Which Deadlock Character Should I Play? A Complete Hero Selection Guide

Introduction

Picking your first Deadlock hero can feel daunting with over 20 characters to choose from. Watch the video above for a complete difficulty ranking of every hero, then use this guide to find the right match for your playstyle. Whether you're coming from shooters like Valorant, MOBAs like Dota 2, or you're completely new to competitive games, there's a hero that will feel natural to you.

Matching Heroes to Your Gaming Background

Your gaming history matters more than you think when picking a Deadlock hero. Here's where to start:

If you play shooters (Valorant, CS:GO, Apex), start with Haze, Wraith, or Seven. These heroes let you lean on your aim and positioning skills while you learn MOBA mechanics. Haze is particularly forgiving since she's gun-focused with straightforward abilities.

If you play MOBAs (Dota, League), try Abrams or Yamato. You'll recognize the tank/bruiser playstyle - initiate fights, soak damage, disrupt the enemy team. Abrams has a guaranteed combo with shoulder charge that feels satisfying to land.

If you main support, Viscus and Warden are your best bets. Both heroes provide value through utility regardless of farm, letting you impact fights without needing to hard carry. Viscus is the best support in the game right now - multiple utility abilities make him extremely hard to kill.

If you're completely new, pick Mo & Krill or Kelvin. Both are incredibly tanky with self-healing, giving you room to make mistakes while learning the game.

Before jumping into matchmaking, practice against bots to learn your abilities without penalty. When selecting heroes in the menu, right-click your favorites to prioritize them with up arrows - this increases your chances of getting them. You need to select at least three heroes total, and currently you must pick at least three from the original roster to queue.

Hero Difficulty Rankings

Easiest Heroes for Beginners

Start here if you're new to Deadlock or the genre:

Mo & Krill - The easiest character in the game. Extremely tanky with built-in self-healing, you can make plenty of mistakes and still survive. Perfect for learning the map and game flow.

Kelvin - Very forgiving with high health and straightforward abilities. His ice path provides easy mobility and his ultimate is simple to use effectively.

Abrams - Simple tank with easy-to-land abilities. Build him with health (green) items, melee items, and spirit items. His strong base HP makes percentage-based resistance items very effective.

Haze - The best choice for shooter players. Gun-focused with simple abilities. In low ranks she absolutely dominates because players don't know to just walk out of her ultimate. Use the "situation build" focused on early fury and siphon bullets.

Lady Geist - Auto-aim abilities make her very forgiving. You don't need precise mechanical skill to be effective.

Warden - Easy to learn with strong tanking abilities and a powerful ultimate. Combine his ult with majestic leap to win teamfights.

Most Difficult Heroes

Avoid these until you've mastered the basics:

Mina - The hardest character in the game. Requires precise positioning, perfect teleport timing, and executing burst combos under pressure. When mastered she's potentially broken, but the skill floor is extremely high.

Holiday - Requires excellent headshot aim to be effective. She has the best initiation in the game with her lasso ability and great mobility with jump pads, but you need FPS skills to leverage her kit.

Viscus - Hardest support character with intricate movement tech and complex ability management. Ironically, he's also the best support in the game - just don't start here.

Ivy - Complex decision-making on when to use abilities and heal timing. You need to understand team fights and positioning deeply to play her well.

Calico - Requires good map knowledge and timing on gloom bombs and ultimate. Mid-tier difficulty but not recommended for complete beginners.

Understanding Roles and Team Composition

Deadlock doesn't have rigid role classifications like other MOBAs. Instead, heroes exist on a spectrum between carries and supports, which affects how you should play them.

Hard Carries need 30k+ souls to come online. Heroes like Victor, Wraith, and Seven should play passively early game, focus on farming, and avoid risky fights. Victor especially needs to AFK farm for extended periods - but with 35k net worth he becomes nearly unstoppable. Seven is the best late-game scaling carry for farming and hard carrying games.

Supports provide value through abilities regardless of how much farm they have. Dynamo, Viscus, and Warden should be fighting throughout the game, making space for carries, and providing utility. Viscus stands out as the best support right now with multiple utility abilities.

Balanced Heroes like Abrams and Yamato get value from initiating fights and can function without heavy farm. Yamato remains one of the best laners in the game and can build very tanky. Abrams works across all ranks with his guaranteed shoulder charge combo.

Since Deadlock has no draft system, pay attention to your team composition in the loading screen. If you see multiple hard carries, consider picking a support to balance things out. Let your carries have farm priority in lane while you make plays around the map.

Top Tier Heroes by Skill Level

Different heroes perform better at different skill levels. Here's what works where:

High Rank Meta

Billy - Currently broken. Insane teamfight potential mid-game makes him one of the best heroes in the game right now. Don't be fooled by his melee appearance - he actually requires a gun-focused playstyle with light melee weaving.

Mina - Extremely difficult to play but potentially broken when mastered. High-level players can abuse her burst combos and mobility.

Abrams - Solid across all ranks. His guaranteed shoulder charge combo provides consistent value regardless of your skill level.

Seven - The best late-game scaling carry. If you can farm efficiently, Seven hard carries games better than anyone.

Viscus - Best support in the game. Multiple utility abilities and extremely hard to kill. More effective when teams can coordinate around your playmaking.

Talon - Much more effective in higher ranks where teams can coordinate around his bird ultimate ability.

Low Rank Stompers

Haze - Absolutely dominates low ranks because players don't know the counterplay. Just walk out of her ultimate. That's it. She performs poorly in high ranks where players understand this.

Drifter - Extremely effective at killing isolated targets. In low ranks where players don't group up, he can pick off stragglers all game. Struggles in higher ranks where enemies stick together.

Victor - Hard carry who needs to AFK farm for extended periods, but with 35k net worth becomes nearly unstoppable. Lower ranked players don't punish his passive early game enough.

Hero-Specific Build and Playstyle Tips

Once you've picked your hero, following the right build makes a huge difference. Here are some key tips:

Abrams - Build with green (health) items, melee items, and spirit items. Since he has strong base HP, percentage-based resistance items are extremely effective on him.

Haze - Use the "situation build" that focuses on early fury and siphon bullets. Players from shooter backgrounds will find her most intuitive - just aim and shoot.

Seven - Pick up Sphere Trans item for 40 permanent spirit resist. This is excellent against the current spirit damage meta and helps you survive teamfights.

Viscus - Focus on utility abilities and positioning. His multiple support tools make him extremely difficult to kill and valuable in teamfights. Just be aware he has a high skill ceiling with movement tech.

Yamato - Build very tanky. She's one of the best laners in the game and can sustain in lane for extended periods, letting you farm safely.

Vindicta - She was recently nerfed and transformed from an AoE spam character back to a more traditional sniper/gun-based character. Adjust your playstyle accordingly if you're used to old Vindicta.

Important tip for new players: Follow popular builds from pro players and streamers rather than creating your own. Builds tell you both what items to buy AND what abilities to level up in what order. You can reach the highest rank (Eternus) just by following someone else's build without creating your own.

Final Thoughts

Picking the right hero comes down to three things: your gaming background, your skill level, and your team's needs.

Start with the easy heroes that match your background. If you play shooters, go Haze. If you play MOBAs, try Abrams or Yamato. If you're brand new, Mo & Krill is your safest bet. Practice in bot matches until you're comfortable with your abilities and basic movement.

Once you've picked a hero, find a popular build and follow it exactly. Don't try to innovate your own builds yet - even top-ranked players often just follow proven builds. Focus on execution and game sense first.

As you improve, you can branch out to harder heroes like Mina or Holiday. But there's no rush - plenty of players reach high ranks by mastering a single easy hero rather than struggling with a difficult one.

Pay attention to team composition too. If everyone locks carries, consider switching to a support. If your team is all supports, someone needs to carry. The best hero choice depends on what your team needs, not just what you want to play.

Additional Resources

Want more beginner guidance? These comprehensive tutorials cover everything from movement mechanics to advanced strategies: