Paradox is one of the most popular characters in Deadlock, Valve’s newest hero-shooter. Paradox is a DPS sniper capable of warping time, blocking projectiles, and charging up a powerful blast of kinetic energy.
If you want to break the timeline and devastate enemies as Paradox, here is everything you need to know about her best build in Deadlock.
Paradox’s Abilities in Deadlock
Just like every other character in Deadlock, Paradox has access to a basic weapon, three abilities, and a powerful ultimate. Here are all of Paradox’s abilities:
- Pulse Grenade: Throw a grenade that emits pulses where it lands. Each pulse deals damage, slows, and provides a stacking damage amp.
- Time Wall: Create a wall in front of Paradox that stops bullets and projectiles for a short time, and slows enemies that walk through it.
- Kinetic Carbine: Paradox charges up her weapon, and gains increased movement speed when fully charged. Shooting the weapon will unleash a beam of energy that deals heavy damage at long range and applies a time stop to the target.
- Paradoxical Swap (ultimate): Paradox can use this ability to swap places with an enemy. When activated, enemies take damage and Paradox gains Spirit lifesteal.
Throughout the match, you’ll earn ability points by collecting Souls and destroying structures which can be used to upgrade your abilities. Paradox’s best ability upgrade order is: Kinetic Carbine > Pulse Grenade > Paradoxical Swap > Time Wall.
At the very start of the game, you may want to unlock Pulse Grenade first, as the pulses provide a good amount of wave clear. Once you unlock all of your abilities, we suggest dumping all your ability points into Kinetic Carbine. This ability allows you to charge up a sniper shot that stuns enemies, delivering massive damage from a safe distance.
Paradoxical Swap can be an incredibly useful ultimate during the laning phase because you can swap positions with the enemy and force them underneath your tower. Finally, use Time Wall sparingly to block any dangerous projectiles. Keep in mind that any bullets or projectiles caught in the Time Wall will eventually break through and travel to the other side.
The Best Paradox build in Deadlock
Early game
As a DPS, Paradox can struggle to survive and deal damage at the very start of the game. To supplement this, we recommend buying orange cards to increase your weapon damage. Headshot Booster and Hollow Point Ward will increase your damage when you have high HP or land headshots.
While these two items are great in the early game, you can sell Hollow Point Ward for more powerful options once the laning phase ends. You can also purchase Basic Magazine to increase your ammo capacity, making it easier to kill minions and claim their Souls.
Both Extra Stamina and Sprint Boosts increase your movement speed, making it easier to run around the map and dodge enemy attacks. Finally, Mystic Burst improves the damage of your most powerful ability, Kinetic Carbine.
Mid game
As you transition into the mid game you’ll collect more souls and buy stronger items. The most important item you can purchase is Long Range, which aptly increases your weapon damage from great distances. This synergizes perfectly with Kinetic Carbine, as you can use this ability to charge up a powerful sniper shot.
You can also purchase Mystic Shot to occasionally apply some extra Spirit damage to your basic attacks. If you’re struggling to stay alive during fights, you can purchase Combat Barrier to equip a shield that protects you from bullet damage, and Bullet Lifesteal to heal for a portion of the damage you deal with basic attacks.
To further boost your damage against tanks, buy Bullet Resist Shredder to make your damaging abilities shred enemy bullet armor. You can use Kinetic Carbine to apply this shred, then light up the stunned enemy with your basic attacks for awesome damage. Finally, Quicksilver Reload will instantly reload your weapon whenever you cast a bound ability, and we suggest binding Kinetic Carbine.
Late game
Now that you have entered the end game, you can purchase the most powerful items. Sharpshooter is your go-to pick because it provides a massive increase to your Kinetic Carbine damage.
Crippling Headshot will further boost your damage by reducing the target’s bullet and spirit armor, so long as you are skilled enough to land headshots. Titanic Magazine is always a nice upgrade if you have spare Souls, as it provides a small boost to weapon damage and increases magazine size by 100 percent.
Inhibitor will make all of your bullets apply a movement slow, and cause targets to dish out less damage for a short period. If you’re still struggling to hunt down opponents at this point in the game, you can upgrade to Superior Stamina to increase your movement speed and unlock extra dashes.
Buffing your spirit damage with Improved Burst and Surge of Power will make your Kinetic Carbine’s shot even stronger. Combined with long-ranged perks like Sharpshooter, a fully charged laser will execute squishy foes. Mystic Reverb is another item that binds to a single ability, causing the ability to create an AOE slow and delayed explosion. Once again, bind this item to Kinetic Carbine, as the ability’s time stop effect will force opponents to tank the explosion.
