As one of the many characters in Valve’s new hero shooter Deadlock, Pocket wields a trusty shotgun and a magic bag full of surprises. This close-range killer uses his magical abilities to teleport around the battlefield, debuff enemies, and even transform into a briefcase.
If you want to warp into team fights and wipe out your enemies, here is everything you need to know about building Pocket in Deadlock.
Pocket’s abilities in Deadlock
Like every character in Deadlock, Pocket can attack with his basic weapon, use three abilities, and activate a powerful ultimate. You can unlock and upgrade these abilities throughout the game with ability points, earned from collecting souls and destroying structures. Here are all of Pocket’s abilities:
- Barrage: Open your bag and channel projectiles that damage and slow enemies. Each successful attack applies a damage buff to all of Pocket’s damage.
- Flying Cloak: Throw out a spectral cloak that travels in a straight line and damages enemies in the path. Pocket can reactivate the ability to teleport to the cloak’s current location.
- Enchanter’s Satchel: Warp into your briefcase, blocking all damage. After a short duration, exit the case and deal damage in an AoE.
- Affliction (Ultimate): Poison all nearby enemies in an AoE. This poison deals heavy damage over time.
When you upgrade your abilities, Pocket’s best path is: Flying Cloak > Barrage > Affliction > Enchanter’s Satchel.
You’ll want to fully upgrade Flying Cloak first, because it offers some fantastic wave clear and mobility during the early game. You can also unlock Barrage at the start of the game to buff your damage for a short period.
Once you begin amassing upgrade points, unlock Affliction and Enchanter’s Satchel to protect yourself against ganks. Once every ability is unlocked, you can dump your points into Flying Cloak and Barrage.
While playing Pocket, open fights with Barrage to gain a damage buff. Then, launch your cloak at enemies and activate your Enchanter’s Satchel to turn into a briefcase. You can then reactivate your cloak to teleport right up to your foes, and instantly exit the briefcase to trigger an explosion. If your enemies are still alive, activate your ultimate to apply powerful poison.
Best early-game Pocket build in Deadlock
Pocket specializes in dealing damage with his shotgun and abilities, so you’ll be purchasing orange and purple items to buff Bullet and Spirit damage. Furthermore, certain green items will help boost your survivability and movement speed, which can help you get closer to enemies without dying.
Pocket’s most important early-game item is Close Quarters, which boosts his basic attack damage when he is close to enemies. Hollow Point Ward will also increase your damage, but only when you have more than 60 percent HP.
Sprint Boots and Extra Stamina boost your movement speed and stamina, which can help you travel to different lanes to assist your teammates. If you find yourself taking too much damage, you can temporarily purchase Enduring Spirit to boost your health and regeneration. We recommend selling Enduring Spirit once you reach the mid-game.
Finally, Mystic Burst is a great purple item that boosts the damage of your abilities, so long as they deal at least 80 damage with one strike. This synergizes perfectly with Flying Cloak and Enchanter’s Satchel, as they both deal heavy burst damage.
Best mid-game Pocket build in Deadlock
As you transition into the mid-game, you’ll travel between lanes to dispatch enemies. Since you’ll be running and dashing around the map, we suggest purchasing items like Kinetic Dash because it increases your damage and rate of fire whenever you dash-jump. Meanwhile, Mystic Shot will apply a small amount of Spirit Damage to your basic attacks.
You can also purchase Bullet Lifesteal to heal from basic attack damage, or Healbane to reduce enemy healing after you damage them. Combat Barrier will give you a Bullet Shield that blocks a portion of basic attack damage and increases your damage while the shield is active. As always, upgrades to your movement such as Enduring Speed are useful for hunting down slippery characters.
Quicksilver Reload is a unique item that instantly reloads your weapon when you cast a bound ability. You’ll be asked to bind an ability to the item when you first purchase it, and we suggest binding Flying Cloak or Enchanter’s Satchel.
If you’re still struggling to stay alive during this stage of the game, you can invest your souls into purchasing some Spirit or Bullet armor, but this will hinder your damage.
Best end-game Pocket build in Deadlock
Once you reach the end-game, you’ll have access to flex slots that give you some extra inventory space to purchase items that greatly boost your damage. The most important items you can buy are Point Blank, an upgrade to Close Quarters, and Hunter’s Aura.
Point Blank further increases your damage to nearby enemies, and Hunter’s Aura reduces enemy bullet resistance if you are close to them. You can also purchase a Warp Stone to teleport close to enemies during the heat of combat, or give yourself an extra option to escape dangerous fights.
If you purchased any Bullet or Spirit armor during the mid-game, you can choose to upgrade these items if you are still taking too much damage. Alternatively, you could invest your souls into boosting your movement speed with Superior Stamina.
Finally, Improved Burst will make your abilities deal increased damage, and Superior Cooldown will help you consistently cast your magic tricks.
