At a glance#
Role (our classification)
- Controller — Shapes where fights happen with zones, walls, traps and disables.
Damage
- Hybrid-leaning kit
Weapon
- Services Rendered
Released
- 24 Apr 2024
McGinnis is a machine-gun mechanic who showers enemies with sustained fire from turrets and rockets.
McGinnis’s abilities explained#
McGinnis has three regular abilities and an ultimate. Ability names and behaviour below were checked on 27 Oct 2026; numbers are left out on purpose because they change with almost every patch — the in-game tooltip shows the current values.
Ability 1
Mini Turret
Deploys a turret that shoots enemies for spirit damage over time. It expires after a while and deals reduced damage to troopers and objectives.
Ability 2
Medicinal Specter
Deploys a spirit that heals nearby allies. Overlapping Specters do not stack their healing.
Ability 3
Spectral Wall
Casts a wall that slows enemies passing through it and can be erupted early to split the terrain and damage nearby enemies. Players can melee it apart.
Ultimate
Heavy Barrage
Launches a volley of homing rockets at a targeted location. McGinnis is slowed while it's active but can still use stamina.
How to play McGinnis#
Use your tools before the fight, not after it starts: block the escape route, zone the objective, then let the enemy walk into it. Timing and placement matter more than raw damage.
Tips from the current kit
- Shooting an enemy hero redirects all of her turrets to that target.
- Placing a Spectral Wall does not break stealth.
- Medicinal Specter's healing lingers briefly after an ally leaves its area.
Build framework#
A starting framework, not a tested build
This section explains what kind of items McGinnis’s kit rewards, built from how the abilities work. It isn’t a win-rate-tested build. For community builds with current stats, open the in-game Build Browser and filter by hero, then check our items explainer to understand why each item is there.
Hybrid lean. The kit mixes weapon and spirit damage, so builds lean whichever way your abilities and the game call for — often spirit items for the abilities you level first, then weapon items as the gun takes over.
| Stage | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Laning | Cheap 800-soul items that help you trade and sustain in lane, plus one that boosts your main damage source. |
| Mid game | Your first 3,200-soul item is usually the biggest single jump in power — buy toward the one that makes your best ability or your gun stronger. |
| Late game | Fill slots with 6,400-soul items, and swap cheap starters for upgrades. Leave room for an answer to what the enemy is doing. |
| Defence | Match the enemy’s damage: shields and resistance against whichever type is hurting you most. |
Items that fit a hybrid kit
Defensive options
Items opponents commonly use against McGinnis — expect to see them, and plan around them:
Ability points#
Ability unlocks come from levelling up; ability points then buy upgrade tiers. A sensible default for McGinnis:
- Unlock the ability that helps you farm or trade in lane first — for most players that’s Mini Turret or the ability you can hit most reliably.
- Unlock all three regular abilities early so you have every tool in the first fights.
- Unlock Heavy Barrage as soon as it’s available.
- Put upgrade points into the ability you use most, then into whichever upgrade tier changes how an ability works (tier 3 upgrades often do).
General guidance; upgrade tiers and costs are shown in game.
Playing against McGinnis#
- Melee the Spectral Wall to destroy its segments.
- Turrets take full weapon damage at any distance — focus them down.
- Slow-resist items such as Enduring Speed reduce Heavy Barrage's slow.
The full breakdown — abilities to play around, counter items with reasons and mistakes to avoid — is in how to counter McGinnis.
Recent changes#
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 12 Aug 2026 | Mini Turret health increased. |
| 30 Jun 2026 | Heavy Barrage cooldown 175s→200s. |
Every update that touches heroes is summarised in patch notes explained and the patch impact tracker.