Best items in Deadlock: Here’s what you need to equip

There are over 151 items currently in Deadlock. These items are spread throughout four tiers across three categories: Weapon, Vitality, and Spirit. Deadlock’s complex item shop is more than enough for every character to have multiple viable builds, with many situational items that can turn the tide in every game.

Beyond core items and stat bonuses, the best items in Deadlock shine through their utility and versatility, amplifying your character’s unique strengths to take over the Cursed Apple.

It wouldn’t do Deadlock’s exhaustive item shop justice to claim that these items are the best in every category and should be bought on all heroes regardless of the situation. Rather, these items were chosen because they’re conceptually strong, regardless of future balancing they may receive during the playtesting period.

Items that are currently overtuned, like Enchanter’s Emblem or Restorative Shot, were not considered for future proofing. Additionally, items that provide simple stat bonuses (with one exception) were also left out of this list, so don’t expect commonly built items like Superior Cooldown, Superior Duration, Mystic Expansion, and Extra Stamina here. 

Finally, most tier four were purposefully snubbed because otherwise the list would be full of them. With the criteria out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the best items in Deadlock.

Laning is the most crucial stage of Deadlock, where falling behind can quickly snowball out of control. Early game sustain is typically the first item you’ll buy, and there’s nothing more reliable than Extra Regen. Other sustain items like Restorative Shot, Healing Rite, and Mystic Regeneration have conditions and cooldowns to manage. 

Extra Regen just works, whether you’re in or out of combat. It’s safe, it’s boring, but it’s reliable and lets you survive harsh laning phases.

Kinetic Dash and Arcane Surge have similar effects that trigger after a successful Dash-Jump. The former is for gun builds as it adds more fire rate and bonus ammo, while the latter will grant the next ability used bonus range, duration, and Spirit power. Both items also upgrade from Extra Stamina and passively add an extra stamina bar and bonus stamina recovery.

What makes Kinetic Dash and Arcane Surge great items is that they offer players a decent powerspike on a tier two item, but require them to commit two stamina bars to access it. The high-risk, high-reward dynamic is a precedent that creates active gameplay.

Cultist Sacrifice is the ultimate farming item. As an upgrade from Monster Rounds, Cultist Sacrifice gives bonus weapon damage and resistance against NPCs, enabling you to clear lane troopers and jungle camps in a flash. 

Its active portion consumes an enemy for bonus souls, then grants a long-lasting buff that gives additional fire rate, health, and ability range. The item is best used aggressively to steal camps away from the enemy, especially ones with a large denizen.

Quicksilver Reload works by imbuing one of your abilities with its effect. The ability charges over time for bonus Spirit damage, as well as buffing you with more fire rate and bullets. 

This item is a big early game powerspike that punches above its price point, since it creates a bursty opener with the follow-up damage to finish off the enemy. With the addition of its upgrade, Mercurial Magnum, QSR will find a comfortable home in many hybrid heroes’ bags.

Heroic Aura is a team-oriented item that passively increases nearby allies’ bullet resistance. The defensive radius is already cost-effective against multiple gun heroes, but its active portion makes it worth your soul investment. 

Upon activation, it empowers the team with bonus move speed and fire rate, with minions receiving double the value. This item should be picked up more outside of McGinnis, since it’s one of the few aura items in the game.

Rescue Beam is one of the upgrade paths of Healing Rite. Instead of assisting the whole team with its alternative, Rescue Beam heals you and another ally for a percentage of max HP. What it’s most known for is its active effect that allows the caster to pull the ally away from danger.

The on-demand healing is already effective for supportive characters like Kelvin and Viscous, but the guaranteed save can deny important kills away from the enemy team. It’s a must-buy to rescue teammates from pickoff heroes like Holliday.

Silence Wave is a tier three Spirit item that shoots an expanding projectile that silences enemies for a few seconds, preventing them from using abilities. Additionally, affected enemies have their Spirit resist and power reduced. 

In a game where abilities are often your main defensive tool, locking out access to them is a death sentence for many heroes. The item has an impressive cast range that can also silence enemies way beyond your intended target.

Knockdown is a versatile item that can counter many heroes in Deadlock. The active item marks an enemy and stuns them with a comically large anvil after two seconds, with the stun lasting longer against airborne targets. An early purchase for this event is useful for keeping flying characters, such as Vindicta and Grey Talon, in check.

The mini-stun and long cast range are also useful for cancelling channelled abilities like Dynamo and Seven’s ultimate. Smart enemies will adapt to it with items like Debuff Remover or Unstoppable, but Knockdown remains important so they can’t fight uncontested.

Ethereal Shift is an endgame tier four item that can bail you out of most sticky situations. The active effect makes your character untargetable and invincible while in its void state. Afterwards, you’ll receive significant buffs to Spirit power, Spirit resist, and move speed.

Not only is it a clutch defensive item, but this get-out-of-jail card also allows players to make risky plays they couldn’t otherwise do. Either this item or Divine Barrier is an essential late-game pickup when every hero can deal absurd damage.

Mastering Deadlock’s advanced movement makes players more skilled and efficient in their macro. While the base movement kit is available for all heroes, there are naturally faster characters who can traverse the map quickly with their abilities. Majestic Leap equalises this by giving any character verticality, launching them high up in the air, and providing a barrier on a low cooldown.

Majestic Leap opens up movement for slower characters, allowing them to traverse between lanes effortlessly. It makes roaming so fluid that it’s worth picking up for that reason alone. But it also enables characters like Warden, Lash, and Pocket to have reliable initiation that they wouldn’t otherwise have. 

In the late game, players can transition towards Magic Carpet since it gives unparalleled mobility that doubles as an escape tool.

Counterspell is not only the best item in Deadlock, it’s also the most satisfying to pull off. The item completely protects you from the damage and effects of enemy abilities and items, as well as providing healing and movespeed. This third-tier item negates anything and everything you can successfully parry, from abilities like Bebop’s hook or Shiv’s execute, up to ultimates from Lash and Pocket.

Most importantly, Counterspell forces you away from autopilot mode and makes you pay more attention to the game. Every other defensive item mitigates or diminishes effects, but Counterspell negates them entirely. Because of this, serious players need to become comfortable with the item, as it fits in every game.

In Deadlock’s ever‑expanding shop of over 151 items, success goes beyond blindly picking the highest-tier items or the best stat-sticks; it’s also about taking advantage of the robust item shop. 

The best items listed here have a wide range of uses, from flash farming, negating enemy abilities, enhancing and protecting teammates, to making slow characters keep up with the game’s fast pace. Overtuned items may break metas, but these items are here to stay.