In Overwatch 2, Kiriko is the last hero to complete the competitive game’s firing roster. Marking the third Japanese character in the game, this new support brings high healing results with amazing lethality as well.
Kiriko is the first new support character added to Overwatch in nearly three and a half years, so introducing her is a pretty big deal. She was never part of the Overwatch 2 beta, which made her brand new when Overwatch 2 launched. Overwatch 2 heroes are hard to play, and Kiriko leans on that side of the equation. While she is far from impossible to master, Kiriko is one of the more difficult supporting characters to get your head around.
This is also appropriate, as she has a lot in common with Genji, one of Overwatch’s challenging and highly rewarding DPS heroes. In fact, the game’s developers told us it was designed from the ground up to be a prop that Genji players would love to play.
However, how can this work for a processor? Just why is she so hard to master, and how does she fit in with other Overwatch 2 characters? Well, it has a great ensemble that is all about deliberate and timely execution. Once you get used to this, Kiriko is incredibly overpowered, but you can prevent your entire team from dying to the end with just one ability.
Here’s what you need to know to get closer to mastery.
Overwatch 2 Kiriko
Overwatch 2 Kiriko: Story and Background
There is a duality in Kiriko’s heart. The little ninja adopted two philosophies of maternal power in her life. Her grandmother taught her about spirituality and community, as well as her ancestral history with Kanizaka Shrine. This connection even gave her a spirit fox to accompany her.
On the flip side, her mom is a strict and disciplined ninja, who is all about taking action and standing up for what’s right. Her mother also tutored Genji and Hanzo, and Kiriko trained with them, meaning she has a strong connection to the Shimada brothers.
However, in the present, after the fall of the Shimada clan and the rise of other, less moral, criminal organizations, Kiriko works with a group of talented young yōkai, who are trying to protect the streets of Kanizaka.
Overwatch 2 Kiriko: gameplay breakdown
Kiriko is another “battle support” like Baptiste, Moira, and Zenyatta. Like these heroes, she can deal a lot of damage, and in certain situations, she can even outperform her DPS counterparts. However, it will be at the cost of your team’s recovery.
More than other support heroes, Kiriko is all about precision and timing. She has a high skill ceiling, and her offensive abilities are closer to Ginji’s, but her healing is much easier than others in her class. This is fitting since Kiriko spent some time training with a cyborg ninja when he was younger.
It has been said in the developer update that Kiriko inherited the Kunai, originally Genji’s weapon, in the early test. It’s fast and furious, and at the higher level, it’ll be powerful in the hands of players who master it, potentially putting it at the top of the Overwatch 2-tier list. However, expect growing pains before you get to that point, as it’s not as playable as most other forms of support.
Primary Fire: Ove Healing
The Healing Ofuda is a powerful healing ability and forms Kiriko’s primary support aspect. When using the Force, Kiriko throws two Ofuda’s at a time, and she has ten before she has to “reload,” meaning you can fire five bursts of healing in one turn. However, the reset does not take long.
Think of it like Moira’s healing gas, except it can track your allies over great distances. Healing disconnects again when she has to “reload”, but she also doesn’t need to charge up her healing ability again like Moira.
Tips and tricks
- Kiriko is a good healer for airborne heroes like Pharah and Echo since Healing Ofuda tracks decent distances. You don’t have to play Mercy with Pharah every time now.
- While they heal a lot, Ofudas are a healing projectile, which means they don’t heal instantly and need time to reach their target. Anticipate the next damage.
Secondary fire: kunai
Kiriko can undoubtedly do a lot of healing. However, she also has tremendous lethal strength and can eliminate opponents if she can tap heads. This killing ability comes from her secondary fire, kunai.
Kunai can be excellent in the hands of a skilled player but can also be disappointing if you lack the mechanical skill to get the most out of it. This ability can hit critical enhanced damage which means if you are accurate you can rival other DPS champions in kills. It deals disappointing body damage if you can’t hit the head, which means you might be better off healing.
Tips and tricks
- Like Baptiste and Moira, Kiriko is a balancing act of deciding when to recover and when to go on the offensive. Go for the kill, but don’t leave your tank without your massive healing output.
- Support your DPS players killing tanks. Tanks generally have larger heads, so it should be easier to deal more damage to them.
Ability 1: Quick move
Swift Step works like a flash of sorts and is unique to Overwatch. When Kiriko activates the ability, she can teleport to another player. While some might liken this to Symmetra’s Teleport, it seems to work like Sombra’s beacon… only if the beacon is another player.
Interestingly enough, this ability allows Kiriko to flash through walls and rooftops. Even if you can’t see your injured tank, you can get to it right away. The blinking distance is also great, which means that Kiriko is perhaps one of the most mobile heroes in the game, able to instantly appear anywhere on the battlefield in the blink of an eye.
Tips and tricks
- Just because you can blink at a wounded ally, doesn’t mean you have to. Blinking at someone in a no-win situation will only get you killed, too. Show restraint and only join the fights you can win.
- This is another way Kiriko can help support the airborne heroes as she can blink in front of them and then hit the battlefield as she falls.
Ability 2: Protect Suzu
Protecting Suzu is a powerful ability. If timed right, it can instantly turn the tide of battles. This ability makes Kiriko and her allies in medium radius invincible and unable to take damage for about a second.
The field of Baptiste’s immortality has been controversial since his release, and this ability does not mitigate the damage in any way. However, the trade-off here is that Protection Suzu has a short duration and has a reasonably long cooldown, so you have to choose your exact moment to save yourself and your team.
Tips and tricks
- This is an incredible ability against instant damage. It can completely negate a Junkrat Frame, Genji Blade Slam, Rein Pad, Soldier Snail Missile, or anything else that is about to kill you or the player. It’s only about time that the attacker can wait for the ability without any problem.
- This ability also clears buffs such as anti-healing from you and your allies.
Negative: climbing wall
Kiriko learned from her time training alongside Hanzo and Ginji. Spending time with the Shimada brothers meant that she adopted a passive ability, the ability to climb a wall.
This works exactly as you might imagine, as it is already in the game. Kiriko can scale vertical surfaces for a few seconds, opening up new areas for her to access and new styles that other heroes can’t perform.
It’s also a nice narrative nod to her relationship with both Genji and Hanzo.
Tips and tricks
- Sharing this negative situation with Ginji and Hanzo makes her a great partner for either of them. You and your DPS partner can climb to higher ground and work as a separate team to create a shootout with the rest of your team.
Final: Kitsune Rush
Kitsune Rush is a very powerful ultimate game that charges your team in many different ways. This is like many of the ultimate letters of support combined…as long as your team can survive in a tight spot.
When Kiriko throws Kitsune Rush, a metaphysical road appears in front of her in a straight line (it can go up and down). It features torii bows and her spirit fox running along her. Everyone benefits from movement speed, attack speed, reload speed, and reduced cooldown when you and your team are out on the road.
That’s a lot for the amateur and makes this a useful ability… in the right circumstances. You can only move in a straight line and are very confined to the end zone, so it’s only good if the terrain is suitable.
Tips and tricks
- This is the end of an excellent beginning. Especially if you have to push through a choke point, it will give you and your team an exceptionally powerful push to take up space.
- Think of which DPS pairs well with and who benefits most from the increased rate of fire, such as Soldier, Ashe, Cassidy, and more.