If you’ve ever queued into a Deadlock match and felt lost when your team expects you to pick the right items and ability upgrades, you’re not alone. I’ve spent over 120 hours testing builds across every hero in the game, and I still see even high-rank players make basic build mistakes that cost them matches. A bad build can turn a winnable match into a frustrating loss, even if you outplay your opponents mechanically. That’s why I put together this guide to walk you through how to make builds in Deadlock that work for your playstyle, not just what the top streamers are running that week.
Start Your Build Planning Before the Match Even Begins
The best builds don’t start when you spawn at the fountain, they start during the draft phase. Before you lock in your hero, take 30 seconds to look at both your team’s composition and the enemy’s composition to map out your core build priorities. This pre-draft check takes less than a minute, and it’s the foundation of learning how to make builds in Deadlock that win matches, not just look good on a tier list.
First, confirm your hero’s core identity so you don’t build them against their natural strengths. For example, Wraith is a burst assassin designed to delete squishy backline heroes, so building her full tank will waste her damage potential and leave your team without a reliable damage source. If you’re playing a support hero like Rook, your first priority is utility and survivability to keep your team alive, not attack damage to get kills.
Never copy a top build list without adjusting it for your specific match. Top build lists are made for average matchups, not the specific enemy comp you’re facing that round. I remember queuing into a ranked match last month where I picked my main carry, Wraith, and the enemy team had three stun-heavy heroes. I was so focused on copying the top Wraith build I saw a streamer use the day before that I forgot to build tenacity. I got stunned before I could even use my blink ability three times in the first 10 minutes, and we lost our first two turrets before I adjusted my build. That mistake cost us the match, and it’s a lesson I still carry with me every time I pick a hero.
How to Make Builds in Deadlock That Counter Your Enemy Team Composition
The single biggest factor that separates a good build from a great build is how well it counters the specific heroes on the enemy team. A build that works against a full physical damage comp will be useless against a team with three burst mages, so you need to adjust your core items to target their biggest strengths. You don’t need to counter every single enemy hero, but you should prioritize countering the two or three highest-threat heroes on their team.
For example, if the enemy has a healer support like Solace that can restore half their team’s health in one ability, you’re wasting your time building pure damage. Anti-heal items as early as your first or second purchase will cut their healing by 60% and make it far easier for your team to win team fights. If the enemy has a fed assassin that keeps one-shotting your backline, building a single shield item for your carry can make enough of a difference to turn the tide of the match.
These are the most common enemy comp types and the build adjustments you should make for each:
- Full physical damage comp: Prioritize armor items over magic resist, and add one thorn effect item to return damage to auto-attack focused heroes like Wraith or Locus
- Heavy crowd control comp: Pick a tenacity item as your first core purchase, and avoid glass cannon builds that leave you vulnerable before you can cast abilities
- Sustain-focused comp with two healers: Add anti-heal to both your item build and ability upgrades if your hero has that option, and remind your team to build anti-heal too
- Burst magic damage comp: Prioritize magic resist and a shield item that activates when you drop below 30% health to avoid getting one-shot by abilities
Support players have slightly different counter build priorities than carry or tank players. As a support, you should prioritize utility items that benefit the whole team over personal stat upgrades. For example, if your team is struggling with crowd control, buying a team-wide cleanse item will help your whole team far more than buying a personal damage item for yourself.
Balance Ability Upgrades and Item Choices for Synergistic Builds
A lot of new players only focus on items and forget that ability upgrades make up half of your total build power. If your ability upgrade order doesn’t match the items you’re building, you’re wasting a huge amount of potential power spikes that can help you win lane and take objectives early. Once you get the hang of how to make builds in Deadlock, you'll start noticing these synergies automatically without having to look them up.
For example, if you’re playing the hero Seven and running a tank build, you should upgrade his shield ability first, because it scales with your max health, which is the core stat of your tank build. If you’re running a damage build on Seven, you upgrade his spin ability first, which scales with attack damage and benefits far more from the damage items you’re buying. Upgrading the wrong ability first will leave you noticeably weaker for the first 10 minutes of the match, even if you buy the right items.
Always match your ability upgrade order to the item build you are running, not the other way around. I’ve seen so many new players upgrade their ultimate ability first when it doesn’t become useful until level 6, wasting early power spikes that could help them win lane against their opponent. If you’re winning lane hard, you can upgrade your damage abilities first to snowball your lead. If you’re losing lane, upgrade your survivability or escape abilities first to help you stay alive long enough to catch up.
You should also pay attention to ability augment options that become available at levels 5, 10, and 15. These augments can completely change how a hero plays, so you should pick augments that work with your item build instead of just picking the most popular augment on tier lists. For example, if you’re building a full attack speed build on Locus, pick the augment that gives your auto attacks a splash damage effect instead of the augment that boosts your single target ability damage.
Test and Adjust Your Build Mid-Match for Best Results
One of the biggest mistakes new players make when learning how to make builds in Deadlock is sticking to a fixed plan no matter what happens in the match. Even the best pre-draft build plan can become useless if the match goes in an unexpected direction, like if an enemy mage gets 10 kills in the first 15 minutes or your two frontline players leave the match early. You don’t have to stick to your original build plan if it’s not working for the current state of the match.
You can always sell items for 70% of their cost if you need to pivot your build mid-match. A lot of players avoid selling items because they think they’re wasting gold, but losing 30% of an item’s cost is far better than keeping an item that doesn’t help you win the match. For example, if you planned to build full damage as a carry but your only tank left the match, selling one damage item to buy two survivability items will help you stay alive long enough to deal damage in team fights.
It’s also a good idea to test new builds in casual matches first before bringing them to ranked. I test all my new builds in at least 5 casual matches to see what works and what doesn’t, so I don’t waste ranked LP on untested builds. You might find that a build that sounds great on paper doesn’t work as well in actual matches, or that a weird off-meta build works perfectly for your playstyle. Don't be afraid to break meta build rules if you find something that works for your unique playstyle. Some of my most successful builds are off-meta builds I tested on a whim, like a full ability power build on Rook that lets me deal as much damage as a carry while still being able to heal my team.
Learning how to make builds in Deadlock isn’t about memorizing a bunch of fixed builds or following tier lists perfectly. It’s about understanding core hero strengths, countering enemy picks, and adjusting your plan based on how the match goes. You don’t need to be a pro player to make great builds, you just need to pay attention to what’s happening in your match and think about what your team needs to win. Next time you queue into a match, take an extra 30 seconds during the draft phase to plan your build, and you’ll notice a big difference in your win rate after just a few games.