Counter Items

3:04 Deadlock's counter items are the items you buy against a particular threat rather than for raw power: anti-heal such as Healbane (-35% healing) and Decay (-50%) against healers, Dispel Magic and Unstoppable against stuns and debuffs, Knockdown against fliers and channeled ultimates, and Silencer, Cursed Relic or Disarming Hex to shut one hero down. The numbers on this page are the game files read on Oct 26, 2026, with Valve's latest changes dated. Outlets agree that a build should change with the enemy: PC Gamer tells players to "think about what they'd struggle with and adjust your build." Item costs and slots are on Items and Shop, and the theory of building on Builds and Itemization.

Quick facts

Source: game files via deadlock-api, read Oct 26, 2026; Valve, May 22, 2026; deadlock-api's measured item stats.

Threats and their counters

Source: item effects from the game files, read Oct 26, 2026; matchups from PC Gamer and Mobalytics.

Anti-heal

6:11 Anti-heal items cut the healing an enemy receives, and Deadlock has six, from Healbane at 1,600 souls to Spirit Burn at 6,400. Their effects, as the game files list them on Oct 26, 2026:

Source: the game files, read Oct 26, 2026; Decay's damage was cut 25% and its duration raised 20% by Valve on Sep 16, 2026.

3:16 Healbane is the anti-heal players buy most: deadlock-api measured it in 20.4% of hero-matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026, bought on average at 16.8 minutes. Mobalytics (Aug 27, 2026) names Healbane against McGinnis, Mo & Krill, Abrams, Shiv and Victor, and its Baba guide asks for anti-heal against Baba's regeneration and Restorative Locket. PC Gamer gave the same advice against self-healers like Abrams.

Leech is the answer to anti-heal: the Tier 4 Vitality item gives 28% bullet and spirit lifesteal and reduces the healing reduction enemies put on you, by the game files; Valve raised its lifesteal from 25% on Sep 16, 2026.

Cleanse: Dispel Magic and Divine Barrier

Dispel Magic, the item that was called Debuff Remover until Jan 30, 2026, is Deadlock's cleanse: a Tier 3 Vitality active at 3,200 souls that purges all non-ultimate debuffs and, if it removed any, heals 250 and gives +2 m move speed, by the game files. Its cooldown is 45s since Valve's May 22, 2026 update, up from 40s; it also gives +10% spirit resist, and it cannot be used while stunned or slept.

4:25 Dispel Magic does not remove ultimates. Valve's Shop Rework notes (May 8, 2025) stated that the item "no longer removes ultimate effects", naming Pocket's Affliction. Mobalytics' builds use it against regular debuffs instead: Calico's against Infernus' Afterburn and Toxic Bullets, Apollo's against Slowing Hex, Silence Wave and targeted stuns such as Graves' Grasping Hands.

Divine Barrier cleanses an ally as well as yourself. The Tier 4 Vitality active removes all non-stun debuffs from its target and gives a 600 barrier and +2.75 m move speed for 6s, with a 45s cooldown halved on allies, by the game files. Mobalytics' Grey Talon build takes it for Pocket's Affliction, and its Baba guide notes that it also cleanses Baba's Feed The Birds.

Debuff Reducer is the cheap, passive version: +25% debuff resist and +90 health for 1,600 souls, and the component of both Unstoppable and Spellbreaker. Debuff resist from several items stacks with diminishing returns, as Valve's Shop Rework notes set it.

Unstoppable and stun answers

30:48 Unstoppable makes you immune to stun, silence, sleep, root and disarm for 5.5s, a Tier 4 Vitality active at 6,400 souls whose cooldown Valve cut from 65s to 60s on May 22, 2026. It cannot be cast while stunned or slept, so it is used before the fight or before your own channel. PC Gamer recommends it before a channeled ultimate such as Haze's Bullet Dance or Bebop's Hyper Beam, so stuns cannot interrupt it.

Indomitable answers the first stun instead of preventing all of them. Added on Apr 30, 2026, the Tier 4 Vitality passive removes the next stun, chain, immobilize, sleep or silence from a player, then gives a barrier and cuts all ability cooldowns by 20%, on a 55s cooldown, by the game files. Its component, Reactive Barrier (1,600 souls), gives a 325 barrier when you are crowd-controlled.

Crowd control already shrinks when it is chained: since Valve developer Yoshi's Apr 10, 2026 update, crowd control that lands within 9s of another is shortened by 15% and then by 35%.

Silence, disarm and lockdown

Silence items stop an enemy's abilities, and Deadlock has four of them. Silencer (Tier 4 Weapon) builds up a 2.5s silence from bullets with 10s of immunity after; Silence Wave (Tier 3 Spirit) silences everyone it hits for 3s with a 42s cooldown but does not interrupt channels; Focus Lens (Tier 4 Spirit) silences one enemy for 4.5s and repeats 35% of the damage dealt during it; Cursed Relic (Tier 4 Spirit) curses one enemy for 3.25s, interrupting, silencing, disarming and blocking their items. All four effects are from the game files read on Oct 26, 2026.

Disarm items stop a gun. Disarming Hex (Tier 3 Spirit) disarms one enemy for 4.25s with -13% bullet resist on a 16s cooldown, Rusted Barrel (Tier 1 Spirit) cuts fire rate by 32%, and Phantom Strike disarms the hero it jumps on, per the game files. Mobalytics names Disarming Hex against Drifter, Graves, Venator and Silver, and Cursed Relic against Dynamo, Haze, Mina, Paradox and Yamato.

Fliers and mobile heroes

19:55 Knockdown is the standard answer to heroes in the air: a Tier 3 Spirit active that stuns for 0.5s after a 2s delay, longer against airborne targets, and doubles their gravity, with a 45 m range and a 35s cooldown, by the game files. PC Gamer calls it the answer to fliers such as Vindicta and Lash and to Seven's Storm Cloud, advising players to throw it and take cover during the wind-up. Mobalytics adds Grey Talon and Holliday to its targets.

9:19 Slowing Hex is the cheap answer to mobile heroes: for 1,600 souls it slows a target 16%, silences their movement abilities and items and raises their gravity for 3.5s, on a 29s cooldown since Sep 16, 2026. Mobalytics names it against Calico, Lash, Mirage, Wraith and Apollo. Every slow in the game was cut by about 20% in that Sep 16 update.

Gun and spirit damage

14:07 Against gun carries, the defensive buys are Metal Skin (5s of bullet immunity, 24s cooldown), Bullet Resilience (+30% bullet resist), Plated Armor (30% chance to deflect bullets and 50% to block on-hit effects) and Return Fire (returns 65% of bullet damage), by the game files. Mobalytics' Wraith guide lists Disarming Hex, Juggernaut, Hunter's Aura and Suppressor against her. Mobalytics' expert calls Plated Armor a natural counter to Infernus.

Against spirit damage, the buys are Spirit Resilience (+30% spirit resist), Spellbreaker (the next spirit hit of 175 or more is cut 65%), Witchmail, Counterspell (a parry that also blocks abilities for 0.8s) and Ethereal Shift (4s of invulnerability, 37s cooldown), per the game files. PC Gamer gives Ethereal Shift as the answer to Haze's ultimate, and Mobalytics names Counterspell against Bebop, Rem, Pocket and The Doorman.

Counters by hero

Outlets name items against particular heroes; the hero pages hold the full matchups. Mobalytics' Street Brawl guide (Aug 27, 2026), whose item draft leans toward counters, gives this list:

Source: Mobalytics (dxvis), Deadlock Street Brawl Mode Explained, Aug 27, 2026.

Mobalytics' hero guides add more. Against Baba, its guide recommends anti-heal, crowd control to interrupt Feed The Birds and Armor Piercer for a gun carry; against Pocket, its guide says Counterspell and Debuff Reducer soften Affliction and Cursed Relic and Focus Lens catch him.

How often counters are bought

Several counter items show low measured win rates when bought. From Oct 12 to Oct 26, 2026, among items bought over 200,000 times, deadlock-api measured the lowest win rates for Disarming Hex (41.5%), Metal Skin (41.8%) and Rusted Barrel (44.7%), while Silencer reached 58.5%. These are measurements of matches, not a ranking of the items.

Frequently asked questions

What is anti-heal in Deadlock? Anti-heal in Deadlock is any item that cuts the healing an enemy receives: Healbane, Toxic Bullets and Crippling Headshot (-35%), Inhibitor (-40%), Decay (-50%) and Spirit Burn (-70%), by the game files read Oct 26, 2026. Healbane is the cheapest, at 1,600 souls.

What is the debuff remover in Deadlock? Deadlock's Debuff Remover was renamed Dispel Magic on Jan 30, 2026. It is a 3,200-soul Vitality active that purges non-ultimate debuffs, with a 45s cooldown since May 22, 2026.

What does Unstoppable do in Deadlock? Unstoppable makes a Deadlock hero immune to stun, silence, sleep, root and disarm for 5.5s, by the game files. It costs 6,400 souls and its cooldown is 60s since Valve's May 22, 2026 update.

Does Dispel Magic remove ultimates in Deadlock? No: Deadlock's Dispel Magic removes only non-ultimate debuffs, a rule since Valve's May 8, 2025 Shop Rework, which named Pocket's Affliction. Mobalytics recommends Divine Barrier or Counterspell against Affliction instead.

How do you counter fliers in Deadlock? In Deadlock, Knockdown is the usual answer to fliers such as Vindicta and Lash, a delayed stun that lasts longer against airborne targets, as PC Gamer advises. Slowing Hex also silences movement abilities and raises the target's gravity.

How do you counter healers in Deadlock? In Deadlock, buy anti-heal against healers and lifesteal: Healbane is the cheapest and most bought, in 20.4% of hero-matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026 by deadlock-api's measurement. Mobalytics names it against McGinnis, Mo & Krill, Abrams, Shiv and Victor.

How do you counter gun heroes in Deadlock? In Deadlock, Metal Skin (5s of bullet immunity), Bullet Resilience, Plated Armor and Return Fire protect against guns, and Disarming Hex, Rusted Barrel and Suppressor weaken the shooter, by the game files. Mobalytics names Disarming Hex against Drifter, Graves, Venator and Silver.

Sources

• Items (upgrades), deadlock-api's copy of the game files, read Oct 26, 2026
• Item stats since Oct 15, 2026 and since Oct 12, 2026, deadlock-api (measured), read Oct 26, 2026
• Shop Rework Update, Valve, May 8, 2025
• 01-30-2026 Update, Valve (Yoshi) on the Deadlock forums, Jan 30, 2026
• 04-10-2026 Update, Valve (Yoshi) on the Deadlock forums, Apr 10, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 04-30-2026, Valve, Apr 30, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 05-22-2026, Valve, May 22, 2026
• Minor Update - 09-16-2026, Valve, Sep 16, 2026
• Deadlock Street Brawl Mode Explained, Mobalytics (dxvis), Aug 27, 2026
• Expert Deadlock Tier List, Mobalytics (RinaVX), Oct 22, 2026
• Deadlock Baba Guide, Mobalytics, undated (after Oct 6, 2026)
• Deadlock Pocket Guide, Mobalytics, 2024
• Deadlock Wraith Guide, Mobalytics, undated
• Calico by rina, Mobalytics (rina), Jul 26, 2026
• Apollo Build, Mobalytics (Rina), Jul 31, 2026
• Grey Talon by RinaVX, Mobalytics (rina), Oct 13, 2026
• Don't sleep on Deadlock's active items, PC Gamer (Sarah Richter), Oct 10, 2024
• If Deadlock is your first MOBA, here are 6 tips to suck less at it, PC Gamer (Harvey Randall), Sep 4, 2024
• The Deadlock Item Guide: What’s Actually Worth Buying, Metro Deadlock, Oct 17, 2026 (video)
• Counterbuying SIMPLIFIED for New Players | Deadlock Guide, Ghoul, Oct 20, 2026 (video)
• You're Building Wrong: Every COUNTER Item EXPLAINED - Deadlock Guide, Ansonex, Mar 25, 2026 (video)