Deadlock’s Abrams is a strange mix of backline burster and unkillable disruptor. Abrams excels at rushing down opponents and deleting their health bar with a left hook to the skull followed by a few well placed shotgun blasts.
While that’s not unbelievably far from the truth, charging in and becoming the living embodiment of punch first, ask questions later on repeat isn’t always going to merit positive results.
When in the lead, Abrams feels unstoppable, but when behind he stinks like a wet fart, so grasping a lead and keeping a firm hold on it is very important if you want to succeed as one of the best Deadlock characters in the roster.
Best Abrams skills and playstyle for early game
Level your third ability, Infernal Resilience, and upgrade it as soon as possible.
Abrams’ passive ability may seem rather dull from the offset, but it’s actually one of Abrams’ best early and mid game tools, allowing him to take an early lead and maintain it throughout the mid game.
When combined with the health regeneration from the ability’s first talent, Infernal Resilience makes Abrams a very oppressive laner who can take trades with his opponent relatively often and regenerate most of the damage he takes far quicker than other characters.
Becoming both the rock and the hard place, the combination of Infernal Resilience and his shotgun allows Abrams to push lanes efficiently.
Don’t rely on Infernal Resilience too much, however, as Abrams’ true power only really comes into play after unlocking his other abilities. It’s important to remember that early pressure comes from slowly pushing the enemy Trooper wave back to their Guardians as it gives you lane control for diving, engaging and potential roams to nearby lanes.
If you find yourself getting pushed back by characters like Bebop or Mirage, you can always allow the enemy to push the Trooper wave into your Guardian, allowing you to safely farm and steal souls beneath the relative safety of your Guardian. There’s no shame in making the safe play, as Abrams excels at farming with his shotgun.
Best Abrams items for early game
Here are all of the items that are best suited for Abrams, which you can mix and match depending on Deadlock’s current meta, and how your game unfolds:
Monster Rounds: This early game item increases damage given and decreases damage taken from NPC’s like Troopers and Guardians. The increased damage to Troopers boosts Abrams push potential in lane, and the resistance to NPC damage allows for you to tank more damage from the Guardian if a dive opportunity occurs.
Headshot Booster: This item can be incredibly useful for mid range harassment, as each of Abrams’ shotgun pellets can activate Headshot Booster if it strikes the head. It can also increase your burst potential if you engage up-close with an enemy hero.
Melee Lifesteal: This is a core part of your early build. Healing on a melee hit with a character like Abrams is a very valuable passive to have. Furthermore, with its damage-healing conversion scaling, it synergizes perfectly with other melee buffing items.
Close Quarters: The close range buffs from Close Quarters synergize perfectly with Melee Lifesteal, making it an essential Abrams pick.
Spirit Strike: Buffs melee damage and synergises with Melee lifesteal.
Sprint Boots: Arguably a given for a slower character such as Abrams, this item gives him incredible roam potential so he can use Shoulder Charge or Seismic Impact to quickly engage on other lanes or push another lane.
Extra Regen: Stacked on top of Infernal Resilience, this item makes your regeneration even more potent, giving you even more staying power in lane pushing and engagements.
Extra Health: Health is always good on a character that likes to soak damage, and this item lets you soak up even more.
Healing Booster: Coupled with Infernal Resilience, Melee Lifesteal and other regenerative items, Healing Booster makes Abrams a character that is hard to knock down.
Ammo Scavenger: This item is matchup specific. Ammo scavenger allows you to safely steal and farm Souls without the worry of being caught with your weapon empty.
Bullet Resist Shredder: This item enables you to debuff an enemy’s bullet resistance, which is great for a duo lane Abrams. Get up into the enemy’s face to apply the debuff and soak the damage while a friendly DPS laner can deal extra damage from a safer distance.
Abrams early game powerspikes
With his shotgun and incredible regeneration, Abrams excels at shoving lanes. By playing aggressively, Abrams can open up opportunities to secure a kill on lane opponents, even under the protection of their Guardians, or force the opponent back so Abrams can stray from his lane and roam.
Levels one and two are good Abrams powerspikes, but it really depends on the matchup, the rank you’re in, and whether you can track the enemy level up timers.
Infernal Resilience is a monstrous buff for trading damage at level one, harassing the enemy laner more frequently, and allowing for lane priority to sway in your favor.
Level two, or 400 souls, is when you should unlock Shoulder Charge. This is technically a powerspike but only if you have managed to get to 400 souls before your lane opponent.
By tracking the enemy’s level-up timings closely when you get to lane, you can determine who will hit 400 souls first and if you are in a position to capitalize on that or not. If you can track this difference accurately, you can mitigate an enemy’s advantage if they hit level two first, or push your own should you hit 400 souls first. If you can get the lead, you can pressure your opponent out of lane or at best get an early kill.
Infernal Resilience and items like Monster Rounds really help here as they allow you to farm and steal souls safely while also pushing lanes aggressively , giving you lane priority. These factors will determine whether you can get an early kill, and therefore an early lead.
If the opposing laner gets to level two before you, I personally wouldn’t Hail Mary it and charge down the opposing laner willy-nilly without a backup plan.
Siphon Life is your backup plan. At 1500 souls, get Siphon Life. This one ability makes normally risky engagements a lot less risky. Pop Siphon Life to drain all enemy health in front of you and make it your own. This is arguably your largest early powerspike and the most reliable one that doesn’t require cognitive thought.
The last early powerspike Abrams gets is the obvious one, that being when he unlocks his ultimate: Seismic Impact. It makes engagements a lot more explosive and allows you to reposition yourself behind the enemy for a Shoulder Charge so you can push opponents into your lane partner or your Trooper wave.
Farming local small camps and statues/boxes with Abrams can help bolster your team’s lead, however the real place Abrams shines is in roaming and dives.
Duo lanes also benefit from having an Abrams as he can sit in front of an enemy Vindicta or Warden and absorb the incoming damage without breaking a sweat. Duo lanes also allow for harder pushes and easier roam timings, specifically roaming to the solo lanes, where locking down a kill is quicker and easier.
When diving on Abrams, building items like Bullet Armor and Monster Rounds can and will mitigate the damage that Guardians deal. Rather than charge in recklessly, you should poke down enemies slowly and see if they try to duck into cover either into buildings or by the shop. Once they do, Shoulder Charge in and finish the kill quickly. Abrams’ ult also sets up ganks for his team incredibly easily.
Roaming is something that Abrams excels at with his hard engage Shoulder Charge and Seismic Impact. Roaming is especially potent in duo lanes as Abrams can efficiently hard shove the Trooper wave with his duo partner before pivoting to a roam to sniff out a quick kill. Here, Sprint Boots will come in handy due to the less-than-desirable slow amble Abrams is blessed with.
As a final early game note, the laning phase normally ends when the first Guardians are taken, and at this time you should have all four abilities unlocked and their first talent leveled. Have all talents unlocked before you start going freestyle, it’s just better.
Best Abrams mid game skills and what to max first
The largest and arguably most impactful powerspike Abrams has is at 10k souls. This is specifically when he has maxed out Shoulder Charge or Siphon Life.
Shoulder Charge’s final talent increases his overall damage output and burst potential by a lot, meaning that aggressive plays and proactive roaming is rewarded. This specific option is likely a good one if you are confident in your roaming. If Shoulder Charge is maxed first, Siphon Life should be maxed last.
Siphon Life is by far the safer option of the two, but not necessarily the better. If you are less confident in your ability to operate Abrams in a mid game scenario, Siphon Life is a good option to max, however it doesn’t give you the burst potential that talent three on Shoulder Charge enables. That said, Siphon Life does make your team fighting very potent as you will stick around for longer and leech more life as time goes on. If Siphon Life is maxed first, Shoulder Charge should be maxed third.
After one of these two abilities are maxed, you will enter the mid to late game and will be looking to max something else. Here’s what you should max next.
Seismic Impact is one of the options for Abrams to max second. The final talent grants him immunity to all Crowd Control (CC) such as Stun, Sleep, and Silence during casting. This is, objectively, unbelievably good at all stages of the game. Diving, teamfights, kill secures, splitpushing, counterengaging, backline dives, you name it, it’s useful. It is also rather useful for stealing Mid Boss as the CC immunity allows you to hover there like a hungry seagull waiting patiently until the Rejuvenator crystal spawns.
There is a downside to maxing this ability in that you are putting all your eggs into a basket that has a very high cooldown. Whenever you use your ultimate (poorly or otherwise) the enemy can capitalize on the fact it’s on cooldown very easily. Eg, if you use Abram’s ultimate in a teamfight or to secure a kill, the enemy team has about 100 seconds to secure the Mid Boss, and you won’t have Seismic Impact to steal the Rejuvenator buff.
Maxing Infernal Resilience is a potent option as it will significantly buff your tankiness and staying power in any given situation. This lets Abrams go for those aggressive picks, ganks and dives much later into the game than you normally would be able to. That tier three passive regeneration on taking damage is especially good and works to keep Shoulder Charge relevant much later into the game. Maxing Infernal Resilience is a far safer option that doesn’t rely on coin flipping situations where you need Seismic Impact while also not being shackled by cooldowns.
The only downside to maxing Infernal Resilience is losing the CC immunity of Seismic Impact. You can get around this by using Seismic Impact a little more carefully and not just “GOIN’ UP” whenever you please. Plus, if the lack of CC resist is really getting to you, no one’s stopping you from purchasing a cheeky Unstoppable.
Abrams mid game strategy
Abrams is at his best during the midgame. Here he can start really focusing on his strengths. Hard engaging on the enemy regardless of position to create pressure, having quick and responsive roams to enable teammates, and stealing jungle camps are things Abrams excels at. Depending on the status of your lane, you will likely want to focus on one of these at a time, switching up the order as the requirements of the game progresses.
Roaming is an especially potent part of Abrams’ mid game and one that takes the most lane foresight and map awareness. Realistically you should only roam after a hard lane shove, if you forced the enemy laner to retreat to base, or if your duo partner is able to farm safely from a distance (though if you think that lane partner is a lost cause you aren’t legally bound to their lane).
When you see a neighboring lane being pushed in by the enemy, a quick roam could land a kill on them for your teammate and yourself. This is where items such as Enduring Speed and Extra Stamina come in handy as you can get yourself from A to B at a hurried pace.
During these roams, taking camps can be an excellent way to increase your lead or regain one, so long as you’re not abandoning an entire Trooper wave of souls in your lane. The Monster Camps aren’t going anywhere but if the Troopers die and you aren’t there to last hit them, their souls disappear forever.
If you have purchased Monster Rounds, it can help speed up taking camps, but other items like Close Quarters/Point Blank or Kinetic Dash will help you be a more efficient genocidal jungle maniac. Kinetic Dash is especially good for ganks and roaming.
Leaving lane isn’t always the best option. During the time you roam, Abrams could instead be pressuring an enemy laner, which is something he does well with when purchasing items such as Bullet Armor or Spirit Armor depending on the matchup.
Best Abrams items for mid game
Melee Charge: Most likely the most important item you can get in the mid game. It’s an excellent combo tool due to the extended range it gives your charged melee attack, and anything that makes Abrams hit harder is a win.
Point Blank: The natural upgrade for Close Quarters, you will often want to build Point Blank into most games given Abrams will be dealing most of his damage up close and personal.
Lifestrike: An upgrade to Melee Lifesteal, this item will be part of your core build in most games.
Headhunter: The passive can be useful when bursting down or sticking to opponents, but if you’re limited on weapon item slots, Headshot Booster should be first on your “Sell” list.
Healing Booster: As a character that does a lot of healing, it’s a given to boost that. If you didn’t get this early game, it’s still incredibly useful mid game.
Kinetic Dash: This item is a goldmine of opportunities, from allowing you to fight more aggressively, to clearing camps more efficiently during roams, and more.
Superior Stamina: An essential mobility tool that can also be incredibly useful in other situations, Superior Stamina is great in teamfights, splitpushing and reengaging.
Enduring Speed: An essential roaming tool that has little to no downsides.
Warp Stone: Can be unbelievably good for lockdown combos on aerial targets or backliners. Can also be a waste of a weapon item slot if you are able to do those things without it or aren’t required to do them. Depends on the game.
Improved Spirit Armor: Spirit resistance becomes more important as the game goes on due to the heightened amount of Area of Effect (AOE) spirit damage your enemies will deal in fights. If you need survivability in teamfights, this item can and will help with that.
Fortitude: More health always feels good, especially when Abrams’ HP is already difficult to deplete.
Improved Bullet Armor: More tank stats, this item’s a little more game specific. It’s not always going to be useful, but when it is you will feel like an unstoppable demon.
Abrams late game strategy
There aren’t many characters that fall off late game like Abrams does, and boy does he fall straight off a cliff. There are a multitude of reasons for this, the main one being that players get more health and do more damage by the late game, but Abrams’ damage doesn’t scale well and he starts to hit like a wet pool noodle.
As a character, Abrams has little to no multitarget damage. Most of his damage comes from Shoulder Charge, his shotgun and melee attacks, all of which he can only use on single targets.
On top of Abrams’ lack of multitarget damage, Shoulder Charge’s final talent damage boost is a flat amount, meaning it doesn’t scale like other percentage-based abilities. While Infernal Resilience can help boost your tank stats, you’re not going to be able to rely on it later when larger scale team fights break out.
So, in late game, where does this leave the big blue cutie? Increased healthpools and mobility later on make enemies much harder to kill, and make Abrams susceptible to being caught by the rest of the enemy team in a prolonged skirmish. Abrams can be slippery, but when team damage as a whole is so high later on in the game, there’s a chance Abrams will get picked off or cost the team pressure on objectives.
All this means that Abrams realistically needs to pivot his build into something more fitting for the late game.
One option is to lean into his survivability and become the living embodiment of a sisyphean task for the enemy team to overcome.
This is where hard stat-check items like Improved Spirit Armor or Improved Bullet Armor become rather handy, with perhaps a naughty Colossus to top it off.
Of the two armors, Improved Spirit Armor is generally more important due to the AOE spirit damage you will often find in team fights, but sometimes the sheer amount of bullet resistance that Improved Bullet Armor gives you will make Abrams an unstoppable wall of pain.
There are other items like Fortitude, Unstoppable and Debuff Reducer that you can take situationally, but the aforementioned three items will do most of the heavy lifting.
Your other option is to throw all that tankiness out the window and become a full on, raw, unadulterated splitpusher.
When taking an objective, Abrams will draw attention from the enemy team, giving your team more leeway to win fights and objectives across the map. Furthermore, while Abrams doesn’t take objectives as quickly as other characters, he can still take them all by himself.
Therefore itemizing to be tanky enough to not be deleted by one or two characters, mobile enough to be fast acting and slippery, and damage specs to make you a moderate threat for one player and a large one for objectives is the ideal.
Of all items you can buy, Hunter’s Aura is likely the most important one to buy. This item will reduce the bullet resist and fire rate of nearby enemies by 10%, but this effect is tripled when enemies are alone.
If the enemy team sends a single player to stop you, that player will either be left in the dust or smashed against a wall.
If two or more players try to take you on, your teammates are free to take objectives, do Mid Boss, or storm the enemy Patron. It’s a beautiful win-win.
To further your efforts as a split push demon, buffing your Troopers with Heroic Aura will also do wonders to increase pushing speed. Items like Majestic Leap and Superior Stamina are amazing for mobility and slipperiness. Monster Rounds will increase damage toward NPC characters (including objectives) by a whopping 30%, giving it scaling properties into the late game. Other items such as Headhunter, Crippling Headshot and Frenzy all increase your general damage against players and objectives.
This skill build is fun to use and highly adaptable, but requires heavy map awareness and fast decision making from its Abrams player.
Best Abrams items for late game
Hunter’s Aura: The fire rate and bullet resist debuff this item has on single targets commands some real respect when solo pushing a lane or splitpushing.
Heroic Aura: The significant passive buff to Trooper fire rate Heroic Aura gives Abrams the ability to tear through Guardians far quicker than normal. It won’t always be essential to an Abrams build, but it can definitely turn the tide of a game if you find yourself shoving lanes without resistance more often than not.
Frenzy: The increased ammo and passive effects are very good for extended teamfights, especially since Abrams’ reload takes a full calendar year.
Vampiric Burst: A very situational but overall powerful item that has an active component that makes Abrams. Build it in the occasional game if you’re vibing with the idea of it, but it’s definitely not a core part of your build.
Phantom Strike: Incredible active item for diving the enemy backline, but definitely situational. If you’re finding trouble getting to the squishy DPS characters in teamfights, this will help. Just don’t buy it for characters like Infernus who’s likely going to sprint headfirst into your team anyway.
Colossus: The increase in resistances plus the AOE slows make this item a really good option to top off a tank build if you so wish to go down that path.
Unstoppable: This item is not always useful as Abrams has CC resistance built into his ultimate, however if you find that you’re being locked down more than usual it can definitely turn the tides of a fight.
Curse: Amazing for single target lockdown, something Abrams needs and otherwise doesn’t have. It’s also very good in tangent with Phantom Strike and similar items which revolve around single target focus.
Abrams Tech and tips
Charge Melee Cancelling
Using Siphon Life after charging a melee cancels the charged melee. This can be used to bait out or outright avoid parries.
Aerial Lockdown
Seismic Impact has an effect where it can pull down aerial targets if you aim it correctly. Examples could include flying targets, such as Ivy, Grey Talon, or Vindicta. If Seven ults high up, his channel can be canceled by pulling him down with Seismic Impact, provided he either misses his stun or you have the Abrams ult maxed. Similarly, Shoulder Charge can be used in tangent with items like Warp Stone to remove aerial targets and stun them.
Parry predictions
If you think the enemy knows how to parry, intentionally missing the charged heavy will mean their parry will go on cooldown. The only way to accomplish this bluff is through trial and error; if you’ve seen the opposing player get a parry off previously on you or your teammates, they likely know how to parry you, and may be susceptible to a wasted parry.
Something else to keep in mind is many players will roll away after missing parry. A charged heavy from you will likely miss in these situations, but this can be negated with Melee Charge’s 40% increases to distance.
Slide spamming
All characters gain infinite ammo when sliding, and when standing on stairs, you can spam your crouch key to slide spam. While all characters can slide spam on stairs to gain infinite ammo, this is an especially potent strategy for Abrams to take advantage of when his enemy laner is trapped under their Guardian. Coupled with an item like Headshot Booster, this can be an incredibly oppressive strategy for Abrams to take advantage of due to his shotgun taking time to reload.
Combo Changes
If you want a heavy melee to go off after Shoulder Charge you need to ensure the heavy melee is inputted BEFORE the stun lands, rather than after. If the heavy melee is inputted after the stun lands, the enemy will have a small time frame to parry you.
Items such as Duration Extender and Debuff Reducer affect the likelihood of this combo landing. When Debuff Reducer is on the enemy, there are ways to make the combo land, however it is likely safer to not go for the combo and instead try to bait out the parry. Duration Extender reduces their time window to react with parry, however not by much so it’s still somewhat a coinflip, however by the time you are willing to buy Duration Extender you will have sussed out who parries cleanly and who’s unlikely to react with a parry well.
