Nearly every hero in Deadlock can be effectively countered by choosing the right items. Let’s explore what to buy against different characters. For convenience, we'll categorize heroes into four groups:
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Tanks – These heroes have high health, armor, and quick regeneration, typically occupying the front lines and utilizing melee combat.
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Mages – They deal high spirit damage, relying on their abilities but often lack durability and require good positioning.
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Physical DPS – These heroes deal damage primarily through basic attacks, usually purchasing orange upgrades and farming actively while attacking from behind the enemy.
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Initiators – Mobile characters with powerful crowd control abilities, capable of quickly traversing the battlefield with good stamina.
Countering Tanks
To effectively counter tanks, you can use two approaches: continuously chip away at their HP with small damage ticks or disable their regeneration.
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Decay: This item reduces healing by 50%, inflicts a bleeding debuff, and enhances your spirit power, making it one of the best choices against tanks.
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Toxic Bullets: This is an alternative to Decay for physical carries. It increases health, inflicts bleeding, and significantly reduces health recovery, but requires accuracy when shooting.
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Healbane: Instead of dealing damage, this item heals you, which is useful if you're lacking survivability.
To protect yourself against melee attacks from tanks, consider using:
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Bullet Armor and Improved Bullet Armor: These Deadlock items reduce damage from melee attacks, making them a great choice against physical tanks.
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Combat Barrier: Works in combination with bullet armor, enhancing your shield’s strength against bullets.
How to Counter Mages
Mages can be countered using the following items:
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Silence Glyph: This prevents the hero from using abilities and deals damage. While it doesn't interrupt ongoing skills, it is effective against combo Deadlock heroes and those who spam abilities.
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Knockdown: This item helps interrupt ultimates and other control abilities.
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Silencer: Similar to Silence Glyph but more powerful and costing 7450 souls, it is effective against multiple mages.
Additional protective items include:
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Spirit Armor and Improved Spirit Armor: These armors protect against mystic damage, enhancing your spirit power and resistance, making them essential against magic builds.
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Enchanter Barrier: Functions like Combat Barrier against mages, enhancing spirit armor and reducing magical damage and cooldowns on abilities.
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Debuff Reducer and Debuff Remover: The first reduces debuffs from enemy abilities, while the second completely removes negative effects.
Guide to Active Items in Deadlock: Mystic
What to Do Against Physical DPS
The strategy against physical heroes is similar to that against tanks. You should also use Bullet Armor, Improved Bullet Armor, and Combat Barrier. Keep in mind that physical heroes deal significantly more damage and may have skills that amplify their output.
Useful items include:
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Metal Skin: Protects you against melee and ranged attacks, allowing you to initiate or escape from enemies.
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Return Fire: This upgrade is similar to Metal Skin, but it returns a portion of the damage taken to the enemies, enhancing your survivability.
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Warp Stone: This escape item in Deadlock allows you to run away from enemies instead of just absorbing damage.
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Withering Whip: Focuses on a single enemy, making them vulnerable while reducing key stats of physical heroes – such as firing rate and bullet resistance.
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Hunter’s Aura: Similar to Withering Whip, it can be used for farming without activation.
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Ethereal Shift: Grants temporary invulnerability, but requires careful usage to avoid being targeted by enemies afterward.
Tips Against Nukers
When facing initiators who rely on abilities, it's crucial to invest in Silence Glyph and Silencer. If you find yourself under attack, items like Warp Stone, Debuff Reducer, and Debuff Remover can help you escape.
Additional items include:
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Slowing Hex: Prevents enemies from escaping, useful for quickly dispatching fragile heroes who have exhausted their skills.
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Curse: A universal disable that prevents the target from attacking or using abilities, while also interrupting skills.
Against fast heroes with slowing or stunning abilities, consider these defensive items:
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Reactive Barrier: Works well against heroes like Dynamo, Mo&Krill, and others who suddenly engage in battle, countering control effects and stuns.
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Rescue Beam: Not only heals you and an ally but can also pull an ally out of black holes and other AoE abilities.
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Unstoppable: Similar to Curse as a universal disable, this item grants immunity to all magic, which can be critical in dire situations.
Guide to Active Items in Deadlock: Weapons
Conclusion
Choosing the right items in Deadlock can significantly change the outcome of a match and increase your chances of victory. Understanding the weaknesses of each Deadlock hero and adapting your strategy accordingly will help you succeed on the battlefield.