Deadlock Crowd Control Guide and How to Counter Them!

Crowd control (CC) mechanics in Deadlock can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to MOBAs or haven’t encountered such a diverse array of effects before. While you might be familiar with common CC like stuns or slows from other games, Deadlock introduces additional effects such as silences, curses, tethers, immobilizations, and disarms. These can be confusing, particularly because Deadlock’s CC mechanics sometimes work differently than you might expect. Understanding these mechanics, how they interact with each other, and knowing their counters is key to mastering Deadlock.

Understanding Crowd Control in Deadlock

In Deadlock, CC refers to any effect that limits your control over your character. Here’s a breakdown of the major types of CC:

1. Stun: The most straightforward and oppressive form of CC. A stun completely disables your character, preventing movement, ability usage, and item activation. Examples include Seven’s Static Charge and Ivy Stone Form.
2. Sleep: Similar to a stun, but your character will wake up if damaged. It doesn’t interrupt channeled abilities, making it less oppressive than a stun. Haze’s Sleep Dagger is the primary example.
3. Immobilization (Root): This prevents movement but allows you to use non-movement abilities and attack. Great Talon’s Trap and Warden’s Cage are examples.
4. Tether: A variant of immobilization that restricts you to a specific area. Vindicta’s Stake is a common example, which allows movement within a restricted radius but pulls you back if you try to escape.
5. Silence: Prevents the use of abilities but allows movement and the use of items. Lady Gist’s fully upgraded Life Drain and Paradox’s Wall are examples. Importantly, silences in Deadlock do not interrupt channeled abilities.
6. Disarm: Disables weapon usage but allows abilities that don’t rely on weapons. Mo and Krill’s Sand Blast is a typical example.
7. Slows: These come in two types—movement slows and rate of fire slows. As expected, movement slows reduce your movement speed, and rate of fire slows decrease your attack speed.
8. Curse: A rare form of CC, Curse combines effects similar to silence and disarm, but also prevents item usage and interrupts abilities. It’s a potent CC, available only through a specific item in the shop.
9. Knockbacks/Air Knock: These CC types temporarily displace your character, often lifting them into the air, but still allow the use of abilities and items.

Deadlock How to Counter Crowd Control

Luckily, Deadlock offers numerous ways to counter CC, ensuring that players aren’t left defenseless:

1. Unstoppable: The ultimate counter to CC, making you immune to all negative status effects. Available through an item or via specific character abilities, like Abrams’ upgraded ultimate.
2. Purge: Removes all active negative effects. Viscus’ ability and the shop item “Debuff Remover” can purge slows, silences, roots, and more.
3. Invincibility: Provides immunity to all effects, including damage, but usually prevents you from taking any actions. This is useful for dodging high-damage or unavoidable CC.
4. Special Items: Items like Metal Skin (which makes you immune to bullets and melee attacks) or Rescue Beam (which can pull a teammate out of CC) offer strategic ways to mitigate or escape from CC effects.

Mastering crowd control and its counters in Deadlock is essential for staying competitive. Understanding how each CC works, as well as the available counters, will significantly improve your gameplay. As Deadlock continues to evolve, new forms of CC and counters will likely be introduced, so staying updated with the latest changes is key. Whether you’re dodging stuns, purging silences, or using Unstoppable to charge through enemy CC, the knowledge of these mechanics will give you the edge you need to outplay your opponents.