Genji Talents
Welcome to our Talents page for Genji. Here, we give you an overview of how strong each of Genji's talents is. Then, we present several viable builds, before analyzing each talent row separately, so that you can make informed decisions.
Genji's Talent Build
Level | Choices |
---|---|
1 | ✓ ✓ ✘︎ |
4 | ✓ ? ? |
7 | ✓ ? ✓ |
10 | ✓ ✓ |
13 | ✓ ✓ ? |
16 | ? ✓ ✘︎ |
20 | ✓ ✓ ✘︎ ? |
Genji's Talent Build Cheatsheet
Shuriken Build
RecommendedThe Shuriken Build focuses primarily on getting the most out of your Shingan talent. The key to playing this build is to be as close as you can to your enemy target, shotgunning your shurikens to trigger Shingan. Zanshin allows for aggressive gameplay to finish off targets in close combat. If you cannot complete Zanshin any time soon, or, if you prefer cooldown reduction on your Heroic Ability, Living Weapon is a great choice, too.
Swift Strike Build
SituationalGenji's Swift Strike Build is a high skill-cap Build that focuses on Genji slicing and dicing his way through the enemy team, aiming to get as many cooldown resets and Mana cost refunds on Swift Strike as possible. Timing is crucial when playing this Build, as Genji needs to make sure to quickly execute an individual target in order to get his combo rolling. Activating Dragonblade shortly after using Swift Strike usually allows Genji to deal a heavy amount of burst damage. However, remember that he is still very susceptible to enemy Stuns and Roots, as they can completely shut down his momentum. Consequently, wait until some of those crowd control Abilities have been used before recklessly diving deep into the enemy lines.
ARAM Build
ARAMGenji's ARAM build is very cooldown-dependent and you likely want to wait with engaging until you have Deflect up. Due to the nature of ARAM games, it's very easy for Genji to secure kills and get out safely with Swift Strike resets.
Level 1 Talents for Genji
Hitting an enemy Hero with Swift Strike increases Genji's Movement Speed by 30% for 3 seconds.
While mounted the range of Cyber Agility is increased by 70%, its cooldown is reduced by 14 seconds, and it Slows enemy Heroes in its landing area by 30% for 2 seconds.
Jumping over terrain with Cyber Agility increases Movement Speed by 25%, and grants Stealth, for 4 seconds.
Discussion
Swift as the Wind is our recommended Talent at Level 1 because it is the safest to get value from. Hitting an enemy Hero with Swift Strike will happen a lot during the game, whereas the other two Talents can be considered situational at best.
Agile Dismount allows Genji to engage from a larger distance while mounted. This can be used offensively to chase down retreating targets or defensively to escape pursuing enemies.
Pathfinder requires Genji to use Cyber Agility in order to jump over terrain, which is a requirement he cannot always meet. Consequently, this Talent will likely end up being rather unimportant.
Level 4 Talents for Genji
Quest: Hit enemy Heroes with Shuriken.
Reward: After hitting 30 Heroes, Shuriken damage is increased by 25.
Reward: After hitting 60 Heroes, Cyber Agility now refunds 3 charges of Shuriken.
Enemies hit by the end of Swift Strike take an additional 134 (+4% per level) damage after 1 second.
After Genji blocks 330 (+4% per level) damage with Deflect, activate to release a Dragon Claw, dealing 190 (+4% per level) damage to all nearby enemies.
Discussion
Shuriken Mastery provides Genji with stronger poke the more targets he hits throughout the game. This Talent will accumulate a lot of extra damage from a safe distance and should usually be completed relatively quickly, which makes it a solid choice.
Strike At The Heart grants a lot of burst damage if you manage to hit enemy Heroes at the end of your Swift Strike and should be picked if playing the Swift Strike Build.
Dragon Claw can be a useful Talent if you think you can manage getting at least two uses of it during a teamfight. The key to properly utilizing Dragon Claw is to charge it before a teamfight, either through baiting some poke damage from enemy Heroes, Mercenaries, or multiple Minions. Once you engage in a teamfight, always use Dragon Claw before you pop your Deflect to recharge it and potentially securing a second Dragon Claw.
Level 7 Talents for Genji
When Deflect ends, Genji gains a Shield equal to 100% of the damage blocked for 4 seconds.
Deflected damage reduces the cooldown of Deflect by 2 seconds, up to a maximum of 10 seconds.
Using Cyber Agility grants 50 Spell Armor for 4 seconds.
Passive: Genji dodges 1 Heroic Basic Attack every 5 seconds.
Discussion
Augmented Guard provides a Shield that further protects Genji. This Talent is great, should the enemy team consist of enemy Heroes with hard-hitting Abilities such as Li-Ming or Chromie.
Perfect Defense reduces the cooldown of Deflect, which is Genji's only defensive tool and as such which is crucial to his survival during team fights. This Talent is great if the enemy team consists of Heroes with frequent damage hits, such as Tracer or Tassadar.
Cyber Shield can be worth picking if the enemy team solely relies on Ability damage by picking Heroes like Jaina or Ragnaros or if the enemy team consists mainly of Basic Attack-dependent Assassins such as Illidan or Valla.
Level 10 Talents for Genji
- Mana: 75
- Cooldown: 100 seconds
Unleash the Dragonblade for 8 seconds. While active, Dragonblade can be reactivated to lunge forward and slash in a huge arc, dealing 240 (+4% per level) damage.
- Mana: 70
- Cooldown: 60 seconds
Perform two slashes dealing 145 (+4% per level) damage. The slashes detonate after 1.25 seconds causing an additional 290 (+4% per level) damage to enemies in their area.
Discussion
In this section we discuss when and why to pick a given Heroic Ability. If you want to read how they work in detail and/or you are looking for some tips on how to use them, check them out on the Abilities and Strategy page.
Dragonblade turns Genji into a highly mobile and lethal Melee Assassin. Keep in mind that Shuriken cannot be used while Dragonblade is active. It is usually a good idea to activate Dragonblade as soon as you spot a severely wounded enemy Hero at the brink of death. However, it is of utmost importance to carefully check on the enemy team's crowd control Abilities before activating Dragonblade. There is nothing more frustrating than getting Stunned, Rooted, or Silenced while Genji's Heroic Ability is active.
X-Strike is a strong damage Ability. While it may be harder to execute than Dragonblade, X-Strike can act as an escape mechanism that allows Genji to dodge incoming burst damage and crowd control only to strike back a few moments later. Keep in mind that X-Strike can be used to cover short distances in order to jump over impassable terrain, for instance. To get the most damage out of X-Strike, try to cast it on a Stunned or Rooted target. The strikes overlap on anyone beneath Genji, granting a lot of burst damage.
Level 13 Talents for Genji
Hitting an enemy with all 3 Shuriken deals 115 (+4% per level) bonus damage.
Each enemy Hero hit with Swift Strike reduces its cooldown by 3 seconds.
Increase Genji's Basic Attack range by 1. Each time Genji hits an enemy Hero with a Basic Attack, increase his Basic Attack damage by 1% for 3 seconds, stacking up to 15%.
Discussion
Shingan should be picked if you chose Shuriken Mastery at Level 4. Admittedly, it is hard to hit a single target with all three Shuriken projectiles, however, if successfully executed, Shingan will deal an outstanding amount of bonus damage. Keep in mind that you should never jump into a team aggressively in order to hit targets from point blank range just to proc Shingan's bonus effect damage.
Flow Like Water is a great Talent to trigger the bonuses of other Swift Strike-related Talents, such as Swift as the Wind or Strike At The Heart, more frequently.
Way Of The Shimada is a very strong Talent as it increases Genji's range, allowing him to poke a bit more aggressively. The key to playing with this Talent is stacking up the Attack damage as much as possible on the enemy frontline before diving into their backline. It also allows Genji to reliably chase the enemy squishies as they try to run to safety.
Level 16 Talents for Genji
Deflect also deals an additional 33% of the damage blocked.
After 1 second, Swift Strike deals an additional 125 (+4% per level) damage to all enemies in the area.
Each enemy Hero hit by Swift Strike increases the damage of the next Swift Strike by 30%. This bonus stacks up to 3 times.
Discussion
Reflect pairs well with Perfect Defense at Level 7 and Zanshin at Level 20, in particular. Choose this Talent to further punish fast-attacking Heroes (for example Tracer), given they do not play around it.
Final Cut's 1-second time window proves to be short enough to provide a reliable source of extra damage. After unlocking a cooldown reset for Swift Strike, Final Cut can be an extremely strong damage tool.
Steady Blade requires Genji to consistently hit enemy Heroes, which is a requirement that cannot always be met, not to mention that Final Cut just does a lot more damage in general.
Level 20 Talents for Genji
Each time Dragonblade hits an enemy Hero, the duration of Dragonblade is increased by 0.5 seconds. If a Hero is killed within 1.5 seconds of being hit by Dragonblade, Swift Strike's cooldown is reset.
Each enemy Hero hit by X-Strike reduces its cooldown by 10 seconds.
Shuriken now pierce all enemies hit. Swift Strike's refund grants 1 charge of Shuriken.
Quest: Block 6500 damage with Deflect, including damage blocked so far.
Reward: Deflect hits all nearby enemy Heroes.
Discussion
The Dragon Becomes Me is a strong upgrade after picking Dragonblade at Level 10. By hitting multiple enemy Heroes at the same time, Dragonblade's duration can be extended significantly, which increases Genji's chances of resetting Swift Strike's cooldown. It is worth mentioning that this Talent gains a lot of value if the enemy team composition features a lot of melee Heroes who tend to clump and thus get hit more easily by Dragonblade.
Living Weapon is a bit of risky Talent to pick at Level 20, as it fully relies on X-Strike to hit several enemy Heroes in order to get any value from it. However, if X-Strike is used diligently, the cooldown reduction Living Weapon provides cannot be underestimated. In a best case scenario, Genji will be able to use the Ability several times in one team fight, which is going to inflict tremendous amounts of damage onto the enemy team.
Sharpened Stars adds a lot more waveclear to Genji's Shuriken and does offer decent synergy with Shuriken Mastery at Level 4. However, this Talent usually comes too late to have a significant impact on Genji's overall combat performance.
Zanshin allows Genji to deal heavy damage to all nearby enemy Heroes at the same time, which becomes particularly powerful with the cooldown reduction Perfect Defense at Level 7 provides you with.
Changelog
- 25 May 2022: Updated builds and talents.
- 08 Feb. 2022: Updated builds and talents.
- 28 Oct. 2020: Builds and talents updated.
- 23 Sep. 2020: Builds updated.
- 08 Aug. 2020: Builds updated
- 05 Jun. 2020: Updated talents to reflect new patch.
- 29 Mar. 2020: Updated talent explanations.
- 24 Nov. 2019: Reviewed guide and no changes are needed.
- 23 Aug. 2019: Reviewed guide and no changes are needed.
- 08 May 2018: Updated Genji's talents in accordance with the most recent Balance Updates.
- 29 May 2017: Updated Genji's Level 1 talents and changed Agile Dismount from Not Recommended to Recommended.
- 21 May 2017: Changed Genji's Level 16 talents and changed Pathfinder from not recommended to recommended.
- 30 Apr. 2017: Explained in better terms why we think that Living Weapon is not a desirable talent.
More Ranged Assassin Guides
Outofmilk is an avid Heroes of the Storm player, and has been playing this game since the first wave of Alpha invites. He currently plays around the Grandmaster / high Master area and is now here to share his knowledge with you.
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