Vindicta

8:02 Vindicta is a Deadlock hero, a long-range marksman who takes to the air with Flight, bleeds enemies with crows and finishes anyone under half health with her sniper ultimate, Assassinate. The game's own role line for her is "Snipes the unsuspecting", in the game files as of Oct 26, 2026. She is one of the original heroes, in the game before Valve revealed it on Aug 23, 2024, and one of the 22 heroes PCGamesN counted before the January 2025 additions. From Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 she won 48.72% of measured matches, 22nd of 44 heroes.

Quick facts

Source: the game files as of Oct 26, 2026 (deadlock-api's copy of the heroes and items), after Valve's Oct 14, 2026 patch; spirit scaling on bullets since Valve's Mar 6, 2026 update; win rate measured by deadlock-api.

Abilities

Source: the game files as of Oct 26, 2026 (deadlock-api).

Stake pins enemies in place. It deals 40 damage (spirit scaling 0.5) and tethers every enemy within 9m to it on a 9m chain for 1.75s, slowing them 40%, on a 40s cooldown, per the game files on Oct 26, 2026. T1 adds 45 damage, T2 cuts 22s from the cooldown, and T3 adds 0.75s and 2m of capture radius. Valve lowered the T1 bonus from 65 to 45 damage on Aug 12, 2026.

Flight is the center of her kit. She leaps up and flies for 13s; while flying her bullets add 10 spirit damage (spirit scaling 0.18), her items get +50% cast range and recoil drops 40%, on a 42s cooldown, in the game files. T1 gives +50% ammo while flying, T2 adds 10s, and T3 adds 10 spirit damage per bullet, 0.1 scaling and a fresh duration on each hero kill. Valve's Mar 6, 2026 update let her melee and parry in the air and added the item range.

Crow Familiar softens a target for the kill. It sends a forward cone of crows that deal 40 damage (spirit scaling 0.744), a bleed of 2.2% of current health per second and -6% bullet and spirit resist for 5s, on a 32s cooldown, per the game files. T1 cuts healing on targets by 35%, T2 cuts 16s from the cooldown and adds 0.5% bleed, and T3 adds 2s and another -8% resist. It became a forward swarm in Valve's Mar 6, 2026 update; before that it was a single crow.

Assassinate is her finisher. The scoped shot has 2 charges 2.5s apart, reaches full power after 1.0s, deals 90 damage (spirit scaling 0.93) plus up to 90 more (spirit scaling 2.3) against targets under 50% health and 20% more on headshots; a kill grants +6% weapon damage for the rest of the match and 250 bonus souls, on a 55s cooldown, in the game files on Oct 26, 2026. T1 cuts 15s from the cooldown, T2 adds 80 low-health bonus damage, and T3 adds 4% more weapon damage per kill. Valve raised the bonus damage's spirit scaling from 1.7 to 2.0 on Jun 11, 2026 and to 2.3 on Jun 30.

How to play

2:22 Vindicta's lane is long-range poke. Mobalytics' Vindicta guide lists her strengths as a strong lane from long-range poke, a snowball engine and roaming, and her weaknesses as little mobility, being easy to kill and being shut down by crowd control. Dexerto (Mar 4, 2026) takes Flight first, buys bullet velocity early and pokes from range in the lane.

8:32 She plays the whole map from the sky. Dexerto's advice is to watch for any enemy who drops below half health anywhere on the map, then go airborne and fire Assassinate, whose bonus damage only counts under 50%. Each Assassinate kill adds weapon damage for the rest of the match and 250 souls, which is the snowball Mobalytics describes.

Her fights follow one sequence. Dexerto opens from the air with Stake to tether, then Crow Familiar for the bleed and resist cut, then sustained fire to push the target under 50%, then Assassinate to finish; Stake is held for an enemy running for cover. On the ground she is fragile, so Dexerto buys Majestic Leap and Warp Stone to escape divers. Ability points go to Flight first, then Assassinate to 2 AP.

Dot Esports (Aug 25, 2026) called her the most aim-dependent hero in the roster. Mobalytics also suggests binding air dash to a separate key from "Fly Up".

Builds

Outlets and players split between a spirit build and a gun build. Dexerto's build (Mar 4, 2026):

• Early: Extra Spirit, Improved Spirit, Guardian Ward, Extra Charge, Healing Rite
• Mid: Burst Fire, Fortitude, Compress Cooldown, Surge of Power, Blood Tribute
• Late: Majestic Leap, Warp Stone, Unstoppable, Glass Cannon, Spiritual Overflow

3:48 The measured matches from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 (deadlock-api's item stats for Vindicta) show players building her gun: High-Velocity Rounds in 81% of her games, Extra Charge in 79% and Opening Rounds in 67% in lane; then Sharpshooter (73%), Rapid Recharge (63%), Long Range (57%), Swift Striker (55%) and Burst Fire (51%); late Mercurial Magnum (33%), Spiritual Overflow (25%, won 54%) and Spellslinger (24%, won 54%). The items sit in Weapon Items, Spirit Items and Vitality Items; Items and Shop explains prices and slots.

Counters and matchups

5:36 Knockdown is the standard answer to Vindicta. PC Gamer (Oct 10, 2024) called it the answer to fliers such as Vindicta: throw it, then take cover during its delay. Mobalytics notes that enemies buy Knockdown to drop her out of Flight and that she answers with Dispel Magic, Counterspell or Unstoppable. Haze players carry Phantom Strike against fliers including Vindicta, in Mobalytics' Haze build by rina (Oct 22, 2026). See Counter Items.

Divers and burst punish her on the ground. From Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, deadlock-api measured her worst raw results against Graves (40.9%), Paige (43.3%) and Rat King (43.5%), and her best against Pocket (54.4%), Shiv (53.9%) and Sinclair (53.7%). In the other direction, Mobalytics' expert tier list (Oct 22, 2026) names Vindicta as good into Rat King and Baba, and Mobalytics' Graves guide lists her among the long-range heroes that zone Graves in lane.

Patch history

Valve's recent changes to Vindicta, newest first:

• Sep 16, 2026: Plated Armor now blocks Flight's on-hit spirit damage (a fix to the item).
• Aug 12, 2026: Stake T1 from +65 to +45 damage.
• Jun 30, 2026: Stake T2 -20s to -22s; Crow Familiar T2 -12s to -16s; Assassinate bonus damage scaling 2.0 to 2.3.
• Jun 11, 2026: Assassinate bonus damage scaling 1.7 to 2.0.
• Mar 6, 2026: bullet damage gained spirit scaling (0.022) and fire rate lost it; Stake damage 55 to 40; Flight 15s to 13s with melee, parry and +50% item range; Crow Familiar became a forward cone with a healing cut on T1; Assassinate's weapon damage per kill 5% to 6%. A Mar 10 patch fixed kills by item procs not counting.

Patches and Updates covers each patch in full.

Lore

Vindicta was a victim of John Hathorne in the Salem Witch Trials, brought back during the first Maelstrom, and now wages a one-ghost war on "The Friends of Humanity", a new inquisition led by Hathorne's descendants, as her hero text in the game files tells it. Lore and Setting covers the occult New York she hunts in.

Frequently asked questions

Is Vindicta good in Deadlock? In Deadlock, Vindicta won 48.72% of measured matches from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, 22nd of 44 heroes, and 49.65% in Phantom and higher matches (deadlock-api). Dexerto (Oct 9, 2026) ranked her B tier and Mobalytics (Oct 22, 2026) A tier. See Hero Tier List.

How do you counter Vindicta in Deadlock? In Deadlock, Knockdown pulls Vindicta out of Flight, as PC Gamer and Mobalytics advise. Dive her when Flight is on its 42s cooldown, since Mobalytics calls her easy to kill and weak to crowd control.

What is the best Vindicta build in Deadlock? Most Deadlock players build Vindicta's gun: High-Velocity Rounds, Extra Charge and Opening Rounds in lane, then Sharpshooter, Rapid Recharge and Long Range, as deadlock-api measured from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026. Dexerto builds her for spirit damage instead.

How does Vindicta's Assassinate work in Deadlock? Vindicta's Deadlock ultimate is a scoped shot that reaches full power after 1.0s and deals bonus damage to targets under 50% health; a kill gives her +6% weapon damage for the match and 250 bonus souls, on a 55s cooldown in the game files as of Oct 26, 2026.

How long does Vindicta's Flight last in Deadlock? Vindicta's Flight lasts 13s on a 42s cooldown in Deadlock's game files as of Oct 26, 2026, and its T2 upgrade adds 10s. Valve cut it from 15s on Mar 6, 2026.

Is Vindicta hard to play in Deadlock? The game files rate Vindicta's complexity 1 of 3, the easiest tier in Deadlock, but Dot Esports (Aug 25, 2026) called her the most aim-dependent hero.

Sources

• Gameplay Update - 03-06-2026, Valve, Mar 6, 2026 (with the Mar 7, Mar 10 and Mar 21 patches)
• Minor Update - 06-11-2026, Valve, Jun 12, 2026
• Minor Update - 06-30-2026, Valve, Jun 30, 2026
• Minor Update - 08-12-2026, Valve, Aug 12, 2026
• Minor Update - 09-16-2026, Valve, Sep 16, 2026
• Heroes and Items and abilities (data read from the game files), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Hero stats, Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026, hero counter stats and item stats for Vindicta (measured), deadlock-api, Oct 26, 2026
• Deadlock adds four new heroes, PCGamesN (Jamie Hore), Jan 17, 2025
• Best Vindicta build in Deadlock, Dexerto (Cande Maldonado), Mar 4, 2026
• Deadlock Tier List: Best characters to pick in the 2026 meta, Dexerto, Oct 9, 2026
• Deadlock Vindicta Guide, Mobalytics, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
• Expert Deadlock Tier List, Mobalytics (RinaVX), Oct 22, 2026
• Deadlock Graves Guide, Mobalytics, undated, read Oct 26, 2026
• Carry Haze by rina, Mobalytics (rina), Oct 22, 2026
• Don't sleep on Deadlock's active items, PC Gamer (Sarah Richter), Oct 10, 2024
• Deadlock tier list: Best characters and heroes ranked, Dot Esports (Elizbar Ramazashvili), Aug 25, 2026
• Vindicta: Everything You Need to Know | Deadlock Guide, ovvcci, Sep 12, 2026 (video)