Overwatch 2has officially announced new Support hero Kiriko, who will be joining the game’s roster of playable heroes come launch on October 4. Blizzard has been hinting at new Support hero Kiriko for years now, first teasing her existence in theKanezaka Deathmatch mapfrom 2020. Kiriko was teased again in theOverwatch 2early access release date trailer, as her fox spirit companion could be briefly seen working alongside other heroes.
Since then, there have been multiple leaks aboutOverwatch 2’s new Support hero. Now Blizzard has officially announced Kiriko as part of Tokyo Game Show, confirming details about her lore, abilities, and more. As it turns out, Kiriko’s mother is the one who trained Hanzo andGenji, and Kiriko herself trained alongside them as a child. After the fall of the Hamada clan, Kiriko joined a new group called Yokai, and that’s where she is in the currentOverwatchstoryline.
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Blizzard also detailed Kiriko’s kit inOverwatch 2. Kiriko’s primary ability is the Healing Ofuda, which sees her throw paper talismans at her allies to heal them. These talismans are fairly slow, but they home-in on their target, so players don’t have to worry about being quite as accurate as they do with other healers, like Ana, for instance. Plus, Kiriko can see her allies through walls and teleport directly to them using her Swift Step ability. The closer Kiriko is to her partners, the faster she is able to heal them.
Overwatch 2 Kiriko Abilities
Blizzard has said that it wants Kiriko to be appealing toOverwatch 2players who typically play DPS heroes, and to that end, Kiriko is no slouch in the damage department. While Kiriko will be able to use Healing Ofuda to heal her allies, her secondary fire sees her throwing deadly kunai at her enemies. The kunai does not do all that much when it comes to basic body shots, but critical hits deal a significant amount of damage.
Outside of her primary and secondary attacks, Kiriko’s other abilities include the aforementioned Swift Step and a set of bells called the Protection Suzu. Kiriko can throw Protection Suzu on the ground to cleanse herself and nearby allies of debuffs, as well as provide them with some added protection. An example given in Kiriko’s gameplay trailer sees the new Support hero utilizing the Protection Suzu to save allies from a potentially devastating Junkrat Ultimate attack. Pretty much any debuff thatOverwatchfans can think of, likeAna’s sleep dartor Junker Queen’s anti-heal, can also be countered with the Protection Suzu.
It’s clear that Kiriko’s Protection Suzu is going to be extremely helpful forOverwatch 2players, especially when used in conjunction with Swift Step, but they should keep in mind that it comes with a significant cooldown. In the meantime, Kiriko can also utilize her passive ability, which should be familiar to Genji and Hanzo players. Like the Hamada Brothers before her, Kiriko is able to climb up walls, which should greatly enhance her mobility in all ofOverwatch 2’s maps.
And finally, Kiriko’s Ultimate ability is called Kitsune Rush, and it’s what fans saw on display in theOverwatch 2early access release date trailerthis past summer. With her Ultimate, Kiriko is able to send out her fox spirit, who creates a green path marked by torii gates. Allies who walk through this path will be granted massive buffs to their movement speed, attack speed, and ability cooldown reduction. Blizzard said that the Kitsune Rush will be especially helpful forOverwatch 2players who are trying to initiate an attack on an objective, so it sounds like it will be great for situations when players find themselves stuck at choke points.
Overwatch 2 Kiriko Voice Actor
Part of the fun ofOverwatchis seeing how all the different characters interact with each other through voice lines and the like. TheOverwatchvoice actorshave always done a great job at bringing the characters to life and really letting their personalities shine, and so some may be wondering who is playing the role of Kiriko inOverwatch 2. Blizzard has confirmed that Kiriko will be voiced by Sally Amaki, who has lent her voice to various anime television and film projects over the years. Amaki has appeared in a couple of video games before, thoughOverwatch 2will easily be her highest-profile video game project to date.
Amaki will be providing the voice ofOverwatch 2’s Kiriko, and like other characters in the game, she will have plenty to say throughout the matches. However, Blizzard suggested thatOverwatch 2fans pay particular attention to Kiriko’s interactions withHanzoand Genji, as the shared history between the characters leads to some interesting conversations.
Kiriko will be joining theOverwatch 2roster alongsidenew Tank hero Junker Queenand new Damage hero Sojourn at launch. There will be no moreOverwatch 2beta tests between now and then, so fans of Blizzard’s hero-shooter will have to wait until then to see how she fits into the game.
Overwatch 2launches in early access on October 4 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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