The cyborg ninja Genji will soon be the latest member of the Overwatch squad to take up the fight in Heroes of the Storm. Blizzard announced today that the one-time "carefree youngest scion of the Shimada clan," who was grafted into a cyborg body by Overwatch after his older brother Hanzo hung a job on him, will enter the arena as "an opportunistic, highly-mobile Assassin who can tear apart a weak backline."
Genji's basic abilities are Shuriken, which enables him to fling three throwing stars in a "spread pattern," each damaging the first enemy it hits; Deflect, which grants protection for 1.25 seconds, during which time he'll automatically throw a Kunai at the nearest enemy when blocking damage; and Swift Strike, a forward dash that deals damage to all enemies in a line.
His Heroic abilities include Dragonblade, a recreation of his Overwatch ultimate that lasts for eight seconds, and X-Strike, a pair of perpendicular slashes—ie like an X—that deals initial damage and then ignites after 1.25 seconds, causing additional area of effect damage.
Genji will arrive in Heroes of the Storm alongside a new map called Hanamura, "a large two-lane battleground set within the sprawling grounds of Shimada Castle." Hanamura is a payload map, and enemy cores can't be damaged by direct attack. They can only be knocked out by payloads, which can be made more powerful by destroying enemy Forts and Keeps. The map will include new mercenaries, objectives, and a new "Mega Enforcer" boss, which "requires solid teamwork to take down, and damages the enemy core once it's defeated."
Blizzard hasn't announced a rollout date for Genji, but the Hanamura map is scheduled to make its Nexus debut on April 25.
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