After many rumors and leaks, the Overwatch 2 team have revealed the new support hero Kiriko, the same one hinted at in earlier Overwatch 2 trailers. This Japanese healer’s kit revolves around teleporting to her allies, the first true cleanse ability in the game, and a Lucio-like ultimate that allows teammates to charge into fights without worry.
She runs with knives all the time. (Kunai blades, to be precise.)
Check out Kiriko’s ability kit and prepare to rush into action as an all-new support hero in Overwatch 2.
#Overwatch2 arrives free-to-play October 4. pic.twitter.com/fxM8DFo87G— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) September 15, 2022
Kiriko’s support kit explained
The Overwatch 2 team released a video showing each of her abilities in action soon after Kiriko’s official reveal.
To start, her healing comes from her Healing Ofunda ability, a channel that creates healing talismans that seek allies and heal them over time. This is shown in the video early on, at the 0:24 mark.
Next up in the video is an interesting ability for support: she can increase critical damage with her Kunai. This thread from popular Overwatch content creator EeveeA confirms it, as players got to test out Kiriko at the creator summit earlier this year. This is shown in the video at 0:34.
One of the coolest Kiriko things I haven't seen talked about yet
Her secondary, her Kunai, deal Overwatch's first 3x headshot multiplier.
Every hero in the game is 2x, besides Widow at 2.5x.Her knives do 40 per, with 120 for headshots. No falloff. pic.twitter.com/9FGT6K1Lw0
— EeveeA (@EeveeA) September 15, 2022
After that, at 0:40, we see Kiriko’s teleport ability, Swift Step. This allows her to teleport to an ally, even through walls. Much like Genji and Hanzo — who play a role in her backstory, she also can climb walls, as shown at 0:46.
Then, her most powerful abilities are shown, starting with the aforementioned cleanse ability. The Protection Suzu is a small projectile similar to an Ana grenade that removes any allies’ debuffs in its zone. It also becomes invulnerable for a very short time. At 0:53 and 1:00, players can get their first look at these in action.
Last but not least, her ultimate Kitsune Rush creates a fox spirit that runs in a path ahead of you. Teammates along this path gain increased attack speed, movement, and shorter cooldowns. For fans wanting another hero that increases movement speed like Lucio, this ultimate provides that. The video shows the ultimate at 1:09.
Kiriko launches with the game on October 4
As confirmed in the trailer, Kiriko will launch alongside the early access of Overwatch 2 on Oct. 4, 2022. She is part of the first battle pass as part of the free track.
However, players who own the original Overwatch will gain Kiriko on launch. That time to get Kiriko for free if you have the original Overwatch expires if the player doesn’t log in before the end of Season 2. By buying the premium battle pass, players will immediately get Kiriko added to the roster.
As for fans who do not own the original Overwatch, the art shows that Kiriko is part of the free battle pass at tier 55, on the sixth page out of eight. The art also shows the length of the first season, around 84 days, giving new players a lot of time to try and get Kiriko in Overwatch 2.
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