Ultimate Deadlock Lash Build: Top Items, Skills, and Strategies

Lash’s straightforward kit and gameplay mechanics make him easy to learn, but excelling as the Deadlock hero requires sharp map awareness and understanding of his optimal match-ups.

To succeed as Lash, aggression and proactive strategies are vital. To build the eccentric mustachioed character for the late game, focusing on an assassin archetype is the best route; however, building bulk and sustain is essential to get there.

Here’s the best build for Lash in Deadlock.

Top Lash Abilities in Deadlock

Below is the recommended order for upgrading Lash’s abilities:

Lash possesses high Spirit Damage with manageable cooldowns on his core abilities right from the start. Flog and Ground Pound are essential during the laning phase, allowing you to effectively farm before becoming a map-wide threat in the mid to late game.

As the game progresses, combining Ground Pound with Grapple is crucial. This ability lets Lash tether to targets and launch into the air towards them, so acquiring that extra early point for the cooldown reduction is essential.

Initiating engagements by using Ground Pound right after Grapple is the preferred strategy, whether you’re backing teammates or ambushing enemies. Performing this from a height inflicts considerable damage.

In conjunction with Ground Pound, Death Slam offers effective crowd control, excelling in team engagements by stunning and slowing all enemies caught in its area. Since such opportunities are rare in early game, consider upgrading Lash’s Ultimate last.

Prioritize upgrading Ground Pound twice initially for its shorter cooldown and disruptive capabilities, with Flog being the first ability to max out. At level five, it inflicts movement and fire rate slow while dealing substantial damage.

Final upgrades for Grapple and Ground Strike significantly boost Lash’s damage, but forgoing other upgrades too early can jeopardize your lane performance.

Lash’s abilities and upgrades are detailed below:

• 1: Ground Strike
  • Stomp the ground beneath you, damaging enemies in front. When used while airborne, dive quickly towards the ground. Damage declines after 25m.
    • -10 second Cooldown
    • Enemies struck are popped into the air, slowed by 50% for 3 seconds
    • Damage Per Meter +110% with enhanced scaling

• 2: Grapple
  • Pull yourself towards a target in the air. Grapple also resets your air jumps and dashes.
  • -20 second Cooldown
  • +20m Cast Range and +6 Weapon Damage for 10 seconds
  • +20% Fire Rate bonus

• 3: Flog
  • Strike with your whip, draining life from enemies.
    • Applies 35% Movement Slow for 3 seconds
    • -15 second Cooldown
    • +105 Damage and applies 35% Fire Rate Slow

• Death Slam
  • Focus on enemies to connect whips to them. After channeling, your targets are lifted, stunned, and slammed down. Damage is dealt to those connected and enemies in the landing area. Press [M3] to throw connected enemies prematurely. Enemies out of line of sight or range during the latch time will not be grabbed.
    • +8 meter Max Throw Distance
    • +100 Damage
    • -60 second Cooldown

Ultimate Build for Lash: Deadlock Item Insights

Early Game Items

In the early game, focus on acquiring Basic Magazine, Close Quarters, and Mystic Shot to enhance your minion clearing efficiency. As these items are collected, begin transitioning into Spirit items that will support you through to the late game.

Extra Charge and Extra Spirit provide boosts for weapon and ability damage, respectively, with charges being essential for maintaining aerial combat. Furthermore, Mystic Burst is recommended as it activates on Lash’s 1 at almost any game stage, signaling a significant power spike. Mystic Reach will expand the range of Lash’s abilities, letting you poke enemy heroes from a longer distance.

To round off your early purchases, consider Extra Stamina and Extra Health for enhanced mobility, survivability, and minor damage boosts.

Mid Game Items

During the mid-game, the focus should be on upgrading your early-game items to their Improved versions, with new additions to Lash’s build including Point Blank.

This item, while not transformative, offers enhanced mobility (+1 Stamina) and provides another source of Movement Slow besides Flog. As you start rotating between lanes for ambush or gank opportunities, having a way to impede your target’s escape becomes valuable.

Depending on your farm’s success, consider delaying the purchase of Pristine Emblem until late game. However, if feasible, acquire it for an additional +25% weapon damage boost.

Additionally, acquiring Healing Booster, Bullet Armor, and Spirit Armor will provide Lash with the necessary defense to survive encounters not going in your favor.

Late Game/Luxury Items

As the match nears its conclusion, finalize your upgrades for the remaining items. Start with the Improved versions of Bullet Armor and Spirit Armor. At this point, your damage output should surpass most heroes in one-on-one confrontations, making additional damage less critical at this stage.

Next, prioritize obtaining Superior Cooldown and Soul Rebirth. Applying the former to Flog allows for rapid usage, especially when combined with the latter. Should you seek additional cooldown reduction, consider adding Diviner’s Kevlar and Spiritual Overflow to your build.

Situational Items

Certain items may be essential against specific team compositions or in niche scenarios. Below are some examples and their relevant contexts:

• Silencer: Effective against ability-heavy heroes, it enhances every shot with a status effect for four seconds, providing Lash a breather against Viscous or Yamato.
• Warp Stone: While Lash doesn’t usually require increased mobility, the +20% Weapon Damage and +8 Spirit from Warp Stone can be advantageous mid-game against tanky heroes like Warden or Kelvin.
• Mystic Slow: Against heroes with powerful escape options like Pocket, Mystic Slow remedies this by inflicting a hefty +30% movement slow on Spirit Damage hits.
• Knockdown: An effective means to interrupt channeled abilities from heroes such as Seven and Viscous.
• Healbane: Crucial against heroes with strong self-healing, it inflicts a 40% Healing Reduction on any hero hit by Spirit Damage.
• Debuff Remover: Reduces the duration of Movement and Fire Rate Slows that can impair Lash’s mobility around the map.
• Shadow Weave: A valuable tool for escape and engagement, although it often falls short due to its cost and priority of other items. If well-equipped and loaded with Souls, it’s worth considering.
• Colossus: Benefits team fights with added bulk, though its versatility otherwise is limited.
• Phantom Strike: If securing kills proves difficult, Phantom Strike’s teleport and +50% Movement Slow are highly beneficial.