Best Deadlock Abrams build: Abilities & Items

Why use finesse when you can smash opponents into the ground? This is the philosophy behind playing Abrams, as brute force is the order of the day for this fiend. Here’s what you need to know to master Deadlock with this character.

Usually, Detective characters in fiction aren’t portrayed as bruisers; they’re usually thinkers or shooters. This isn’t the case with Abrams, who is empowered by the magic of a mysterious book known as The Tome, allowing him to steal the life force of his enemies.

As an Abrams player, you aim to throw yourself into the fray and use your special abilities to Stun your foes. These are backed up by powers that can heal you or mitigate the damage you take from foes. These powers were even buffed in the latest Deadlock patch.

Here’s Abram’s best build in Deadlock, including which abilities to max, what items to buy, and some tips on how to get the most out of his kit.

Best abilities to use for Abrams

Here’s the full starting and max path for Abram’s abilities in Deadlock:

Valve/Dexerto

Boosting Infernal Resilience is key, as it will help you survive during the early game. After that, shift focus to Siphon Life and Shoulder Charge, giving you some powerful specials to use when fighting heroes.

When you get to the end game, shift focus onto Seismic Impact, as this is your big AoE Ultimate attack and will vital for shutting down opposing heroes in the late game when they start bringing out their big guns. Finally, you can return to Infernal Resilience for that final buff boost to keep you alive during the last stages of the match.

Deadlock Abrams abilities explained

If you haven’t played Abrams yet or want a more detailed look at his stats and special abilities, here’s a full list of his powers and what they do:

Valve/Dexerto

• 1: Siphon Life
  • Drains health from enemies in front of you.
  • This ability creates an AoE around you that takes health from enemies and gives them to you. Improving this skill increases the duration and amount of health taken/received.
    • Level 1: -20s Cooldown
    • Level 2: +2s
    • Level 3: +40 damage per second

• 2: Shoulder Charge
  • Charge into the fray, dragging enemies along with you.
  • This attack causes Abrams to rush forward. If you manage to hit an enemy Hero and push them into a wall, they’ll be stunned for one second. At max level, you’ll deal increased damage for 8 seconds after the stun.
    • Level 1: -20s Cooldown
    • Level 2: +0.5s Duration
    • Level 3: +5.5 Weapon Damage for 8s after colliding with an enemy

• 3: Infernal Resiliance
  • Regenerate some of the damage you receive.
  • This is a passive effect that regenerates a portion of damage over 16 seconds. As you improve this skill, your max health and regenerative capabilities will increase.
    • Level 1: +1.5 Health Regen
    • Level 2: +150 Health
    • Level 3: +9% Damage Regenerated

• 4: Seismic Impact
  • Smash into enemies from above, stunning them
  • Abrams leaps into the air, and you aim at a spot where you’ll crash land, dealing damage and stunning enemies in a 9m radius around the impact zone. Improving this skill makes it harder to debuff Abrams after cast.
    • Level 1: -40s Cooldown
    • Level 2: Gain 100 Max HP and 15% Fire Rate per hero hit. Lasts 25s
    • Level 3: On cast, become immune to Stun, Sleep, Silence, Root, and Disarm. Expires 3s after landing.

Abrams uses a short-range shotgun, really incentivizing him to get up close and mix melee with gunshots. The intention in the early game is to prioritize survivability over big damage moves, waiting for the opportunity to strike. If you can get behind someone and stun them into a wall, you can eviscerate them with ease. Look for opportunities and take them swiftly.

Best build on Abrams: Deadlock items explained

Items here will be divided into four sections: early game, mid-game, late game/luxury, and situational items.

As Abrams has a very defined focus, you should focus on items that prioritize close-range buffs, health, increased movement speed, and regeneration. These are used to improve your strengths, as you’re playing a rushdown role who will be getting up close and personal with enemies.

There is no single correct build for every game, and you’ll eventually have to learn what each item does and when to buy it to succeed in high-level matches. However, this will give you a great place to start.

Early game items

Valve/Dexerto

Close Quarters and Headshot Booster should be essential early picks. Close Quarters boosts your shield and damage when near an enemy, while Headshoot Booster will give you 45. As you’re up close, you’ll have an easier time inflicting headshots.

Melee Charge increases your weapon damage and regen rate, while also letting you insta-reload when performing a melee attack. This is a great fit for Abrams who is always on the front lines.

Melee Lifesteal boosts your melee damage, health, and lets you heal a portion of your melee hits. This is a perfect fit for Abrams’ soul-sucking style and helps him deal with early game poke.

Sprint Boots increases your sprinting speed and regeneration. The increased movement is beneficial for helping Abrams rotate early and build a lead. Extra Stamina is the better rush if you’re really struggling in lane.

Healing Rite is an activatable item that lasts for 60 seconds and increases regen and sprint speed, though it’s dispelled when you take damage. This is great if you’re behind in lane, and can be used while clearing jungle camps. Only damage from enemy heroes will interrupt you.

Infuser is an activatable item that grants both spirit power and spirit lifesteal, and on a short 35 second cooldown. If you’re planning on all-inning your lane opponent, this is a must-have. Spirit Strike is also an option, but it’s the worst of the three melee items available to you at this point in the game.

Mid game items

Valve/Dexerto

Berserker increases your damage output as you are harmed. This is especially useful considering Abrams’ up-close playstyle.

Point Blank increases your damage and lets you inflict the Movement Slow condition at short range. This is great for preventing enemies from pulling back to safety while you rush them down.

Pristine Emblem lets you deal more damage against enemies above 50% health. This is useful as, you’ll be often be the first to attack enemies. Abrams is a good roamer as well, making this worth getting early if you’re ganking a lot.

Spirit Lifesteal and Spirit Armor are basic upgrades useful in most situations, as they’re centered around improving your Spirit damage/protection capabilities.

Torment Pulse continually deals Spirit Damage to 2 close enemies, which is useful for a character who is needed in close range.

Bullet Resist Shredder reduces an enemy’s Bullet Resist after you’ve hit them with Spirit Damage, making it a great pick with Abrams’ AoE damage. Similarily, Suppressor is a great pick for these builds, as it will inflict Fire Rate Slow under the same circumstances.

Late game/Luxury

Valve/Dexerto

Crippling Headshot reduces both Bullet and Spirit Resist. As a close-range character, this will be a huge priority for you.

Frenzy boosts your Fire Rate, Movement Speed, and Spirit Resist when you’re at 40% health or below. You’re going to be taking a lot of damage, so you can make good use of this.

Lifestrike boosts your melee attack and restores 55% of the damage back to Abrams. You also inflict the Movement Slow debuff, letting you stay in range for follow-up attacks. Additionally, Inhibitor has a similar effect, but with a ranged weapon. Take Inhibitor if you’re having problems trading and closing the gap on a carry.

Improved Bullet Armor and Improved Spirit Armor are self-explanatory and will help you survive. Meanwhile, Leech gives you a ton of lifesteal and mitigates the effect of anti-heal, making you much harder to kill.

Superior Cooldown reduces the cooldown of your powers. This is especially useful when you start upgrading Seismic Impact, as it has a base cooldown timer of 150 seconds. Also, if you take Mystic Slow, an enemy will have their Movement Speed and Fire Rate reduced when hit with Spirit damage.

Situational items

Valve/Dexerto

As the name states, these are situational items that should be purchased as needed. These include:

• Warp Stone lets you teleport up to 13m while giving you Bullet Resist, allowing you to zip past enemy lines or throw yourself into their frontline before expected.
• Hunter’s Aura will reduce the enemy’s Bullet Resist and Fire Rate. If there is only a single enemy hero, then the effect is tripled. This is especially useful when tackling enemy teams with other frontline heroes.
• Colossus not only boosts your character model size, but increases your health, melee damage, weapon damage, Bullet and Spirit Resist, and slows nearby enemies.
• Unstoppable prevents you from being affected by Stun, Silence, Sleep, Root, and Disarm for 60 seconds. Bear in mind that a maxed out Seismic Impact also grants this benefit.
• Debuff Remover removes the same effects that are already applied, except for Stun and Sleep, as it cannot be used while you’re afflicted.
• When activated, Metal Skin makes you immune to bullets and melee attacks for 3.5 seconds. Make sure to use it when it counts.
• If you are movement locked, Stunned, Chained, Immobilized, or under the effects of sleep, then Reactive Barrier will provide extra Bullet and Spirit Shields. It is extremely useful against status-effect heroes.
• Divine Barrier grants Bullet Shield, Spirit Shield, and Movement Speed when used, but only has a short cast time.
• Slowing Hex is deals Spirit Damage and Slows targets movement and dashes. It also Silences their movement-based items and abilities. This is a great one to throw out when you get close to certain heroes who heavily rely on their specials.
• Knockdown will stun an enemy after a 2s delay. Notably, this interrupts enemy actions, and can be used on potent ultimates like Seven’s to interrupt the channel.
• Silence Glyph silences an enemy and prevents them from using most abilities. Great against slippery characters like Pocket who use their abilities to evade you.
• If you’ve buffed up Seismic Impact, get hold of Diviner’s Kevlar, as it will grant a hefty Bullet and Spirit Shield and Spirit Power boost after it’s used.

That’s everything you need to know to start taking home Ws with Abrams in Deadlock! Like all characters in the game, you’ll need to put in some work to master his strategies, but he’s worth the time investment.

But, if you try Abrams and you’re not jiving with him, you can check out our Deadlock character tier list to see your other options.