Standard Genji by AIM7Sparrow

Standard Genji

By: AIM7Sparrow
Last Updated: Apr 26, 2017
5 Votes
Build 1 of 1

Genji

Build: Standard

Level 1
Level 4
Level 7
Level 10
Level 13
Level 16
Level 20

Intro Top

This is a quick and general guide to Genji. This build is an overall "baseline" build meant to be useful against the majority of standard comps you can expect to play against. Obviously, there will be some niche talent choices vs certain characters and comps which I will touch on below, but this is a good starting point for playing Genji.

If you're one of those people who thinks that a "build" means just instantly picking only the talents belonging to a single ability then Genji isn't for you. (And probably any other character to be honest....be flexible and logical with your talent choices!)

Talent Explanations Top

T1
Rapid dismount: Very useful for roaming and quickly joining skirmishes around the map, especially combined with the fact that you can dismount over walls. Other talents are useful, but I've found this one to have the most noticeable impact on a consistent basis. The 5s cooldown reduction will come in handy later too as we'll see.

T2
Shuriken Mastery: Just simply the best talent here. I've tested the other two and they don't really work. Strike at the Heart is only useful for initiations and otherwise sees almost no effect and Dragon Claw takes a surprisingly long time to fill for activation. Note: Shuriken Mastery triggers at max once per enemy per cast (meaning if you land all three on a single enemy it will still only proc 1 time for the quest). As soon as you get this talent you should be looking to spam Shurikens as often as possible to quickly complete the quest.

T3
Cyber Shield: All talents here are useful but Cyber Shield is your standard go-to for most games. It especially comes in handy starting level 10 when we pickup Dragonstrike and start diving teams. Augmented Guard will be useful against "heavy hitters" with telegraphed abilities, Chromie and Li Ming for instance. Perfect Defense is your top choice vs a team containing a lot of quick ticks of damage, Kharazim, Tracer, Cass (fend). Dodge will be your choice vs. lots of strong AA (Valla, GM, Raynor, Butcher)

T4
Dragonblade: More difficult to use but definitely more impactful. X-strike is hard to consistently land and ends up feeling wasted a lot of times. It might be worth considering vs. a pyro KT or combo Chromie I guess and perhaps vs an all melee comp, but yeah I really don't think this ult is that great. Tip: Activate Dragonblade, then Cyber Agility for the spell armor, then start going ham. If you used Rapid Dismount your Cyber Agility will be up again before your ult expires to refresh your spell armor.

T5
Double Jump: Adds to mobility and increases the spell armor uptime we desperately need during ult. Shingan is trash, hard to consistently land and requires you to be in too much danger to do so. Flow like water is decent, but the synergy Double Jump has with Cyber shield is too good to pass up here. If you didn't take cyber shield at lv 7, flow like water is a viable option vs. clumped up teams. Synergizes even further with Shuriken Mastery's final quest reward!

T6
Reflect: This talent tier is vastly underwhelming all around. Reflect will most often be the correct choice. The delay on Final Cut is long enough that it hardly ever lands and it's hard to consistently build meaningful stacks of Steady Blade.

T7
Sharpened Stars: Amazing in team fights and significantly boosts your damage and waveclear. The Dragon Becomes Me is pretty "win-more." If you've survived 8s worth of Dragonblading chances are you've already won the fight. Sharpened Stars boosts your damage much more consistently. Extra bonus synergy: Shuriken Mastery + Double Jump + Sharpened Stars = Massive uptime on buffed, piercing Shurikens. Don't forget to be using your passive not only for the spell armor but also to recharge your Shurikens!!

Zenshin: Not really worth in any situation unless you took Perfect Defense (and even then still probably not good.) Remember you're only deflecting for 1.25s MAX and enemies will usually stop attacking you within 0.5-0.75s of having activated deflect. You're really not going to be doing much with this talent (especially considering you need to be smack dab in the middle of the enemy team to make use of it.)

Random Closing Remarks Top

    In full on team fights there are two main ways to use Swift Strike:
  • The first is start close enough to the enemy to make sure you dash far enough past all of them and not get focused down. This will tack on some initial damage on hopefully more than one target while also creating a split second of confusion among the enemy team. 99 times out of 100 you can expect at least one person to turn around and start following you even if it's just for a tiny moment. Make use of your passive to create additional space if needed.
  • The second is to use it with the intention of triggering a reset. This is a little bit dangerous but is MUCH more impactful in fights. A quick one-two reset can come as a huge surprise to enemies and snowball into a full wipe.

    Dragonblade:
  • Don't go crazy. The enemy will focus you. There is nothing your team can do to help you dive 1v5 (unless you got an Uther)
  • It's ok to use Dragonblade to kill single targets or even focus tanks. This isn't Overwatch; there ain't no play of the games. Better to use your ult than let it sit there going to waste.
  • You can still use Deflect and Swift Strike and passive. Don't forget!!
  • Dragonblade swings CANNOT move you over obstacles.

    Deflect:
  • It's possible to deflect and not deal any damage if the damage source is too far away and there are no enemies nearby. (Siege minions for instance)
  • You can interrupt your deflect with another ability. This is both good and bad. For example if you deflect during Dragonblade but immediately cast a swing you're not protected anymore. Beware!

    Passive:
  • Still fully targetable and vulnerable during all points of the jump! I thought at first this move could be used to "pop" missiles. NOPE!

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