Deadlock has a wide array of heroes to play, each with their own styles and attributes—but an arena shooter is incomplete without a good sniper, so if you’re looking to pick off enemies from a distance, Vindicta is who you’ll want to lock in.
Here’s an overview of Vindicta in Deadlock, including a look at her abilities and her best build to use while taking on The Cursed Apple.
Vindicta’s abilities in Deadlock
Vindicta is Deadlock‘s signature sniper character, dishing out damage from afar with her semi-auto rifle and then aiming down sights to deliver one final killing blow. Here’s an intro to Vindicta’s abilities in Deadlock:
- Stake: Throws a stake at a targeted location. Enemies inside are tethered to the stake and cannot leave the AoE until it disappears.
- Flight: Vindicta takes to the sky, dealing bonus damage and gaining extra ammo while airborne.
- Crow Familiar: Vindicta throws a crow that deals damage and applies a bleed based on an enemy’s health.
- Assassinate: Vindicta aims down her scope and charges up a power shot. Enemies below 50 percent health take additional damage, and if Assassinate scores a kill, Vindicta receives bonus Souls.
Don’t think for a second you’ll be sniping enemies from the outset with Vindicta. She uses a rifle that deals damage out to longer rangers than her peers but you should think of it more like an assault rifle in the early game with a moderate fire rate. Headshots are of key importance to Vindicta, especially once you begin to pick up your cards.
Vindicta is a little unique compared to the other heroes in Deadlock in that she only has two Stamina bars to start, meaning if enemy heroes catch you out, you’re as good as dead. We’ll look to boost that early and keep our distance throughout the laning stage.
The best build for Vindicta in Deadlock
Early game
Open with Stake as your first ability, then pick Flight as your second. Save your ability points as we aim for the two AP upgrades for Stake and Crow Familiar first to reduce their cooldowns significantly. Level up Assassinate when you’re able to.
Pick up Extra Stamina as soon as possible. Keep your distance in lane until you’ve got that third Stamina point and focus purely on last-hitting and building up Souls. Next, grab Hollow Point Ward for a damage boost while you’re at high health; since you’re keeping your distance, you should almost always have this up in a fight.
Grab Headshot Booster next, then Extra Charge once you’ve unlocked Assassinate so you can loose off a few extra shots. Finish the early game with Mystic Burst and Extra Spirit for extra Assassinate and Crow Familiar damage.
Assassinate does next to nothing if the target is at high health in the early and mid-game. Work with your team to poke and prod heroes until they drop to half health (the lower, the better), then use Assassinate to finish them.
Mid game
Once you hit mid-game, max out your Stake and Assassinate first and leave Flight at one and Crow Familiar at two APs. Max-level Stake is huge as enemies trapped will also be disarmed, meaning you can get a little closer to ensure those headshots land.
Item-wise, we go for Long Range into Sharpshooter to keep the damage coming, then Combat and Enchanter’s Barrier for extra benefits while we’ve got our barriers up—which will remain so as long as you keep your distance. Later on, I suggest a Superior Stamina for even more mobility, especially if you get caught while flying.
Finish out the mid-game with a Bullet Resist Shredder for extra damage, and if you’re struggling to maintain any distance, grab a Warp Stone. Your next objective should be bringing down Walkers and farming Souls (using Assassinate) to unlock those Flex slots; you’ll need them to improve your Deadlock weapon later.
Lategame
Next up is Fortitude to bolster health, then we’re going all-out with weapon damage: Pristine Emblem, Lucky Shot, and Crippling Headshot improve damage while Rapid Recharge gives us more Assassinate shots that have a much-reduced cooldown.
In the ultra-lategame, grab a Quicksilver Reload and attach it to your Crow Familiar to keep the ammo coming during a prolonged fight, then lean into Glass Cannon and Burst Fire. You’ll be incredibly squishy and weak at this point, but with five Stamina bars, Flight, and keeping enemies at range, you should have no problem dishing out the damage from afar.
Assassinate doesn’t even need to be charged all the way. Use your regular fire and abilities to bring them below 50 percent, then fire the killing shot immediately. Follow up with an extra shot after if they survive. Wrap up with vitality items like Inhibitor or Leech if you’ve still got slots, just to ensure you don’t go down early.
