Billy

21:38 Billy is a Deadlock brawler who never backs off: he charges in with Rising Ram, slams enemies to the ground with his bat in Bashdown, refills his gun and his health with melee hits through Blasted, and chains every enemy around him to himself with his Chain Gang ultimate. Valve released him on Aug 20, 2025 as the second of the Six New Heroes, and in the Hero Voting that set their order he won his round by the largest lead, just over 30% of the votes. Valve's game files rate him complexity 3 of 3, the hardest tier among the Heroes.

Quick facts

Source: the game files as of Oct 26, 2026 (deadlock-api), Valve's Aug 12, 2026 update for regen, deadlock-api's hero-stats measurement for the win rate.

Abilities

Source: the game files as of Oct 26, 2026 (deadlock-api).

5:09 Bashdown slams Billy's bat 4 m ahead, pulling enemies down for melee damage, while a shockwave out to 8 m deals 35 spirit damage and knocks them up, per the game files as of Oct 26, 2026. T1 cuts 10s from the cooldown, T2 adds a charge and 2 m of radius, and T3 cuts 3s from the charge time and makes the slam deal 50% of his heavy melee damage. Valve's Jun 30, 2026 update cut that T3 from 60% and its melee scaling from 1.1 to 0.9.

Rising Ram charges Billy head-first into an enemy and carries both of them into the air for 40 damage, and its 32-second cooldown is halved when it connects, per the game files as of Oct 26, 2026. T1 gives +25% weapon damage for 5s on impact, T2 adds 0.4s of charge, and T3 cuts 13s from the cooldown and gives +10% max health for 16s on a hero hit, the version Valve's Aug 12, 2026 update introduced in place of a percent-health damage effect.

6:05 Blasted works passively and actively. Passively, his light melee restores 35% of his ammo and his heavy melee all of it, and every melee hit "wrecks" the enemy for 7 seconds so his bullets deal 10% more to them; the active (27-second cooldown) lasts 8 seconds, stretched by each melee hit up to 35, and adds 70 bonus health per melee hit, per the game files as of Oct 26, 2026. T1 gives +2.25 m/s while Blasted, T2 adds a Bashdown charge on use and +7% to the wrecked bonus, and T3 adds 50 bonus health per melee hit.

21:08 Chain Gang is Billy's ultimate: it chains every enemy within 12 m to him for 2.8 seconds, during which they cannot use movement abilities, are slowed up to 35% when they pull away and take 45 damage per second, then yanks them to him for 120 damage, per the game files as of Oct 26, 2026. A chain breaks after half a second without line of sight. T1 gives +40% spirit and bullet resist, T2 cuts 40s from the 175-second cooldown, and T3 adds 5 m of range and 1.3s of Unstoppable for each hero pulled in.

How to play

Billy is a front-line fighter who wants to start the fight and stay in it. Valve's reveal post calls him "a chaotic front-liner who never backs down from a challenge", and Mobalytics' Billy guide lists his strengths as crowd control that displaces and pulls, great scaling and durability.

26:36 His melee is his engine: every light or heavy melee reloads his gun through Blasted and marks the enemy for extra bullet damage, so he weaves melee between bursts of fire rather than standing back. The Laning Guide covers the shared basics.

Rising Ram is his way in, and his cooldown on it decides his fights. Mobalytics notes he is easily kited while Rising Ram is on cooldown and struggles against silence; Dot Esports (Aug 25, 2026) called him "a flat-track bully" whom stronger players kite and parry.

28:17 Chain Gang wins teamfights when he lands it in the middle of the enemy team: chained enemies cannot dash away, and T3's Unstoppable stacks with every hero caught. It is weakest around walls and pillars, since a chain breaks without line of sight.

Builds

Billy builds close-range Weapon Items and melee Vitality Items, with some Spirit Items for his melee procs; Items and Shop covers the shop. In deadlock-api's measurement of his games from Oct 15 to 26, 2026, Melee Lifesteal was bought in 95%, Close Quarters in 90%, Lifestrike in 83%, Spirit Snatch in 81%, Melee Charge in 66%, Stalker in 65%, Crushing Fists in 59% and Rapid Recharge in 58%.

Source: Mobalytics (rina), Build ID 285660, updated Oct 22, 2026.

The build focuses "on max survivability with the most efficient gun and spirit items", buys Stalker for its "excellent synergy with Blasted", and takes Diviner's Kevlar for Chain Gang's Unstoppable upgrade. Builds and Itemization explains how to load a build by its ID.

Counters and matchups

33:02 Billy is countered by distance, silence and cover. Mobalytics' Billy guide says Chain Gang "can be stopped by using Counterspell or hiding behind cover", and that he struggles against silence and is easily kited while Rising Ram is on cooldown.

The Counter Items that follow from that are Counterspell for his ultimate, Silence Wave or other silences to stop Rising Ram, and anti-heal against his lifesteal items.

The measured matchups from deadlock-api's hero-versus-hero data, Oct 15 to 26, 2026, show Billy's lowest win rates against Graves (40.4%), Paige (42.8%), Rat King (43.2%), Seven (43.4%) and Victor (43.7%), and his highest against Sinclair (55.2%), Rem (54.5%), Mirage (53.2%), Holliday (53.1%) and Paradox (53.1%). These are raw rates, and Graves and Rat King win most of their games against everyone. Mobalytics' Calico guide names his Chain Gang as one of the answers to Calico's Leaping Slash.

Patch history

Valve reworked Billy on Mar 6, 2026 and has adjusted Rising Ram in most updates since. Newest first:

• Aug 12, 2026: base regen from 2.5 to 2.0; Rising Ram T3 changed from 7% max health as spirit damage to +10% max health for 16s; Chain Gang spirit scaling from 1 to 0.7 (Valve).
• Jul 28, 2026: Rising Ram T3 from 8% to 7% max health (Valve).
• Jul 9, 2026: Rising Ram T3 spirit scaling from 0.035 to 0.03 (Valve).
• Jun 30, 2026: bullet damage per boon cut 10%; Bashdown melee scaling from 1.1 to 0.9 and T3 from 60% to 50%; every ultimate's cooldown up 15%, taking Chain Gang to 175s (Valve).
• May 22, 2026: health per boon from +48 to +59; bullet damage per boon from 0.165 to 0.142; Rising Ram cooldown from 30s to 32s, T2 to +0.4s and T3 to -13s (Valve).
• Apr 30, 2026: Rising Ram T3 also cuts its cooldown by 10s (Valve).
• Mar 6, 2026: a rework: Bashdown T2 became +1 charge and +2 m; Rising Ram damage from 55 to 40 with its cooldown halved on impact; Blasted no longer cuts enemy fire rate by 14%; Chain Gang cooldown from 125s to 150s with reordered upgrades (Valve).
• Nov 21, 2025: Rising Ram T2 from +25% to +35% weapon damage (Valve).

Patches and Updates lists every update.

Lore

12:05 Billy is furious at "something", maybe the cops, magic regulations or the service at the other gyro place downtown, and his in-game biography advises not to ask him how he got the goat head, per the game files. Valve's Aug 18, 2025 post introduced him as "Billy the demonic goat". Mobalytics' guide credits his voice to Ari Kappatos. The setting is on Lore and Setting.

Frequently asked questions

Is Billy good in Deadlock? Outlets split on Billy in Deadlock: S tier on Dexerto's Oct 9, 2026 list, B on Mobalytics' Oct 22, 2026 expert list. deadlock-api measured a 48.20% win rate for him from Oct 15 to 26, 2026.

Is Billy hard to play in Deadlock? Valve's game files rate Billy complexity 3 of 3, Deadlock's hardest tier, and Mobalytics' guide lists "difficult to pick up" among his weaknesses.

When was Billy added to Deadlock? Valve released Billy on Aug 20, 2025, the second of Deadlock's Six New Heroes, after he won his vote with just over 30% of the votes.

What is the best Billy build in Deadlock? Deadlock players build Billy around melee: Melee Lifesteal, Close Quarters, Lifestrike and Spirit Snatch were each bought in over 80% of his games in deadlock-api's Oct 15 to 26, 2026 measurement. Mobalytics' Bruiser Billy adds Spirit Shielding, Weapon Shielding and Diviner's Kevlar.

How do you counter Billy in Deadlock? In Deadlock, kite Billy while Rising Ram is on cooldown, silence him, and stop Chain Gang with Counterspell or by breaking line of sight behind cover, as Mobalytics advises.

How does Billy's Chain Gang work in Deadlock? Chain Gang chains every enemy within 12 m to Billy for 2.8 seconds, stops their movement abilities, then yanks them to him for 120 damage, on a 175-second cooldown in Deadlock's game files as of Oct 26, 2026.

Sources

• Billy Comes in Swinging, Valve, Aug 20, 2025
• Six New Heroes, Valve, Aug 18, 2025
• You Can't Kill Victor, Valve, Aug 29, 2025
• Deadlock Assets API: heroes, deadlock-api (game files), read Oct 26, 2026
• Deadlock Assets API: items, deadlock-api (game files), read Oct 26, 2026
• Hero stats, Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026, deadlock-api (measured), Oct 26, 2026
• Hero counter stats, Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026, deadlock-api (measured), Oct 26, 2026
• Item stats for Billy, Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026, deadlock-api (measured), Oct 26, 2026
• Minor Update - 08-12-2026, Valve, Aug 12, 2026
• Minor Update - 07-28-2026, Valve, Jul 28, 2026
• Minor Update - 07-09-2026, Valve, Jul 9, 2026
• Minor Update - 06-30-2026, Valve, Jun 30, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 05-22-2026, Valve, May 22, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 04-30-2026, Valve, Apr 30, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 03-06-2026, Valve, Mar 6, 2026
• 11-21-2025 Update, Valve, Nov 21, 2025
• Deadlock Billy Guide - Abilities, Overview & More, Mobalytics, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
• Bruiser Billy by rina, Mobalytics (rina), Oct 22, 2026
• Deadlock Calico Guide - Abilities, Overview & More, Mobalytics, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
• Expert Deadlock Tier List, Mobalytics (RinaVX), Oct 22, 2026
• Deadlock Tier List: Best characters to pick in the 2026 meta, Dexerto, Oct 9, 2026
• Deadlock tier list: Best characters and heroes ranked, Dot Esports (Elizbar Ramazashvili), Aug 25, 2026
• The Ultimate Guide To Billy - DPS Monster Tank, Metro Deadlock, Sep 12, 2025 (video)
• The Complete Lore Of Valve's Next Game | Deadlock Story Explained, OhHeckItsTristan, Mar 28, 2026 (video)