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How to play Apollo

Best build by measured win rate · patch 09-29-2026 · updated Oct 14 · Apollo wins 49.3% overall

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The Apollo build

Each tier lists the items Apollo players win with most often, out of 293,027 Apollo games. Win % is how often Apollo wins when the item is bought; the green or red number is how far that is above or below the rest of the same tier. Popularity is the share of Apollo games the item was bought in; Bought at is the average time. Only items bought in at least 1,500 games and by at least 5% of Apollo players count, so a lucky streak can’t make the list.

Lane · Tier 1 · 800 souls

Early mid game · Tier 2 · 1,600 souls

Mid game · Tier 3 · 3,200 souls

Late game · Tier 4 · 6,400 souls

Situational / optional

Fewer Apollo players buy these, usually against particular enemies, but those who do win clearly more than the rest of the same tier. Each still has at least 1,500 games behind it.

Popular, but behind the rest of their tier

Not wrong to buy, and sometimes the right answer to a specific enemy. On average, Apollo players who buy these win less than those who buy something else at that point.

How this build is chosen

Source: deadlock-api.com item results for Apollo, City Never Sleeps matches since 2026-09-30, refreshed daily. Items are compared with the rest of their own tier, because late items always show higher raw win rates (only players who are ahead can afford them). Ranking uses the low end of each item’s 95% confidence range, so more games beat a lucky few. It shows what winning Apollo players buy; it can’t prove the item caused the win. For what to change against a specific enemy team, use the matchup tool.

How Apollo plays

Strengths

  • Excellent duelling and one of the best anti-dive profiles in the game via Riposte Riposte 22s Cooldown Apollo readies a deflection. Crowd Control Stun on the counter-dash target; Damage No direct damage listed; Mobility A targeted dash to an enemy hero after a successful deflection — a… 1 -8s cooldown (from a 22s base) 2 melee resist reduction increased to -30% 5 +1.6s stun duration
  • Very high mobility with real disengage — Disengaging Sigil Disengaging Sigil 12s Cooldown Apollo inscribes a glowing sigil in the air ahead of him and springs backwards as it bursts, damaging and slowing anyone standing in it. Crowd Control Movement slow on enemies caught in the blast. Damage 85 base damage (deadlock.one). Mobility A backwards leap; at Tier 2 it also restores 1 stamina and resets his air… 1 +25% fire rate and +25% bullet velocity for 8s 2 restores 1 stamina and resets air jump / dash limit on hitting player targets 5 can be recast within 4 seconds , Flawless Advance Flawless Advance 8s Duration26s Cooldown Apollo performs a run of lunges in whatever direction he chooses, driving piercing stabs out in front of him. Damage 25 base hold damage, 40 at maximum hold, 65 on a perfect release… Mobility Directional lunges usable in any direction; Defensive Tier 2 grants 60% bullet resistance during the lunges, which makes it a… 1 hero hits restore 35 health (1.3 spirit scaling) 2 -12s cooldown (from a 26s base) and 60% bullet resistance during the lunges 5 +65 damage with improved spirit scaling, plus increased lunge speed and distance lunges and the Riposte Riposte 22s Cooldown Apollo readies a deflection. Crowd Control Stun on the counter-dash target; Damage No direct damage listed; Mobility A targeted dash to an enemy hero after a successful deflection — a… 1 -8s cooldown (from a 22s base) 2 melee resist reduction increased to -30% 5 +1.6s stun duration dash
  • Itani Lo Sahn Itani Lo Sahn 145s Cooldown Apollo winds up a wide, long-reaching slash. Crowd Control Stasis-style lockdown — the target cannot take action and is stuck in slow… Damage 200 delayed damage base (deadlock.one); Mobility Tier 1 adds +8m dash range to the slash; 1 +8m dash range 2 -35s cooldown (from a 145s base) 5 adds maximum-health damage and increases the bonus against half-health enemies by 50% is an anti-heal single-target execute that beats sustain carries and healer comps
  • Multiple invulnerability windows ( Riposte Riposte 22s Cooldown Apollo readies a deflection. Crowd Control Stun on the counter-dash target; Damage No direct damage listed; Mobility A targeted dash to an enemy hero after a successful deflection — a… 1 -8s cooldown (from a 22s base) 2 melee resist reduction increased to -30% 5 +1.6s stun duration deflect, ultimate slow-motion) make committed burst against him unreliable

In lane

  • The no-falloff-to-25m weapon means he wins medium-range trades against heroes whose damage is already degrading at that distance
  • Disengaging Sigil Disengaging Sigil 12s Cooldown Apollo inscribes a glowing sigil in the air ahead of him and springs backwards as it bursts, damaging and slowing anyone standing in it. Crowd Control Movement slow on enemies caught in the blast. Damage 85 base damage (deadlock.one). Mobility A backwards leap; at Tier 2 it also restores 1 stamina and resets his air… 1 +25% fire rate and +25% bullet velocity for 8s 2 restores 1 stamina and resets air jump / dash limit on hitting player targets 5 can be recast within 4 seconds lets him take an aggressive trade and immediately deny the counter-trade, which is very hard to punish
  • Riposte Riposte 22s Cooldown Apollo readies a deflection. Crowd Control Stun on the counter-dash target; Damage No direct damage listed; Mobility A targeted dash to an enemy hero after a successful deflection — a… 1 -8s cooldown (from a 22s base) 2 melee resist reduction increased to -30% 5 +1.6s stun duration punishes a laner who mechanically pre-fires at him, turning their aggression into a Stun

Power spikes

  • Flawless Advance Flawless Advance 8s Duration26s Cooldown Apollo performs a run of lunges in whatever direction he chooses, driving piercing stabs out in front of him. Damage 25 base hold damage, 40 at maximum hold, 65 on a perfect release… Mobility Directional lunges usable in any direction; Defensive Tier 2 grants 60% bullet resistance during the lunges, which makes it a… 1 hero hits restore 35 health (1.3 spirit scaling) 2 -12s cooldown (from a 26s base) and 60% bullet resistance during the lunges 5 +65 damage with improved spirit scaling, plus increased lunge speed and distance T2 (roughly 4-6k souls) — -12s cooldown plus 60% bullet resistance during the lunges makes his primary damage tool repeatable and safe to use into gunfire
  • Itani Lo Sahn Itani Lo Sahn 145s Cooldown Apollo winds up a wide, long-reaching slash. Crowd Control Stasis-style lockdown — the target cannot take action and is stuck in slow… Damage 200 delayed damage base (deadlock.one); Mobility Tier 1 adds +8m dash range to the slash; 1 +8m dash range 2 -35s cooldown (from a 145s base) 5 adds maximum-health damage and increases the bonus against half-health enemies by 50% unlock — Gives him an anti-heal execute he otherwise completely lacks
  • Riposte Riposte 22s Cooldown Apollo readies a deflection. Crowd Control Stun on the counter-dash target; Damage No direct damage listed; Mobility A targeted dash to an enemy hero after a successful deflection — a… 1 -8s cooldown (from a 22s base) 2 melee resist reduction increased to -30% 5 +1.6s stun duration T3 — +1.6s Stun turns a successful parry from a trade-winner into a kill sentence
  • Disengaging Sigil Disengaging Sigil 12s Cooldown Apollo inscribes a glowing sigil in the air ahead of him and springs backwards as it bursts, damaging and slowing anyone standing in it. Crowd Control Movement slow on enemies caught in the blast. Damage 85 base damage (deadlock.one). Mobility A backwards leap; at Tier 2 it also restores 1 stamina and resets his air… 1 +25% fire rate and +25% bullet velocity for 8s 2 restores 1 stamina and resets air jump / dash limit on hitting player targets 5 can be recast within 4 seconds T2/T3 — Dash and air-jump resets plus a 4-second recast make him very difficult to corner

Weak points to cover

  • Very little teamfight contribution — his ultimate is single-target and his damage is duel-shaped
  • Low durability; a Stun chain he cannot parry kills him quickly
  • Riposte Riposte 22s Cooldown Apollo readies a deflection. Crowd Control Stun on the counter-dash target; Damage No direct damage listed; Mobility A targeted dash to an enemy hero after a successful deflection — a… 1 -8s cooldown (from a 22s base) 2 melee resist reduction increased to -30% 5 +1.6s stun duration is a read that can be baited, and a wrongly-spent parry leaves him exposed for 14-22s

Next

Apollo’s hardest matchups

Best teammates

  • Rat King Rat King BruiserSupportClose rangeBullet damage Makes his whole team's guns better: stacking bullet-resist shred from Rat Swarm Durability high (2/3) Burst high (2/3) Mobility low (1/3) Healing low (1/3) 58.3% duo win
  • Paige Paige SupportControllerMid rangeSpirit damage Currently among the strongest heroes in the game: deadlocklabs.gg records 54.1% win rate at 2.8% pick, S tier, after a recent buff package worth about +2.2 points. Durability low (1/3) Burst low (1/3) Mobility none (0/3) Healing high (2/3) 57.2% duo win
  • Graves Graves ControllerSummonerClose rangeHybrid damage Best-in-class unattended map pressure via Borrowed Decree Ghouls marching at objectives Durability low (1/3) Burst low (1/3) Mobility none (0/3) Healing low (1/3) 56.7% duo win

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