Deadlock’s Infernus is a weird mix of Spirit Power DPS and tanky survivability. With a lot of his abilities causing debuffs, stuns, or giving him mobility, Infernus is able to get into an enemy’s face and deal a lot of damage while reducing or outright avoiding damage coming his way.
Uniquely, Infernus doesn’t use burst damage like other Deadlock heroes such as Haze or Pocket. Instead, Infernus excels at dealing crippling amounts of damage over time through the burn effects his abilities apply. While Infernus applies his burn, the inherent debuffs his kit applies to the enemies damage and fire rate his kit allows him to stay in the fight until everything has turned to ash.
Effectively utilizing Infernus’s unique skill set will give you control of the game, and let you burn it to the ground.
Infernus skills and playstyles for early game
While leveling Afterburn first is a key early game factor, Flame Dash will be your best tool for the remainder of the game.
Infernus is best suited to farming and getting last hits. However, unlike other characters that like to farm Souls, Infernus can be a massive lane bully at the same time and push enemy heroes out of lane. This is because of Afterburn.
Taking Afterburn first allows Infernus to harass safely at a distance while farming and securing Souls. Afterburn gives Infernus’s bullets a ticking burn effect that gets reapplied for each bullet that hits the enemy. When coupled with Infernus’ high fire rate, range and low reload timer, Afterburn becomes a really effective harassment tool.
It is constant damage that also makes Infernus one of the few characters that can harass his enemy laner while they are pushing in his lane. He can slide spam on the stairs near his Guardian to abuse the unlimited ammo buff, thus raining Afterburn bullets on the enemy and their Trooper wave from a safe distance without needing to reload.
This strategy of applying Afterburn, especially once paired with the use of Catalyst and Flame Dash gives Infernus a very easy-going laning phase. Furthermore, his early game item diversity is so broad that he can build flexibly without directly affecting his overall performance later on.
Flame Dash should be the second ability you unlock when you get the chance. This ability is a really effective engage and anti-engage tool, allowing Infernus to posture aggressively in lane. If the enemy gets in close, Flame Dash. If they want to keep some distance, Flame Dash. If they try to run away, Flame Dash.
One tip however: don’t use Flame Dash haphazardly. This ability has a 38 second cooldown early on and, if used poorly, can leave you a sitting duck.
You should plug one or two talent points into Afterburn as your first priority. This is for min-maxing purposes, as Afterburn’s first two talents are immensely useful for early wave clear and pressure.
You will want to max Flame Dash first. At max rank, Flame Dash becomes your most useful ability, becoming a charge-based ability which is boosted by items like Extra Charge and Rapid Recharge. This in turn gives Flame Dash multiple uses and a drastically lowered cooldown.
Catalyst is the final non-ultimate ability you will be unlocking. The reason for it being levelled last is that it’s an ability that while isn’t overly useful on its own, when coupled with his other abilities becomes a must have in his damage rotations. Catalyst’s movement slow is immensely useful for keeping enemies on Flame Dash’s burning trail, and its damage amplification makes Flame Dash and Afterburn hurt a whole lot more. For these reasons, unlocking Catalyst before Infernus’ other two abilities is slightly counterintuitive.
Finally, you’ll unlock Infernus’s ultimate ability, Concussive Combustion, which allows him to position more aggressively in lane when he is applying pressure. This ability is both a brilliant deterrent for enemy engages and is amazing at setting up ganks, dives or solo engages, especially when combined with Flame Dash. Dash in, blow yourself up, profit.
Best Infernus items for early game
Ammo Scavenger: Infernus can safely secure and deny Souls due to his range and fire rate. With Ammo Scavenger, this inherent positive to his kit becomes even more potent as each Soul Steal not only gives him ammo, but also gives a stacking buff to his Spirit Power.
Infuser: With the passive ammo increase and the active buffing Spirit Power and Spirit Lifesteal, Infernus can use Infuser to provide a massive buff when fighting or securing kills.
Restorative Shot: Causing your next bullet to heal, Restorative Shot is a really solid early option due to how its healing synergizes with Infernus’ lane bully playstyle. Every time you go to harass, you heal.
Extra Health: A flexible defensive option for early, especially against particularly aggressive lane opponents.
Enduring spirit: Spirit Lifesteal is excellent on Infernus due to Afterburn‘s ticking Spirit damage.
Basic Magazine: Increasing Infernus’s ammo allows Afterburn to really shine in lane especially considering his high fire rate. This along with Ammo Scavenger means less time reloading and more time burning enemy health bars.
Soul Shredder Bullets: While expensive, Infernus makes unbelievable use of Soul Shredder Bullets due to Afterburn. Infernus’s bullets apply both Afterburn and Soul Shredder Bullets debuffs to an enemy, both increasing his Spirit Damage toward them, and therefore Afterburns ticking damage, but also increases Spirit Lifesteal against them.
Rapid Rounds: An increase to an already fast fire rate makes this a must-buy for Infernus.
Extra Stamina: A welcome addition to mobility on a character that likes to stay on his toes when fighting.
Healing Rite: An active item that increases Infernus’ survivability and staying power in lanes that can match his harass or that can counter his engages, such as Mirage.
Infernus early game powerspikes
Infernus experiences his first major powerspike at 3000 souls. At this point in the game you should have all of your abilities, a couple talent points in either Flame Dash or Afterburn and the majority of your early game items.
This power spike on Infernus is significant as it gives him more control over his lane. Just the threat of his Flame Dash–Concussive Combustion combo creates pressure for enemy laners. Not only is he very difficult to lock down due to his CC and speed, but if he decides to turn on the enemy, they could get burnt to a crisp.
The next early game powerspike is actually the same one that drives you into the mid game, that being when Flame Dash is maxed out, becoming a charge ability, and you have Extra Charge or Rapid Recharge purchased. This allows him to use the ability multiple times in one fight, lathering the battlefield with burning trails and making Infernus incredibly hard to lock down.
Infernus mid game skills and what to max first
Going into mid game, Infernus should have two points in Afterburn, Flame Dash maxed and either Extra Charge, or its upgraded brother Rapid Recharge. With the increased burn duration from Afterburn as well as a fully maxed Flame Dash, Infernus gets a massive increase to his jungle camp clears and jungle skirmish power.
Your second most important ability is Afterburn, and all talent points should be focused on it till its maxed once Flame Dash is maxed. Afterburn’s first talent reduces a target’s Spirit Damage output. With Afterburn applied, Infernus has a massive advantage over Spirit Power heroes like Yamato and Pocket. Yamato deals a lot of Spirit Power damage and can easily mow down an unprepared team. Stacking Afterburn on Yamato can easily take the edge off their blade, and, paired with Flame Dash’s Fire Rate slow, will reduce big damage dealers like Yamato down to something manageable.
Concussive Combustion is a really potent ability and proper use of it during the mid game is important for both fights and Mid Boss secures. Talent two of Concussive Combustion is especially important here as it increases the skill’s radius and duration. These bonuses make Concussive Combustion a very influential tool, able to confirm kills with its massive CC, disrupt fights, and push enemies back so allies can disengage. Just having Concussive Combustion off of cooldown can dissuade an enemy team from tackling Mid Boss or stopping you from doing so altogether.
Infernus has a very easy time securing the Rejuvenator crystal because of the crystal’s need to be attacked by melee before it delivers the Rejuvenator buff. If the opposing team is about to claim the buff, a well-timed Flame Dash–Concussive Combustion combo can allow Infernus a quick and easy steal. This also applies for when you are defending the crystal from being stolen.
Overall, Concussive Combustion is a little less reliable than Abrams’ Seismic Impact because Infernus is more vulnerable during the Concussive Combustion’s cast time than Abrams is during Seismic Impact (as he floats in the air), but it is a safer skill to use thanks to the disengage Infernus has with Flame Dash and Extra Charge or Rapid Recharge.
While Catalyst is not super high priority when maxing abilities, it’s important to note that its talents definitely have their uses. Unlike Flame Dash, Catalyst is a charge-based ability on the offset, meaning Catalyst is affected by Extra Charge and Rapid Recharge too. Furthermore, talent one gives Catalyst another charge, meaning that Catalyst can gain upwards of four charges. With just the base debuffs this ability applies, that’s pretty insane.
Talent two and three of Catalyst further provide lifesteal and even more damage amp respectively, suddenly giving Infernus the ability to melt tanks while becoming one himself. While Catalyst is not a priority, this ability should not be totally ignored, and at the very least should have talent one unlocked during the mid game.
Infernus mid game strategy
With Flame Dash maxed and Afterburn closely following, Infernus arguably has one of the most potent jungle clears in the game. This means that a large chunk of his time will be spent providing jungle pressure and taking jungle camps.
The thing that Infernus excels during the mid game is jungle pressure and will likely spend a chunk of his mid game ruling the jungle. Flame Dash and Concussive Combustion not only make Infernus a roaming threat opponents need to watch out for, but he’s very good at diving into Denizen camps, farming them for Souls, and being gone as quickly as he arrived. His bursts of speed allow Infernus to excel at fighting on his terms, being able to engage at the flip of a coin then disengage safely using Flame Dash or Concussive Combustion.
To clear jungle camps effectively and quickly, your damage rotation should go as follows:
- Fire a few bullets into each Denizen to apply Afterburn, burning them and reducing their Spirit damage output.
- Catalyst into immediate Flame Dash around all the Denizens, amplifying both Afterburn and Flame Dash’s in the process.
- Finish by reapplying Afterburn to each Denizen consistently until the entire jungle camp is dead.
- Ensure you always have a Flame Dash charge in reserve for reactive gameplay (one for engaging or a disengaging against the enemy team).
This damage rotation ensures that the creeps are almost always taking damage from Afterburn, overlapping that burning damage with Flame Dash’s burning trail and Catalyst‘s AOE to maximize damage output and minimize time loss.
This kind of jungle pressure playstyle is very different to characters like Warden, who prioritize roaming on enemy laners over farming camps and keeping jungle pressure. Infernus, on the contrary, is looking to keep pressure on the jungle, not necessarily lanes. That’s not to say he can’t pressure lanes – he can – but few heroes can jungle as efficiently as Infernus.
With a high clear speed and a great engage, Infernus can reign terror in the jungle, keeping camps cleared and enemies at bay. He can also be incredibly responsive to fights in the jungle, getting to them quickly or stalling them out with his survivability and CC so his team can collapse on the enemy. This kind of jungle pressure gives his team priority on roaming and objectives, and ultimately can snowball a lead. It also allows Infernus to shadow his teammates and potentially jump enemy lanes that are pushed too far up.
Best Infernus items for mid game
Healing Rite: An active item that increases Infernus’s survivability and staying power in lanes.
Extra Charge: This item should only be purchased after you have successfully maxed out Flame Dash. While it has its applications with Catalyst, its realistically a waste of souls till after Flame Dash has its final talent unlocked.
Spirit Lifesteal: Spirit lifesteal is an immensely useful stat to have on Infernus due to his main source of spirit damage being damage over time, allowing him to slowly heal part of all the damage he deals through Afterburn and Flame Dash.
Debuff Reducer: Being a character that likes to stay mobile, having Debuff Remover reduce all CC against you not only makes you more slippery but also makes your Flame Dash less likely to be affected by slows.
Reactive Barrier: Another really good item for if the enemy laners can match your harass. Reactive Barrier is especially good if you find that you are being locked down during engages or disengages. Reactive barrier is really good against characters that can set up easy CC during your engages such as Mirage, or that engages with CC, such as Haze or Warden.
Quicksilver Reload: Quicksilver reload is a really good item when imbued on Catalyst as you will usually use Catalyst after firing at the enemy to ensure the damage amp is increasing your Afterburn. Quicksilver Reload will allow you to have a full mag after every Catalyst cast.
Duration Extender: An excellent item for Infernus’s kit as all his abilities either apply debuffs or CC that can be extended (Afterburn, Catalyst and Concussive Combustion) or have effects that can be extended (Flame Dash). This is especially apparent in the mid game when Infernus really reaches his stride.
Toxic Bullets: As Infernus is a character built around applying negative effects on enemy characters through his bullets, Toxic bullets makes his already oppressive gunfire even more potent by bleeding enemies, while also lowering enemy healing.
Mystic Vulnerability: Mystic Vulnerability makes all of Infernus’ main kit reduce Spirit Resistance. This means that any kind of engage against the enemy will result in them losing 12% of their Spirit Resistance, subsequently increasing your and your teammates’ damage to them.
Rapid Recharge: A must buy after Flame Dash is maxed out, this item gives you a total of three charges of Flame Dash, with a cooldown at most being eight seconds between charges. This is a core item for Infernus’s mid to late game.
Kinetic Dash: A brilliant item for Infernus’s mid game playstyle and aims. Kinetic Dash is excellent for Jungle Camp farming and mobility, two things Infernus likes. It’s especially useful to have between Flame Dash charges, allowing you to stay mobile and conserve stamina even while still pressing the attack.
Healing Booster: This is an incredible item to have in tangent with all the Spirit Life Steal items Infernus can and should build. With this item he truly becomes an unkillable flaming force.
Ethereal Shift: Ethereal Shift has really good synergy with Flame Dash. When casting Ethereal Shift, you become untargetable and invincible, but float uselessly in place, unable to perform any actions. If you instead cast Ethereal Shift during Flame Dash, you continue moving forwards as Flame Dash’s cast ends, still applying your burning trail to the ground. Upon Ethereal Shift’s end you then get a massive boost of speed which aids in allowing you to reposition and reassess the fight.
Debuff Remover: Having the ability to purge all negative effects, such as debuffs and CC, is immensely useful on a character like Infernus where staying on your toes is a must in fights.
Infernus late game strategy
Infernus can afford to have a very, very aggressive late game playstyle.
With the ability to trample over jungle camps almost constantly, Infernus becomes a cornerstone of your team’s pressure. This is especially potent after buying his core late game item, Ricochet, which bounces his bullets between targets. Ricochet’s synergy with Infernus’ high fire rate and Afterburn makes Infernus’ lane pushing and jungle clearing one of the best in the game.
As a character, Infernus doesn’t need to spend a lot of time in lanes, and shouldn’t. Instead his focus should be on creating jungle pressure that is impossible to ignore and difficult to remove. Infernus can achieve this menace by taking jungle camp after jungle camp, taking fights whenever he can, and roaming the map liberally. With you in the jungle, the enemy can’t move between lanes without you knowing or reacting to it. This also gives Infernus’ team a lot of priority over roaming, as Infernus can always shadow their movements and join any fights they end up in.
Infernus’ playstyle in the late game should be aggressive. Concussive Combustion and Catalyst can turn fights to his advantage or stop them entirely. By keeping the pressure on the enemy with Ricochet and Afterburn, healing with items like Leech and Healing Booster, and staying safe or securing kills with Flame Dash, Infernus can easily push waves towards Guardians, Titans, and even Patrons.
Best Infernus items for late game
Ricochet: One of the most important items to buy on Infernus to really amp his late game damage up a few notches due to its incredible synergy with Afterburn and Infernus’s fire rate. It also rockets his jungle camp clear sky high
Leech: As with other items, Leech’s Spirit lifesteal is incredible with Infernus’s kit. Coupled with Bullet Lifesteal (which is excellent with Infernus’s fire rate and the fact that he applies spirit damage with his bullets) and a massive anti-heal debuff, Leech is a must buy for late game Infernus.
Improved Spirit armour: A really good all round tank item for the late game, where a lot of the survivability Infernus’s kit gives him in the mid game weakens. As he’s a rather hard to hit target, he is more likely to find trouble from Spirit Damage than Bullet.
Crippling Headshot: A good item for particularly squishy enemy teams, allowing you to shred their armour and take them out quickly and easily.
Inhibitor: Applying damage debuffs and slows on bullet hits, Inhibitor makes Infernus’s already potent firepower even more deadly, especially when that slow and debuff is combined with Catalyst and Flame Dash.
Spiritual Overflow: As Infernus’s playstyle revolves around applying Afterburn consistently to as many targets as possible, weaving Flame Dash in on occasion, Spiritual Overflow increasing Fire Rate and Spirit Power as you shoot only makes that playstyle more potent.
Unstoppable: Unstoppable is another amazing item to counter lockdown and ganks. Infernus spends a lot of time in the jungle alone and may well be subject to the enemy team collapsing on his position. Unstoppables 6 seconds of essentually ignoring all kinds of CC and debuffs will make those situations a breeze.
With this, you now have everything you need to get started playing Infernus. You can improve upon our build by checking out the full list of Deadlock items and strategize when you go for pushes or fights by checking out the Deadlock levels guide.
