Best Deadlock Wraith build: Abilities & Items

Wraith is one of Deadlock’s most safe and consistent carries, and you’ll need to use all her tools to stay alive against the game’s aggressive roster of characters. Here’s what you need to know to carry games with Wraith, including her best build and how to use her abilities.

Sure, Deadlock is a bit more focused on aim and movement than most MOBAs, but Wraith especially feels like the bog-standard, soldier-esque archetype that’s meant to be an easy starter character. She’s great to learn the game on, though she’s got a few quirks to her kit you’ll have to work around.

Wraith may be simple, but she’s not easy. There’s a difference. Fortunately, we’re here give you the tools you need to succeed with her.

Here’s the best build on Wraith in Deadlock, including the best items to buy and how to level her abilities.

Best Wraith abilities to use in Deadlock

Below you can find the order in which it’s best to upgrade your abilities:

It’s worth noting that you can take Project Mind before Full Auto if you’re against something like Bebop that can quickly put you out of position, but the best starting path most times is 1 > 3 > 2 > 4. As far as Wraith’s max path goes, things are a bit more complicated.

2 points in Card Trick for the additional poke and charges is a must, followed immediately by 2 points in Full Auto to get that bonus spirit damage per bullet. Get a point in Telekinesis for the cooldown and then immediately max Project Mind.

That cooldown at level 5 in the ability is an absolute must if you’re focusing on weapon damage, which is the best way to carry with Wraith. Having the ability to reposition on a low cooldown with a big ol’ bullet shield is what makes Wraith so good.

Just be careful with Project Mind, it’s got a tendency to get stuck on geometry if you’re too close to a wall or structure, take the extra little bit to make sure you aren’t just teleporting 3 feet away and faceplanting into a wall.

Deadlock Wraith abilities explained

Here’s a rundown of Wraith’s abilities to give you an idea of what she does:

• 1: Card Trick
  • Deal weapon damage to summon cards. Activate to throw a card that flies toward the enemy or point under your crosshair.
    • Level 1: +1 Charge
    • Level 2: +50 damage
    • Level 3: +50% card summon rate
• 2: Project Mind
  • Teleport to the target location
    • Level 1: +15 meter cast range
    • Level 2: Provides a 300 bullet shield for 8 seconds on teleport. Shield amount scales with spirit power
    • Level 3: -30 second cooldown
• 3: Full Auto
  • Temporarily boosts your fire rate by 20%. Nearby allies receive half the bonus.
    • Level 1: -15 second cooldown
    • Level 2: +5 spirit damage per bullet
    • Level 3: +35% bullet lifesteal
• 4: Telekinesis
  • Lift an enemy hero into the air, stunning them for a short time. When the lift ends, the target receives Telekinesis damage.
    • Level 1: -30 second cooldown
    • Level 2: +0.5 second duration
    • Level 3: Telekinesis will target enemies in an area around Wraith

Best build for Wraith: Deadlock items explained

Items here will be divided into four sections based on when you should buy them: Early game, mid game, late game/luxury items for if you’re fed and looking to compound your lead, and situational items.

The first three are pretty straightforward, but situational items can be bought at any point in the game and vary in their uses. It’s worth taking a close look at that section before hopping into a match.

It’s worth noting that there’s rarely a correct build, especially with Valve showing that they’re willing to drastically change items on short notice. However, what we can do is narrow down the options and explain why you should be buying certain items at certain points in the game.

With that in mind, here’s the best build for Wraith in Deadlock:

Early Game Items

Wraith’s early game is about surviving. She can get some decent poke with her 1, but farming creeps is worth much more than getting kills, anyways. Focus on solid laning fundamentals, soul denials, and being aware of ganks.

High Velocity and Slowing Bullets are the must-haves in the weapon damage item category, with High Velocity building into Headhunter and Slowing Bullets allowing you to chase targets down and harass. Monster Rounds are great if you’re struggling early, and Basic Magazine is great if you’ve got an extra 500 souls laying around and want more mag capacity.

Healing Rite should be your go-to buy if you get poked out of lane, which will be most games. If you’re especially scared of getting dived, grab Extra Stamina. Save boots for the mid game and focus on laning, don’t worry about rotating early.

Extra Charge is great if you want more cards to poke with, and Ammo Scavenger is strong if you’re good at denying souls to the enemy. Just bear in mind that these are a bit of a luxury, and you’ll want to focus Wraith’s core weapon damage items first.

Mid Game Items

Tesla Bullets is an absolute must, rush this item. Wraith’s high fire rate combined with the proc change on this item makes it great for clearing camps, trading, clearing waves, the list goes on. Headhunter is good to grab after that for trading and doing some bonus damage.

Bullet Lifesteal is fantastic for keeping yourself sustained, and it’s a much better buy than Spirit Lifesteal for Wraith. You’ll want to get Enduring Speed once you’re out of the laning phase as well to get around the map.

Combat Barrier is necessary on Wraith due to her 2 granting her a bullet shield on a short cooldown, almost instantly giving you more weapon damage in combat. You’ll want to get Spirit Armor since she only gets a bullet shield off her 3, not a spirit one. The resistances will do more for you.

Lastly, grab Quicksilver Reload and put it on her 1 to almost instantly reload your weapon. It’s much better than Active Reload on Wraith after that item got nerfed. Bullet Resist Shredder is also a great buy considering how easy it is to sprinkle some spirit damage into your DPS rotation.

Late Game/Luxury items

Lucky Shot is your premiere carry item. If you’re trying to take over the game, this is the one for you. It can be bought earlier on if you’ve got the cash. Ricochet and Crippling Headshot are also great late-game DPS items. Titanic Magazine is a luxury in its purest form, giving you the most bullets to shoot before you have to reload.

Superior Stamina is a must have on pretty much every character, and Wraith is no different. Grab this once you’ve got your carry items, or earlier if you need the mobility. Leech is great for sustaining in fights, Fortitude is great for if you’re split pushing, and Soul Rebirth is the move if you’re incredibly far ahead and scared that dying once will lose your team the game.

Mystic Slow will proc on your spirit damage and help you chase people down, Ethereal Shift helps if you’re getting chased down. The same can be said of Diviner’s Kevlar, as the bonus shields are super helpful.

Improved Reach is underrated when applied to your ultimate, but just make sure you get it maxed before you apply it. Reach increases her Telekinesis AoE, making it possible to grab an entire team if they’re standing close enough together. Rapid Charge is pure luxury, but great for if it’s late game and you want to 1-shot someone by spamming cards.

Situational Items

Considering these items have niche uses, we’ll be going over the one by one to give you a good idea of when exactly you should be buying it.

• Siphon Bullets: Post-nerf, this item isn’t the must-have it used to be. If you buy it, buy it to shred tanks or if you’re fighting at a distance to take advantage of the 45 base damage.
• Silencer: Fantastic against ability-focused heroes like Pocket. Buy late if you’re getting dived or killed by someone with a focus on abilities.
• Vampiric Burst: The extra lifesteal and ammo on this item isn’t usually necessary once you’ve got Leech and Quicksilver Reload, but it’s here if you need it. Especially effective if the enemy has a ton of anti-heal and you’ve already got Leech to mitigate it.
• Glass Cannon: Buy this if you’re snowballing and confident. Glass Cannon is a bit risky considering just how much it cuts your max HP, but Wraith is one of the better characters for this item.
• Toxic Bullets: If you need anti-heal, this is your best bet. Plain and simple. If you’re against someone like Abrams and he’s ahead, don’t be afraid of buying this early.
• Intensifying Magazine: Wraith has one of the biggest mag sizes in Deadlock once she’s got enough ammo items stacked, but you’ll want to grab this only if you’ve got the extra room and something like Titanic Magazine purchased.
• Inhibitor: A fantastic item for trading with other carries. Take if you’re behind and having trouble with one target in particular.
• Debuff Remover: Great for cleansing CC, buy early if you’re getting locked down.
• Metal Skin: Anti-Haze item. Good against other bullet damage-centric characters, but especially Haze.
• Unstoppable: If you’re against heavy lockdown characters like Mo & Krill or Dynamo, this is the item you take. Keep in mind you have to pop it before you get CCed, not during.
• Veil Walker: Even post-nerf, this item is great if you plan on rotating and disrupting other lanes.
• Curse: Really great for making one person in particular have a bad day. Used to shut down carries.
• Surge of Power: Great for Wraith’s Project Mind, gives her more bullet shield and a hefty movement speed boost to escape with.
• Knockdown: If someone’s diving you and you’d rather them keep their distance, take Knockdown. Fantastic for countering Lash.
• Silence Glyph: Really great against the same heroes Silencer shuts down, but a lot cheaper and easier to access early.
• Slowing Hex: Great for preventing yourself from getting dived, great for locking someone down. Slowing Hex is great utility all-around, and solid at almost any point in the game considering Wraith doesn’t have many core items in the Mystic tree.

That’s everything you need to know to carry Deadlock matches with Wraith! If you want to see how she stacks up to other options on the roster, check out our tier list.