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Deadlock public release: Dec 2027Not announced: our best guess from Valve's Sep 29, 2026 development note and press estimates.
Best guessValve gives no date: its Steam page says "To be announced" and access is limited to friend invites. Its Sep 29, 2026 City Never Sleeps post lists work still to do before full release (progression, hero and Hideout customization, the Mid-Boss, Guardians and Walkers, hero remodels), its big updates have come about eight months apart, and Beebom's Oct 1, 2026 estimate is "late 2027 or early 2028", so we count to the end of 2027. Valve on Steam

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Mirage

Mirage is a Deadlock hero, a Djinn's bodyguard who drains enemies with Fire Scarabs, lifts them with the whirlwind Dust Devil, stacks Djinn's Mark with his shots and teleports anywhere on the minimap with his ultimate, Traveler. Valve added him on Sep 26, 2024.

Mirage is a Deadlock hero who times his shots and catches fleeing targets: Fire Scarabs drain an enemy's health into his own, Dust Devil turns him into a whirlwind that lifts and slows, his gun stacks Djinn's Mark for growing bursts of damage, and his ultimate, Traveler, teleports him to any spot he picks on the minimap. Valve added him on Sep 26, 2024 ("Added new hero, Mirage", in Valve's 09-26-2024 Update), a month after the playtest went public, making him the first hero added after the original roster.

Quick facts

Role Assassin (the game's class), tagged Bodyguard and Focused, among others
Added Sep 26, 2024 update
Complexity 2 of 4 in the game files
Health 730 (+45 per boon)
Bullet damage 14.8 per bullet (+0.3 per boon)
Weapon Promises Kept, a pistol: 2.72 shots per second, 40.3 DPS, falloff 20m to 58m
Ammo 16 rounds, 2.6s reload
Move speed 7.0 m/s (+1.6 m/s sprint), 3 stamina
Measured win rate 44.87% in 10.42% of matches (deadlock-api, Oct 15 to 25, 2026)

Source: the game files as read by deadlock-api and its item data, Oct 26, 2026 (current with Valve's Oct 14, 2026 patch); win rate from deadlock-api's measured hero stats, normal-mode matches Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

Abilities

Key Ability What it does Cooldown
1 Fire Scarabs 2 charges; each drains 8 HP per second for 5s, healing Mirage, while the target deals 20% less damage 35s
2 Dust Devil Becomes a whirlwind traveling up to 20m: 65 damage in 4m, a brief lift, a 24% slow for 3s, then 30% bullet evasion for 4s 36s
3 Djinn's Mark Shots mark the target; each added mark doubles the damage, up to 4 marks; expiry or the active deals it and reveals the target 2.75s per target
4 Traveler Pick a spot on the minimap and teleport there after 2s 140s

Source: the game files as read by deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026.

Fire Scarabs are his sustain and his duel tool. Valve rebuilt them on Mar 6, 2026 from a max-health steal into a drain that also cuts the target's damage. T1 adds 7 drain per second, T2 adds a charge and 2s, and T3 cuts the target's damage by another 15% and adds 0.13 spirit scaling, per the game files.

Dust Devil, called Tornado until Mar 6, 2026, is his engage and his escape. T1 adds 60 damage, T2 cuts 12s from the cooldown and adds 30% evasion, and T3 lets him recast within 6s and adds 0.6 spirit scaling, per the game files.

Djinn's Mark rewards steady shooting. The base damage is 11 (0.35 spirit scaling), doubled by each added mark, and the marks last 5s; when they expire or Mirage triggers the active, the damage lands and the target is revealed for 6s. T1 adds a 48% fading slow for 0.8s, T2 adds 20 base damage and 3s, and T3 cuts 0.75s from the per-target cooldown, adds a fifth mark and stuns for 0.5s at max marks, per the game files.

Traveler gives him map presence. Since its Mar 6, 2026 rework it targets the minimap instead of a unit; damage from a hero interrupts it and puts it on a 4s cooldown. T1 grants 3 m/s and 20% fire rate for 12s, T2 a 400 barrier (0.6 spirit scaling), and T3 cuts 90s from the cooldown, raised from 70s on Jul 9, 2026. A Traveler teleport also drops the Soul Urn if he is carrying it, per Valve's Jun 30, 2026 notes.

How to play

Mirage plays as a skirmisher who can appear anywhere: he envelops himself in a tornado to catch and lift enemies, sustains with scarabs, and can help an ally or punish an enemy anywhere on the map, in the game's own hero text. Mobalytics' Mirage guide lists sustain from Fire Scarabs, engage and escape with Dust Devil, and map presence with Traveler as strengths, and little utility when behind and a need for skill shots and map awareness as weaknesses.

In lane, Fire Scarabs win trades by healing him and weakening the enemy's damage. Dexerto's Mirage build (Mar 2, 2026) puts Fire Scarabs to 5 AP first, then Djinn's Mark and Dust Devil, with Traveler last. See Ability Points and Leveling for how points come in.

Through the mid game, Traveler lets him split push one lane and still join a fight in another, or arrive behind an enemy who is pushing alone. In a fight, Dust Devil opens and Djinn's Mark stacks pay off on whoever he keeps shooting.

Builds

Players mix spirit and gun items on Mirage, as deadlock-api measured in his matches from Oct 15 to 25, 2026:

Phase Most bought (share of his matches)
Lane Mystic Regeneration 81%, Healbane 40%, Monster Rounds 39%
Mid game Mystic Vulnerability 64%, Toxic Bullets 59%, Ricochet 45%
Late game Escalating Exposure 48%, Ricochet 33%, Superior Cooldown 31%

Source: deadlock-api, item stats for Mirage, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

Dexerto's build runs Monster Rounds, Mystic Burst, Quicksilver Reload, Extra Spirit and Compress Cooldown early; Counterspell, Metal Skin, Spirit Resilience, Improved Spirit and Superior Cooldown mid; and Dispel Magic, Tankbuster, Ricochet, Inhibitor and Silencer late. Monster Rounds, Toxic Bullets, Ricochet and Silencer are Weapon Items; Healbane, Counterspell, Metal Skin and Inhibitor are Vitality Items; the rest are Spirit Items. Items and Shop explains costs and slots.

Counters and matchups

Mirage is countered by closing the distance and cleansing his marks, Mobalytics' guide says: Dispel Magic removes Djinn's Mark stacks, Majestic Leap closes the gap, Headshot Booster or Mystic Shot cut through his Mystic Regeneration, Silence Wave stops Dust Devil, and someone should match his split push. Among Counter Items, Mobalytics' Street Brawl guide (Aug 27, 2026) also lists Slowing Hex against him.

Measured matchups put him worst against Graves (37.3% win rate when facing), Rat King (38.1%) and Paige (39.4%), and best against Pocket (52.0%), The Doorman (51.0%) and Shiv (50.5%), in deadlock-api's counter stats for Oct 15 to 25, 2026. Graves, Rat King and Paige win more against almost everyone in that window, so read those numbers against his own 44.87% average.

Patch history

  • Sep 16, 2026: every move slow in the game was cut by about 20% (Valve), which is why Dust Devil's slow reads 24% and Djinn's Mark's T1 48% in the game files.
  • Jul 28, 2026: Fire Scarabs cut from 7s to 5s, their T2 from +2 charges to +1 charge and +2s; Dust Devil's T3 no longer lengthens the lift (Valve).
  • Jul 9, 2026: Fire Scarabs' T3 scaling cut from +0.17 to +0.13; Dust Devil's T3 scaling from +1 to +0.6; Djinn's Mark cooldown cut from 3s to 2.75s; Traveler's T3 raised from -70s to -90s (Valve).
  • Jun 30, 2026: every ultimate's base and upgrade cooldowns were made 15% weaker (Valve), which is why Traveler reads 140s in the game files after Valve's 120s in March.
  • Apr 30, 2026: base health regen cut from 2 to 1.5; Fire Scarabs cut from 8s to 7s (Valve).
  • Mar 6, 2026: a full rework: bullet damage from 15.2 + 0.5 to 14.8 + 0.3 per boon; Fire Scarabs rebuilt as a drain that cuts enemy damage by 20%; Tornado renamed Dust Devil with a slow and a recast; Traveler moved to the minimap with a 2s delay (Valve).
  • Nov 21, 2025: Traveler cooldown cut from 160s to 145s and able to target friendly objectives (Valve).

All Valve changes are in Patches and Updates.

Lore

Djinn cannot hold a body for more than 48 minutes without resting in a vessel, so they hire human bodyguards, Valve's in-game lore entry explains; Mirage guards the Djinn ambassador Nashala Dion in New York (game files, Oct 26, 2026). More on the city in Lore and Setting.

Frequently asked questions

Is Mirage good in Deadlock? Mirage won 44.87% of normal-mode Deadlock matches from Oct 15 to 25, 2026, 42nd of 44 heroes, and 43.88% in Phantom 1 and higher matches, in deadlock-api's measurement. Dot Esports called him the worst hero on Aug 25, 2026, while Dexerto's Oct 9, 2026 list and Mobalytics' expert list (Oct 22, 2026) both put him in B tier.

When was Mirage added to Deadlock? Valve added Mirage to Deadlock in its Sep 26, 2024 update, the first hero added after the playtest went public.

What is the best Mirage build in Deadlock? The most bought Mirage items in Deadlock from Oct 15 to 25, 2026 were Mystic Regeneration, Healbane and Monster Rounds in lane, Mystic Vulnerability, Toxic Bullets and Ricochet mid game, and Escalating Exposure and Superior Cooldown late, per deadlock-api.

How does Mirage's Traveler work? In Deadlock, Mirage's ultimate Traveler teleports him to a spot he picks on the minimap after a 2s delay; hero damage interrupts it and puts it on a 4s cooldown, and its full cooldown is 140s in the game files (Oct 26, 2026).

How do you counter Mirage? In Deadlock, counter Mirage with Dispel Magic against Djinn's Mark, gap closers such as Majestic Leap, Silence Wave against Dust Devil, and a hero who matches his split push, as Mobalytics advises.

What happened to Mirage's Tornado? Valve renamed Mirage's Tornado to Dust Devil in Deadlock's Mar 6, 2026 Gameplay Update, adding a slow and later a recast.

Sources

Moments

Mirage is NOT OKAY... Here's how to WIN with him.

POSHYPOP

  1. Mirage is a Deadlock hero who times his shots and catches fleeing targets: Fire Scarabs drain an enemy's health into…
  2. Fire Scarabs are his sustain and his duel tool. Valve rebuilt them on Mar 6, 2026 from a max-health steal into a drain…
  3. Traveler gives him map presence. Since its Mar 6, 2026 rework it targets the minimap instead of a unit; damage from a…
  4. In lane, Fire Scarabs win trades by healing him and weakening the enemy's damage. Dexerto's Mirage build (Mar 2, 2026)…
  5. Through the mid game, Traveler lets him split push one lane and still join a fight in another, or arrive behind an…
  6. Players mix spirit and gun items on Mirage, as deadlock-api measured in his matches from Oct 15 to 25, 2026:
  7. Mirage is countered by closing the distance and cleansing his marks, Mobalytics' guide says: Dispel Magic removes…

The Complete Lore Of Valve's Next Game | Deadlock Story Explained

OhHeckItsTristan

  1. Djinn cannot hold a body for more than 48 minutes without resting in a vessel, so they hire human bodyguards, Valve's…

Every page

See also

Last updated Oct 26, 2026 by the Vi.ki team. Page text CC BY-SA 4.0.

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