Deadlock: Best Seven build

It’s time to once again delve deep into the workings of a character from Deadlock, Valve’s new and still-mysterious hybrid shooter. This time, we’ll be talking about Seven, the gunslinger who looks a lot like a steampunk version of Yojimbo from Final Fantasy X but plays very differently.

Seven is a recommended starter, but you should not underestimate his seemingly straightforward destructive abilities because this master of thunder currently sits at the top of the win ratio charts.

Best Seven ability point order

1. Lightning Ball

Projects forward a lightning ball that deals 80 damage to all enemies in a 13-foot (4-meter) radius for 5 seconds. 22 second cooldown.

Upgrades:

1 AP: +1 charge, 2 AP: +40% movement slow, 5 AP: +70 DPS

This is the skill you should get and upgrade first because the extra charge will greatly improve your pushing and DPS capabilities.

2. Power Surge

Gives your bullets (10) shock damage for 10 seconds. The extra shock damage will bounce on nearby enemies. 45 second cooldown.

Power surge greatly boosts Seven’s massive AoE damage potential. Just remember to reload before activating it!

Upgrades:

1 AP -15% spirit resist to enemies hit, 2 AP: -16 second cooldown, 5 AP: +12 shock damage, +spirit scaling, +3 max shock bounce

3. Static Charge

Marks an enemy character, then stuns for 1 second and deals 40 damage to all enemies within a 20 feet radius. 40-second cooldown.

Upgrades:

1 AP: -20 second cooldown, 2 AP: +26 feet (8m) Radius, 5 AP: +1,1 second stun duration

Static charge is great at offering you options to stun and counter-engage your opponents.

4. Storm Cloud

Channels for seven seconds to create an expanding AOE tempest that hits every enemy in its 40-foot (12-meter) to 100-foot (30-meter) radius for 124 damage per second. Seven also gains 20% bullet resist during activation. 180-second cooldown.

Upgrades:

1 AP: +35% bullet resist, 2 AP: +7 second channeling and 32-feet (10-meter) radius, 5 AP: +75 DPS

Storm Cloud is an absolute nuke, but it can be stopped by CC. Use it to finish a fight when your enemies have already spent their CC and can do nothing to stop you.

Best Seven build order

The build above is a simplified version of the most popular build for Seven by the author Desh.

Early game Seven build

Seven’s game is dominated by Spirit. Still, Basic Magazine is a great weapon pick to make him more reliable on lane. We’ll then get Mystic Reach, as it offers great synergy with Seven’s abilities by further increasing their range and radius. Enduring Spirit is a great pick for the early game because it offers extra survivability by giving more HP, but also by adding extra Spirit and Lifesteal that’ll once again offer great synergy with Seven’s abilities. To cap the early game, get Spring Boots to try to make up for Seven’s lack of escape options.

Mid game Seven build

This section is extremely long, so let’s look at it as a two-parter. The first half is composed of less expensive items, such as Enchanter’s Barrier and Spirit Lifesteal, which will work in tandem with Seven’s Spirit abilities to grant him higher survivability. The latter is especially useful for the ultimate. Then there’s Mystic Vulnerability and Improved Cooldown, which will make Seven stronger against other spirits, weaken others to Seven’s spirit abilities, and give Seven more chances to cast his abilities.

The second part of the midgame will have Seven invest in Fleetfoot and Warp Stone, two items that come with activatable abilities that will grant Seven some escape options. Then, Improved Reach, Superior Cooldown, and Improved Spirit, will all work towards making Seven’s abilities become much more unbearable to the opponents.

Late game Seven build

Leech is a much stronger version of Enduring Spirit, a great first pick for Seven’s late game. Mystic Reverb is great to imbue in your ult (Storm Cloud) as it will make it even stronger and give it extra slow effects. Diviner’s Kevlar also offers perfect synergy with Seven’s ult, as it reduces the cooldown, makes him much more resilient during the channeling, and grants him 20% life steal. Boundless Spirit and Escalating Exposure are great closing picks as they exacerbate both Seven’s HP, resistance against spirit, as well as greatly enhance his spirit prowess.

Optionally, you can get Soul Rebirth to quickly get back into the fight after death to try to unleash the barrage of AOE damage that’ll get the job done. A similar option is Refresher, which immediately cools down all of your spirit abilities and charges. If you don’t want to be pestered by CC, then Unstoppable is a great pick to unleash your ultimate the way it was meant to be.

How to play Seven in Deadlock

Seven excels at dishing out tons of damage to the entire enemy team. He has a great kit of AoE abilities that scale very well with Spirit, and they’re easy to put to good use. Seven’s only downside is the lack of mobility options, so you need to pay attention at all times to avoid getting caught off guard by someone like Yamato.

Seven gets its current high win rate because you can play it safe until late game, then make use of your abilities to nuke enemies from afar, and then get in on the fight to channel and unleash his incredibly devastating ult.