Deadlock Warden is a character that knows what he wants and is incredibly efficient at doing it: a tanky character that can lockdown targets and dish out a bucket load of damage. Once you’re detained by Warden, don’t expect to be let off with just a fine.
That said, early game Warden’s kit can feel very underwhelming. As time goes on and his build develops he becomes a force to be reckoned with.
The difference between early game and late game with Warden is like night and day, so learning how to get past that early roadblock will be the key to winning games.
Warden skills and playstyle for early game
Leveling Alchemical Flask and its first two talents is immensely useful for early game.
While his abilities are weak at first, Alchemical Flask is a spammable projectile that allows Warden the opportunity to provide some harass before he gains any lockdown. Investing three talent points into Alchemical Flask will not only directly improve your harass on the enemy, but also your in-lane safety. The first talent causes Alchemical Flask to reduce an enemy’s stamina by one on hit, preventing enemies from Dash Jumping away.
Warden is a character that is heavily reliant on talents and items to overcome his low fire rate, long reload speeds, and below average movement speeds. Without mid to late game items, Warden struggles to farm and has difficulty repositioning in lane. His abilities can feel underwhelming during the early game compared to other Deadlock characters.
Warden’s priorities in lane are to farm safely from a distance and spam Alchemical Flask. His low fire rate makes trading damage with the enemy laner difficult while also farming, so using Alchemical Flask to provide harass and poke damage is essential for lane pressure. Due to its splash damage, Alchemical Flask can even be used to hit enemies hiding behind cover. Farming is a priority to get to those mid to late game items, so trading a death for a kill isn’t worth it in the long run.
When farming on Warden, ensure you use melee or heavy melee to finish minions to compensate for Warden’s slow rate of fire.
When laning as Warden, keep an eye out for ganks. Early on, Warden is very susceptible to ganks due to his low mobility and lack of tankiness, so keeping an eye on opponents in neighboring lanes will save you from being caught out of position when the cavalry inevitably arrives.
At 400 souls you unlock your next skill. What you take will depend on how the lanes look for you. Binding Word is a good option if you’re finding the enemy are over extending in lane a little too much, or are letting themselves get poked down to low health too often. This is also the case if they are playing hard engage characters such as Abrams or Lash, who have to commit to engages more than other characters.
Binding Word is excellent at providing pressure. It can force players away from the Trooper wave so they either lose minions or lane priority. If enemies decide they want to brave the Warden’s cuffs, you’re more than welcome to unload your magazine into them so they aren’t tempted to stick around next time. Highly mobile characters won’t always fall for this, so holding Binding Word in reserve for anti-engage can be more oppressive than actually using it.
Important: players only need to perform a single Dash Jump to escape Binding Word’s range, so if you intend on CC’ing them, baiting out some stamina or hitting Alchemical Flask will go a long way to secure Binding Word.
If you’re struggling to farm or finding that you’re getting your health chunked by poke characters such as Vindicta or Grey Talon, it may be in your interest to take Willpower instead of Binding Word. Willpower will ensure you stay alive and in lane for as long as possible to farm Troopers. This is a very safe option, and it can help if you’re really feeling the pressure and just want an option that enables you to stay in lane till you get 1500 souls and unlock that third ability.
Farming jungle camps as Warden early on is only really viable if you take the smaller camps. Alchemical Flask and Willpower make the smaller camps quick and painless, but just ensure you aren’t giving up any Trooper waves for them, only jungling when you have a wave pushed or are letting the enemy laner push the wave into you.
Your next three talent points should be invested into Binding Word to help with engage and counter engage. The extended duration plus lower cooldown of the upgraded Binding Word makes a dramatic difference to Warden’s power and lane pressure.
Finally, the next chance you get, level a talent point into Willpower to help Warden going into the midgame. Warden needs to be fast and mobile for the mid to late game, specializing in locking down a target and finishing them quickly before making like a banana and splitting.
Best Warden items for early game
High-Velocity Mag : The bullet velocity increase that High-Velocity Mag gives makes Warden’s weapon far more effective for farming and securing souls early.
Monster Rounds : A 30% increase in damage and resistance towards NPCs allows Warden to not only farm more efficiently, but also increases his ability to dive.
Headshot Booster : Binding Word makes it immensely easy for Warden to land headshots due to its rooting effect, making Headshot Booster great for engages and counter engages..
Mystic Burst : When dealing 80 or more spirit damage, Mystic Burst deals bonus damage. This is a passive effect that works brilliantly with Alchemical Flask which does a base 65 spirit damage without scaling and a bonus 50 damage after the second talent is unlocked. This means with every Alchemical Flask use, you activate Mystic Burst which is amazing for an ability with such a low cooldown.
Mystic Reach : Both Binding Word and Last Stand benefit immensely from Mystic Reach’s increase to ability range and effect radius, as the effectiveness of both are reliant on the range they cover.
Sprint Boots : Gives Warden sprint speed, an essential tool for mobility and roaming, which is something that Warden needs to be doing going into the mid game.
Extra Health : The increase in health is very good for in-lane survivability and general tankiness, especially when using Last Stand.
Slowing Hex : This item is a key part of Warden’s single target lockdown, as the slow and silencing effect it provides when activated allows him to land Binding Word much more easily.
Duration Extender : This item allows you to extend the duration of a single ability of your choice. Using this on either Binding Word or Last Stand, with Binding Word being excellent for lockdown, and Last Stand excelling during skirmishes.
Active Reload : Active reload is a very unique item that allows you to reload early by pressing reload a second time during a visual cue. Warden is a character that runs out of ammunition quickly, but Active Reload largely counters this, particularly before Warden develops his magazine in the mid to late game.
Warden early game powerspikes
The primary powerspike that Warden gets when it comes to his momentum is when he has three key tools: Last Stand, Slowing Hex and Duration Extender.
These three things combined with Alchemical Flask, Binding Word, and Willpower makes Warden so powerful he can easily one versus one anyone, even under an enemy Guardian.
Be warned though; even with this powerspike, Warden will still struggle in 2v1s and ganks.
If you’re engaging, make sure to use Last Stand behind cover, then hard engage. This tactic will either force your opponents out of lane or outright kill them. If the enemy commits to a poor engage and you see them use stamina, pop Slowing Hex, chuck an Alchemical Flask their way, then cast Binding Word. You can then dash towards them (preferably from out of their line of sight) then activate Last Stand. By the time Last Stand is active, the enemy will be ensnared and thus vulnerable. At this stage in the game, diving becomes especially easy for Warden due to the insane survivability his Ultimate and Willpower provides.
Fishing for Binding Word will net you powerful engages and quick kills. This powerspike is especially potent once you level the first talent point of Binding Word, increasing its CC duration by a second and giving you even more time to either get in an ensnared opponent’s face with Last Stand active, or remain in their face even longer.
Warden mid game skills and what to max first
Max out Binding Word first before placing three talent points into Last Stand’s first two talents. This will guide you nicely into the mid game by making your single target lockdown and skirmish fighting especially potent due to the dramatic lifesteal and DPS you gain. Talent 2 on Last Stand increases his DPS by a flat 70, increasing both lifesteal and damage, and his final talent on Binding Word increasing his Bullet damage to trapped heroes by 20%.
Maxing Alchemical Flask next will make your skirmish potential really shine. Alchemical Flask excels both in utility and lockdown. Being able to reduce stamina and slow already, the final talent reduces fire rate by 35%, severely hindering an enemy’s ability to retreat or retaliate. The final talent also reduces Alchemical Flask’s cooldown even further, allowing Warden to cast his ability more frequently, and reapply debuffs to the enemy team almost as soon as they expire.
Being able to slow and reduce stamina in an Area of Effect (AOE) is especially potent when combined with Last Stand as it basically means you can run players down without much issue. Engages will work exactly the same; Warden will just be better at something he was already really good at.
As you get to the tail end of mid game, you want to start maxing Last Stand. Last Stand is your most potent teamfighting tool along with Alchemical Flask. Being able to use both of these frequently and effectively may well be game deciding. Last Stand’s Cooldown Reduction (CDR) will mean at minimum you will be able to use this ability every 94 seconds. While this may seem like a long time, in a game like Deadlock where there’s a lot of downtime with things like farming, lane shoving and objectives, you’ll often find Last Stand already off cooldown before you next need it.
Another skill leveling option you can go for is a more teamfighting oriented skill path, maxing Alchemical Flask and Last Stand before Binding Word. Which you max first is often up to personal preference, but the more consistent play is maxing Alchemical Flask first. The final talent on Alchemical Flask is more valuable in the early mid game than the final talent on Last Stand. While it is quite funny to have Last Stand up that often, it realistically won’t get anywhere near as much use as something like Alchemical Flask, which can be used every 5.5 seconds. Having a stamina reduction as well as a slow and fire rate debuff that often is really quite oppressive.
This talent leveling path is really quite dependent on whether you intend on spamming both abilities off cooldown, and your item build needs to reflect that. Items like Superior Cooldown or its component item Improved Cooldown should already be in your build, along with Duration Extender to maximize Last Stand’s use and CDR.
With the AOE CC Alchemical Flask provides and the DPS output and survivability you have with Last Stand active, there aren’t many players that can stand up to you. Something to keep in mind however is that while this does make you a potent teamfighter, your spirit damage isn’t so high that you can rely on it alone. Pairing Last Stand and Alchemical Flask’s usage with Binding Word and well placed shots will still net you the best results.
With a high amount of spirit power items in your build, maxing Willpower third is a really good option as it will allow you to capitalize on all the spirit power you have and convert it into a powerful shield with Willpower’s final talent (the final talent gives it spirit power scaling).
You can max Willpower before any of the other options listed, and some players do, however I would advise against it. Maxing Willpower gives you CDR and a spirit scaling shield, at a scaling of x3.93. While maxing this early is alright for survivability, it’s slightly counterintuitive for two reasons. Firstly, while survivability is good, the only talent Willpower has that leans into Warden’s strengths (that being roaming and single target lockdown) is the first as it gives movement speed. Secondly, the spirit scaling is a little useless until later on when you have decent spirit items that can contribute to the scaling meaningfully.
Warden mid game strategy
Warden is an excellent roamer. Willpower at one talent gives Warden a 35% movement speed buff total. This, coupled with items such as Enduring Speed and Superior Stamina, or even active items such as Majestic Leap and Fleetfoot means that Warden is capable of traveling around the map at insanely high speeds. With roaming potential this potent, Warden’s sole focus should be to swoop in swiftly and zero-in on enemies to pick them off using his lockdown, all while catching Trooper waves and hard shoving lanes. These are things that he is only capable of due to Willpower’s additional movement speed, allowing him to flit from one lane to another far quicker than most other heroes.
Furthermore, if you ever find yourself swamped by a gank or outnumbered in a jungle skirmish, get to cover and pop Willpower and Last Stand. By doing this, both your damage and survivability go through the roof, allowing you to either potentially pick up a kill on one of your opponents, or survive long enough for your teammates to come help.
While channeling Last Stand, you gain bonus Bullet and Spirit resist. Due to this and Willpower’s shield, you can and should prioritize activating Last Stand as early as possible over getting to cover. When you’re engaging, the opposite is true because you’re in control of the fight. However when being engaged on, you have much less control and therefore having your biggest survivability buffs applied on yourself as soon as possible may well give you the upper hand.
While Warden is limited to what camps he can and can’t take early game, mid to late game he ploughs through them with ease. With Alchemical Flask at such a low CDR and Warden often having a high ammo capacity at later points of the game, he becomes very efficient at taking all camp sizes quickly and efficiently. Take camps whenever they are free and near you, however ensure you are always hard shoving Trooper waves first to maximize soul intake. Fortunately, Warden is so mobile mid to late game that he can often shove multiple waves while also pressuring enemies in jungle skirmishes.
Best Warden items for mid game
Fleetfoot : Fleetfoot reduces the movement speed penalty when you are firing. Both this and its active effect of increasing movement speed and ammo capacity pair really well with Warden’s playstyle of lockdown, close in, and gun down enemies.
Enduring Speed : The upgrade of Sprint Boots, this is core to Warden’s roaming game and makes him move at ridiculous speed with Willpower’s first talent unlocked.
Enchanter’s Barrier : Enchanter’s Barrier‘s passive spirit shield increases spirit power while the shield is intact, making this defensive item synergize really smoothly with Warden’s entire kit.
Bullet Lifesteal : This provides weapon damage healing on hit, a passive which Warden can utilize massively thanks to his magazine size. Paired with his lockdown abilities, Bullet Lifesteal can make any enemy a free health pack.
Divine Barrier : An additional active shield that synergizes really well with Willpower’s shield.
Titanic Magazine : Being heavily reliant on firing at all cylinders, increasing Warden’s ammo capacity by 120% will allow him to never stop firing. Furthermore it synergizes perfectly with Active Reload as if you ever do run out, you can reload quickly and get back to it.
Debuff Reducer : Reducing debuffs is really good for Warden’s stickiness during engages, and is especially useful when using Last Stand where players will often focus their CC on you to slow you down.
Bullet Resist Shredder : Being able to shred spirit resistance against anyone that you deal spirit damage to is immensely useful as a character that does so much spirit damage during hard engages, both with Alchemical Flask and Last Stand (especially when an enemy is afflicted with the effect from Binding Word’s final talent).
Pristine Emblem : Both being the upgrade to High Velocity Mag and also having an additional passive effect of dealing increased damage to targets above 50% health, Pristine Emblem is an excellent item for Warden’s core mid game. It allows him to burst targets caught in Binding Word even quicker.
Majestic Leap : This item allows you to leap high into the air, which is particularly good for roaming. If you use Majestic Leap and immediately activate Last Stand, you can engage opponents with maximum advantage, and turn Warden into a deadly meteor.
Warden late game strategy
Warden’s strategy late game isn’t overly different to what he was doing in mid game, with just one key difference; the focus is pressure rather than kills. Warden’s mobility and damage makes him a swift brawler that can appear anywhere on the map while being very hard to deal with, and this fact can make his pressure overwhelming.
Using his kit and mobility, Warden is able to jump from lane to lane, pushing and pressuring when he can. If he ever sees an enemy hero defending a lane, that hero becomes a target and will either die to Warden’s lockdown or be forced into an uncomfortably defensive position. One moment Warden can be pushing a lane or pressuring an objective/enemy, the next he’s diving into a team fight with Last Stand.
Being very reactive and constantly on your toes is important for Warden players. Good Wardens will constantly be on the move, rarely being in one place for too long before applying pressure elsewhere. When pushing a lane alone, he isn’t split-pushing so much as exerting an unconscious pressure on the enemy base, pressure that he can exert in any lane, whenever he pleases.
Warden is also blessed with the ability to force interactions in all situations. By hard engaging on anyone he sees, he is forcing an interaction with the enemy team, one that A) other characters wouldn’t necessarily be able to do safely and efficiently and B) the enemy team likely won’t be prepared for. By exerting high pressure on the enemy Patron as well as being willing to force interactions, Warden has the potential to control the flow of the game singlehandledly.
Best Warden items for late game
Intensifying Magazine : Warden’s late game run-and-gun playstyle, where he likes to stay on the move firing his gun, works very well with Intensifying Magazine’s passive increase to damage the longer you fire. It’s also an item that compliments other core items in Warden builds such as Fleetfoot, Titanic Magazine, and Pristine Emblem.
Silence Glyph : The mobility silencing projectile that SG provides is very valuable for a lockdown-based character such as Warden, giving him a potent option against particularly slippery targets.
Burst Fire : Burst Fire’s passive is very effective at bolstering Warden’s engage on targets, as well as his ability to stick to them, giving bonus movement speed and fire rate the first time a bullet hits an enemy.
Headhunter : Warden can very easily get headshots through the use of Binding Word, so Headhunter dealing bonus damage, healing him and granting movement speed is excellent value for souls.
Quicksilver Reload : Similar to why Active Reload is so fundamentally good on Warden, Quicksilver Reload gives him access to his full magazine by reloading his weapon and dealing bonus damage upon a specifically chosen ability hitting an enemy. It’s recommended to choose either Binding Word (so you have a full mag for when they are CC’d) or Alchemical Flask (for skirmishes and brawling).
Surge of Power : Imbuing an ability permanently with extra spirit power, Warden can gain bonus movement speed and fire rate for six seconds on activating the chosen ability. In order to have as much control over this passive as possible, imbuing Willpower is advised. Not only will it buff the already crazy movement speed Willpower gives, but it also increases the shield’s strength while granting bonus fire rate. It will also ensure you are using Surge of Power tactically, and not accidentally using it after imbuing an ability you want to spam like Alchemical Flask.
Refresher : This is a very situational buy and can work, especially as Warden can really benefit from being able to use both Last Stand and Willpower frequently during a fight, allowing him to stick around and eliminate more opponents. However, resetting cooldowns with Refresher might not be as beneficial as gaining more fire rate, more movement speed, or more damage from other items. So, only pick Refresher if you find team fights dragging on longer than they should.
Mystic Slow : As Last Stand is constantly dealing spirit damage in a cone, and Alchemical Flask is, at minimum, on a 5.5 second cooldown, Mystic Slow applying a movement speed and fire rate debuff is excellent value to Warden.
Diviner’s Kevlar : Last Stand makes Warden a high priority target due to how oppressive it is and how much damage he deals. Diviner’s Kevlar grants bullet shield, spirit shield, and spirit power on the cast of Warden’s ultimate not only increases his survivability, but also makes him stronger.
Spiritual Overflow : Using Warden’s large mag, Binding Word and a keen aim, players can charge Spiritual Overflow’s passive easily, providing bonus spirit power and fire rate with each bullet hit.
With that, you should have everything you need to play Warden at his very best. If this build isn’t to your taste, check out the other Deadlock builds on the community board, or build your own.
