Deadlock complete Counter Item guide

One of the biggest mistakes that newer players make in Deadlock is that they heavily rely on a pre-set list of items in the build browser and keep purchasing the same items every game without investing in any Counter Items.

This is one of the biggest reasons why you lose the laning phase, allowing the enemy Mina or Drifter to snowball out of control, eventually costing you the match.

Counter Items help make the most fed characters on the enemy team significantly easier to take down, and every hero in the game has specific items that act as counters to them.

So if you are looking to climb your way out of Initiate, you will need to have a firmer grasp of how each Counter Item in Deadlock works and the best characters to buy them against.

So what is Counter Building in Deadlock?

Counter Items are situational build options that you opt into to tackle a specific problem that you are facing in a match. And this problem is usually a very fed member on the enemy team, or the entire enemy team is building items to specifically counter you.

MOBAs usually emphasise the need to build situational items based on the game state that you are in. Deadlock doubles down on this concept and makes counter-building one of the most flexible options in the game. It sort of redefines how we look at items in MOBAs.

There is a solution to every problem, but as you get limited slots and souls per game, you will have to pick and choose which Counter Items you need to go for based on the situation.

For example, if you have a very fed Mina on the enemy team, you build a fair bit of Spirit Resist. On the other hand, if you are playing Lady Geist and you see that almost every enemy hero has built Spirit Resist against you, then you invest in items like Tankbuster that help you ignore a percentage of the resistance.

So, when counter-building, there are a lot of conditions that you will need to keep in mind and pick the best option based on the game state that you are in.

If you aren’t investing some souls in Counter Items, then the fed Mina will snowball the entire game, and you are barely going to be doing any damage to the enemy Abrams, who has specifically made a build to counter you.

How to master Counter Building in Deadlock

Now, to be able to master Counter Building in Deadlock, you will need to have a firm understanding of all the Counter Items and the specific role that they play.

Below, we have provided a list of all these items and segregated them into what they are primarily used for:

Role	Explanation	Items
Damage Resist	These items will reduce the damage you take. These are usually percentage resistances that can be permanent, temporary, or conditional. Some items can completely nullify damage for a short time as well. Note: Stacking the same Resistance type has diminishing returns.	Spirit Shielding Enchanter’s Emblem Spirit Resilience Counterspell Spellbreaker Frenzy Scourge Extra Health Diviner Kevlar Colossus Battle Vest Weapon Shielding Return Fire Metal Skin Bullet Resistance Warp Stone Heroic Aura Escalating Resilience Plated Armor
Debuff and CC reduction	These items help you be more tanky in a fight by reducing the duration of debuffs and crowd control on you. Some items can completely negate CC for a while.	Debuff Reducer Reactive Barrier Counterspell Unstoppable Weighted Shots Blood Tribute Dispel Magic Divine Barrier
Resistance Reduction	These items will help reduce Spirit and Bullet Resistance that the enemy might have built. This lets you increase the amount of damage that you do to them. Note: Like with Resistance Building, Resistance Shred stacking also has diminishing returns.	Spirit Strike Spirit Snatch Spirit Shredder Bullets Spirit Rend Mystic Vulnerability Spirit Sap Tankbuster Crippling Headshot Rusted Barrel Bullet Resist Shredder Weakening Headshot Alchemical Fire Hollow Point Hunter’s Aura
Healing Reduction Debuff	These items will significantly reduce the amount of healing that the enemy does. Note: Stacking Healing Reduction from unique sources will have diminishing returns.	Healbane Decay Inhibitor Spirit Burn Toxic Bullets Crippling Headshot
Movement Debuff	These items will allow you to debuff enemy movement. It will hamper proper stamina usage and provide good anti-air and anti-channel support.	Slowing Hex Silence Wave Knockdown Vortex Web Capacitor Phantom Strike
Anti-Pick	These items are absolutely important for split-pushing other lanes, as they will prevent you from being picked off by the enemy team. They provide more mobility and sustain to either allow you to escape or stall long enough for the rest of your team to rotate in.	Warp Stone Counterspell Dispel Magic Cheat Death Ethereal Shift
Anti-Gunner	These items are perfect at countering heroes who rely heavily on shooting their guns.	Rusted Barrel Suppressor Disarming Hex Hunter’s Aura Juggernaut Phantom Strike
Anti-Caster	Perfect at countering characters that rely heavily on abilities and doing Spirit Damage.	Spirit Sap Silence Wave Focus Lens Silencer
Situational	These are situational items that come in handy every now and then.	Rebuttal Extra Stamina Enduring Speed Restorative Locket Cursed Relic

With so many types of Counter Items in the game, you can see that there are several solutions to every problem that you face in the game.

Apart from going for items that particularly counter a specific hero, you will also need to build items that synergize with your own hero.

So if you are playing someone like Abrams, who is on the tankier side of things, building Spirit Resilience and Metal Skin on him will be great to counter heroes like Lady Geist, Mina, Wraith, and Haze.

On the other hand, if you are playing a carry like Venator into a Bebop, Paradox, or Holiday, who can hook you in, then getting something like a Warp Stone can help you escape and create some distance.

So, the Counter Items you buy will need to complement the hero and the build path you are going down.

Best Counter items for every character in Deadlock

Here is a list of all the heroes that are currently available in Deadlock, along with the items that best counter them:

Character	Counter Items
Abrams	Slowing Hex Reactive Barrier Toxic Bullets Decay Crippling Headshot
Apollo	Slowing Hex Healbane Counterspell Silence Wave Witchmail
Bebop	Reactive Barrier Dispel Magic Counterspell Warp Stone Knockdown
Billy	Rebuttal Counterspell Metal Skin Cursed Relic Bullet Resistance
Calico	Rebuttal Slowing Hex Healbane Counterspell Reactive Barrier
Celeste	Slowing Hex Knockdown Silence Wave Spirit Resilience Witchmail
Doorman	Stamina Mastery Reactive Barrier Counterspell Spellbreaker
Drifter	Mystic Slow Suppressor Dispel Magic Counterspell Metal Skin
Dynamo	Slowing Hex Healbane Silence Wave Knockdown Unstoppable
Graves	Healbane Dispel Magic Metal Skin Bullet Resistance
Grey Talon	Spirit Shielding Knockdown Counterspell Spellbreaker Witchmail
Haze	Suppressor Reactive Barrier Metal Skin Dispel Magic Plated Armor
Holiday	Spirit Shielding Counterspell Warp Stone Knockdown Spellbreaker
Infernus	Slowing Hex Suppressor Dispel Magic Spirit Resilience Plated Armor
Ivy	Healbane Enduring Speed Knockdown Counterspell Silence Wave
Kelvin	Healbane Enduring Speed Spirit Resilience Dispel Magic Toxic Bullets
Lady Geist	Dispel Magic Silence Wave Decay Toxic Bullets Crippling Headshot
Lash	Spirit Shielding Slowing Hex Counterspell Knockdown Spellbreaker
McGinnis	Healbane Suppressor Knockdown Warp Stone Juggernaut
Mina	Slowing Hex Silence Wave Phantom Strike Plated Armor Spellbreaker
Mirage	Slowing Hex Dispel Magic Decay Cursed Relic Plated Armor
Mo and Krill	Debuff Reducer Reactive Barrier Dispel Magic Toxic Bullets Cheat Death
Paige	Reactive Barrier Dispel Magic Counterspell Spirit Resilience Spellbreaker
Paradox	Reactive Barrier Warp Stone Dispel Magic Spellbreaker Spirit Resilience
Pocket	Slowing Hex Counterspell Silence Wave Spellbreaker Divine Barrier
Rem	Monster Rounds Healbane Slowing Hex Counterspell Silence Wave
Seven	Reactive Barrier Spirit Resilience Dispel Magic Knockdown Witchmail
Shiv	Spirit Sap Dispel Magic Decay Toxic Bullets Crippling Headshot
Silver	Metal Skin Bullet Resistance Dispel Magic Decay Silence Wave
Sinclair	Slowing Hex Reactive Barrier Counterspell Spellbreaker
Venator	Debuff Reducer Reactive Barrier Metal Skin Dispel Magic Counterspell
Victor	Healbane Silence Wave Crippling Headshot Silencer Cursed Relic
Vindicta	Suppressor Knockdown Dispel Magic Phantom Strike Metal Skin
Viscous	Rebuttal Silence Wave Cursed Relic Unstoppable
Vyper	Extra Health Suppressor Reactive Barrier Dispel Magic Metal Skin
Warden	Stamina Mastery Healbane Suppressor Dispel Magic Juggernaut
Wraith	Slowing Hex Suppressor Spirit Resilience Ethereal Shift Divine Barrier
Yamato	Healbane Counterspell Silence Wave Spellbreaker Crippling Headshot

Note: While these are the best Counter Items that deal with the specific champion’s kit, you will also need to take their items into consideration, which can force you to buy a completely different option. For example, a full Spirit Graves will need different counter options when compared to a full Gun Graves.