October 2022 was when the support hero, Kiriko, was released in Overwatch 2. With her efficient healing abilities, critical hitting kunai, and having one of the strongest support ultimates makes this hero a force to be reckoned with.
To understand the most effective approach to playing Kiriko we will examine her abilities, ideal allies, and which enemies she should stand clear of.
Who is Kiriko?
She is a versatile support hero.
She can heal efficiently, cleanse negative effects from enemies, and deal significant damage with her kunai. Plus, she has one of the best support ultimates in the game.
Tips On How to Effectively Play Kiriko
1. Don’t Rush Placing Kiriko's Ultimate
When Kiriko releases her ultimate there is a small delay between the time you cast it and the moment the Kitsune Rush creates a path. While it’s less than a second, make sure you take this into account when using this ability.
The Kitsune Rush can easily be stopped by uneven terrain,other abilities, and allies, so make sure you are efficiently placing this ultimate at the right moment. Otherwise, you reduce the effect your ultimate will have.
2. Headshots Are Your Best Friend
Kiriko holds 12 kunai projectiles. Each kunai causes 40 damage generally; however, a direct headshot causes critical damage of 120. Meaning you can easily kill enemies in two direct hits.
So, it’s most effective if you have great aim with Kiriko.
Once you master this secondary weapon you will be a powerful foe.
3. Use Wall Climb to Your Advantage
You can easily make your role as Kiriko better by using Wall Climb.
If you respawn, sometimes simply climbing over a wall or building allows you to get to the payload faster.
You can also find some high coverage to get a quick and easy headshot on enemies.
Alternatively, you could be getting high coverage to attack enemies that are by themselves allowing you to easily kill them before anyone can save them.
4. Watch Your Team
Keep an eye on your team as Kiriko.
As a heavy-handed healer, you are relied on for the majority of heals since your talismans heal 23 HP in bursts of two.
Keep an eye out for the indicators that warn you that characters are below 50% HP; they will have the word critical written on the hero.
Now, if your team members are getting seriously low on health then they will have this orange outline.
As Kiriko, focus on the outlined orange allies first, then your other allies as needed.
5. Swift Step Carefully
Swift Step is an ability of Kiriko’s that allows you to teleport to allies within a 35-meter distance, even through walls.
You could turn a 1v2 fight into a 2v2, but be cautious swift stepping to help your teammates, as they may be too late to save, getting yourself killed for no reason.
Learning to know when and when not to Swift Step is key to playing Kiriko, and the more efficient you can get that down the better player you will become.
Kiriko’s Abilities
Protection Suzu
Cleansing negative effects using Protective Suzu
Upon impact, allies in the area become briefly invulnerable and are cleansed of negative effects.
It can eliminate Ana’s anti-healing grenade, Junkrat’s Tire, a swipe of a Genji blade, a Soldier helix Rocket, or anything else that is about to kill you or a player.
Additionally, the Protection Suzu heals allies in the area for 50 HP. This ability has a cooldown of 14 seconds.
Kunai
12 projectiles that Kiriko individually throws that deal 40 damage and can give increased critical damage of 120.
TIP: Aim for headshots when using this Secondary fire, as they do critical hit damage.
To efficiently play as Kiriko you should target tanks with your team, as they have larger hitboxes.Swift Step
Teleport directly to an ally within 35 meters, even through walls.
This ability shortly allows Kiriko to be invincible, giving you time to heal your allies without getting attacked right away. This ability has a cooldown of 7 seconds.
TIP: Show restraint and only join fights you can win.
Healing Ofuda
Channel a burst of 10 golden healing talismans that can seek targeted allies within 35 meters.
They don’t heal instantly, so make sure you are timing these right and anticipate additional damage coming to your allies.
Make sure you are looking at targeted allies to ensure they are getting healed, otherwise the talismans are blue!
TIP: Can be useful for tracking decent distances for airborne heroes like Echo or Pharah
Kitsune Rush
Kiriko summoning her fox spirit, Kitsune Rush to ambush enemy team
Summons a fox spirit that accelerates the movement and attack speed by 30%, 50% reload speed/rate of fire, and reduces cooldowns of allies that follow its path by 2.
This ability can be used efficiently with several heroes that have increased fire rate, like Soldier, Cassidy, and BOB, making them lethal assassins.
Wall climb
A passive ability that allows Kiriko to jump at walls to climb up them.
You can access higher ground to get away from crossfire or to push with characters like Genji and Hanzo that share a similar ability.
You could also use this ability to go after heroes, like widow, who may not have allies nearby.
Best Kiriko Combos
Roadhog
Kiriko and Roadhog are a match made in heaven.
Kiriko’s Protection Suzu ability can help cleanse many of Roadhog's weaknesses.
One of his weaknesses are created by the support hero, Ana, who will throw her anti-healing grenade on Roadhog causing his ability, Take a Breather, useless.
With your role as Kiriko, you can effectively cleanse the anti-healing grenade, allowing Roadhog to play with ease without remaining in danger.
Learning the way around your Protection Suzu ensures a more efficient Kiriko player.
Zenyatta
Zenyatta is one of the OG supports. He is known as more of a squishy support but has a powerful damage headshot.
Now add the discord orb on the enemy, he does 30% more damage.
He carries 25 orbs and can fire every 0.4 seconds: making him a fearful companion. With Kiriko’s Kitsune Rush it increases the movement and attack speed by 30% and with a 50% in rate of fire speed and reload allows Zenyatta to let loose and release absolute mayhem among enemies. Direct headshots would be instant death on supports and DPS, as they have no way to escape the chaos unfolding in front of them.
If you effectively place your Kitsune Rush as Kiriko, then this duo would be DEADLY.
Who Counters Kiriko?
Mei
Mei’s primary fire reduces enemy speed by 40 % and deals 100 damage per second, making it difficult for Kiriko to teleport or climb away causing her to die super quick.
Mei can also ruin Kiriko’s ultimate, Kitsune Rush, by placing her ice wall in front of it. This puts an obstacle in the way, preventing any of Kiriko’s teammates from dealing significant damage to the enemy team.
Widowmaker
This long-ranged sniper hero is the ideal counter for Kiriko. She can easily eliminate Kiriko with one completely charged critical shot, which deals 300 damage.
This gives no time for Kiriko to save herself by Swift Step or climbing away.
