The latest hero from Overwatch 2, Kiriko, is now playable in competitive mode. What she can do and what you need to be careful of, we reveal here.
It has been nearly two weeks since the launch of Overwatch 2, and the grace period for the newest hero Kiriko has now ended. She has been released from her “fun hell” and can now play with the real heroes – in competitive mode.
How can you play Kiriko? If you want to play Kiriko in competitive mode, you must first unlock her. This has already happened automatically if you owned the original version of Overwatch (1). Alternatively, you need to level up the Battle Pass to level 55, and then you will receive Kiriko for free.
If you haven’t started playing Overwatch 2 yet: Unlocking through the Battle Pass takes about 40-50 hours of gameplay, although it goes a bit faster if you efficiently complete daily and weekly challenges.
What can Kiriko do? Kiriko is a support character and thus a healer. Like many heroes, she needs solid targeting skills to be played efficiently. Her healing charms (primary fire) reach the target only if you accurately aim at friendly allies.
However, Kiriko can also deal solid damage. Her kunai do 40 damage on a normal hit and triple that on a headshot – a whopping 120 damage points.
Her Suzu grants nearby allies invincibility for one second and removes all negative effects on the target. The Suzu also has a slight “knockback,” so it can push enemies off a cliff.
Kiriko can teleport to allies, even through walls. This allows her to always escape, attack, and support the hero who needs healing.
As an ultimate ability, she conjures a blue area where allies can move faster and attack and reload significantly quicker. Cooldowns of abilities also drastically recharge in this area, making the ultimate the perfect space to lead the team to victory.
Lastly, like Genji and Hanzo, Kiriko can climb walls and reach places that are inaccessible to other heroes.
This is what the community says: In the Overwatch 2 community, the “ranked release” of Kiriko is already being passionately discussed. Most seem to agree that Kiriko is a very strong character with many cool abilities – but it still takes a lot of practice to really utilize them effectively. As stated in the Overwatch subreddit:
- “Her kit is good, but the people playing her are bad. So she’s okay.”
- “She is the first hero since Ashe who doesn’t feel broken at launch.”
- “Kiriko is a perfect example of ‘can do everything but nothing perfectly.’ She can deal quite respectable healing and damage, but unless you get a lot of kills or your teammates are bad, Kiriko will be outperformed by DPS characters and often outshined by the other healer.”
What is your opinion on Kiriko? Are you already dominating the battlefield with the healer? Or is the character more of a disappointment?
Lastly, like Genji and Hanzo, Kiriko can climb walls and reach places that are inaccessible to other heroes.
This is what the community says: In the Overwatch 2 community, the “ranked release” of Kiriko is already being passionately discussed. Most seem to agree that Kiriko is a very strong character with many cool abilities – but it still takes a lot of practice to really utilize them effectively. As stated in the Overwatch subreddit:
- “Her kit is good, but the people playing her are bad. So she’s okay.”
- “She is the first hero since Ashe who doesn’t feel broken at launch.”
- “Kiriko is a perfect example of ‘can do everything but nothing perfectly.’ She can deal quite respectable healing and damage, but unless you get a lot of kills or your teammates are bad, Kiriko will be outperformed by DPS characters and often outshined by the other healer.”
What is your opinion on Kiriko? Are you already dominating the battlefield with the healer? Or is the character more of a disappointment?
