‘Heroes of the Storm’ characters: Blizzard adds Genji from ‘Overwatch’

Blizzard Entertainment has officially announced that Genji from “Overwatch” will join the roster of playable characters in “Heroes of the Storm.” Genji may already be chosen by the players in the game’s 2.0 beta.

Aside from Genji, Blizzard will also add the Hanamura map, a battleground in “Overwatch ”where the new character originally resides. The map will contain new mercenaries, objectives and explosive payloads.

Genji’s abilities in “Heroes of the Storm” are almost similar with his abilities in “Overwatch.” Aside from his shuriken attacks, dashing swift strike, enemy projectile deflection and Dragonblade, his ultimate, Blizzard has given him a new heroic ability called the X-Strike.

According to his profile in Battle.net, X-Strike allows Genji to perform two slashes that deal 135 damage. “The slashes detonate after 1.25 seconds causing an additional 270 damage to enemies in their area." Meanwhile, his other abilities are as follows:

Cyber Agility

Being the cybernetic ninja that he is, Genji is given the Hero Trait Cyber Agility, which allows him to jump to a target area. Since he is an assassin, it is a perfect ability that can be used either as a gap closer or as a way to escape chasing enemies.

Shuriken

One of Genji’s Primary Abilities allows him to throw three shuriken in a spread pattern to deal 65 damage to the first enemy hit. The ability stores up to three charges and replenishes all charges at the same time.

Deflect

Here, Genji becomes protected for 1.25 seconds, making him immune to any damage. It blocks all damage dealt for the said period and causes Genji to throw a Kunai towards a nearby foe, prioritizing heroes and dealing 55 damage.

Swift Strike

Genji dashes forward and deals 215 damage to all enemies in a line. If he manages to kill an enemy hero within two seconds after being hit with the ability, Swift Strike will cause the cooldown and mana cost to be refunded, allowing it to be cast again.

Dragonblade

Genji unleashes the Dragonblade for eight seconds. While active, it can be reactivated again. Once reactivated, it will lunge forward and slash in a huge arc to deal 240 damage. If Genji kills an enemy hero after being hit by Dragonblade for two seconds, Swift Strike’s cooldown will reset.