Deadlock Mina Guide Skills, Tips & Tricks to Play!

Mina is a true glass cannon: huge damage potential but almost no survivability. She shines at bursting objectives and finishing low-health targets, but she can feel fragile and awkward until you learn her timing and limits. This guide explains her kit, reliable combos, build directions, and practical tips so you can start getting the most out of her without feeding every fight.

Quick overview

• Playstyle: high-risk, high-reward; strong at objective damage and cleanups, weak in prolonged fights.
• Role: walker/guardian killer, assassin in skirmishes when positioned well.
• Strengths: powerful ult (especially at tier 3), strong objective damage, sustain when using Rake on NPCs.
• Weaknesses: tiny HP pool, short-range melee tool, some abilities can be clunky or target minions.

Abilities explained (plain and actionable)

Love Bites (passive / weapon-on-hit)

• Grants stacks on hit that add spirit damage when consumed.
• Tier 1 adds movement speed on stack — useful for mobility.
• Priority: max this early if you want consistent DPS; it scales well with gun fire rate items.

Sanguin Retreat (movement / dodge)

• Short dash that gives brief invulnerability frames.
• Can be used during ultimate to pause the channel, letting you dodge big telegraphed attacks then resume.
• Note: delay/ping can make timing feel off. Don’t rely on it as your only escape — use it to reposition or dodge predictable bursts.

Rake (close-range cone)

• Short-range cone that deals more damage the lower the enemy’s HP (percent missing HP scaling).
• Heals Mina when the Rake finishes off minions and jungle NPCs — huge sustain when clearing camps.
• Downside: very short range and risky against players; you must close the gap to use it.

Nox Nostra (ultimate / channeled)

• Channel that fires projectiles (bats) dealing percent-of-current-health damage when upgraded.
• Extremely strong vs objectives and walkers at tier 3.
• Issues: can target minions if they’re nearby, reducing damage vs players; hit registration feels inconsistent at times. Clear minions or reposition before channeling.

Core combos (what to do in fights)

1.Objective bust (safe)

• Clear nearby minions → open Nox Nostra on walker/guardian → reposition with Sanguin Retreat if attacked → finish with Rake or gun burst if needed.

2.Burst on player (risky)

• Build Love Bites stacks with gunfire → Sanguin Retreat to close/dodge → hit Rake to execute if low → finish with Nox Nostra if safe to channel.
• If minions are present, clear them first or ult will be wasted on minions.

3. Escape + reposition

• Start channel then use Sanguin Retreat mid-channel to dodge major crowd control and resume channel from a new angle.

Build and stat advice

Ability point order (recommended)

1. Max Love Bites first for steady damage.
2. Push Nox Nostra to tier 3 as soon as possible — that’s where her walker/guardian value explodes.
3. Invest in Rake up to tier 3 for sustain in jungle clears.
4. Keep Sanguin Retreat at 1–2 unless you need more uptime for survival; its tier 2 is less crucial if you have cooldown reduction elsewhere.

Items to prioritize

• Spirit damage / spirit power items: scales her core output.
• Cooldown reduction: lowers Sanguin Retreat downtime to dodge more.
• Spirit lifesteal / healing on spirit damage: helps survivability.
• Flat HP or fortitude if you’re getting one-shot; Mina benefits disproportionally from small HP boosts.
• Reload / fire rate if you lean into Love Bites gun-hybrid builds (makes stacks proc faster).

Two viable builds

• Pure glass DPS: max Love Bites → Nox Nostra → spirit damage + reload/fire-rate → rely on stealthy positioning and team peel.
• Objective specialist (safer): Love Bites + Nox Nostra tier 3 fast → add HP and spirit lifesteal → Rake tier 3 for jungle healing — better for solo pushing walkers.

Laning and game-phase tips

Early game

• Play safe. Don’t trade directly with strong laners until you know matchup limits.
• Use Rake on NPC camps to heal up — this gives surprising sustain.
• Avoid committing to long fights; your early damage is limited until core upgrades.

Mid game

• Start forcing walker pressure. Nox Nostra already begins to hurt objectives.
• Group with teammates who can peel; Mina needs protection to channel safely.
• Be mindful of minion placement before ulting.

Late game

• Tier 3 Nox Nostra is where Mina becomes a walker killer. Use it on objectives and mid-boss if safe.
• You remain fragile — target low-health enemies for cleanups rather than full engages.

Mina is rewarding once you learn her limits and combos. She’s best used for objective pressure and finishing low-health targets, not as a front-line duelist.

Focus on stacking Love Bites and getting Nox Nostra to tier 3, clear minions before you ult, use Sanguin Retreat to dodge big hits mid-ult, and leverage Rake on NPCs for big heals.

Expect a learning curve — but once you get the timing right, Mina can change fights by melting walkers and punishing careless enemies.