Rat King

8:04 Rat King is a tanky Deadlock brawler who fights on the front line with a twin-shot scattergun, sets rats on enemies to strip their bullet resist, bounces a Scrap Grenade into fights, absorbs damage with Royal Pestments and plants a banner with his ultimate, Rule, Ratannia! Valve released him on Oct 2, 2026 as the first hero of the City Never Sleeps Update, chosen by player vote in the Hero Voting. PC Gamer reported that he "began as a fan concept a year ago" and became a community meme before Valve made him real. He is now the most picked hero in Ranked: deadlock-api counted him in 73.5% of Ranked matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026.

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, which match Valve's Oct 5, 2026 update. T1, T2 and T3 below are the 1, 2 and 5 Ability Point upgrades.

1:04 Scrap Grenade bounces and detonates 3 times for 70 bullet damage each (it scales with weapon damage) in 8m, slowing 20% for 4s, per the game files; enemies can melee it away. T1 cuts the cooldown by 8s, T2 adds +70 damage per detonation, and T3 adds a final big detonation of 300 damage in 14m.

2:31 Rat Swarm sends rats onto enemies within 10m of a point up to 50m away, 2 per target and up to 5 targets, per the game files. Each rat bites every 1s for 8 spirit damage (spirit scaling 0.08) and strips bullet resist, and a ground or air dash shakes one off. T1 adds +1 charge, T2 a bigger swarm and +4s of debuff, and T3 +8 bite damage and a further -1% bullet resist per bite.

3:53 Royal Pestments gives Rat King a barrier of 15% of his maximum health for 6s, unaffected by resists, with a 15% chance (spirit scaling 0.1) to return bullets at full damage, per the game files. T1 adds +4s, T2 -8s cooldown and +15% return chance, and T3 caps every hit he takes at 250 damage and adds +10% maximum-health barrier.

5:21 Rule, Ratannia!, his ultimate, charges for up to 10s while nearby allies gain +3 m/s, slow immunity and 15% damage reduction, then slams the banner down for 200 damage (scaling with weapon damage), a knock-up, a 40% slow and a Rat Swarm, per the game files. The banner stands for 12s in 20m. T1 adds +2 m/s, T2 +5s of flag and +8m radius, and T3 +150 damage and +10% damage reduction. Valve's reveal post called the banner the Banner of Ratannia.

How to play

0:13 Rat King is a front-liner who wins fights by shredding bullet resist for his team. Mobalytics' Rat King guide calls his kit one of the easiest, with a tanky front line and one of the best team-fight ultimates, but notes that he lacks verticality against fliers and high ground, is a big target and has less impact while his ultimate is down. Dexerto's tier list (Oct 9, 2026) describes him as "a tanky frontline brawler who strips Bullet Resist".

Rat Swarm is best thrown after the target has used its dashes, Dexerto's Rat King guide advises, since a dash shakes the rats off. Dexerto unlocks Rat Swarm first, then Royal Pestments, Scrap Grenade and Rule, Ratannia!, and maxes the ultimate before finishing Royal Pestments.

6:54 Rule, Ratannia! is a team-wide engage. While Rat King charges it, the allies around him run faster, ignore slows and take less damage, and the slam then knocks enemies up and sets rats on them. Mobalytics adds that he fits through the small tunnels used by Rem, Calico and Mo & Krill, a route most heroes cannot take; the Map and Lanes page covers the map.

Builds

7:58 Rat King builds mix gun items with tanky Vitality Items. deadlock-api measured his purchases from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026:

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

Dexerto's build (Oct 5, 2026) runs High-Velocity Rounds, Monster Rounds, Extended Magazine, Extra Health and Sprint Boots early; Fleetfoot, Opening Rounds, Recharging Rush, Intensifying Magazine and Escalating Resilience in the mid game; and Siphon Bullets, Inhibitor, Juggernaut, Colossus and Unstoppable late, with Dispel Magic or Unstoppable against heavy crowd control. Its ability numbers predate Valve's Oct 5 nerf, so check the table above. Gun items are on Weapon Items, the rest of the shop on Items and Shop, Spirit Items and Builds and Itemization.

Counters and matchups

Rat King is weakest while Rule, Ratannia! is on cooldown and against heroes he cannot reach. Mobalytics advises calling it out when he goes missing (he may be in the tunnels), tracking the ultimate's downtime and fighting him from high ground. Mobalytics' expert tier list (Oct 22, 2026) names Vindicta, Lash and Grey Talon as good picks into him. Dashing shakes off his rats, and items against brawlers are on Counter Items.

In deadlock-api's measured matchups from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, Rat King did worst against Victor (49.9%), Graves (50.0%) and Paige (51.1%), and best against Mirage (61.9%), Mina (61.6%) and Pocket (61.5%). Even his worst matchups are near even, which reflects his high win rate against the whole roster.

Patch history

Valve has changed Rat King once since his release (every update is on Patches and Updates):

• Oct 5, 2026: Scrap Grenade damage 65 to 70 (T2 also 65 to 70) and bouncing fixes; Rat Swarm cooldown 28s to 24s. Rule, Ratannia! was cut hard: cooldown 130s to 160s, and T1 no longer gives -20s (110s to 160s with it); damage reduction 20% to 15% (with T3, 35% to 25%); radius 24m to 20m; charge 12s to 10s, and T2 no longer adds +8s of charge; T2 flag duration +8s to +5s; T1 move speed +1 to +2 m/s; the move speed bonus no longer scales with Spirit.

His measured win rate stayed high after the nerf: 56.25% from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, second of 44, and 53.52% in matches averaging Phantom 1 or higher, where he appeared in 73.43% of games. Rankings are on Hero Tier List.

Lore

Rat King is the cryptid ruler of the New York Warrens, according to his in-game biography: he plans to take Long Island and declare it the sovereign rat nation of Ratannia, and he summoned a Patron to hedge his bets. Valve's reveal post brought him "Out of the sewers and into the streets". The setting is on Lore and Setting.

Frequently asked questions

When was Rat King added to Deadlock? Valve added Rat King to Deadlock on Oct 2, 2026, the first of six heroes released by vote in the City Never Sleeps update.

Is Rat King good in Deadlock? Rat King had Deadlock's second-highest win rate, 56.25% in 59.81% of matches, in deadlock-api's measurement from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, after Valve's Oct 5 nerf.

What is Rat King's ultimate? Rat King's Deadlock ultimate is Rule, Ratannia!: he charges a banner for up to 10s while nearby allies gain speed, slow immunity and 15% damage reduction, then slams it for 200 damage and a knock-up, on a 160s cooldown since Valve's Oct 5, 2026 update.

How do you counter Rat King in Deadlock? Mobalytics advises fighting Rat King from high ground, tracking his ultimate's cooldown and dashing to shake off Rat Swarm; its Oct 22, 2026 expert list names Vindicta, Lash and Grey Talon as good picks against him.

What should I build on Rat King? Deadlock players most often open Rat King with High-Velocity Rounds and Extra Health and buy Fortitude and Enduring Speed in the mid game, in deadlock-api's measured purchases from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

Was Rat King a fan-made hero? PC Gamer reported that Rat King began as a fan concept and community meme about a year before Valve added him to Deadlock in the City Never Sleeps update.

Sources

• Listen up, Crumbums! Your King is here., Valve, Oct 2, 2026
• Minor Update - 10-05-2026, Valve, Oct 5, 2026
• Deadlock's gigantic new update gives its city a spooky new coat of paint and debuts 6 new heroes, PC Gamer (Tyler Colp), Sep 29, 2026
• Best Rat King build in Deadlock, Dexerto (Cande Maldonado), Oct 5, 2026
• Deadlock Tier List: Best characters to pick in the 2026 meta, Dexerto, Oct 9, 2026
• Deadlock Rat King Guide, Mobalytics, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
• Expert Deadlock Tier List, Mobalytics (RinaVX), Oct 22, 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, Phantom 1+ average badge, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 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 Rat King (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• The ONLY Rat King Guide You NEED in Deadlock, zwordz, Oct 5, 2026 (video)
• Deadlock NEW HERO RAT KING Gameplay - No Commentary, GameMoments4K, Oct 6, 2026 (video)