Rat King combos
Patch 09-29-2026. Also on this hero: Rat King's kit and matchups.
Build a Rat King combo and see what it adds up to. Cooldowns, ranges, cast delays, melee and weapon damage, item costs and each ability's damage with its Spirit Power scaling are read from the game's own extracted data on patch 09-29-2026.
Combo builder
- Takes at least
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- Again in
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Your combo
Pick moves in the order you would press them.
Click a move or press 1–4 for abilities. The total updates as you go, and your combo is saved in the page link.
Abilities · keys 1–4
Scrap GrenadeRat King throws a bouncing lump of scrap that goes off three times where it lands.Crowd Control20% movement slow for 4s (scales slightly with Spirit).DefensiveThe slow is his peel: thrown at his own feet it stops a diver from following…1-8s cooldown (26s to 18s)2+70 damage per detonation5one extra, bigger final detonation — 300 damage, 14m radius, 40% slow
Rat SwarmRat King calls a swarm of rats to a spot up to 50m away.1+1 charge (8s between charges)2a larger swarm and +4s debuff duration5+8 damage and an extra -1% bullet resist per bite
Royal PestmentsRat King puts on scrap armour that gives him a barrier worth a share of his maximum health.DefensiveBarrier equal to 15% of his max health for 6s on a 22s cooldown.1+4s duration2-8s cooldown and +15% bullet return chance5+10% max health as barrier, and no single hit deals more than 250 while it holds
Rule, Ratannia!Rat King raises the banner of Ratannia.Crowd ControlKnockup and a 40% slow on the slam, plus Rat Swarm from the rats it…Mobility+3 m/s movement speed for him and nearby allies for up to 10s while the…DefensiveAllies near the planted banner take 15% less damage for 12s (25% at Tier 3).1+2 m/s movement speed (no cooldown reduction since 5 October)2+5s banner duration and +8m radius5+150 slam damage and +10% damage reduction
Melee, gun & movement
- Light meleeA quick punch. Low damage, almost no commitment; cancels into abilities and items.
- Heavy meleeA charged strike. Big damage and a knockback, but you are locked in for the wind-up — an active item can cancel it.
- Weapon burstGunfire between abilities, counted at the hero's own bullet damage. Starts at 4 shots; change the count on the step.
- ParryBlocks an incoming melee and stuns the attacker. Deals no damage itself.
- DashSpends stamina to cover ground fast — to close, or to reposition between hits.
- JumpGains height, for abilities that pay for a drop or need a target below you.
Active items
Golden Goose EggAn economy item that generates extra souls over time.+2sChannel Duration-15%Damage Penalty+1Out of Combat Regen
GritConverts a portion of incoming damage into a temporary barrier, blunting burst spikes.+60sCooldown+200Barrier+1Out of Combat Regen+4sBarrier Duration
Healing RiteAn active heal-over-time that restores a large chunk of health out of combat.+70sCooldown+0.2sCast Delay+20sRegen Duration
Rusted BarrelYour spirit damage reduces the target's fire rate, taking the edge off gun heroes cheaply. It is the component for Disarming Hex.+16sCooldown+5sDuration+0.1sCast Delay+32%Fire Rate+60Bonus Health-8%Bullet Resist
No researched Rat King combos yet. A sequence nobody has demonstrated would be a guess, so none is listed; the builder above works from the game's data regardless.
Tech that works on every hero
These are not Rat King's — they are the game's, and they apply to all 42 heroes. They are also the most out-of-date material on this page, because the people who documented them did so in 2024 and Deadlock has been patched continuously since. Each one says which patch its source was written against.
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Heavy Melee Cancel (HMC)
Source patch 11-13-2024A heavy melee gives you a burst of speed that is taken back when the punch animation finishes. Cancelling the animation with an active item keeps the speed.
How: Hold melee to begin the heavy, then release and activate a cancelable active item before the swing completes.
Needs: A cancelable active item. The sources name Fleetfoot, Melee Charge, Vampiric Burst, Colossus and Unstoppable.
That same 11-13-2024 update removed built-in HMC from Abrams, Infernus, McGinnis, Mirage, Mo & Krill and Paradox, who previously had it in their base kits. Anything written before that date describes a different game.
The Dignitas write-up prices Fleetfoot at 1,250 souls. This site's extracted item data, synced 2026-09-22, has it at 1,600 — so the article is demonstrably out of date on at least one checkable number, which is a fair warning about the rest of it.
Heavy Melee Cancel (HMC) in Deadlock, Explained[Consistent] Heavy melee cancelling with fleetfootFleet Foot Melee Animation Cancel
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Instant Air Dash (IAD)
Source patch unknownA way to get a dash out the instant you leave the ground, rather than after the normal delay.
How: Not transcribed here — the source thread describes it as behaviour that is probably unintended.
Needs: Nothing bought.
The thread that documents it argues it is a bug. Anything Valve considers a bug is a candidate for removal in any patch, so treat this as the least durable entry here.
Instant Air Dash (IAD): what it is, how it works, and why it's probably a bug
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Dash jumping and slide jumping
Source patch unknownThe base movement techniques that carry momentum between a dash, a jump and a slide, and the foundation every melee and ability approach is built on.
How: Covered in full by the linked guide rather than summarised here, because the inputs are timing-based and a paraphrase would lose the part that matters.
Needs: Stamina only.
Movement has been tuned repeatedly since launch. The 09-16-2026 patch alone changed dash-slow values and parry interaction with dashes — see the patch notes.
Deadlock Advanced Movement Guide: How to Dash Jump, Slide Jump, and MoreAnimation cancelling