Paige

1:03 Paige is a Deadlock support hero who fights from the back line with magic books: she shields allies with Plot Armor, roots enemies with Captivating Read, burns them with Bookwyrm dragons and sends spectral knights across the whole city with her ultimate, Rallying Charge. Valve released her on Aug 25, 2025 as the third hero of the Six New Heroes update, chosen by player votes; Valve said The Doorman beat her by only 0.85%, the closest contest of that set. She is one of the strongest heroes in the current roster by measured win rate: deadlock-api recorded 55.53% from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, third of 44.

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.

Bookwyrm (called Conjure Dragon until Valve's Mar 6, 2026 update) summons a dragon at the target that flies forward 20m, dealing 60 damage (spirit scaling 1.3), slowing for 1.5s and leaving a 3s burning trail of 30 DPS in 4m, per the game files. T1 gives -12s cooldown, T2 +1 charge, +2s trail and +1m radius, and T3 +12m travel, +100 damage and +30 DPS; Valve set these upgrades in its Jun 30, 2026 update.

Plot Armor (formerly Defend and Fight) gives an ally within 35m a 125 barrier (spirit scaling 1.5) for 5s and +25% weapon damage while it holds, and shoves nearby enemies away, per the game files. T1 adds +14% fire rate, T2 +100 barrier and +2s, and T3 shields up to 2 more allies within 30m at full value with +0.5 barrier scaling.

Captivating Read marks a 7.5m area up to 30m away that slows enemies 36%, then detonates after 1.25s for 90 damage (spirit scaling 1.3) and a 1s immobilize, per the game files. T1 cuts the cooldown by 14s, T2 adds +1s of immobilize, and T3 adds +2m radius and -18% spirit resist for 6s.

Rallying Charge, her ultimate, sends 5 spectral knights in 2 waves across the whole city (600m range) after a 0.7s channel, per the game files. Each deals 125 damage (spirit scaling 1.0) and a 1s stun to enemies and heals allies 125 (spirit scaling 1.6), amplified by up to +100% over 250m of travel, and allies hit gain +5 m/s for 9s. The cooldown is halved if it hits no hero. T1 adds +150 healing, T2 +4 steeds and -45s cooldown, and T3 +160 damage, +0.5s stun and +70% maximum amplification.

How to play

2:21 Paige is a backline support who keeps a gun carry alive. Mobalytics' Paige guide lists her strengths as peel for teammates, strong support for gun heroes and a strong laning weapon, and her weaknesses as no mobility, long cooldowns and an awkward slow projectile. Dexerto's Paige build (Mar 2, 2026) puts the first Ability Point into Plot Armor and then into Rallying Charge.

5:57 Plot Armor is her most frequent spell in a fight. Its barrier and +25% weapon damage go on the ally doing the damage, and since Valve's Aug 12, 2026 update raised its weapon damage scaling from 0.2 to 0.3, it grows with her Spirit Power.

Rallying Charge reaches anywhere on the map, so Paige can help a fight in another lane without walking there. It heals more the farther it travels, up to 250m since Valve's Jun 11, 2026 update, and it comes back at half cooldown when it misses every hero, a rule Valve added on May 22, 2026.

Builds

4:42 Paige's builds lean on cooldown and range items from Spirit Items, with a lane gun item and a few defensive Vitality Items. deadlock-api measured her purchases from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026:

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

Dexerto's build (Mar 2, 2026) runs High-Velocity Rounds, Guardian Ward, Mystic Expansion, Extra Charge and Extra Spirit early; Improved Spirit, Vortex Web, Healing Nova, Healbane and Rescue Beam in the mid game; and Divine Barrier, Spirit Burn, Transcendent Cooldown, Echo Shard and Escalating Exposure late. It predates Valve's spring and summer changes to her kit, so the measured buys are the more current guide. High-Velocity Rounds is from Weapon Items; the shop is on Items and Shop and Builds and Itemization.

Counters and matchups

Paige is easiest to punish right after she spends her big spells. Mobalytics advises engaging after she uses Captivating Read or Rallying Charge, diving her low health and speed, and denying her souls in lane, where her slow projectile is awkward to land. Tools for diving a backliner are on Counter Items.

In deadlock-api's measured matchups from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, Paige did worst against Rat King (48.9%), Victor (49.9%) and Graves (50.1%), and best against Mina (61.5%), Pocket (61.2%) and Mirage (60.6%). Even her worst matchups sit near 50%, because Paige herself wins more than most heroes in that window.

Patch history

Valve's recent changes to Paige, newest first (every update is on Patches and Updates):

• Sep 16, 2026: heavy melee spirit scaling 0.3 to 0.45; Captivating Read T1 -11s to -14s and T3 +1m to +2m; Rallying Charge collision fixes.
• Aug 12, 2026: Plot Armor weapon damage scaling 0.2 to 0.3.
• Jul 28, 2026: Rallying Charge cooldown 220s to 210s.
• Jun 30, 2026: health per boon 29 to 33; Bookwyrm's three upgrades reshuffled; Plot Armor T3 75% to 100% barrier; Rallying Charge T3 maximum amplification +50% to +70%. The same update cut every hero's health per boon by 5% and nerfed all ultimate base and upgrade cooldowns by 15%, which is why the game files on Oct 26, 2026 list +31 per boon and a -45s Rallying Charge T2.
• Jun 11, 2026: Rallying Charge maximum amplification distance 350m to 250m and T2 -30s to -50s; Plot Armor barrier scaling 1.3 to 1.5.
• May 22, 2026: Rallying Charge half cooldown on a miss, T3 +135 to +160 damage.
• Apr 30, 2026: stamina 2 to 3; Plot Armor cooldown 30s to 28s.
• Mar 6, 2026: Conjure Dragon renamed Bookwyrm and Defend and Fight renamed Plot Armor; Captivating Read cooldown 25s to 30s.

Lore

39:22 Paige is the daughter of a rare book dealer, raised on kindness, magic and storytelling, according to her in-game biography; her rebellious younger brother Bryce resented the family's ban on dangerous magic. Valve's reveal post introduced her as the hero who teaches Manhattan the power of the written word. The setting is on Lore and Setting.

Frequently asked questions

When was Paige added to Deadlock? Valve added Paige to Deadlock on Aug 25, 2025, the third of the six heroes in the Six New Heroes update, released in the order players voted for.

Is Paige good in Deadlock? Paige had Deadlock's third-highest win rate, 55.53% in 30.05% of matches, in deadlock-api's measurement of normal matches from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

What is Paige's ultimate in Deadlock? Paige's Deadlock ultimate is Rallying Charge: spectral knights charge across the whole city, stunning and damaging enemies and healing allies, on a 210s cooldown that is halved if it hits no hero, per the game files on Oct 26, 2026.

What should I build on Paige? Deadlock players most often open Paige with High-Velocity Rounds and Extra Charge and finish with Transcendent Cooldown, Greater Expansion and Boundless Spirit, in deadlock-api's measured purchases from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

How do you counter Paige in Deadlock? Mobalytics advises diving Paige after she spends Captivating Read or Rallying Charge, since the Deadlock support has low health, no mobility and long cooldowns.

What was Conjure Dragon renamed to? Valve renamed Paige's Conjure Dragon to Bookwyrm, and Defend and Fight to Plot Armor, in Deadlock's Mar 6, 2026 Gameplay Update.

Sources

• Paige Writes Her Own Story, Valve, Aug 25, 2025
• You Can't Kill Victor, Valve, Aug 29, 2025
• Gameplay Update - 03-06-2026, Valve, Mar 6, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 04-30-2026, Valve, Apr 30, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 05-22-2026, Valve, May 22, 2026
• Minor Update - 06-11-2026, Valve, Jun 12, 2026
• Minor Update - 06-30-2026, Valve, Jun 30, 2026
• Minor Update - 07-28-2026, Valve, Jul 28, 2026
• Minor Update - 08-12-2026, Valve, Aug 12, 2026
• Minor Update - 09-16-2026, Valve, Sep 16, 2026
• Best Paige build in Deadlock, Dexerto (Cande Maldonado), Mar 2, 2026
• Deadlock Paige Guide, Mobalytics, undated, 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 counter stats, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Item stats for Paige (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• For The Love Of Learning: Paige, CallMeKimbo, Mar 20, 2026 (video)
• The Complete Lore Of Valve's Next Game | Deadlock Story Explained, OhHeckItsTristan, Mar 28, 2026 (video)