Quick Links
Viscous is one of those heroes inDeadlockthat you hate seeing in your ranked matches. Either an ally picks it, keeps fumbling the ultimate, and kills his teammates with awkward ability usage. Or an opponent gets their hands on it and almost single-handedly wins the game. The truth is, Viscous is a tough hero to learn, but when you manage to pull it off, you have the potential to solo carry the game for your team.
The first step to learningevery hero in Deadlock, of course, is to start with understanding the build. Viscous can be played in different ways, but if you want to become a dominating force on your own, here’s the build we’ll recommend.
High skill floor
Can poke from a distance
Map knowledge needed to execute Goo Ball well
Hard to kill late-game
Reckless Puddle Punches can put allies in dangerous spots
Can save himself and his allies
Easy to kill when abilities are on cooldown
Excellent AOE control and utilities
Viscous isn’t theeasiest hero to master inDeadlock. On the contrary, executing this hero perfectly requires a deep understanding of the map and knowing how to utilize tight spaces and corners. But in the hands of an experienced player, Viscous is one of the most annoying heroes to play against in the late game. The herohas no shortage of crowd control abilities, constantly disrupting the enemy team and dealing massive damage in team fights. On top of that, he can also save his allies when things turn south.
Upgrade
Splatter
Throw a ball of goo that deals damage and leaves puddles of goo behind that apply movement slow to enemies in the radius.
The Cube
Encase the target in a cube of restorative goo that purges debuffs, protects from damage, and increases health regen. Target is unable to take any new actions while cubed. Can be used on self. Press the Escape button to escape early.
Puddle Punch
Materialize a fist in the world that punches units in the area and send them flying. Enemies will be dealt damage, have their dash distance reduced for a brief moment, and have their movement slowed. This is considered a Light Melee attack.
Goo Ball
Morph into a large goo ball that deals damage and stuns enemies on impact. The ball grants large amounts of Bullet and Spirit resist, bounces off walls, and can double jump.
Viscous Build Guide (Ability Order & Item Progression) in Deadlock
Viscous can be an extremely disruptive hero for the enemy team to go up against inDeadlock. Between him sending an enemy hero flying with the Puddle Punch or rolling through and stunning everyone with Goo Ball, it can be pretty difficult to play around the hero when he has all his abilities off cooldown. He can also play as a support, focusing on upgrading The Cube to the max level and playing from the backline, protecting his allies.
For our build, we will build items around Puddle Punch to take advantage of the fact that it scales with the hero’s melee damage. Later on, we’ll transition intoSpirit items to use his high spirit scalingdamage abilities.
Viscous Ability Order
Viscous is exceptionally good at poking enemy heroes from a distance with his abilities. When you get to the lane, you’ll want to unlock Splatter first. After that, unlock Puddle Punch when it becomes available. Unlock The Cube next and pick up your Ultimate whenever it’s ready.
As for investing your points, the first point should always go into Splatter. The Cooldown reduction that comes from it is way too good to pass up. You’ll want to invest your next AP into Puddle Punch for the extra charge. Combined with the Extra Charge item, you’ll be able to cast it three times in a row.
Upgrade Splatter to the max level next, then do the same for Puddle Punch. After that, put one AP into Goo Ball and one into The Cube. Upgrade Goo Ball to the max level and then dump the rest of your points into THe Cube.
If you’re playing as a support, you’ll want to max out The Cube instead of Splatter.
Viscous Item Progression
The build we’re going for relies on boosting Viscous’s melee damage early on. Puddle Punch’s damage scales with your melee damage. On top of that, you’ll also beable to heal your heroif you’ve equipped Melee Lifesteal items. However, for later parts of the game, we’ll transition towards increasing your Spirit Power to get more damage out of Splatter.
Here’s how the item progression looks like:
Early Game:
Between Splatter and Puddle Punch, Viscous has two excellent abilities that he can use to poke the lane opponents early on. But your priority is to get your first three items to hit your first major power spike. The three items you want first are High-Velocity Mag, Spirit Strike, and Melee Lifesteal.
After that, go with Extra Charge to add a second charge to your Puddle Punch and follow it up with Enduring Spirit and Extra Stamina to add some sustain. Mystic Burst and Extra Spirit come next to add some extra early-game damage to your hero. Finally, go with Sprint Boots for a bit of extra movement speed to help you catch up to enemy heroes.
Mid Game:
Improved Cooldown is a non-negotiable item on Viscous since he relies so much on his abilities. This is the first item you’ll want to work towards once you have all your lane items. Go with Lifestrike next to add more melee damage and health. Improved Burst and Improved Spirit adds some extra Spirit Power to your hero to get more damage out of Splatter.
Next, you’re able to get a couple of orange items. Pristine Emblem and Point Blank are both excellent choices for the hero. You can also go with Soul Shredder Bullets if the enemy team has high Spirit Resist items. Mystic Shot is the last orange item you’ll want to get on the hero.
If the enemy team is focusing you down, consider picking up Bullet Armor or Spirit Armor, depending on the type of damage they’re dealing the most. Debuff Reducer works great if they’re stunning you before you get off your abilities.
Late Game:
As you approach the late game, a lot of your damage will start to fall off. The Opponent heroes will naturally have more resistance, reducing the effectiveness of the Puddle Punch. This is when you’ll want to start adding more Spirit Power to buff up the damage from Splatter.
If you’re having a good game, then consider saving up for Boundless Spirit. But if the game is hard and you’re struggling to get therequired number of Souls, then it’s best to pick it up last once youcomplete your item build. You’ll also want to upgrade to Superior Cooldown and Improved Reach as early as possible. Both of these items will make your Splatter ability much stronger, allowing you to deal massive damage on a single cast.
For tough games, consider upgrading to Improved Bullet Armor or SImproved Spirit Armor for defense.
Imbue Splatter with Mystic Reverb and go with Echo Shard so you can use it twice if needed. Rapid Recharge comes next, followed up with Mystic Slow and Superior Duration. After that, you can get Superior Stamina and Leech for some additional sustain.
If you picked up Debuff Reducer earlier, then it’s a good time to upgrade it to Debuff Remover. Alternatively, you can sell it for Phantom Strike if you want more crowd control or Colossus for more defense.
How to Play Viscous in Deadlock
One of Viscous' biggest strengths is hisability to farm souls quicklyand efficiently. So that’s what you’ll want to focus on during the early game. Once you get to the lane, put an early point into Splatter and use it to poke at enemies. But your main priority is to secure the last hits on enemy Troopers.
Get your first few items before you start looking for kills on the hero. Your Puddle Punch is an amazing ability that you can use to force your lane opponent into awkward positions in the lane. If you’re in a solo lane, use Puddle Punch and Splatter to put pressure on your opponent and keep their health low. That way, they won’t feel comfortable fighting you one-on-one. And even if they do, you’ll always win the trade.
When you decide to go in, make sure you use The Cube ability to save yourself from that extra last tick of damage. Once you get your ultimate, instead of using it right away as you wouldwith Kelvin’s Frozen Shelter, you want to try and bait your opponent into stepping inside a tight space.
Goo Ball is extremely powerful when you’re surrounded by walls. Since you may bounce off the surface, you’ll be able to stun-lock your enemy and deal massive damage, if not kill them in one swipe.
For mid-game team fights, you’ll want to save your ultimate for key moments to disrupt your opponent team’s combo and mess up their coordination. Splatter can deal massive damage from a distance, and Puddle Punch can force them into awkward positions.
Puddle Punch can also reposition allies, so ensure you use it carefully.
As the match approaches late-game, ideally, you’ll have plenty of Spirit Power to deal massive damage with Splatter. You’ll want to keep your distance and spam the ability to keep the enemy team at bay while you focus on objectives. With atanky hero like Abrams, it will be easier for you to get your abilities off perfectly. But if you don’t have a tank to rely on, you’ll need to use The Cube at the right moment to keep yourself alive during team fights.
The trick to playing Viscous is to know when to use your abilities and how to execute them perfectly. While the hero has a bit of a learning curve, it gets a lot easier once you get through the initial stage. Feel free to try out this build and let us know how it worked out for you inDeadlock!
