintaining her position. By using Outburst, Illari players can retreat while simultaneously disrupting the movement of an aggressive DPS or charging Tank. Alternatively, they can leap to the side to evade area-of-effect effects.

Illari Combos in Overwatch 2

Just like the other abilities in Illari's arsenal, Captive Sun relies heavily on precise timing. By afflicting as many enemies as possible with the Sunstruck condition, Illari significantly increases the likelihood of setting off a devastating chain reaction, where each Sunstruck explosion triggers the next. This synergy makes Sunstruck exceptionally potent when paired with ultimate abilities that gather enemies together, such as Orisa's Terra Surge or Zarya's Graviton Surge.

Illari + Orisa

Orisa's exceptional self-defense skills complement Illari's impressive healing, enabling her to absorb damage and give Illari enough time to restore her health effortlessly. However, the true brilliance of this combo lies in the powerful synergy between Captive Sun and Terra Surge.

Ordinarily, Orisa struggles with Terra Surge as enemies with full health can usually flee the area before she can land a lethal blow. However, when targeted enemies are affected by the Sunstruck condition, Orisa only needs a brief charge to unleash bonus damage, which could potentially initiate a deadly sequence of events.

Illari + Zarya

In the same vein as the Orisa combo, Zarya is another Tank who can effectively reduce damage for a sufficient duration, allowing Illari's potent burst healing to recover. Furthermore, Zarya is capable of executing a devastating team-wiping combination alongside the use of Captive Sun.

Illari + Sombra

Zarya's Ultimate ability forces all nearby enemies to gather closely together and immobilizes them for a specific period of time. Moreover, if these enemies have previously been affected by the Sunstruck debuff, a series of explosive reactions is highly likely to occur.

The Illari and Sombra combination may not initially appear obvious, but when it comes to DPS Ultimates, there are only a few that pair better with Captive Sun than EMP. While Reaper's Death Blossom or Pharah's Barrage may inflict more damage overall, EMP has the advantage of being instantaneous and covering a vast area.

With EMP alone dealing 40% of an enemy's current HP in damage, it can often be sufficient to trigger the secondary explosion of Sunstruck. However, it also possesses another advantage. The primary weakness of Captive Sun is that characters with abilities to cleanse themselves will promptly utilize them to escape its effect. This escape becomes impossible if these abilities have been disabled by EMP.

Illari + Sigma

In contrast to Orisa and Zarya, whose Ultimates should be activated before Illari uses Captive Sun, Sigma should wait until the Sunstruck condition is applied before unleashing Gravitic Flux. With its extensive radius, Gravitic Flux has the ability to capture any recently afflicted enemies with Sunstruck, and the impact from its slam is more than sufficient to initiate the subsequent explosions.

Illari + Cassidy

Weakness of Cassidy's Deadeye Ultimate lies in its susceptibility to being avoided by skilled players who can easily break line-of-sight before the damage reaches lethal levels. Nevertheless, this vulnerability can be completely nullified by the Sunstruck condition, resulting in an added 120 damage even with a partially-charged Deadeye.

As a skilled and powerful Hero, Cassidy makes an excellent companion for Illari due to their shared ability to unleash devastating damage and eliminate weakened foes. Furthermore, in instances where Deadeye is not accessible to Cassidy, merely two well-placed shots to the body or one precise headshot with his revolver is all that is required to initiate the Sunstruck Condition.

Illari's Advantages and Counters in Overwatch 2

Opponents To Watch Out For

Illari's vulnerability to diving Tank Heroes remains a significant concern despite her Outburst ability. Her low fire rate and absence of defensive attributes make her an easy target. Notably, D.Va, Winston, and Doomfist pose a significant threat due to their ability to dive and counter her own capabilities.

Doomfist's mobility enables him to relentlessly pursue Illari even after she employs Outburst. Additionally, Winston's Barrier Projector hinders the effectiveness of her Healing Pylon, while D.Va's Defense Matrix effortlessly obliterates Captive Sun while it's in mid-flight.

On the DPS side, Illari also struggles with nimble Heroes such as Genji. Genji's agility makes it challenging to land a close-range Solar Rifle shot and his burst damage is enough to overpower the Healing Pylon. Additionally, Echo poses a significant threat to Illari. Her ability to fly enables her to approach from various angles, even when the Healing Pylon is well-positioned. Moreover, Illari makes an enticing target for Echo's Duplicate Ultimate.

Enemies Illari Can Beat

Illari's powerful hitscan damage can be a significant challenge for certain DPS Heroes, especially in the hands of a skilled player. Much like Baptiste, another hitscan Support Hero, Illari can apply significant pressure to a flying Pharah, either forcing her to retreat or eliminating her.

Although Illari is not particularly strong in close-range combat, Tracer and Sombra are also susceptible to a few accurate shots from her Solar Rifle, which can make it difficult for them to dive onto her. This is especially true because Tracer and Sombra lack vertical mobility and hacking Illari as Sombra will not disable her Healing Pylon.

Illari relies on her Healing Pylon, mobility, and long-range Solar Rifle to counter Tank and Support Heroes. When her Healing Pylon is positioned out of range of Reinhardt's Rocket Hammer, he struggles against her and must choose to ignore it or expend both of his Fire Strike charges. Additionally, Zenyatta's large hitbox, lack of defensive abilities, and comparatively low health make him highly susceptible to hitscan weapons, including Illari's Solar Rifle.

Overwatch 2 can be played on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.