Shuriken
Shuriken is a ranged Phighter. He was released on 15 April 2023 during v0.5.0.
Overview
Shuriken is a ranged Phighter that specializes in pressuring the enemy and picking off targets. His passive, As Fast as the Wind lets him traverse the map with ease. Stars of the Storm is very versatile with a quick slow, as well as antiheal and more damage if hit from behind. Traverse the Horizon repositions him to the best angles for attack, and Stab of the Betrayer ensures your opponents can't recover. Illusions of the Smoke can trick and distract enemines for him to rush into position, and his Phinsher Guillotine Blossom will cut his foes down to size.
Abilities
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As Fast as the Wind | |||
You gradually gain bonus haste and bounce. Being hit decreases your haste and bounce, it regenerates after 3 seconds of not being hit. Press jump near a wall to perch onto it.
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Stars of the Storm | |||
Charge up and fire up to 3 shurikens which pierce through players. Hitting enemies from behind deals extra damage and applies slow.
Damage: 8 per shuriken Back hit damage bonus: 2 Fire rate: 0.05 seconds Projectile speed: --- Projectile lifetime: 0.3 seconds Max. shurikens: 3 Charge time: 0.25 seconds per shuriken Range: --- Ammo: 15 Reload time: 1.5 seconds ![]() ![]() ![]() Cooldown: 0.35 seconds
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Stab of the Betrayer | |||
Charge and stab forward, piercing and slowing enemies hit, enemies hit from behind are dealt more damage, given antiheal, and will be dealt bonus damage from Stars of the Storm.
Damage: 15 Backstab damage bonus: 10 Stars of the Storm bonus damage duration: 2 seconds ![]() Charge time: 0.5-1 second Range: 10 studs Dash force: 0-20 ![]() Cooldown: 6 seconds
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Traverse the Horizon | |||
Grapple a surface, dash to it, and perch. Losing HP while traveling will cancel the grapple. Jump to cancel the grapple early and retain momentum.
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Illusions of the Smoke | |||
Create a clone of yourself that walks forward and copies your jumps and primaries. Reactivate to teleport to the clone's position. Hold to create a clone of your ally instead.
Damage: 20 Clone primary damage: 5 Clone health: 30 Reactivation window: 8 seconds Range: 15 studs (explosion) Invisibility duration: 1 second Casting time: 0.6 seconds ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Cooldown: 12 seconds
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Guillotine Blossom | |||
Unleash 5 shurikens that spin around you that apply antiheal. The shurikens will fire to your cursor one by one.
Damage: 8 (spinning shuriken), 15 (thrown shuriken) ![]() Fire rate: 1.5 seconds Projectile speed: --- Projectile lifetime: --- Shurikens: 5 Spin speed: 5 Range: --- Duration: --- Phinisher points: 125
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Strategy
Pros |
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Cons |
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Shuriken is a ranged Phighter specializing in flanking and picking off enemies on the opposing team with his antiheal and high DPS output. If left unchecked, Shuriken can lend his team an easier win in a team fight while acting as a good counter to healers pocketing. However, Shuriken has only 125 hitpoints, among the lowest in the game alongside Biograft - he has 75 health with 50 shield. This small HP pool means Shuriken will have to play aggressively in the enemy’s backline to allow his team to pick off the opposing team.
Due to Shuriken’s frail nature, it’s highly recommended you learn to choose your fights rather than fighting anyone in your sight. Shuriken’s high mobility and DPS allow him to properly get behind enemy lines and quickly dispose of backline characters such as Hyperlaser, Medkit, Vine Staff or to finish off low HP targets. Because Shuriken is a Phighter who capitalizes off of eliminating single targets, it’s a good rule of thumb to know which Phighters will be easier to take care of than other Phighters.
Prioritize targeting:
- Medkit, to apply antiheal and take his focus off of healing teammates.
- Vine Staff, as antiheal will prevent her from spamming regeneration. She will either have to use her abilities to get rid of you or rely on the aid of another teammate.
- Hyperlaser, to distract him from picking off low HP teammates. He usually isn't able to hit you, but his abilities can quickly disrupt your movement if timed correctly.
Shuriken has some survivability while in close range because of his M2 and passive, which allows Shuriken to chip away at or eliminate targets before needing to retreat. However, this aggressive playstyle comes at the cost of losing a majority of your HP if caught off-guard by a stronger enemy or a burst of damage (Katana, Sword, Slingshot, etc.). Even if you're unable to hit all of your primaries, Shuriken's innate value comes from wasting the enemies' cooldowns on you, leaving you to swoop in to defenseless targets.
His passive is great for outmaneuvering enemies. The speed and ability to wall-perch are all tools you can use to disorientate and dodge attacks. Traverse the Horizon is one of the best mobility tools in the game, owing to its large range and enemies needing to deal 10 damage before being broken. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need a quick escape, then this ability is a fast option. It can also be canceled mid-way through, preserving your momentum and letting you fling yourself to a safe distance.
Illusions of the Smoke is a good tool for either chip damage or tricking enemies. Tapping E will send out a clone of yourself, allowing you to either teleport to it and/or use it for extra damage. It copies both your primaries and your jumps, and it explodes for damage and slow if it is broken, dealing damage and inhibiting the opponent should they be caught in its AOE. You can also hold E to send out a clone of the nearest teammate, which can confuse the enemy and help a teammate escape easier. Guillotine Blossom is a great crowd-controlling Phinisher, letting Shuriken chip/finish off groups of enemies quickly.
Ultimately, Shuriken’s hyper-aggressive flanking playstyle makes him a very strong and annoying Phighter to go against when in the right hands. Use your abilities to travel quickly across the map, utilizing sneaky angles to get the drop on opponents.
Ability usage
- As Fast as the Wind
- If all haste and bounce is lost while in a fight, back off to regenerate. You can still do damage from a distance.
- Excellent ability to escape encounters and sneak up behind enemies as well as reaching unconventional or difficult to reach areas in the middle of battles.
- Stars of the Storm
- Use this ability to kill off low health enemies instead of Stab of the Betrayer to make the most out of its debuffs and extra damage at a later time.
- Try to hit opponents in the back for more damage.
- Use the piercing effect of the projectiles on grouped enemies to maximize your damage output.
- Stab of the Betrayer
- Try to hit an opponent's back for maximum value.
- Starting an encounter with this is great to help ensure a kill.
- If you're low on health, quickly backstabbing someone can help support your team while you run away to regen.
- You can continue to fire with your primary while this charges.
- If you are very close to an opponent and they are very low hp, or you need to apply antiheal to secure a kill, you don't need to charge it to the max.
- The lunge on M2 can be a great tool to escape close encounters.
- Traverse the Horizon
- While using Shuriken’s grapple, you can press spacebar to end the grapple early, launching you with your current momentum.
- Can be useful to get the jump on opponents.
- If you have your Phinisher, you can grapple cancel to move Shuriken forward slightly during the animation.
- If you grapple on the edge of a platform, you can quickly grapple cancel to use the momentum to launch yourself high enough to land on the platform.
- At the start of a round, it's better not to use this ability as it can help get you out of tough situations later on.
- While using Shuriken’s grapple, you can press spacebar to end the grapple early, launching you with your current momentum.
- Illusions of the Smoke
- Luring people away from others to make them an easier target to teleport to and kill is something the clone executes very well.
- Teleporting to a clone with Guillotine Blossom active can be a devastating surprise attack if the enemy is unaware of its activation. However, the windup of Illusions of the Smoke can decrease the effectiveness of this strategy by forcing you to lose some larger orbiting shurikens.
- Exploding clones can deal damage, making them a useful tool to rack up damage against an opponent.
- If the clone is of Shuriken, the thrown projectiles can deal chip damage to enemies.
- Guillotine Blossom
- You can still fire and use abilities while this is active.
- Activate this in large groups, as the shurikens will swirl and do damage.
- The visual clutter created from the shurikens will also serve to disguise you.
- Your shurikens apply antiheal for three seconds. Consider firing them on a mid HP target or a Medkit so they can't heal themselves, even if you can't get a kill.
Counterplay against Shuriken
- Know when to ignore him and when to attack him. If you aren't immediately needed to win a team fight or can't get away, shoot him.
- Once his shields are down, use abilities to lower his health and remove As Fast as the Wind. This will typically hinder him enough to make him run away.
- If you are a ranged character or playing in the back, your priority should be to watch for him and shoot him. He will often be spotted behind you or on the sides.
- Don't be alone, as this is where he excels. Get teammates to support you and corner him.
- Any abilities that apply any debuffs should be used against him, if possible.
- He is very mobile. If fighting against Shuriken in a 1v1, keep track of his cooldowns.
Badge
Name | Icon | Description | Reward |
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shadow sniper | ![]() |
kill someone with your phinisher while in the middle of grappling | Title - Professional Bhopper |
Trivia
General:
- Shuriken is based on the Silver Ninja Star of the Brilliant Light gear.
- Shuriken is the first Phighter to have special dialogue when winning or losing a match with a specific Phighter.
- During April Fools' 2024, Shuriken was renamed to genji, and remodeled to reference Genji from Overwatch.
Development:
Skins:
- Shuri-lóng is a community contributed skin created by KHEVIZY.
- The skin was one of three winners of the 2023 Festive Skin Contest.
Version history
26 November 2022
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References
Phighters |
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Melee | Sword • Skateboard • Biograft • Katana • Ban Hammer |
Ranged | Rocket • Slingshot • Hyperlaser • Shuriken • Scythe |
Support | Medkit • Boombox • Subspace • Vine Staff |
Related | Badges • Status Effects • Phinisher |