Nurse Harrow

6:11 Nurse Harrow is a Deadlock support hero who heals teammates by shooting them with syringes, throws jars of leeches that drain enemies and grow her stronger, and ends fights with a fear ultimate, Lurking Terrors. Valve released her on Oct 20, 2026 at 2pm PDT as the sixth and last hero of the City Never Sleeps Update, which brought her to the roster after more than 110 million votes in the Hero Voting. PC Gamer called her "a support with some unorthodox methods". Valve's release post adds that 22,194 players voted only for her, that one player cast exactly 1,000 votes for her, and that her voters had a higher win rate than every other hero's voters.

Quick facts

Source: deadlock-api's copy of the game files (heroes and abilities), as of Oct 26, 2026; deadlock-api's measured hero stats, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

Abilities

Source: deadlock-api's copy of the game files, as of Oct 26, 2026. T1, T2 and T3 below are the 1, 2 and 5 Ability Point upgrades.

3:25 Leech Therapy throws a jar that lands up to 6.5m away and releases 4 leeches, which attach to enemies for 5s at 23 DPS (spirit scaling 0.19) and eat 0.65s of an enemy's buff duration each second, per the game files. Back on the ground the leeches crawl up to 8m, and picking one up heals Harrow for what it drained and grants a permanent +0.6 health regen and +5% fire rate, up to 10 stacks; she loses 25% of her stacks on death. T1 makes leeches drain stamina and return it to her, T2 gives -10s cooldown and +4 Spirit Power per leech, and T3 adds +1m radius, +0.3 spirit scaling and +8 maximum stacks.

4:54 Wretched Vapors possesses Harrow or an ally within 13m: a 4s Specter Rush speeds up all actions by 25% (spirit scaling 0.06) and defers 100% of incoming damage into specters, then a 4s Specter Crash slows all actions by 20% while the remaining specters deal their damage plus 30%, per the game files. Healing removes specters first. T1 gives -15s cooldown and +7m range, T2 +1s and +20% healing effectiveness, and T3 +15% rush speed and a dispel of non-ultimate debuffs.

7:56 Healing Needles loads a full clip of syringes that heal allies 25 per shot (spirit scaling 0.2, headshots +15%), per the game files. Dealing damage refills its charges (1.26% per bullet hit, 2.52% per headshot), each collected leech restores 0.15% per second, and reloading spends a charge. T1 adds +1 maximum charge, T2 +20 healing per shot and 0.6 stamina restored per shot, and T3 +0.4 scaling and shots that extend non-ultimate buffs by 6%.

8:37 Lurking Terrors, her ultimate, is a 7s channel in a 180-degree cone out to 35m that deals 60 DPS (spirit scaling 0.3) and slows movement and fire rate by 30%, per the game files. Enemies looking at her build terror over 1.3s, lose stamina and movement abilities, then flee for 2.2s plus 0.1s per leech stack; enemies facing away take 50% damage unless feared. T1 cuts the 200s cooldown by 50s, T2 adds another -20% movement and fire rate and +30 DPS, and T3 adds +3s of channel, +0.5 scaling and immunity to damage while channeling.

How to play

4:14 Nurse Harrow plays as a gun-and-heal support whose power grows with the leeches she collects. Mobalytics' Nurse Harrow guide notes that leeches can be collected for about 8 seconds after they land, so a laning Harrow throws Leech Therapy where she can walk over the leeches afterward. Each stack is permanent regen and fire rate, and her base health regen is 0 in the game files, so collecting leeches early is how she sustains in the lane.

6:52 Wretched Vapors and Healing Needles work as a pair. Mobalytics advises following Wretched Vapors with Healing Needles, because healing clears the specters before they land on the ally. Healing Needles also triggers on-hit items such as Ricochet, the same guide says, which is why gun items appear in her builds.

9:16 Lurking Terrors is her fight-winning tool, and its fear grows with her leech stacks. Mobalytics warns that without leech stacks the fear lasts only about 3 seconds, so the ultimate is strongest after she has farmed leeches through the lane.

Builds

No major guide outlet had published an item-by-item Nurse Harrow build by Oct 26, 2026 (Dexerto's address for her returned a 404 that day), so the best guide is what players buy. deadlock-api measured her purchases in her first matches, from Oct 20 to Oct 25, 2026:

Source: deadlock-api, measured item stats for Nurse Harrow, read Oct 26, 2026.

The mix reflects her kit: magazine items from Weapon Items feed Healing Needles, Extra Regen, Healing Booster and Healing Tempo from Vitality Items add to her healing, and Spirit Items such as Duration Extender and Improved Spirit lengthen and strengthen Wretched Vapors and Leech Therapy. How the shop works is on Items and Shop and Builds and Itemization.

Counters and matchups

Lurking Terrors fears only enemies who are looking at Harrow, and the game files say enemies facing away take 50% of its damage instead. Leeches stay on an enemy for 5s and are dropped on the ground for her to collect, and Wretched Vapors' Specter Crash leaves its target 20% slower for 4s, a window to punish.

In deadlock-api's measured matchups from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, Harrow did worst against Graves (45.1%), Paige (46.4%) and Rat King (46.4%), and best against Mina (57.9%), Mirage (57.2%) and Paradox (56.6%). Graves, Rat King and Paige top almost every hero's worst-matchup list in that window because they win more against everyone, so these figures are best read against Harrow's own average. Items that answer common threats are on Counter Items.

Patch history

No Valve patch has changed Nurse Harrow as of Oct 26, 2026. Valve's last balance update before her release was the Oct 14, 2026 update, posted Oct 15, and none has followed since she arrived on Oct 20. Valve announced her release date in its Oct 16, 2026 post for Violet. Every update is on Patches and Updates.

Since her release she has been one of the most played heroes: deadlock-api counted her in 72.9% of Standard and Ranked matches from Oct 20 to Oct 26, 2026, with a 51.4% win rate. In Ranked alone she won 49.7% of her games in the same days. Mobalytics' expert tier list by RinaVX (Oct 22, 2026) placed her in its top S+ tier; more rankings are on Hero Tier List.

Lore

Nurse Harrow is a pillar of the Marble Hill Possession Ward who fights supernatural possession, according to her in-game biography. Some patients call her a saint and others a cruel governess, and she keeps her patients' pain stored in her medical bag. Valve's release post calls her practices unorthodox but effective. The city around her is on Lore and Setting.

Frequently asked questions

When was Nurse Harrow added to Deadlock? Valve added Nurse Harrow to Deadlock on Oct 20, 2026 at 2pm PDT, the sixth and last hero of the City Never Sleeps update, chosen by player votes.

Is Nurse Harrow a healer in Deadlock? Yes. Nurse Harrow is a Deadlock support who heals allies by shooting them with Healing Needles and boosts them with Wretched Vapors, and she heals herself by collecting her leeches.

How do leeches work for Nurse Harrow? In Deadlock, Nurse Harrow's Leech Therapy releases 4 leeches that drain enemies, then return to the ground, where picking each one up heals her and grants a permanent +0.6 health regen and +5% fire rate, up to 10 stacks, per the game files on Oct 26, 2026.

How do you counter Nurse Harrow in Deadlock? Look away from Nurse Harrow during Lurking Terrors: only enemies facing her are feared, and those facing away take 50% of its damage, per the game files on Oct 26, 2026.

What should I build on Nurse Harrow? Deadlock players most often open Nurse Harrow with Extra Regen, Extended Magazine and Titanic Magazine and finish with Healing Tempo, Ricochet and Boundless Spirit, in deadlock-api's measured purchases from Oct 20 to Oct 25, 2026.

Is Nurse Harrow good in Deadlock? Nurse Harrow won 51.4% of Deadlock's Standard and Ranked matches from Oct 20 to Oct 26, 2026, in deadlock-api's measurement, and Mobalytics' expert tier list (Oct 22, 2026) ranks her S+.

Sources

• Shh... This Won't Hurt a Bit., Valve, Oct 20, 2026
• Paint the Town, Valve, Oct 16, 2026
• Minor Update - 10-14-2026, Valve, Oct 15, 2026
• 110 million votes later Nurse Harrow has finally made it into Deadlock, PC Gamer (Elie Gould), Oct 21, 2026
• Deadlock Nurse Harrow Guide, Mobalytics, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
• Expert Deadlock Tier List, Mobalytics (RinaVX), Oct 22, 2026
• Deadlock wiki, Nurse Harrow address (404), Dexerto, read Oct 26, 2026
• Heroes (game files), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Items and abilities (game files), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Hero stats, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Hero stats, Standard and Ranked since Oct 20, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Hero stats, Ranked, Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Hero counter stats, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Item stats for Nurse Harrow (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Nurse Harrow: Deadlock Hero Spotlight 💉, Dead Air, Oct 21, 2026 (video)