Heroes of the Storm made its debut back in 2015 as a MOBA based on the many characters from the expansive Blizzard universe, which has since added a few Overwatch characters to no one’s surprise. The roster keeps growing though and now they have added yet another Overwatch fan favorite.
Following up on the addition of Tracer, Lucio, and Zarya over the last year, Heroes of the Storm is now adding the cybernetic ninja Genji into the mix. Genji is fittingly part of the assassin class in Heroes of the Storm with his highest stat being damage, while also getting a bit of a boost in abilities from his Overwatch self.
Primary Abilities
Shuriken: Throw 3 Shuriken in a spread pattern, each dealing 65 damage to the first enemy hit. Stores up to 3 charges. Shuriken’s cooldown replenishes all charges at the same time.
Deflect: Become Protected for 1.25 seconds. Any damage blocked during this period causes Genji to throw a Kunai toward the nearest enemy, prioritizing Heroes and dealing 55 damage. Damage Deflected: 0
Swift Strike: Dash forward, dealing 215 damage to all enemies in a line. Enemy Heroes that die within 2 seconds of being hit with Swift Strike cause the cooldown and mana cost to be refunded.
Heroic Abilities
Dragonblade: Unleash the Dragonblade for 8 seconds. While active, Dragonblade can be reactivated to lunge forward and slash in a huge arc, dealing 240 damage. If enemy Heroes are killed within 2 seconds of being hit by Dragonblade, Swift Strike’s cooldown is reset.
X-Strike: Perform two slashes dealing 135 damage. The slashes detonate after 1.25 seconds causing an additional 270 damage to enemies in their area.
Genji is not the only Overwatch related item to be added to Heroes of the Storm here though, as the game is getting its first Overwatch inspired map with Hanamura. It has the look of the map of the same name from Overwatch and introduces payload to the game for the first time. It won’t be a carbon copy of Overwatch’s style at all, but it is going to be interesting to see how they implement it regardless.
Genji and the Hanamura map are currently in beta and should be going live officially in the game with the upcoming 2.0 update for Heroes of the Storm. If you want to check out the Hanamura map in action, you can do so in the gameplay video below.
