I don’t make a lot of concept, so some Numbers might be too high. I hope you’ll enjoy it :-)
Combat Trait
1
Energy
Each time Zarya's Personal Barrier or Shield Ally absorbs 12 damage, her Energy is increased by 1. Each point of Energy increases Zarya's damage by 2%. After 1 second, Energy decays by 3 per second.
2
To the Limit
While above 45 Energy, Zarya’s Basic Attack size is increased by 35%
Primary Abilities
1
Particle Grenade
Cooldown: 8 / 0.75 seconds
Launch a particle grenade that deals 72 damage to enemies within the area. Deals 50% damage to Structures.
Stores up to 4 charges.
2
PARTICLE BARRIER
Cooldown: 11 / 3
Grants a Hero a Shield that absorbs 490 damage for 3 seconds.
Stores up to 2 charges
3
Cannon Swing
Cooldown: 8
Zarya swings her powerful Particle Cannon and after 0.25 seconds deals 30 damage and knocks themies in arc in front of her. More enemies hit will reduce knockback.
Heroic Abilities
1
Graviton Surge
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Launch a gravity bomb that detonates after 1 second and draws enemy Heroes toward the center for 3 seconds.
2
Expulsion Zone
Cooldown: 40 seconds
Launch a gravity bomb that deals 124 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.
Level 1
Demolitions Expert Quest: For every 5 enemy Heroes hit by Particle Grenade, its recharge rate lowers by 0.375 seconds, up to 3 seconds. Reward: Once Particle Grenade has hit 40 enemy Heroes, its radius is increased by 15%. I am the Strongest
When Zarya uses Particle Barrier on herself, barrier absorbs 120 more damage. Hit Me
Damage absorbed by Zarya's Shields contributes 15% more Energy.
Level 4
Amplification Barrier
Shielding Allied hero increases it
Level 7
Feel the heat
While at or above 60 energy your basic attack slows enemies by 20%. Damage against enemies in melee range from basic attacks is increased by 20% Pinpoint Accuracy
Particle Grenade deals 30 more damage and Slows Movement Speed by 20% for 2 seconds to enemies hit by the center of the blast. Unstopabble Competitor
When Zarya is stunned she gains Particle Barrier. This effect has 60 seconds Cooldown. Knockout
When enemy hit with Cannon Swing hits terrain, it will receive 50% more damage and will be stunned for 1 second. More Heroes hit reduces bonus by 10% and stun duration by 0.2 seconds
Level 13
Maximum charge
Activate to Gain 15 energy instantly. Cooldown: 45 seconds Gambit: Increase Maximum energy by 30. Lose 10 points of this bonus each time you die. Strong as the Mountain
If Zarya attacks exactly one enemy her cooldowns regenerate 25% faster Grenadier
After activation first Particle Grenade you use will Deal 15% more damage over 2 seconds, and 100% more damage to shields. Cooldown: 25 seconds
Level 16
Plasmathrower
While at or above 75 energy attacking Heroes for more than 1.5 second causes them to burn for 3 seconds. While burning they explode every second dealing 35 damage to all nearby enemies Explosive Barrier
Upon expiration or breaking, Particle Barrier explodes, dealing 110 damage to nearby enemies. Deadlift
Increase Cannon Swing range by 20% and Zarya swings around herself instead of an arch
Level 20
Gravity Kills
Graviton Surge deals 160 damage over it
I often hear Zarya called 'the most boring hero in HotS', and while I'm not one to say that the interpretation is wrong, her kit does tend to be a little bit linear. Making her into a tank is also something fairly frequently suggested, so I'll take a look at what you've got.
First and foremost, giving her a peel tool baseline is a good move. Naturally you'd need to reduce her power elsewhere, but in terms of letting her actually function as a tank, this is a good step towards that. That said: Absolutely nix the part about the ability being weaker against groups. I tend to see people trying to put 'value cappers' on moves on HeroesFire, and it's antithetical to the kind of thing AoE moves should be designed to do. Having the value of the move be variable is a good thing, it adds skill expression and rewards players who use moves at the most optimal of times. It is very similar to Hogger's Q, but as long as it isn't stunning people that get knocked into walls, it's fine. I think one of the real problems here is that Zarya lacks the mobility to make critical use of this tool. Not suggesting that Zarya should get mobility, just that it's something to be aware of.
As for the bubble changes... eh, it's fine. I would have probably made it so a single hero can't be bubbled if they were recently bubbled, as otherwise it becomes too easy for Zarya to become frustrating, since waiting out a bubble is an important part of her counterplay.
To the Limit being baseline is kinda needless (and as an extension of her other trait, it wouldn't need its own name), and really could have been made into something more flexible if it's going to be baseline, like "Each time Zarya's Particle Barrier absorbs 12 damage, her Energy is increased by 1. Each point of Energy increases Zarya's damage by 2%, and her basic attack size/range by .5%". After 1 second, Energy decays by 3 per second.
As for some problematic talents...
Together we are Strong: Synergizes overly well with AA heroes, and forces Zarya to pick this when there's a Raynor or Valla around. Becomes extra problematic because it takes too much out of Zarya's hands. Her player's skill is irrelevant to this ability, and so it should just be nix'd.
Knockout: Turning the swing into Hogger's using a talent is kinda nasty. That said, I do think a way of giving this move a way to stun is fine, but the conditions should be more unique to Zarya. My suggestion would be to either A) Tie it to her Energy (a bit messy since Zarya players always have high energy), or B) Since you like the idea of the move being used on single targets, make it "If Cannon Swing hits only one Hero, that Hero takes 50% increased damage and is stunned for .75 seconds".
Maximum Charge: Conceptually down with the Gambit part... but the activated part is pathetically weak.
Strong as the Mountain: Antithetical to the unique elements of Zarya's basic attack. Characters with AoE moves should be rewarded for maximizing their targets, outside of certain situations where the moveset as a whole calls for it.
Unyielding Defender/Pain is Temporary: Just confusing what these do based on the wording.
There are some valid ideas here, but overall I think things need to be shuffled just a bit more if you want them to work.
As-is, I'd say the original Zarya's problems tend to come down to:
-Energy Management, while a good idea for rewarding well-timed bubbles, is so easy to maintain that it doesn't end up factoring into her gameplan very much.
-Expulsion Zone is too niche, versus just how good Graviton Surge is.
-Her AA is more interesting than it is fun.
-Q is really lacking in use-cases outside of just generalist damage, and the multiple charges really limit what can be done with them, talent-wise.
I like some of the ideas. Although I'm not sure if To The Limit as a baseline talent is going to help her in anyway since it's not really a useful talent in its current state. Also not really sure about Magnetic Zone cause the ult pushes enemies away, not sure if pulling them towards it is a good idea.
Can you please shrink the size of images to 64x64? Cannon Swing...i'm not sure if Zarya actually needs Hogger's Q. It doesn't fit her gameplay at all. Together we are Strong is OP. Blizzard deleted such talent of Tassadar for a reason. Maybe reduce the bonus to 25%? Defensive Shielding should give 20 Armor instead of 25 IMO. Knockout literally turns this ability into Staggering Blow, but far stronger. Zarya should NOT have Stuns. Maximum Charge looks underwhelming. Maybe reduce its cooldown to 20 seconds? Explosive Barrier is weak compared to other lvl 16 talents. Maybe make it Slow enemies hit by 20%?
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Heroes of the Storm Build Guides
Demolitions Expert
I am the Strongest
Hit Me
Amplification Barrier
Feel the heat
Pinpoint Accuracy
Unstopabble Competitor
Maximum charge
Strong as the Mountain
Grenadier
Plasmathrower
Explosive Barrier
Gravity Kills
First and foremost, giving her a peel tool baseline is a good move. Naturally you'd need to reduce her power elsewhere, but in terms of letting her actually function as a tank, this is a good step towards that. That said: Absolutely nix the part about the ability being weaker against groups. I tend to see people trying to put 'value cappers' on moves on HeroesFire, and it's antithetical to the kind of thing AoE moves should be designed to do. Having the value of the move be variable is a good thing, it adds skill expression and rewards players who use moves at the most optimal of times. It is very similar to Hogger's Q, but as long as it isn't stunning people that get knocked into walls, it's fine. I think one of the real problems here is that Zarya lacks the mobility to make critical use of this tool. Not suggesting that Zarya should get mobility, just that it's something to be aware of.
As for the bubble changes... eh, it's fine. I would have probably made it so a single hero can't be bubbled if they were recently bubbled, as otherwise it becomes too easy for Zarya to become frustrating, since waiting out a bubble is an important part of her counterplay.
To the Limit being baseline is kinda needless (and as an extension of her other trait, it wouldn't need its own name), and really could have been made into something more flexible if it's going to be baseline, like "Each time Zarya's Particle Barrier absorbs 12 damage, her Energy is increased by 1. Each point of Energy increases Zarya's damage by 2%, and her basic attack size/range by .5%". After 1 second, Energy decays by 3 per second.
As for some problematic talents...
Together we are Strong: Synergizes overly well with AA heroes, and forces Zarya to pick this when there's a Raynor or Valla around. Becomes extra problematic because it takes too much out of Zarya's hands. Her player's skill is irrelevant to this ability, and so it should just be nix'd.
Knockout: Turning the swing into Hogger's using a talent is kinda nasty. That said, I do think a way of giving this move a way to stun is fine, but the conditions should be more unique to Zarya. My suggestion would be to either A) Tie it to her Energy (a bit messy since Zarya players always have high energy), or B) Since you like the idea of the move being used on single targets, make it "If Cannon Swing hits only one Hero, that Hero takes 50% increased damage and is stunned for .75 seconds".
Maximum Charge: Conceptually down with the Gambit part... but the activated part is pathetically weak.
Strong as the Mountain: Antithetical to the unique elements of Zarya's basic attack. Characters with AoE moves should be rewarded for maximizing their targets, outside of certain situations where the moveset as a whole calls for it.
Unyielding Defender/Pain is Temporary: Just confusing what these do based on the wording.
There are some valid ideas here, but overall I think things need to be shuffled just a bit more if you want them to work.
As-is, I'd say the original Zarya's problems tend to come down to:
-Energy Management, while a good idea for rewarding well-timed bubbles, is so easy to maintain that it doesn't end up factoring into her gameplan very much.
-Expulsion Zone is too niche, versus just how good Graviton Surge is.
-Her AA is more interesting than it is fun.
-Q is really lacking in use-cases outside of just generalist damage, and the multiple charges really limit what can be done with them, talent-wise.
Cannon Swing...i'm not sure if Zarya actually needs Hogger's Q. It doesn't fit her gameplay at all.
Together we are Strong is OP. Blizzard deleted such talent of Tassadar for a reason. Maybe reduce the bonus to 25%?
Defensive Shielding should give 20 Armor instead of 25 IMO.
Knockout literally turns this ability into Staggering Blow, but far stronger. Zarya should NOT have Stuns.
Maximum Charge looks underwhelming. Maybe reduce its cooldown to 20 seconds?
Explosive Barrier is weak compared to other lvl 16 talents. Maybe make it Slow enemies hit by 20%?