Best Kelvin build in Deadlock

Fights get quite heated in Deadlock, which is perfect for running Kelvin, a hero who helps slow things down with his ice-cold abilities.

Kelvin is among the few Deadlock heroes marked as great for new players, and despite not being an absolute meta pick (at the time of writing), he’s one of the most fun characters to play. He leans more toward a support option as two of his abilities offer healing capabilities, one offers movement buffs, and only one skill is purely DPS.

Despite this, you can itemize any hero in Deadlock, including Kelvin, to become a carry. With that in mind, here’s the best build for Kelvin, along with all his Deadlock abilities, best card selection, and a few gameplay tips.

Kelvin’s abilities in Deadlock

Like every hero in Deadlock, Kelvin offers three main abilities and an ultimate:

• Frost Grenade: Throws a grenade that explodes in a cloud of freezing ice, damaging and slowing enemies. Has an impressive range and you can also jump-throw the grenade, though it doesn’t appear to affect its range.
• Ice Path: This creates a path of ice you and your teammates can walk over. You can move in any direction using this ability, allowing you to reach high ground easily. Anyone walking on the Ice Path gets a slight move buff. Kelvin gains a massive slow resistance. You can destroy each block of the Ice Path using just a few bullets.
• Arctic Beam: Shoots a freezing beam that damages targets while also slowing movement speeds and fire rate (depending on the time this ability hits them).
• Frozen Shelter (Ultimate): Freezes the air around Kelvin to create a transparent, impenetrable dome-shaped barrier. Any Deadlock allies inside the domain heal quickly, but all the opponents are significantly slowed.

Kelvin uses a projectile-based minigun with just 15 rounds on the base weapon, which has an impressive range. His shots also travel quickly, so it’s not too hard to aim with Kelvin; it almost feels like hitscan in close to mid-ranges.

Despite shooting projectiles, there’s no bullet drop, so your shots hit exactly where you aimed your crosshair. However, there’s damage drop-off, which means you’ll do less damage to the enemy units at greater distances.

The best build for Kelvin in Deadlock

Early game

For abilities, open with Frost Grenade and stick to leveling it along with Arctic Beam. I like to open the Ice Path after putting a couple of levels on the other abilities; however, if you’re having a great early game and want to help other lanes by ganking, open Ice Path earlier. The Ice Path will also help you quickly escape if pressured.

Focus on sustaining the lane and constantly moving creeps forward. To do this, save Souls to rush Health Nova. It provides a slight damage buff for your weapon, 100 bonus health, and incredible heals when activated to heal yourself and nearby allies.

Then, get Sprint Boots and Basic Magazine to buff up your move speed and increase your magazine size, which I strongly recommend for the early game considering the limited rounds with the base weapon. When I’m dominating my lane, I also like to throw in Mystic Reach for the improved cast range and AoE, along with Improved Cooldown for quicker ability refresh time for my Kelvin build in Deadlock.

Mid game

Focus on purchasing Vitality and Spirit cards during the Deadlock mid-game. You can also upgrade your Sprint Boots to Enduring Speed quickly and then grab Healing Booster, which works well in tandem with the Health Nova.

With the now incredible move speed and health regen, charge enemy heroes every time you have Ice Path while constantly moving. Tracking is key; ensure you have a slower sensitivity to keep your crosshair on your targets while using Arctic Beam and your left click.

Then, get Improved Reach, Superior Cooldown, and Superior Duration to spam your abilities and then quickly escape when they run out. You’ll need to choose an ability with each one of these Deadlock upgrades, so if you’re leaning towards supporting your team with heals then buff your grenade. On the other hand, you could go down the DPS route. In that case, you can use Improved Reach and Superior Cooldown for Arctic Beam, saving Superior Duration for your ultimate ability as it’ll save you and your allies in tricky situations.

Lategame

Lategame is quite easy with Kelvin. The idea’s simple: Stick to Spirit cards because all Kelvin’s abilities except Ice Path scale with Spirit (at max level). So, higher Spirit on Kelvin leads to excellent heals with the grenade and ultimate while also increasing the beam’s DPS. Get Torment Pulse and Improved Spirit to buff your damage with the abilities. Use your Flex Spots to run more than four Spirit upgrades at once.

At the same time, get Mystic Reverb for your Frost Grenade to significantly increase its damage and crucial movement slow. Boundless Spirit and Escalating Exposure are also some luxury items you can get when you’re heavily farmed up.

With this Kelvin build in Deadlock, you can not only dish out hefty damage but also heal your teammates just as much. I didn’t focus on the objectives with Kelvin as the character shines when switching lanes to gank enemy heroes. However, before you initiate a fight, ensure your lane is pushed up as much as possible.