Can You Still Unlock Kiriko After the Battle Pass? An In-Depth Look
The short answer is yes – Kiriko can still be unlocked by all Overwatch 2 players through completing a set of challenges, even after the Season 1 battle pass ended. Read on as we fully break down the unlock requirements, analyze Kiriko‘s value as a hero pick, and speculate on her future availability.
When Kiriko first launched with Overwatch 2 in October 2022, she was exclusively tied to the Season 1 battle pass system. This decision caused quite the controversy and frustration amongst some players.
- To instantly access Kiriko, you had to purchase the premium battle pass for 1000 Overwatch Coins, priced at $9.99.
- The free track of the battle pass allowed unlocking Kiriko only after reaching Tier 55 (of 80 total).
Blizzard estimated it would take approximately 15 hours of play per week to reach this tier before the season ended – a hefty time commitment.
Unlocking Kiriko Through Challenges – The New Player-Friendly System
However, Blizzardclearly listened to player feedback regarding Kiriko‘s accessibility. Just before Season 2 started on December 6th, 2022, a new system was added to unlock Kiriko permanently by completing challenges.
This path is achievable for all players, even if they did not participate in the past battle pass at all. The requirements are solely based on playing and mastering support heroes – especially Kiriko herself.
Here are the exact objectives you‘ll need to tick off:
Kiriko Unlock Challenge List
| Challenge | Requirement | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Wins with Support | Win 35 games in any mode playing a support hero or queuing for all roles. | Medium |
| Healing Done | Heal 1500 health in Quick Play as any support hero. | Very Easy |
| Damage Boosted | Boost 30,000 damage in Quick Play as Mercy or Kiriko using damage boost abilities. | Hard |
| Protection Suzu | Nullify 20,000 damage with Kiriko‘s Protection Suzu ability in Quick Play. | Medium |
| Swift Step Eliminations | Get eliminations shortly after using Swift Step ability in Quick Play. | Easy |
| Wall Climb Master | Wall climb for a total of 20 seconds in Practice Range as Kiriko. | Very Easy |
| Kunai Master | Get 20 final blows with Kiriko‘s Kunai in Practice Range. | Easy |
Difficulty ratings are my personal estimates – your experience may vary!
The most time-consuming ones are definitely the Wins with Support and Damage Boosted challenges.
For Damage Boosted, I recommend focusing on Mercy‘s Caduceus Staff ability as her beams can effortlessly rack up high numbers. Kiriko‘s Ofuda projectiles require more precise aim.
Meanwhile, Wall Climb Master and Kunai Master are simple tasks that can be completed within minutes inside the Practice Range sandbox.
Overall, a dedicated player could expect to unlock Kiriko within 8-10 hours by using efficient strategies. Certainly more accessible than reaching Tier 55 last season!
Do you still find these requirements too demanding? The good news is that Kiriko should remain unlockable through challenges indefinitely. More details on that prediction later!
Is Unlocking Kiriko Worth the Effort? Analyzing Her Actual Value
Before diving into the challenges, you may wonder: How worthwhile is Kiriko from a competitive standpoint? Does her addition significantly benefit a team?
Well, soon after launch, Kiriko immediatly shot up to having the 3rd highest win rate amongst supports in nearly all skill tiers. Her versatile kit makes her extremely potent in the right hands and compositions.
Kiriko‘s Strengths
- Swift Step provides excellent mobility for repositioning
- Ofuda projectiles have strong healing output from any range
- Protection Suzu cleanses debuffs and makes allies temporarily invulnerable
- Hard to pin down with abilities like Wall Climb
- Ultimate boosts whole team‘s mobility & attack speed
Kiriko‘s Weaknesses
- Low total health pool (Only 200 HP)
- Relies heavily on aim for maximum value
- Small projectiles require precision accuracy
- Vulnerable to burst damage, silences, hacks, etc
So in summary – Kiriko is arguably a top 3 pick alongside Lucio and Ana currently. Her high skill cap gives incredible outplay potential.
Any players who favor mobile supports with both healing utilities and damaging capabilities will find excellent value from mastering Kiriko.
Will Kiriko Remain Freely Unlockable Post-Launch?
My Prediction: Yes, the new challenge unlock system will stay indefinitely.
Initially, some players feared Kiriko may eventually return to being locked behind seasonal battle passes or a paywall. However, I expect that is no longer the case after the overwhelmingly negative feedback.
No statements have been made explicitly, but analysis of past trends suggests that revoking free access to existing heroes would cause catastrophic PR consequences. Especially given the struggles around monetization model clarity the game has already faced since transitioning to free-to-play.
Instead, it is reasonable to presume the challenges were implemented as an ongoing solution – future heroes may also utilize similar permanant unlock paths separate from battle passes or purchases.
Previously, all new heroes were added to the general roster after a few seasons:
| Hero | Release Date | Free Unlock Date |
|---|---|---|
| Ashe | Nov 2018 | Feb 2019 |
| Baptiste | Feb 2019 | Aug 2019 |
Of course, the industry and launch strategies keep evolving, so nothing is ever certain. But Blizzard has many incentives to prevent angering dedicated supporters who unlocked Kiriko through challenges already.
I‘d project an extremely high confidence level (95%+) around the challenges remaining indefinitely. Players invested in Overwatch 2 can feel reassured about permanently acquiring her sooner than later.
Let me know your thoughts on this analysis! I‘m interested to hear varying perspectives around Kiriko‘s availability moving forward as well.
