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Franchiseoverwatch This is from the Overwatch universe.


The outcome was never in doubt.


Damage (8/10) Utility (5/10) Survivability (4/10) Complexity (6/10)

Hanzo is a Ranged Assassin Hero from the Overwatch universe.

Once heir to the Shimada clan's criminal empire, Hanzo abandoned his birthright after he almost killed his younger brother. He now strives to perfect his skills as a warrior, and sees the Nexus and its endless conflict as the ideal training ground.

Hanzo is a skillful Assassin who deals tremendous damage from long range, he specializes in scouting and taking out enemies from a distance.

Background[]

Upon the death of his father, the clan elders instructed Hanzo to straighten out his wayward younger brother so that he, too, might help rule the Shimada empire. When his brother refused, Hanzo was forced to kill him. This act broke Hanzo's heart and drove him to reject his father's legacy, ultimately leading him to abandon the clan and all that he had worked so hard to attain.

Now, Hanzo travels the world, perfecting his skills as a warrior, attempting to restore his honor and put the ghosts of his past to rest.

Gameplay Summary[]

Strengths[]

  • Very long range on his abilities, having an excellent poke potential.
  • Flexible talent tree that allows him to adjust to different situations.
  • Great mobility thanks to Natural Agility.
    • Can instantly mount after using Natural Agility if Mounted Archery is taken at level 13.
  • Storm Bow can be charged to greatly increase its range. Hanzo can move while channeling.
  • Scatter Arrow can deal absurdly high damage in closed spaces, where the split arrows are more likely to hit the same target.
  • Both Storm Bow and Scatter Arrow can be talented to pierce opponents through Piercing Arrows at level 16.
  • Sonic Arrow is a very potent scouting ability akin to Scout Drone, but covers a larger area and can deal damage.
  • Both Heroic abilities are powerful follow-ups.
  • Dragonstrike can deal obscene amount of damage if well timed, specially if the enemy team is under some sort of crowd control.
  • Dragon's Arrow has global range, and its damage and stun duration increases over distance, which makes it great for surprise attacks or to chase opponents.
    • In addition, its level 20 upgrade, Play of the Game, allows Hanzo to have global presence and travel to any point in the map.
  • Can deal increased damage to shields with Shieldbreaker Arrows at level 7.
  • Can instantly kill minions with Ignore All Distractions at level 4.

Weaknesses[]

  • High learning curve.
  • Requires pinpoint accuracy, positioning and environmental awareness to deal proper damage.
  • Completely lack of self-sustain.
  • All his abilities are skillshots.
  • Unlike most Overwatch characters brought to Heroes of the Storm, he cannot use Basic Attacks while moving.
    • In addition, he has very slow attack speed, almost as slow as Stukov's.
  • Unlike Genji's Cyber Agility, Natural Agility requires walls or structures to be used, making it more situational.
  • Unlike Gazlowe's Deth Lazor, Storm Bow's damage does not increase with charge.
  • Scatter Arrow requires careful positioning to hit opponents reliably in the right angle.
  • Sonic Arrow travels extremely slow.
  • While Dragonstrike covers long distances, its area of effect is considerably thin, making it easy to avoid, especially without proper setups.
  • Dragon's Arrow only gets true value when hitting enemies from a very long distance.

Abilities[]

Icon Storm Bow
Storm Bow (Q)
Mana: 15
Cooldown: 4 seconds

Activate to charge an arrow that deals 291 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy hit. Storm Bow's range increases the longer it is Channeled. Reactivate to fire.

Icon Scatter Arrow
Scatter Arrow (W)
Mana: 40
Cooldown: 8 seconds

Fire an arrow that deals 90 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy Hero hit. Scatter Arrow can collide with terrain and Structures, splitting into 5 arrows that travel extra distance, ricochet up to 4 additional times, and deal 88 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy hit.

Icon Sonic Arrow
Sonic Arrow (E)
Mana: 50
Cooldown: 20 seconds

Fire an arrow that grants vision in a large area for 8 seconds. Enemies inside are revealed for 1 second. If Sonic Arrow lands directly on an enemy, it deals 150 (+4% per level) damage to them and follows them as they move.

Traits[]

Icon Natural Agility
Natural Agility
Cooldown: 20 seconds

Target unpathable terrain or a Structure to jump to the other side of it.

Heroic Abilities[]

Icon Dragonstrike
Dragonstrike (R) [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 100
Cooldown: 100 seconds

After 1.5 seconds, summons a pair of Spirit Dragons which travel forward, dealing 64 (+4% per level) damage every 0.25 seconds to enemy Heroes in its area. Enemies in the center take 150% damage.

Icon Dragons Arrow
Dragon's Arrow (R) [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 90
Cooldown: 70 seconds

Fire a missile that travels across the battleground. Explodes upon hitting an enemy Hero, dealing 100 (+4% per level) damage to all nearby enemies and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds.

After traveling a medium distance, the damage is increased to 200 (+4% per level) and the Stun duration to 1.25 seconds.

After traveling a long distance, the damage is increased to 350 (+4% per level) and the Stun duration to 2 seconds.

Talents[]

Tier 1, Hero Level 1[]

Icon Storm Bow
Target Practice
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)

IconQuestTalent Quest: Hit every enemy Hero with Storm Bow.
IconQuestTalent Reward: After hitting every enemy Hero once with Storm Bow, its range increases by 30%.
IconQuestTalent Reward: After hitting every enemy Hero 3 times with Storm Bow, its damage is increased by 100%.

Icon Scatter Arrow
Simple Geometry
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)

IconQuestTalent Quest: Hit a Hero with multiple arrows from the same Scatter Arrow cast 20 times. Each arrow hit after the second grants additional progress.
IconQuestTalent Reward: Upon hitting terrain for the first time, Scatter Arrow creates 2 additional arrows.

Icon Redemption
Redemption
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)

IconQuestTalent Quest: Every 2 Basic Attacks against the same Hero within 10 seconds grants 1 Redemption, stacking up to 12. Dying decreases Redemption by 3, and Redemption can be lost even at maximum stacks.
IconQuestTalent Reward: At 12 Redemption, gain 50% Attack Speed.

Tier 2, Hero Level 4[]

Icon Storm Bow
Explosive Arrows
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Upon hitting a Minion or Monster, Storm Bow deals 75% of its damage to enemies around its target.

Icon Scatter Arrow
Serrated Arrows
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Scatter Arrow deals 150% more damage to Minions, Mercenaries, and Monsters.

Icon Ignore All Distractions
Ignore All Distractions
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Basic Attacks instantly kill Minions and increase Hanzo's Basic Attack range by 2 for 3 seconds.

Tier 3, Hero Level 7[]

Icon Scatter Arrow
Sharpened Arrowheads
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)

Hitting a Hero with Storm Bow or Basic Attacks reduces their Armor by 2 for 3 seconds, up to a maximum reduction of 20 Armor.

Icon Storm Bow
The Dragon Hungers
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)

Hitting a Hero with Storm Bow grants 5% Spell Power for 10 seconds, stacking up to 20%.

Icon Scatter Arrow
Never Outmatched
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)

Reduce Scatter Arrow's Mana cost from 40 to 20. Basic Attacks lower the cooldown of Scatter Arrow by 2.5 seconds.

Tier 4, Hero Level 10[]

Icon Dragonstrike
Dragonstrike (R) [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 100
Cooldown: 100 seconds

After 1.5 seconds, summons a pair of Spirit Dragons which travel forward, dealing 64 (+4% per level) damage every 0.25 seconds to enemy Heroes in its area. Enemies in the center take 150% damage.

Icon Dragons Arrow
Dragon's Arrow (R) [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 90
Cooldown: 70 seconds

Fire a missile that travels across the battleground. Explodes upon hitting an enemy Hero, dealing 100 (+4% per level) damage to all nearby enemies and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds.

After traveling a medium distance, the damage is increased to 200 (+4% per level) and the Stun duration to 1.25 seconds.

After traveling a long distance, the damage is increased to 350 (+4% per level) and the Stun duration to 2 seconds.

Tier 5, Hero Level 13[]

Icon Storm Bow
Fleet of Foot
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Hitting a Hero with Storm Bow grants 10% Movement Speed for 6 seconds, up to 30%.

Icon Natural Agility
Ninja Assassin
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Hitting Heroes with Storm Bow lowers Natural Agility's cooldown by 10 seconds. Additionally, Hero Takedowns reset Natural Agility's cooldown.

Icon Mounted Archery
Mounted Archery
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Upon mounting, gain 20% additional Movement Speed for 5 seconds. Using Natural Agility instantly mounts.

Tier 6, Hero Level 16[]

Icon Ignore All Distractions
Flawless Technique
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

Hitting Heroes with Storm Bow increases the damage of Hanzo's next Basic Attack within 5 seconds by 25%. Basic Attacks against Heroes increase the damage of Hanzo's next Storm Bow within 5 seconds by 25%.

Icon Scatter Arrow
Piercing Arrows
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

Storm Bow and Scatter Arrow pierce, hitting an additional enemy. Additionally, Scatter Arrow can pierce through 1 enemy each time it ricochets.

Icon Scatter Arrow
Giant Slayer
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

Enemy Heroes hit by Scatter Arrow and Basic Attacks take a bonus 1.5% of their maximum Health as damage.

Tier 7, Hero Level 20[]

Icon Dragonstrike
The Dragon Awakens
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

Hitting a Hero with Storm Bow, Scatter Arrow, or Basic Attacks reduces the cooldown of Dragonstrike by 5 seconds.

Icon Dragons Arrow
Play of the Game
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

While in flight or for up to 2 seconds after impacting a target, Dragon's Arrow can be reactivated to teleport to its location and jump backwards. If used after impact, Hanzo shoots arrows that deal 120 (+4% per level) damage to each target hit by the impact.

Hanzo is Unstoppable during Play of the Game.

Icon Natural Agility
Perfect Agility
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

Natural Agility gains a 2nd charge and its cooldown is reduced by 5 seconds.

Icon Sonic Arrow
Bullseye
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

Increase Sonic Arrow's speed and center radius by 100%. Additionally, Heroes hit by Sonic Arrow's center are Stunned for 1 second.

Talent Builds[]

  • Storm Bow Build: focused on improving Storm Bow's already high damage and range, plus increasing Hanzo's waveclear potential. Key talents are Target Practice and Piercing Arrows, which turns Hanzo's poking tools into deadly weapons. These paired with Fleet of Foot allows him to effectively kite his opponents.
    • Alternatively, at level 7, Shieldbreaker Arrows can be taken instead of The Dragon Hungers if the enemy team features any Hero that can grant shields.
    • This build works against team compositions that have low mobility, as hitting enemies with Storm Bow requires good accuracy and precision.
      • In addition, it is not recommended if the enemy team features Abathur, as hitting him with Storm Bow in order to complete Target Practice can be tricky since Abathur will never engage in direct combat.
  • Scatter Arrow Build: focused on improving Scatter Arrow's area damage and also increasing Hanzo's waveclear potential. Key talents are Simple Geometry and Piercing Arrows, which can deal an absurdly high amount of damage under the right circumstances.
    • Alternatively, at level 20, Sharpened Arrowheads can be taken if the enemy team features Heroes with armor increasing abilities in the late game.
    • This build is mostly recommended on maps with lots of walls and tight corridors, as it makes Scatter Arrow more likely to hit enemies when it splits.
  • Basic Attack Build: focused on improving Hanzo's Basic Attack in every aspect. The key talent is Redemption (Hanzo), which can greatly improve Hanzo's marginally low attack speed. This build is very flexible and can be customized to allow Hanzo to deal with various types of opponents, as he has many talents that are affected by basic attacks. Also, Fleet of Foot allows Hanzo to become an even more aggressive Basic Attacker, opening engages with Storm Bow and proceeding to unleash a flurry of Basic Attacks enhanced by Redemption (which becomes even more powerful thanks to Giant Slayer). Lastly, Never Outmatched has fantastic synergy with Redemption, allowing Hanzo to reset Scatter Arrow's cooldown quickly due the increased attack speed.
    • Alternatively, at level 7, Shieldbreaker Arrows can be taken instead of Never Outmatched if the enemy team features any Hero that can grant shields.
    • This build works against most team compositions, even if the enemy team has ways to mitigate physical damage.

Tips[]

  • Remember that Natural Agility, unlike Genji's Cyber Agility, can only be used on terrain. Be wary of the surroundings to make the most of it.
  • Make sure to use Storm Bow from a safe distance to surprise opponents and prevent retaliation. Since Hanzo can move while charging, adjust his positioning accordingly to keep enemies within Storm Bow's range.
  • Try to aim Scatter Arrow in the most optimal manner so the splitting arrows can hit as many enemies as possible.
    • However, don't be afraid to use it as a direct poke to prevent opponents from mounting or using the Hearthstone, since it covers higher range than his basic attacks and does not require charging like Storm Bow.
    • Use Scatter Arrow (as well Sonic Arrow) to scout bushes, vents and out-of-sight areas.
  • Do not use Hanzo's Heroic Abilities preemptively; they are best when used as a follow ups, since both are relatively easy to avoid.
    • If Dragon Arrow's upgrade, Play of the Game, is taken, use it to join a fight from a distance, or even to split Hanzo from his allies when needed.

Matchups[]

Pairings[]

Effective against[]

Effective foes[]

Skins[]

Master Assassin (base)
Hanzo - Master Assassin Hanzo - Master Assassin - Demon Hanzo - Master Assassin - Dragon Hanzo - Master Assassin - Kinoko
Master Assassin Demon IconShard 150 Dragon Kinoko IconShard 150
Hanzo - Master Assassin - Sora
Sora
Farstrider (all skins are part of a IconGem 1475 bundle)
Like most farstriders, Hanzo feels more at home in the wilds than within the walls of Quel'Thalas. He diligently hones his skills in archery in preparation for the day he is named Ranger-General.
This skin is related to the Warcraft themed-skins. Features themed abilities.
Hanzo - Farstrider Hanzo - Farstrider - Holy Hanzo - Farstrider - Icebound Hanzo - Farstrider - Iron
Farstrider Holy Icebound Iron
Hanzo - Farstrider - Scarlet
Scarlet

Development[]

Reference material for Hanzo was provided by the Overwatch development team. His bow and body size were increased in size for Heroes.[1]

Patch changes[]

Trivia[]

  • Hanzo's dance derives from from Soran Bushi, a Japanese traditional fisherman's dance.[2]

References[]

  1. 2017-11-23, BlizzCon 2017 Heroes of the Storm Deep Dive Panel Transcript. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2017-11-26
  2. 2017-11-07, BlizzCon 2017 Heroes of the Storm Interview | Blizzplanet. YouTube, accessed on 2017-11-15

External links[]

  • Hanzo's article on the Overwatch wiki
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