Deadlock: Best Pocket Build Guide

In the fast-paced world of Deadlock, Pocket stands out as a formidable close-range combatant, renowned for his bold maneuvers and tactical agility. He harnesses the power of his Flying Cloak and Enchanter’s Satchel to dart into conflicts and vanish before adversaries can pin him down. Despite his susceptibility to spirit damage due to a lower spirit resistance, Pocket’s skill set provides him with the tools to dodge death and outwit foes. This guide delves into mastering Pocket’s dynamic abilities, ensuring you can leverage his full potential in battle.

Pocket Overview

Pocket, a formidable combatant in Deadlock, shines with his versatile abilities and robust shotgun, making him adept at adapting to various combat scenarios. His toolkit allows for aggressive offense, dynamic mobility, and strategic defensive plays, excelling when maneuvers achieve multiple objectives simultaneously. However, Pocket’s initial -15% spirit resistance necessitates judicious decision-making in ability deployment and item selection.

Pocket’s Abilities Breakdown:

• Barrage: Unleashes a salvo of damaging projectiles that slow enemies and boost Pocket’s damage output for each hit on a hero. When activated mid-air, Pocket maintains horizontal movement, enhancing mobility.
• Cooldown: 30 seconds
• Damage Per Projectile: 35 (0.4x Spirit)
• Movement Slow: 40%
• Amp Duration: 15 seconds
• Flying Cloak: Sends forth a cloak that damages foes. Pocket can teleport to the cloak’s location, offering strategic positioning.
• Cooldown: 30 seconds
• Damage: 90 (1.1x Spirit)
• Lifetime: 3.2 seconds
• Enchanter’s Satchel: Provides a brief refuge inside a suitcase, damaging nearby enemies upon emergence. Can terminate early for tactical repositioning.
• Cooldown: 16 seconds
• Damage: 100 (0.7x Spirit)
• Escape Duration: 2 seconds
• Affliction: Inflicts a damage-over-time effect to all nearby enemies, useful for weakening groups without finishing them off, ideal in team fights.
• Cooldown: 120 seconds
• DPS: 23 (0.4x Spirit)
• Debuff Duration: 18 seconds

For players looking to maximize Pocket’s potential, a strategic blend of offensive bursts and timely disengagements using his abilities is key. Balancing his item builds to compensate for his spirit vulnerability will ensure Pocket remains a formidable force on any team.

Pocket Build Guide

Pocket excels in Deadlock with his ability to swiftly eliminate adversaries using his powerful abilities, Flying Cloak and Enchanter’s Satchel, both of which see significant boosts from their 2AP upgrades. Early investment in Spirit-enhancing items can amplify these attacks, allowing Pocket to secure kills efficiently in the early to mid-game stages. These abilities also serve as vital tools for evasion and defense, making them essential even when Pocket is at a disadvantage.

During initial engagements, Pocket can deploy Affliction to weaken opponents with its lingering damage, softening targets for follow-up attacks or hindering their escape. Concurrently, utilizing Barrage before a fight amplifies Pocket’s overall damage output, priming enemies for quick elimination.

As the game progresses and opponents begin to adapt with items that mitigate burst damage, Pocket’s strategy must evolve. Transitioning focus to precision shotgun play becomes crucial. Enhancing his spirit damage further with items like Soul Shredder Bullets, Mystic Shot, and Spiritual Overflow remains beneficial, but integrating weapon damage boosters such as Close Quarters, Point Blank, or Pristine Emblem can significantly enhance his shotgun’s impact, maintaining his lethality throughout all phases of the match.

Pocket Ability Build

In the early stages of a match, Pocket should focus on developing Barrage first to effectively pressure opponents in lane. This ability not only harasses but also sets the stage for later aggression. Subsequently, enhancing Flying Cloak and Enchanter’s Satchel becomes crucial, as these abilities not only amplify Pocket’s burst potential but also significantly bolster his mobility and escape capabilities. Incorporating a point into Affliction as opportunities arise is beneficial for increasing its utility during skirmishes.

Once Flying Cloak and Enchanter’s Satchel are maximized with their 2AP enhancements, Pocket’s ability upgrades can be tailored more strategically based on team dynamics and enemy compositions. If facing agile adversaries like Wraith or Haze, augmenting Enchanter’s Satchel with the fire rate slow can cripple their offensive capabilities. Against heroes that depend heavily on sustained healing, like Abrams or Kelvin, opting for Affliction’s healing suppression feature can crucially weaken their staying power in conflicts.

For bolstering Pocket’s offensive might, pursuing the 5AP upgrades for Flying Cloak and Barrage is advantageous. These enhancements significantly escalate Pocket’s damage potential, making him a formidable force in both initiating and concluding fights.

Pocket Item Build

In Pocket’s case, his dynamic ability set allows him to dodge incoming damage effectively, which means his item build can focus more on amplifying his offensive capabilities early on. However, as matches progress and enemies adapt, integrating key defensive items that also offer tactical advantages becomes crucial.

Early Game:

• Mystic Burst: Boosts Pocket’s ability damage.
• Extra Spirit: Increases spirit damage output.
• Close Quarters: Enhances damage in melee range.
• Improved Cooldown: Reduces cooldown times, allowing more frequent use of abilities.
• Enduring Spirit: Provides a small boost to survivability.
• Sprint Boots: Increases movement speed, essential for positioning and escaping.

Mid-Game:

• Superior Cooldown: Further decreases cooldowns, particularly beneficial for Flying Cloak.
• Mystic Vulnerability: Amplifies damage against enemies with lowered defenses.
• Warp Stone or Majestic Leap: Depending on playstyle; Warp Stone for aggression, Majestic Leap for better positioning.
• Bullet Armor/Spirit Armor: Provides resistance based on the prevalent damage type from enemies.
• Enduring Speed: Continues to bolster movement capabilities.
• Soul Shredder Bullets: Increases damage output for weapons.
• Point Blank: Strengthens close-range combat effectiveness.
• Kinetic Dash: Optional for added mobility.

Late Game:

• Diviner’s Kevlar: Offers significant protection to sustain in prolonged fights.
• Spiritual Overflow: Greatly enhances spirit abilities, crucial for late-game team fights.
• Escalating Exposure: Increases damage potential against heavily armored targets.
• Improved Bullet Armor/Spirit Armor: Augments defenses according to enemy team composition.

For specialized threats, such as a durable Abrams, incorporating Decay can weaken his recovery abilities, while Ethereal Shift provides a tactical retreat option without sacrificing Enchanter’s Satchel’s active use. Adjusting these items to counter specific enemy strategies or to bolster Pocket’s own tactical approach can significantly impact his effectiveness in various phases of the game.

How to Play Pocket

To master Pocket in Deadlock, players need to leverage his dynamic abilities for aggressive play and strategic escapes. Start by using Barrage to chip away at enemies from a safe distance, utilizing its area effect to hit around obstacles or maintain momentum after mobility actions like ziplining or dash jumping. Flying Cloak serves dual purposes, both as a poke tool and a means to engage or disengage quickly. It allows Pocket to assess the battlefield and decide whether to teleport into the fray or withdraw to safety.

Enchanter’s Satchel is crucial for turning fights in your favor. Deploy it during critical moments to dodge incoming attacks and deal substantial damage upon re-emergence. A swift combo of Flying Cloak followed by an immediate dive into Enchanter’s Satchel can disrupt enemy lines and create openings for your team.

The real game-changer with Flying Cloak is its exceptional mobility. Use it to initiate unexpected attacks or to create escape routes. For instance, launch the Cloak in one direction while taking an alternative path, forcing enemies to choose between pursuing Pocket or the decoy. This tactic can be decisive during retreats or when baiting enemies into traps.

As you transition from laning into roaming, keep an eye on the minimap for isolated targets. Pocket’s ability to quickly traverse the map and ambush lone opponents can swing games in your favor, especially when combined with neutral creep kills to boost your soul count and accelerate item purchases.

In later stages, integrate more complex sequences into your gameplay. Build up damage with Barrage’s amplification effects, utilize Affliction to whittle down enemy health over time, and close in with precise shotgun blasts to capitalize on weakened foes. This blend of tactics ensures that Pocket can adapt to varied combat scenarios, making him a formidable hero capable of swinging the momentum of any match.

Conclusion

Mastering Pocket in Deadlock revolves around harnessing his unique blend of mobility, burst damage, and tactical versatility. With abilities that allow for both engaging enemies and making strategic retreats, Pocket is an exceptional hero for players who enjoy a dynamic and aggressive playstyle. By carefully selecting items that complement his abilities and adapting his strategies to the unfolding game, players can turn Pocket into a formidable force on the battlefield. Whether you’re poking from a distance, diving deep into enemy lines, or escaping what seems like certain death, Pocket offers a thrilling and rewarding experience for those willing to explore the depths of his toolkit.