Best Deadlock Seven build: Abilities & Items

Seven is one of Deadlock’s premiere caster characters, with a game-changing ultimate that can take out the entire enemy team when used correctly. Here’s what you need to know to get the most out of this hero.

While Deadlock is much more focused on aiming and gunplay than most other MOBAs, there are still a good few caster characters. Seven is one of them, and his abilities are relatively straightforward.

Seven may be for you if you struggle with aiming but don’t like getting up close. His kit benefits much more from having game knowledge than it does raw mechanical skill, especially when it comes to buying the right items for the job.

Give Vindicta a shot if you’re looking for someone who requires more mechanical skill and less game knowledge, but know she’s not as new-player friendly as it tells you. Seven is one of the absolute best starter characters, though playing him against people who know what they’re doing gets tricky.

Here’s the best build for Seven in Deadlock including which items you should get, when you should buy them, and the abilities to max out first.

Seven’s best abilities

Here’s both the starting and max path for Seven’s abilities. Bear in mind that while it’s possible to play this character without focusing on his ultimate, it’s the strongest and most consistent build on the hero. His ult is pretty underwhelming without points, but Seven’s a force of nature with it maxed out.

• Ability starting path: 1>3>2
  • Against characters who want to get in your face early like Abrams and Warden, getting 2 second is worthwhile.
• Ability max path: 1 point in 1>max 4>1 point in 2>max 3>max 2>max 1
  • Seven’s ability order jumps around a bit in comparison to other characters due to the immense value he gains from the first point in certain abilities, but just know that maxing his ult ASAP is your best bet in most circumstances.

You’ll want to get a point in Lightning Ball early for poke, a point in Static Charge to get a shorter cooldown once you’ve got your ult maxed out and you’re rotating around, and you’ll want to max Power Surge after your ult is completely leveled.

Power Surge is Seven’s biggest sleeper ability as it provides a ton of bonus damage and AoE if you’re landing shots. If Static Charge‘s stun is about to pop on someone, activate this to maximize your damage.

As for Storm Cloud, get as high in the sky as you can, in as open an area as possible, and just let it rip. There are some ways to get more out of this ultimate, but they’re dependent on both getting the right items or having teammates work around you. More on that later.

Seven’s abilities explained

If you aren’t familiar with Seven’s kit and what he does in Deadlock, here’s a quick rundown:

• 1: Lightning Ball
  • Shoot a ball of lightning that travels in a straight line. Does damage to all targets in its radius. Slows down when damaging enemies and stops if it hits the world.
    • Level 1: +1 Charge
    • Level 2: +40% movement slow
    • Level 3: +70 DPS
• 2: Static Charge
  • Apply a charge to a target enemy hero. After a short duration, the static charge stuns and damages enemies within the radius.
    • Level 1: -20 second cooldown
    • Level 2: +7 meter radius
    • Level 3: +1.1 second stun duration
• 3: Power Surge
  • Power up your weapon with a shock effect, making your bullet proc shock damage on your target. This shock damage bounces to enemies near your target. Occurs once per burst shot.
    • Level 1: Shock damage applies -15% spirit resist for 8 seconds
    • Level 2: -16 second cooldown
    • Level 3: +12 shock damage, improve spirit scaling, and +3 max jumps
• 4: Storm Cloud
  • Channel an expanding storm cloud around you that damages all enemies within its radius. Enemies do not take damage when they are out of line of sight.
    • Level 1: +35% bullet resist while channeling Storm Cloud
    • Level 2: +7 second channel time and +10 meter radius
    • Level 3: +75 DPS

Best build on Seven: Deadlock items explained

Items here will be divided into four sections: Early game, mid game, late game/luxury buys, and situational purchases.

The first three sections will give you a general idea of what you should buy at each stage of the game, though it’s ok to jump to late-game items if you’re ahead. Situational items are all about countering certain mechanics.

For a character like Seven, counter-building is essential. As you play against better and better players, people will know how to counter you. You’ll have to switch up your build depending on who you’re playing against, so keep an eye on that last section.

Here’s what you should be buying to give yourself the best chance at winning:

Early Game items

Dexerto / Valve

Seven is a caster first, so you won’t want to run bullet damage unless you’re maxing 3 and focusing a hybrid build like that. So, the only two Weapon damage items you’ll want are High-Velocity Mag for the bonus bullet velocity and bullet shield, and Monster Rounds to give Seven a bit better camp clear.

Enduring Spirit is your best early tank item due to the spirit life steal, throwing Lightning Ball at a minion wave will heal you a ton. Extra Stamina is your better bet over Sprint Boots early on since Seven wants to hang out in lane and scale a bit rather than making early rotations.

Healing Rite is a must unless you crush the early game.

Extra Charge is something you’ll want to get early on to get more Lightning Ball charges, and Extra Spirit and Mystic Reach are both solid boosts to spirit damage

Mid Game items

Dexerto / Valve

Weapon damage items are still a low priority, but Warp Stone and Pristine Emblem are solid options, especially if you’re running low on Flex Slots and can’t buy other items. Warp Stone’s mobility is great in a cinch, and Pristine Emblem has tremendous bang-for-your-buck value for boosting weapon damage in certain scenarios.

Enduring Speed will be nice to have by this point. You won’t need to rotate much early on, but it’s something you want to have as the game goes on. Majestic Leap is a must to get high in the air for your ult, while Spirit Lifesteal, Bullet Armor, and Spirit Armor are all great choices if you’re having trouble staying alive. Go with Spirit Lifesteal first.

You should have multiple Mystic items on Seven, and many of them should be upgrades of what you’ve bought early. But, Flex Slots are hard to get. Here’s the order in which you’ll want to buy Mystic items if you know you’re going run into that problem: Superior Cooldown > Mystic Vulnerability > Superior Duration > Improved Spirit > Improved Reach. You’ll want all of these at some point, but you’ve only got so many item slots.

If there’s an item that applies to a specific ability like Superior Cooldown or Duration, put it on your ult.

Late Game/Luxury

Dexerto / Valve

There are a few weapon damage items that scale well late game, particularly Spiritual Overflow. Paired with Power Surge, you can do a lot of damage with your gun without having to build much weapon damage. Crippling Headshot is great if you need to shred protections, as it shreds both Spirit and Bullet armor.

Unstoppable is a must-have against competent opponents if you’re going to invest so heavily in your ultimate. Make sure you pop it right before you start channeling your ult to get the most time out of it. Six seconds is long enough for Seven to wipe a team.

Leech is great if you’re fighting against a ton of anti-heal or need more sustain, and is worth taking over Unstoppable if you aren’t getting CC locked. But, once you start playing against better players, people will know to shut down your ult.

Boundless Spirit is worth getting earlier on Seven than most other characters, as he gets huge returns on bonus spirit power. Escalating Exposure is a must-have with how much tick damage Seven has, while Mystic Reverb and Diviner’s Kevlar make his ult that much harder to deal with.

Reverb’s slow combined with Kevlar’s tank stats make it so the enemy has no choice but to leave the area your ult’s in if you’ve got Unstoppable. When you’re fighting on Mid Boss or in the middle of a lane, this can win your entire team the game.

Situational items

Seeing as these items are situational, here’s each one broken down by when you should buy it and what you’re countering:

• Healbane: Seven’s best anti-heal option. It’s cheap, effective, and allows him to cut the healing of the entire enemy team. If you’re struggling against an Abrams, this is worth buying early.
• Divine Barrier: Divine Barrier is your lifeline if you get put behind, and can be popped before ulting in a pinch to get more tank stats.
• Metal Skin: Against heavy bullet damage, this is your best friend. Pop it before you ult and watch as the enemy Haze player malds and regrets using her Sleep Dagger on anyone other than you while your ult shreds her team. You’ll still be vulnerable to spirit damage and melee, though.
• Veil Walker: Veil Walker is a fantastic pickup if you’re having trouble staying out of combat long enough to get Majestic Leap off. The spirit and bullet shielding on it is great, too. This is also a great substitute for Diviner’s Kevlar if you’re broke or out of slots for Mystic items.
• Rescue Beam: This is kind of cheating because you shouldn’t be the one buying Rescue Beam, your teammates should. If you can convince someone to buy Rescue Beam and drag you into the enemy team as they’re trying to escape from your ult, it can be a game-winning maneuver. Or just queue with an Ivy player, either works.
• Knockdown: Knockdown pairs well with Static Charge’s stun to keep an enemy CCed for a couple of seconds, more than long enough to kill them with your burst damage. Take this if you’re particularly annoyed with someone diving you.
• Surge of Power: Surge of Power is another great option if you’re getting dived and have Power Surge maxed out. The bonus movement speed will help you either get out or chase down an opponent who’s trying to get away. This is the only ability-specific amp item you won’t want to put on your ultimate.
• Mystic Slow: Great for both self-peel and chase, Mystic Slow is a fantastic option if you need a bit more CC. Worth taking early against slippery characters that want to dive you like Mo & Krill.

That’s everything you need to know to start taking home Ws with Seven in Deadlock! He’s one of the easier characters in the game, but don’t get discouraged if the first few matches don’t go your way. You’ll get it if you keep practicing.

If you’d prefer to try another hero instead, check out our full character tier list, and the best builds for Pocket, Warden, Lady Geist, and Shiv.