Overwatch 2 is now here, bringing a massive update to the hero shooter. New modes, a new battle pass, and new heroes headline the new game, including a brand-new healer character, Kiriko. While owners of the original Overwatch will have instant access to Kiriko, new players will have to play to earn her, along with some of the original roster, or unlock her instantly by buying the premium battle pass. Here’s everything you need to know about the new healer, Kiriko.
Kiriko overview
Kiriko is a fast-moving healer with a high ceiling. She can continuously heal her teammates with primary fire, the Healing Ofuda. This sends out paper talismans that track down the teammates you are aiming at when firing them. These Ofuda don’t move particularly fast, but Kiriko’s kit is designed around sticking in the firefight, near your teammates. Her abilities give her the chance to move around a ton to avoid being taken down and while her secondary fire, the Kunai, doesn’t provide as much damage as some other healers, its quick fire and reload speed makes it handy enough to take down an enemy that gets too close.
Kiriko’s abilities
Healing Ofuda: Channel a burst of healing talismans that can seek targeted allies.
Kunai: Thrown projectile that deals increased critical damage.
Swift Step: Teleport directly to an ally.
Protection Suzu: Throw a protective charm to make allies become briefly invulnerable and cleansed of most negative effects.
Wall Climb: Jump at walls to climb over them.
Kitsune Rush Ultimate: Summon a fox spirit that rushes forward, accelerating the movement, attack speed, and cooldowns of allies that follow its path.
Play like an off-healer, heal like a main healer
Kiriko uses her Healing Ofuda talismans to keep her teammates alive.
Kiriko benefits from playing more aggressively, making her feel like an off-healer like Zenyatta or Brigitte, but her healing output matches up to the main healers like Mercy and Ana. The reason for this is that her healing isn’t limited to a single ally at a time nor is it limited by harsh cooldowns. As long as you are nearby friendlies that need healing, you can continuously fire the Healing Ofuda with no repercussions or cooldowns. Kiriko benefits from being in the action however, since her healing projectiles don’t move very quickly, meaning you need to be in the heat of it. Luckily, her Swift Step teleport can get you right next to any ally that needs help, or can be used to escape, if a teammate is close enough.
Kiriko’s cleanse makes her vital against Ana and Junker Queen
With the current Overwatch roster, Kiriko is a vital counter to Ana and Junker Queen. Both of those characters have abilities that cause anti-heal/wounds, which prevent your teammates from being healed. A friendly Ana can override the anti-heal with her own grenade, but other than that, you are forced to wait out the status effect. Kiriko’s Protection Suzu, which functions like a grenade with an area-of-effect, not only provides temporary invulnerability, but also cleanses anti-heal/wounds. Not only can Kiriko heal with the best, but she can shut down one of the most powerful aspects of both Ana’s and Junker Queen’s kits.
Kiriko fits in (almost) any team comp
In addition to providing a counter against anti-heal/wounds, Kiriko fits perfectly into nearly any team comp. Her high ceiling for healing means she can fill the main healer role and her ability to provide cleanses and a speed boost with her ultimate ability means she can sit in the off-healer slot as well. Her flaw is that she doesn’t work as well with characters that are meant to separate from the rest of the team. She can’t effectively heal a Widowmaker sitting in the back sniping, nor can she as effect with a Genji or Pharah that thrives on diving the enemy team alone. Her teleport does make it so she can get to these heroes and heal them, but that means she is leaving the rest of the team hanging. The only healer she doesn’t mesh with perfectly is Brigitte, because both characters need to be in the heat of the action to heal, but Brigitte doesn’t heal enough outside of combat for Kiriko to be able to dip out to heal others. It can work, but both healers will need to be communicating heavily.
Other Kiriko tips
Kiriko’s ultimate ability let’s the entire team move and attack faster.While the Healing Ofuda does move very quickly, it does travel relatively far and there isn’t a downside to firing them so even if a teammate is far away try to heal them.The Swift Step teleport is great for getting back into the action quickly, but don’t be afraid to use it as a swift exit too.The Kunai has a very large effective range and deals massive damage when it’s a headshot, so flinging those things whenever you see an enemy poke their head out, you might just snag a kill.It’s important to remember that the Kitsune Rush Ultimate does not provide healing. It does increase your fire rate and reload speed when you are in it, so you can heal faster, but you still need to be actually healing.The Kitsune Rush is also a great opening move to a team fight, since you get the most out of it when all of your teammates are present.
GameSpot – Game News
