How to Unlock Hanzo: Reworks, Skins, and Redesign

Hanzo is a Damage hero in Overwatch 2. Read on to learn more about Hanzo, their weapons and abilities, their patch notes history, their backstory, and more!

Hanzo Latest Buffs and Nerfs

April 26, 2022 Patch Notes

Hanzo Day One Patch Notes
Storm Arrows	• Damage reduced from 70 to 65.

Hanzo Hero Profile

Basic Information

Hanzo (Hanzo Shimada)
	Role	Damage
	Ranking
	Total HP	・ 200 ・ 200 (Base Health)
	Voice Actor	Paul Nakauchi
	Nationality	Japanese
Affiliations	Shimada Clan (formerly)

How to Unlock

Character Redesign

Overwatch 1	Overwatch 2

Hanzo's redesign for Overwatch 2 gives emphasis to the passage of time inside the game. Hanzo appears older, his hair has whitened, his beard has grown longer. Overall it gives the impression of a more seasoned fighter in Hanzo's reworked design.

Hanzo Weapons and Abilities

Hanzo Main Weapon

Storm Bow
	Damage: 125
	Description: Hold to charge then release to launch arrows further.

Hanzo Abilities

Storm Arrows	Type: Ability Cooldown: 10 secs Damage: 70
Effect: The next 5 arrows fire instantly at reduced damage.
Sonic Arrow	Type: Ability Cooldown: 12 secs Duration: 5 secs
Effect: Reveals enemies for a short time upon impact.
Lunge	Type: Ability Cooldown: 5 secs
Effect: Double jump.
Wall Climb	Type: Passive
Effect: Jump at walls to climb up them.
Dragonstrike	Type: Ultimate Damage: 28.8
Effect: Launch a deadly Dragon Spirit that devastates enemies it passes through.
Role: Damage	Type: Passive
Effect: Eliminations grant a burst of increased movement speed and reload speed.

How to Play and Tips

Prioritize Landing Charged Headshots

Hanzo's fully charged Storm Bow shots can kill most non-Tank Heroes with a single headshot. Always charge each of your shots and prioritize aiming for enemies' heads to maximize your damage output.

Reach Vantage Points with Wall Climb and Lunge

Hanzo's Wall Climb and Lunge allow him to easily reach high vantage points and unexpected angles of attack. Use these two abilities to access spots where you have complete line of sight of both teams and quickly reposition when needed.

Storm Arrows Can Bounce Off Walls

Hanzo's Storm Arrows can bounce off walls once before breaking. Use Sonic Arrow to gain information, then ricochet Storm Arrows around corners and other odd angles to take foes out of your line of sight by surprise.

Sonic Arrow Can Stick on Enemies

Aside from shooting it toward corners and around choke points, you can also stick a Sonic Arrow into your enemies. Doing this can potentially provide more information to your team than a static Sonic Arrow, as careless stuck foes could fall back into their team by habit.

Aim Dragonstrike Toward Choke Points

Dragonstrike is best used to eliminate clumped-up groups of enemies along choke points and behind objectives. You can improve your Dragonstrike accuracy by shooting down a Sonic Arrow first to gain information about enemy positioning before launching your ultimate.

How to Counter

Deflect or Mitigate Attacks

Like Widowmaker, Hanzo can one-shot enemies with a headshot. Genji will also be able to deflect Hanzo's arrows, given the right timing. Hanzo's ultimate can also be deflected by Genji. It's a bit tricky but Genji players have to be able to deflect Hanzo's arrow before it turns into the dragon.

Winston is also great as he can jump to Hanzo's position with ease. Hanzo has a lack of abilities that allow him to escape so Winston can kill him with ease.

Orisa is also a great pick, especially when she uses her Javelin to stop Hanzo's ultimate.

Hanzo Hero Counters

Hanzo Skins

Base Game Skins

Hero Skins
Kabuki (Legendary)	Lone Wolf (Legendary)	Okami (Legendary)
Young Hanzo (Legendary)	Young Master (Legendary)	Cloud (Epic)
Dragon (Epic)	Azuki (Rare)	Kinoko (Rare)
Midori (Rare)	Sora (Rare)	Classic (Common)

League Skins

Hero Skins
Atlanta Reign (Epic)	Boston Uprising (Epic)	Chengdu Hunters (Epic)
Dallas Fuel (Epic)	Florida Mayhem (Epic)	Guangzhou Charge (Epic)
Hangzhou Spark (Epic)	Houston Outlaws (Epic)	London Spitfire (Epic)
Los Angeles Gladiators (Epic)	Los Angeles Valiant (Epic)	New York Excelsior (Epic)
Paris Eternal (Epic)	Philadelphia Fusion (Epic)	San Francisco Shock (Epic)
Seoul Dynasty (Epic)	Shanghai Dragons (Epic)	Toronto Defiant (Epic)
Vancouver Titans (Epic)	Washington Justice (Epic)

Event Skins

Hero Skins
Casual (Legendary)	Cyberninja (Legendary)	Dai-Tengu (Legendary)
Dark Wolf (Legendary)	Huang Zhong (Legendary)	Scion (Legendary)
Wave (Legendary)	Demon (Epic)

Hanzo Cosmetics

Victory Poses

Heroic (Common) Base Game	Confident (Rare) Base Game	Kneeling (Rare) Base Game
Over the Shoulder (Rare) Base Game	Medal (Rare) Summer Games Event	R.I.P. (Rare) Halloween Terror Event
Skewered (Rare) Halloween Terror Event	Toast (Rare) Winter Wonderland Event	Firework (Rare) Lunar New Year Event
Salute (Rare) Anniversary Event

Voice Lines

Emotes

Hanzo Story

Destined to Rule

Hanzo is one of the two dragons of the Shimada clan, along with his brother Genji. Like his brother, he was trained in combat, becoming a deadly bowman and assassin. As the eldest, it was his duty to continue the legacy of the Shimada empire and he was trained to fulfill this.

Prodigy

Hanzo quickly lived up to his high expectations, being recognized as a prodigy in martial arts, bow skills and swordsmanship. He also demonstrated excellent leadership, tactical and analytical skills from early on.

Father's Death

After his father's death, Hanzo was tasked with bringing his brother back into clan duties. When Genji rejected, he was forced to kill him. Although Genji was ultimately saved by Overwatch, Hanzo was never aware of this. The guilt of killing his brother changed Hanzo, leading him to abandon the clan and attempt to restore the honor he had lost.

Family Reunion

One day Genji, now almost completely cybernetically composed, confronted Hanzo at the Shimada clan residence. Upon seeing Genji's face and realizing it was indeed his brother, he was shocked he was still alive and what he had become. Hanzo loses that fight and is asked by Genji to join him on the side of good.

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