Deadlock: Best Viscous Build Guide

Viscous stands out as a formidable hero in Deadlock, notorious for being a game-changer in ranked matches. Whether misused by teammates or masterfully played by opponents, Viscous often tips the scales of victory. Mastering Viscous requires patience and skill, yet mastering this hero can lead you to carry games single-handedly.

This guide dives into the best strategies and builds for Viscous, tailored for those looking to maximize their impact in solo play. Follow along to unlock the full potential of Viscous and dominate the Deadlock battlefield.

Deadlock Viscous Overview & Ability Details

Viscous is a complex yet highly rewarding hero in Deadlock, known for his potent crowd control abilities and late-game resilience. Navigating his kit requires precision and tactical map awareness, making him a formidable opponent when played correctly. He excels in providing area control and supporting allies, ensuring his presence is always felt in skirmishes and team fights.

Here’s a detailed look at Viscous’s abilities, showcasing why he’s such a strategic asset on the battlefield:

Ability Overview

• Splatter: Launches a goo projectile that damages and slows enemies, creating slippery puddles that hinder movement.
• Damage: 100 (scales with 1.5x Spirit Power)
• Movement Slow: 35%
• Puddle Duration: 10 seconds
• Cooldown: 21 seconds
• Upgrades: Reduce cooldown, increase damage and area, or allow for multiple bounces.
• The Cube: Encases a target in a healing goo cube, shielding them from harm while boosting health regeneration.
• Health Regen: +40
• Duration: 4 seconds
• Cooldown: 48 seconds
• Upgrades: Boosts target’s mobility and stamina recovery, reduces cooldown, or enhances healing effects.
• Puddle Punch: Summons a gooey fist to strike the area, knocking back enemies and applying a debuff that reduces their dash distance and movement speed.
• Damage: Scales with ability power
• Movement Slow: 20%
• Cooldown: 30 seconds
• Upgrades: Additional charges, increased damage and slow effect, or reduced cooldown.
• Goo Ball: Transforms Viscous into a rolling goo ball, causing destruction in his path by stunning and dealing damage to enemies.
• Damage: 140 (scales with 1.3x Spirit Power)
• Stun Duration: 1 second
• Cooldown: 95 seconds
• Upgrades: Extended duration, increased damage, or the ability to cast other spells while rolling.

Mastering Viscous involves leveraging these abilities to disrupt enemy formations and protect teammates. His potential for game-changing plays makes him a high-stakes pick for those willing to master his unique playstyle.

Viscous Build Guide (Ability Order & Item Progression) in Deadlock

Viscous is a dynamic hero in Deadlock, capable of turning the tide of battle with his unique set of abilities. Whether he’s launching enemies into the air with his Puddle Punch or causing chaos with his Goo Ball, Viscous demands attention on the battlefield. His versatility allows him to excel in a supportive role as well, especially when focusing on maximizing the potential of The Cube to shield and heal his teammates from a safe distance.

In this guide, we’ll outline a strategy to enhance Viscous’s disruptive capabilities, particularly through the early to mid-game focus on bolstering his Puddle Punch ability. As the game progresses, we’ll shift towards amplifying his Spirit-based skills to fully leverage his substantial damage scaling, ensuring he remains a formidable force throughout the match.

Viscous Ability Order

For Viscous, your ability choices in the laning phase are critical to setting the pace for the game. Start by unlocking Splatter to capitalize on its strong poking potential. As soon as Puddle Punch becomes available, grab it next for its displacement effects, and then pick up The Cube for its protective capabilities. Always prioritize your Ultimate, Goo Ball, when it’s up for grabs.

In terms of ability upgrades, initially invest a point into Splatter for the valuable cooldown reduction. Next, enhance Puddle Punch by adding an additional charge, allowing you to utilize this ability more frequently, especially effective when paired with the Extra Charge item for a triple cast capability.

Focus on maxing out Splatter first for increased effectiveness, followed by Puddle Punch to bolster its impact in skirmishes. Proceed by allocating one ability point each to Goo Ball and The Cube. From there, prioritize maxing out Goo Ball for its disruptive power in team fights, and finally, channel remaining points into The Cube to enhance its defensive utility.

Viscous Item Progression

Our Viscous build focuses initially on amplifying melee damage, particularly enhancing the effectiveness of Puddle Punch, which scales with melee damage stats. This approach not only boosts your damage output but, with the addition of Melee Lifesteal items, also improves your survivability by healing you based on the damage dealt.

As the game progresses, we’ll shift the focus towards bolstering Viscous’s Spirit Power. This shift is essential to maximize the damage potential of Splatter, transforming Viscous into a formidable presence in later stages of the game. Here’s the strategic layout for Viscous’s item progression:

Early Game Strategy:

Start with the following items to capitalize on Viscous’s initial lane presence and combat effectiveness:

1. High-Velocity Mag: Enhances your basic attacks, perfect for initial engagements.
2. Spirit Strike: Bolsters your Spirit Power, amplifying the damage from Splatter.
3. Melee Lifesteal: Key for sustaining in lane by converting a portion of your melee damage back into health.

Once these foundational items are secured, augment your ability effectiveness with:

4. Extra Charge: Grants an additional charge to Puddle Punch, allowing for more frequent use.
5. Enduring Spirit and Extra Stamina: These items provide durability and stamina, crucial for prolonged engagements.
6. Mystic Burst and Extra Spirit: These boost your overall damage output, enhancing both your melee and Spirit abilities.

Finish your early game setup with:

7. Sprint Boots: Increases your mobility, enabling quicker positioning or escapes in critical situations.

This item progression ensures that Viscous can maximize his lane control and skirmishing capabilities, setting the stage for a strong mid-game transition.

Mid Game Strategy:

1. Improved Cooldown - Prioritize this to reduce the cooldowns of Viscous’s abilities, enhancing his overall effectiveness in skirmishes.
2. Lifestrike - Increases melee damage output and health restoration, bolstering Viscous’s brawl capabilities.
3. Improved Burst and Improved Spirit - These items boost Spirit Power, enhancing the damage potential of Splatter.

Following these, focus on augmenting Viscous with specialty items:

4. Pristine Emblem and Point Blank - Enhance overall performance in combat scenarios, with Point Blank amplifying close-range damage significantly.
5. Soul Shredder Bullets - Useful against enemies equipped with high Spirit Resist, this item ensures your attacks remain effective.
6. Mystic Shot - Rounds out your mid-game gear by further amplifying Spirit damage, crucial for scaling into the late game.

Consider situational items based on the match dynamics:

• Debuff Reducer - Opt for this if you are facing heavy crowd control.
• Bullet Armor/Spirit Armor - Choose based on the dominant damage type you’re facing to enhance survivability.

This item progression strategy positions Viscous to maintain relevance as the game advances, leveraging his ability-heavy playstyle for maximum impact.

Late Game Strategy:

As Viscous progresses into the late game, adjusting his build becomes crucial to maintain his effectiveness against increasingly resilient enemies. Here’s the optimal late-game item setup:

1. Boundless Spirit - This should be a top priority if you’re ahead. It massively increases Spirit Power, amplifying your damage output.
2. Superior Cooldown and Improved Reach - These items are essential for maximizing the efficacy of Splatter, enabling Viscous to deal significant damage with each cast.
3. Mystic Reverb - Enhances Splatter further, allowing it to do more than just damage by adding additional effects.
4. Echo Shard - Doubles the casting potential of key abilities, particularly useful in extended fights.
5. Rapid Recharge - Reduces downtime between abilities, keeping Viscous active and dangerous.
6. Mystic Slow and Superior Duration - Extend the control effects of your abilities, making them more disruptive during engagements.
7. Superior Stamina and Leech - Provide Viscous with the sustainability he needs to stay in fights longer and recover health from damage dealt.

Optional/Situational Picks:

• Phantom Strike - Opt for this for enhanced control capabilities if facing highly mobile or elusive targets.
• Colossus - Ideal for when facing heavy damage output, boosting Viscous’s survivability.
• Debuff Remover - Upgrade from Debuff Reducer for enhanced utility against control effects.

These late-game items are designed to ensure that Viscous remains a formidable force, capable of turning the tide of team fights with his enhanced abilities and sustain.

How to Play Viscous in Deadlock

Viscous excels at rapidly gathering souls, setting the foundation for a dominant early game. Prioritize last-hitting enemy Troopers using Splatter to ensure a steady influx of souls. This ability not only helps in farming but also keeps adversaries at bay with its poking potential.

Initially, focus on acquiring your core items before aggressively seeking kills. Utilize Puddle Punch to manipulate your opponent’s positioning, creating vulnerable situations for them. In solo lanes, the combination of Puddle Punch and Splatter can continuously harass and whittle down your opponent, securing lane dominance.

Employ The Cube judiciously to mitigate incoming lethal damage, transforming precarious situations into favorable escapes. Upon acquiring your ultimate, Goo Ball, resist the temptation to deploy it immediately. Instead, lure opponents into confined areas where Goo Ball’s wall-bouncing mechanic can maximize stuns and damage, often turning the tide of skirmishes with a single well-placed hit.

In mid-game team conflicts, strategically reserve your ultimate to disrupt enemy formations and coordination. Use Splatter from a distance to inflict substantial damage and keep opponents disoriented. Puddle Punch continues to be invaluable for repositioning enemies disadvantageously.

Transitioning into the late game, your amassed Spirit Power should enable devastating Splatter assaults, maintaining pressure while you concentrate on objectives. If supported by a robust tank like Abrams, executing your abilities becomes significantly more straightforward. Without such support, timing The Cube becomes crucial to survive intense team engagements.

Mastering Viscous involves a deep understanding of ability timing and spatial tactics. While there’s an inherent learning curve, adapting this strategic approach can elevate your gameplay, transforming Viscous into a formidable asset in Deadlock matches. Experiment with this build to harness his full potential and reshape your combat strategy.

Conclusion

Mastering Viscous in Deadlock requires a nuanced understanding of his unique abilities and how to effectively integrate them into both solo and team strategies. This build guide has detailed a robust approach to equipping Viscous for maximum effectiveness, focusing on enhancing his melee and spirit attack capabilities to dominate the battlefield. By prioritizing the right abilities and items, players can transform Viscous from a challenging hero to master into a dynamic powerhouse capable of turning the tides of battle. Whether you’re pushing lanes, securing kills, or disrupting enemy teams, following this guide will help you leverage Viscous’s full potential and possibly change the outcome of your matches. Try this build, adapt to the flow of each game, and watch as Viscous becomes a feared opponent in your Deadlock arsenal.