Genji Talents

Level	Choices
1	✓ ✓ ✘︎
4	✓ ? ?
7	✓ ? ✓
10	✓ ✓
13	✓ ✓ ?
16	? ✓ ✘︎
20	✓ ✓ ✘︎ ?

Swift as the Wind is our recommended Talent at Level 1 because it is the safest to get value from. Hitting an enemy Hero with Swift Strike will happen a lot during the game, whereas the other two Talents can be considered situational at best.

Agile Dismount allows Genji to engage from a larger distance while mounted. This can be used offensively to chase down retreating targets or defensively to escape pursuing enemies.

Pathfinder requires Genji to use Cyber Agility in order to jump over terrain, which is a requirement he cannot always meet. Consequently, this Talent will likely end up being rather unimportant.

Shuriken Mastery provides Genji with stronger poke the more targets he hits throughout the game. This Talent will accumulate a lot of extra damage from a safe distance and should usually be completed relatively quickly, which makes it a solid choice.

Strike At The Heart grants a lot of burst damage if you manage to hit enemy Heroes at the end of your Swift Strike and should be picked if playing the Swift Strike Build.

Dragon Claw can be a useful Talent if you think you can manage getting at least two uses of it during a teamfight. The key to properly utilizing Dragon Claw is to charge it before a teamfight, either through baiting some poke damage from enemy Heroes, Mercenaries, or multiple Minions. Once you engage in a teamfight, always use Dragon Claw before you pop your Deflect to recharge it and potentially securing a second Dragon Claw.

Augmented Guard provides a Shield that further protects Genji. This Talent is great, should the enemy team consist of enemy Heroes with hard-hitting Abilities such as Li-Ming or Chromie.

Perfect Defense reduces the cooldown of Deflect, which is Genji's only defensive tool and as such which is crucial to his survival during team fights. This Talent is great if the enemy team consists of Heroes with frequent damage hits, such as Tracer or Tassadar.

Cyber Shield can be worth picking if the enemy team solely relies on Ability damage by picking Heroes like Jaina or Ragnaros or if the enemy team consists mainly of Basic Attack-dependent Assassins such as Illidan or Valla.

In this section we discuss when and why to pick a given Heroic Ability. If you want to read how they work in detail and/or you are looking for some tips on how to use them, check them out on the Abilities and Strategy page.

Dragonblade turns Genji into a highly mobile and lethal Melee Assassin. Keep in mind that Shuriken cannot be used while Dragonblade is active. It is usually a good idea to activate Dragonblade as soon as you spot a severely wounded enemy Hero at the brink of death. However, it is of utmost importance to carefully check on the enemy team's crowd control Abilities before activating Dragonblade. There is nothing more frustrating than getting Stunned, Rooted, or Silenced while Genji's Heroic Ability is active.

X-Strike is a strong damage Ability. While it may be harder to execute than Dragonblade, X-Strike can act as an escape mechanism that allows Genji to dodge incoming burst damage and crowd control only to strike back a few moments later. Keep in mind that X-Strike can be used to cover short distances in order to jump over impassable terrain, for instance. To get the most damage out of X-Strike, try to cast it on a Stunned or Rooted target. The strikes overlap on anyone beneath Genji, granting a lot of burst damage.

Shingan should be picked if you chose Shuriken Mastery at Level 4. Admittedly, it is hard to hit a single target with all three Shuriken projectiles, however, if successfully executed, Shingan will deal an outstanding amount of bonus damage. Keep in mind that you should never jump into a team aggressively in order to hit targets from point blank range just to proc Shingan's bonus effect damage.

Flow Like Water is a great Talent to trigger the bonuses of other Swift Strike-related Talents, such as Swift as the Wind or Strike At The Heart, more frequently.

Way Of The Shimada is a very strong Talent as it increases Genji's range, allowing him to poke a bit more aggressively. The key to playing with this Talent is stacking up the Attack damage as much as possible on the enemy frontline before diving into their backline. It also allows Genji to reliably chase the enemy squishies as they try to run to safety.

Reflect pairs well with Perfect Defense at Level 7 and Zanshin at Level 20, in particular. Choose this Talent to further punish fast-attacking Heroes (for example Tracer), given they do not play around it.

Final Cut's 1-second time window proves to be short enough to provide a reliable source of extra damage. After unlocking a cooldown reset for Swift Strike, Final Cut can be an extremely strong damage tool.

Steady Blade requires Genji to consistently hit enemy Heroes, which is a requirement that cannot always be met, not to mention that Final Cut just does a lot more damage in general.

The Dragon Becomes Me is a strong upgrade after picking Dragonblade at Level 10. By hitting multiple enemy Heroes at the same time, Dragonblade's duration can be extended significantly, which increases Genji's chances of resetting Swift Strike's cooldown. It is worth mentioning that this Talent gains a lot of value if the enemy team composition features a lot of melee Heroes who tend to clump and thus get hit more easily by Dragonblade.

Living Weapon is a bit of risky Talent to pick at Level 20, as it fully relies on X-Strike to hit several enemy Heroes in order to get any value from it. However, if X-Strike is used diligently, the cooldown reduction Living Weapon provides cannot be underestimated. In a best case scenario, Genji will be able to use the Ability several times in one team fight, which is going to inflict tremendous amounts of damage onto the enemy team.

Sharpened Stars adds a lot more waveclear to Genji's Shuriken and does offer decent synergy with Shuriken Mastery at Level 4. However, this Talent usually comes too late to have a significant impact on Genji's overall combat performance.

Zanshin allows Genji to deal heavy damage to all nearby enemy Heroes at the same time, which becomes particularly powerful with the cooldown reduction Perfect Defense at Level 7 provides you with.