Energy-based tank who gains damage output from absorbing hits with bubbles on herself and allies. Core of Zarya-enabled dive and brawl comps; Graviton Surge is a team-wipe ultimate.
Abilities
Particle Cannon Energy beam (primary) or arcing grenade (secondary) with damage scaling on energy.
Particle Barrier Projects a shield on herself, absorbing damage to gain energy.
Projected Barrier Projects a shield on an ally, absorbing damage to gain energy.
Graviton Surge Launches a gravity bomb that pulls all nearby enemies together.
Meta Analysis
Slightly stronger at lower ranks (2.3% drop from Silver to Master), which may indicate some reliance on opponent mistakes. Strongest on Control maps (50.1% avg WR) and weakest on Push (46.8%) — a 3.3% spread across game modes. Best on Antarctic Peninsula, Busan, Samoa — maps characterized by high-ground and flank terrain, where their vertical mobility finds more angles in elevated terrain and open airspace. Struggles most on Runasapi and Suravasa (high-ground, multi-flank, long sightlines maps). Banned far more on Hybrid maps (45.7% avg) than on Flashpoint (39.7%).
Win Rate by Rank
Ban Rate by Rank
(as of 2026-07-26)
Win Rate by Map (All tiers) (per-map data as of 2026-07-26)
Playing Zarya? Strongest maps: Antarctic Peninsula, Busan, Samoa.
Kit fit (✓✓ … ✗✗) rates how well Zarya's abilities suit each map's mode and geometry — independent of the observed win rates.
Map Mode Win rate ↓ ± avg Kit fit Bans
Antarctic Peninsula's enclosed interiors bring every fight into Particle Cannon range
Busan Control 52.4% +4.1% ✓✓ 44.7% Samoa Control 51.4% +3.1% ✓ 41.7%↓ Control's single compact point on Samoa forces the close-range scraps Particle Cannon wins
Oasis Control 49.9% +1.6% ✓✓ 41.7%↓ Nepal Control 49.4% +1.1% ✓✓ 42.1% Paraiso Hybrid 48.3% -0.0% ✗ 48.0%↑ Dorado Escort 48.2% -0.1% – 46.4% Havana Escort 47.9% -0.4% ✗ 45.7% Rialto Escort 47.6% -0.7% – 43.5% Aatlis Flashpoint 47.5% -0.8% ✓✓ 40.4%↓ Ilios Control 47.2% -1.1% ✓ 40.2%↓ On paper Lijiang Tower's enclosed interiors bring every fight into Particle Cannon range — but the numbers disagree (-1.8pp vs their average).
Suravasa Flashpoint 45.8% -2.5% ✓✓ 38.7%↓ On paper Flashpoint fights on Suravasa collapse onto tight capture zones where Particle Cannon does its best work — but the numbers disagree (-2.5pp vs their average).
