Overwatch 2 launched on October 4th with Kiriko as the newest support hero. Kiriko learned the deadly art of ninjutsu from her mother Asa. When the Shimada can fell, Kiriko’s father was taken hostage and Kiriko had to be moved to her grandmother’s home. After years of training in the healing arts, she has returned to take on her enemies.
Overwatch 2 Kiriko’s Abilities
Kiriko’s Abilities in Overwatch offer a mix of offensive and defensive capabilities. She is primarily a healer, but her damage output is quite strong. Here is a rundown of all her Abilities.
Wall Climb (Passive): Her passive allows her to jump at walls and climb up them. It is the same passive as Genji and Hanzo, and it gives her added mobility and survivability.
Healing Ofuda (Primary Fire): Her main source of healing is her Healing Ofuda. She can store up to 10 charges that rapidly refresh. You can burst heal by holding down your primary fire button or you can toss them at your allies one at a time. Each talisman heals allies for 13 HP each and throwing them out in a burst heals allies for 26 HP.
Kunai (Secondary Fire): Kiriko’s secondary fire does 40 damage per body shot and 120 damage per headshot and holds up to 12 ammo before needing to reload. Her secondary fire has pinpoint accuracy and can potentially two-tap most heroes in the game.
Swift Step (Ability): Kiriko’s first Ability is Swift Step which allows her to teleport to allies even through other characters. It has a short 7-second cooldown and allows you to traverse up to 35 meters.
Protection Suzu (Ability): Kiriko’s Protection Suzu is an arcing projectile that makes allies immune upon impact. It also cleanses all negative effects and heals allies for 50 HP. The Ability can be used to completely shut down certain Ultimates.
Kitsune Rush (Ultimate): Kiriko’s Ultimate Ability summons a fox spirit that rushes forward and buffs all allies. Kitsune Rush buffs movement speed by 50%, maximum range by 25 meters, rate of fire by 25%, reload time by 50%, and all allied Abilities have a 60% cooldown reduction. The buffs last for 10 seconds.
Overwatch 2 Kiriko Skins
Here are all of the skins available in Overwatch 2 for Kiriko:
- Athleisure (Legendary)
- Sukajan (Legendary)
- Hinotori (Legendary – Battle Pass)
- Matsuri (Epic)
- Ajisai (Rare)
- Fuji (Rare)
- Take (Rare)
- Tanpopo (Rare)
Most of Kiriko’s skins can be purchased using legacy Overwatch tokens as well as Overwatch 2 coins. However, the Hinotori skin is exclusive to the Battle Pass. The Sukajan skin for Kiriko can be obtained for free as a Twitch drop from October 7th to October 16th by watching any Overwatch 2 stream on Twitch for six hours.
Overwatch 2 Kiriko Tips
Kiriko is designed as an aggressive support character. She can heal allies, deal tons of damage and buff her teammates. To truly master her, players need to figure out team synergies and develop an understanding of when to use her important Abilities. Here are some tips that can help you master Kiriko in Overwatch 2:
Aim for Headshots: It is important to aim for headshots with Kiriko as she has a 3X multiplier to her damage. If you are caught out of position by an enemy or need to take out an important target, always aim for the head. Since your Kunai does increase critical damage you will be able to take most enemies out in just over a second. The hero is very mechanically demanding but she has pinpoint accuracy on her weapon, which should make it easier for you to master the most lethal component of her kit.
Combine Spirit Step with Protection Suzu: Supports can see when their allies have critical health and you can use your Spirit Step to run into allies who are in danger even through walls as long as they are in range. Your Protection Suzu will grant yourself and your ally in danger immunity and you should be able to recuperate from the situation.
Use Protection Suzu to Make Game-Winning Plays: Many Ultimate Abilities can be shut down if you time your Protection Suzu right. You can completely negate all damage from D.Va or Cassidy’s Ultimate or even shut down important Abilities. You should also identify Abilities that do not get cleansed by the Ability which currently include Junkrat’s Steel Trap, Reinhardt’s Charge, Roadhog’s Chain Hook, Sigma’s Gravitic Flux, and Zarya’s Graviton Surge.
You can also enable plays with Protection Suzu by setting up Abilities for your teammates. If we use Earthshatter as an example, Reinhardt is typically prone to getting his Ultimate Ability canceled by other heroes. By making Reinhardt immune for a short duration, he can pull off his Ultimate without any disruption.
Combine Kitsune Rush With Other Abilities: Kitsune Rush can make already devastating Abilities and Ultimates become even more lethal. Storm Arrows and Whole Hog receive a massive fire rate buff which allows them to deal increased damage in a shorter duration. However, there are some inconsistencies and abilities like Particle Barrier, Projected Barrier, and Sentry Turret do not receive
When Should You Play Kiriko?
Kiriko is suitable for all maps but she works best in more aggressive team compositions. Her healing output is not that high compared to Ana or Moira but she can definitely hold her own. If your team’s other healer is a Lucio or Zenyatta, then it can be difficult to go up against enemy teams that have a lot of splash damage.
Her Protection Suzu can save your team in a pinch and she is hard to kill thanks to Spirit Dash which can get her away from danger. She is arguably on par with Lucio and Zenyatta in terms of utility and is a strongly recommended pick if you want to play her. However, the meta needs to settle down before we truly realize where she is positioned among the current roster of healers.
