At this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Blizzard revealed Kiriko, the last new launch hero for Overwatch 2. Kiriko is a fun hero whose abilities allow her to help allies and boost her teammates to victory. Don’t underestimate her damage potential, either. Her kunai blades, which act as her primary damage method, deal increased critical damage when she lands a headshot.
Accompanying Kiriko’s reveal was a deep dive into Overwatch 2‘s battle pass system and a peek into how its season-based progression will work. The game will take cues from other free-to-play titles, allowing players to unlock heroes on the free tier of the battle pass and providing a wealth of rewards for those who purchase the premium tier. While it’s all important information to have, it’s hard to deny that Kiriko was the true star of the show.
So, is Kiriko a support hero or does she belong to a different category?
Kiriko’s hero category
As revealed by Blizzard in a tweet accompanying Kiriko’s introduction video, the character is indeed a support hero. Like many supports, her abilities focus on healing and buffing her allies to assist them in battle, though she seems to have a good bit more utility than the average support hero.
Kiriko only has one healing ability, Healing Ofuda, which sees her tossing out talismans that follow and heal the allies she targets. Most of her other abilities provide buffs or other utility that help her teammates in battle. Protection Suzu provides a brief burst of invulnerability that can protect against immediate-damage abilities like Junkrat’s R.I.P. Tire. It also acts as a cleanse that removes most debuffs.
Swift Step is a movement ability that teleports her to an ally’s side, even if that ally is on the other side of a wall. Speaking of walls, her passive ability, Wall Climb, allows her to climb them, similar to Hanzo and Genji’s passive. Her ultimate, Kitsune Rush, sees her companion fox spirit running straight ahead of her, carving a path. Allies that follow it receive increased movement speed and attack speed and lower cooldowns.
Her kit seems to combine the precision aim of Zenyatta with the utility of Lúcio. It will be interesting to see exactly how players use her when Overwatch 2’s PvP enters early access on Oct. 4.
