Baba vs Celeste
Written for the Baba player. Playing Celeste? See Celeste vs Baba →
An even matchup. Baba wins 53.8% of 61,619 games against Celeste (+1.9 points vs Baba’s usual 51.9%).
How to win as Baba
- RuleDo not commit before
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown is gone.
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown first — after the 09-16-2026 patch it is on a 38s cooldown, and it is both her defensive layer and her anti-dive Silence. Force it with a feint from range, let the Silence expire, then dive for real - Watch outOnce
Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling tags you, every one of her bullets carries bonus Spirit Damage and heals her — a trade you think you are winning on her low DPS is actually refilling her health bar - Your edgeYou lock them down harder than they lock you (Baba Baba Released 6 October Released 6 October. A spirit controller: Threadsap steals enemy Spirit and powers up her bullets, her bench grows legs for speed and a knockback kick, Baba’s Brew cycles between a barrier, a silence and a burn, and Feed The Birds hexes everyone in her cone into pigeons. 3/3 against Celeste 2/3).
- Buy
Arctic Blast
Arctic Blast +24s Cooldown +0.6s Spread Duration: +48% Move Speed +4s Slow Duration +10% Spirit Resist +1s Freeze Duration — Celeste's
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown is what you are buying against here. Buy to lock down a mobile enemy team or to peel a dive off your backline — the stamina freeze stops them dashing out.
The numbers: lane, whole match and Oracle and above
| Games | Baba wins | vs Baba's usual | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole match | 53.8% | +1.9 pts (51.9% overall) | 61,619 games |
| Sharing a lane | 54.0% | +2.1 pts (51.9% overall) | 20,205 games |
| Oracle and above | 50.6% | -0.1 pts (50.7% at Oracle+) | 2,996 games |
"Sharing a lane" counts only games where both were assigned the same lane — the laning matchup itself. "Oracle and above" counts only matches whose average rank was Oracle and above. Source: deadlock-api.com, refreshed daily.
Data-supported Measured: you win 53.8% of these, which is 1.9 points above your overall win rate (61,619 matches). The kit-based model reads this as moderate instead — treat the measured number as primary and the gap as a sign this matchup is more about execution than kit. Ranked against this hero's own baseline win rate, not raw win rate. Source: deadlock-api.com.
What should I do right now?
Do
- Plan for
Arctic Blast
Arctic Blast +24s Cooldown +0.6s Spread Duration: +48% Move Speed +4s Slow Duration +10% Spirit Resist +1s Freeze Duration Builds from Cold Front — know which tier it sits in so you are not improvising at the shop. - Know what
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown looks like. It is the cooldown this lane revolves around.
Avoid
- Walking to lane on the same path every wave against a hero with Celeste's engage range.
Do
- Genuinely awkward laning — the 50 m/s projectile speed and bounce mechanic take real practice, and mobalytics explicitly calls her laning phase weak
- Around 690-700 maximum health puts her at the bottom of the roster for durability
-
Threadsap
Threadsap Baba throws a spool of thread that follows her crosshair as it flies, then bursts along the whole line it drew. Crowd Control none at base. Tier 3 makes each hit pull the enemy 7m along the thread. Damage 50 spirit damage on the burst. Defensive Taking Spirit away from a caster lowers the damage of their next abilities… 1 +8 spirit damage per bullet while she holds stolen Spirit 2 -12s cooldown and +8s on the steal 5 +1 charge, and every hit pulls the enemy 7m reaches 35m and steals Spirit from both laners at once if they stand in line, so she wins spirit trades early
Avoid
- Four stamina charges plus her air-control passive (enhanced air acceleration and reduced gravity effects) make her extremely hard to pin down in a lane
- The bounce weapon's aim assistance means near-misses still connect, which forgives imperfect aim at awkward angles
Do
- Their first real spike is
Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling T1/T2 — respect it from that point, not before. - Your spike is ult unlock:
Feed The Birds
Feed The Birds Baba channels for up to 6.5 seconds, covering enemies in front of her with bread. Crowd Control A stacking slow up to 32% during the channel (64% at Tier 1), then a pigeon… Damage Up to 450 spirit damage per target at full stacks (+1.6 per Spirit), reached… Mobility She can keep moving while she channels. 1 +4m cast range and +32% max slow 2 -55s cooldown 5 +125 max damage, +1.5 Spirit scaling and +0.5s on the hex lets her slow and hex a whole team that walks into her cone
Avoid
- Taking an even fight against Celeste on their spike timing when you could take the same fight ten minutes later on yours.
Do
- Watch for
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown . Break the barrier from range rather than in melee — the Silence only hits nearby enemies, so a ranged hero pops it for free - Use a dispel or debuff-removal item on
Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling 's mark — stripping it removes both her bonus Spirit Damage and her only real in-combat healing
Avoid
- Spending your own escape before
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown is on cooldown.
Celeste’s abilities
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Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown Ability 2 Hard control, and the reason the rest of the kit ever connects: Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed.
- Break the barrier from range rather than in melee — the Silence only hits nearby enemies, so a ranged hero pops it for free
- If you must dive her, break the barrier first from a step back, then close once the Silence has already fired
- Note the 38s cooldown after the 09-16-2026 patch; once it is spent she is a sub-700-health hero with no defensive layer for over half a minute
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Shining Wonder
Shining Wonder Celeste launches an orb of light that damages the first target it strikes, slowing them and shortening their dash distance, then bounces on to other enemies in range. Crowd Control Movement slow plus a dash-distance reduction on each target hit; Damage 140 base spirit damage (deadlock.one); Defensive Slowing a chase is a real disengage use for a hero this fragile. 1 +20% move-speed slow and -15% dash distance 2 +80 damage 5 +8 maximum bounces and -30s cooldown Ultimate This will not kill you on its own — it makes sure you cannot leave while the rest of Celeste's kit does. Movement slow plus a dash-distance reduction on each target hit.
- Spread out — it bounces between enemies in range, so the entire value of the ultimate depends on your team being clustered
- Post-09-16-2026 its radius is smaller, so maintaining even modest spacing at objectives substantially reduces the number of bounces
- If you are hit, expect your dash distance to be shortened; plan the escape around walking behind cover rather than dash-chaining out
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Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling Ability 1 The keystone of her damage and sustain. Her weapon does almost nothing on its own; Light Eater is what converts her ordinary shots into Spirit Damage and healing, so almost every fight starts with this cast.
- Break line of sight after she tags you — the mark only pays out on her subsequent attacks, so denying her shots denies both her damage and her healing
- Use a dispel or debuff-removal item to strip the mark outright; mobalytics explicitly lists this as her cleanest counter
- Stay outside the cone's arc when she is reloading or repositioning; the cone is frontal and short-ranged
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Radiant Daggers
Radiant Daggers Celeste calls a shaft of light down from above a chosen point. Damage 55 impact damage base (deadlock.one); Defensive Used behind her to deter a chase through a corridor. 1 +2 charges 2 +80 impact damage and -22s cooldown 5 +8% spirit amp and +9% fire rate per stack Ability 3 Her zone-control tool and her ramp. The delay makes it bad as a reactive damage source but excellent as an area denial on a choke or an objective, and the stacks are how her damage scales through a long fight.
- Leave the marked area before the beam fully forms — the whole ability is a telegraph with a delay, and simply walking out denies both the damage and her stack
- Denying her hero hits denies the stacking spirit amp, so her damage never ramps
- Do not stand still in doorways, stairwells or on an objective while she has charges up; those are the only places the delay does not matter
- 1
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown Dazzling Trick first — after the 09-16-2026 patch it is on a 38s cooldown, and it is both her defensive layer and her anti-dive Silence. Force it with a feint from range, let the Silence expire, then dive for real
- 2
Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling Light Eater second — without the tag her weapon is a 31 DPS marksman rifle with a 2.00s reload and she has no healing at all. Breaking line of sight after she casts it wastes the entire 8s window
- 3
Shining Wonder
Shining Wonder Celeste launches an orb of light that damages the first target it strikes, slowing them and shortening their dash distance, then bounces on to other enemies in range. Crowd Control Movement slow plus a dash-distance reduction on each target hit; Damage 140 base spirit damage (deadlock.one); Defensive Slowing a chase is a real disengage use for a hero this fragile. 1 +20% move-speed slow and -15% dash distance 2 +80 damage 5 +8 maximum bounces and -30s cooldown Shining Wonder is denied by spacing rather than baited; it seeks targets, so there is no dodge, only spread
The matchup in detail
- Around 690-700 health makes her one of the squishiest heroes in the game Strong evidence
- Very low raw weapon DPS (31) — her damage only exists once
Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling has tagged the target Strong evidence - Her damage tools (
Radiant Daggers
Radiant Daggers Celeste calls a shaft of light down from above a chosen point. Damage 55 impact damage base (deadlock.one); Defensive Used behind her to deter a chase through a corridor. 1 +2 charges 2 +80 impact damage and -22s cooldown 5 +8% spirit amp and +9% fire rate per stack ' formation delay,
Shining Wonder
Shining Wonder Celeste launches an orb of light that damages the first target it strikes, slowing them and shortening their dash distance, then bounces on to other enemies in range. Crowd Control Movement slow plus a dash-distance reduction on each target hit; Damage 140 base spirit damage (deadlock.one); Defensive Slowing a chase is a real disengage use for a hero this fragile. 1 +20% move-speed slow and -15% dash distance 2 +80 damage 5 +8 maximum bounces and -30s cooldown 's bounces) are all telegraphed or spacing-dependent Strong evidence
- Once
Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling tags you, every one of her bullets carries bonus Spirit Damage and heals her — a trade you think you are winning on her low DPS is actually refilling her health bar Strong evidence - Diving her into
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown silences you when you break the barrier, so the burst that was supposed to kill her leaves you unable to use abilities to finish or flee Strong evidence -
Radiant Daggers
Radiant Daggers Celeste calls a shaft of light down from above a chosen point. Damage 55 impact damage base (deadlock.one); Defensive Used behind her to deter a chase through a corridor. 1 +2 charges 2 +80 impact damage and -22s cooldown 5 +8% spirit amp and +9% fire rate per stack denies chokepoints and objective circles outright; with T1's extra charges she can cover two exits at once Strong evidence -
Shining Wonder
Shining Wonder Celeste launches an orb of light that damages the first target it strikes, slowing them and shortening their dash distance, then bounces on to other enemies in range. Crowd Control Movement slow plus a dash-distance reduction on each target hit; Damage 140 base spirit damage (deadlock.one); Defensive Slowing a chase is a real disengage use for a hero this fragile. 1 +20% move-speed slow and -15% dash distance 2 +80 damage 5 +8 maximum bounces and -30s cooldown shortens your dash distance as well as slowing you, which specifically breaks dash-chain escapes rather than merely delaying them Strong evidence - Her air-control passive plus four stamina charges means chasing her through vertical terrain usually just wastes your stamina Strong evidence
- Celeste can Silence, which means your escape is only real if it is already active. Pre-empt rather than react: if you are walking into a position where the Silence lands, your defensive cooldown should be spent getting out of that position, not saved for after. Strong evidence
- Use a dispel or debuff-removal item on
Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling 's mark — stripping it removes both her bonus Spirit Damage and her only real in-combat healing Strong evidence - Break
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown from range rather than in melee; the Silence on break is proximity-based, so popping it from a step back costs you nothing Strong evidence - Punish her ~690-700 health directly with a single burst window; she has no untargetable escape and no real durability once the barrier is gone Strong evidence
- Walk out of the
Radiant Daggers
Radiant Daggers Celeste calls a shaft of light down from above a chosen point. Damage 55 impact damage base (deadlock.one); Defensive Used behind her to deter a chase through a corridor. 1 +2 charges 2 +80 impact damage and -22s cooldown 5 +8% spirit amp and +9% fire rate per stack marked area before the beam finishes forming — the delay is the entire counterplay and denies her the stacking spirit amp as well Strong evidence - Spread out at objectives;
Shining Wonder
Shining Wonder Celeste launches an orb of light that damages the first target it strikes, slowing them and shortening their dash distance, then bounces on to other enemies in range. Crowd Control Movement slow plus a dash-distance reduction on each target hit; Damage 140 base spirit damage (deadlock.one); Defensive Slowing a chase is a real disengage use for a hero this fragile. 1 +20% move-speed slow and -15% dash distance 2 +80 damage 5 +8 maximum bounces and -30s cooldown bounces between clustered enemies and the 09-16-2026 radius nerf makes even modest spacing effective Strong evidence - Use knockups and displacement (Dynamo's
Kinetic Pulse
Kinetic Pulse Dynamo sends a wave of energy racing along the ground in front of him. Crowd Control Knockup — brief airborne loss of control. Damage 115 spirit damage base (deadlock.one); Defensive The knockup interrupts an incoming dive or channel, buying his team the… 1 +1 charge 2 applies -15% bullet resist and a 30% move-speed slow for 4s 5 +135 damage and +20m cast range , Billy's
Bashdown
Bashdown Billy drives his bat into the ground. Crowd Control Pulls airborne enemies downward plus a knockup shockwave on the ground — two… Damage 35 spirit damage scaling with Spirit Power (deadlock.one); Defensive The knockup interrupts an incoming dive or a channelled ability. 1 -10s cooldown (from a 35s base) 2 +1 charge and +2m radius 5 -3s charge time and now deals 50% heavy melee damage , Bebop's
Exploding Uppercut
Exploding Uppercut Bebop swings upward, knocking back everyone close to him. Crowd Control Knockback/knockup on the initial hit, plus a fire-rate reduction applied by… Damage Not sourced as a single figure on current pages; Mobility none for Bebop himself; 1 roughly -11s cooldown (base is about 22s) 2 +9 uppercut hit buff and +30% weapon damage 5 on hero hit, resets Grapple Arm's cooldown and restores about +18% of his missing health ) to cut her air mobility mid-flight — mobalytics lists displacement as a direct counter Strong evidence - Force fights while her stamina is spent; the 09-16-2026 patch raised her stamina cooldown to 5.3s and she has no other escape layer Strong evidence
- Against Celeste the item that changes the matchup is
Slowing Hex
Slowing Hex +29s Cooldown +3.5s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay +16% Move Speed -26% Dash Distance , and not for the slow. It silences movement abilities and movement items — that is their dash, their blink, their
Warp Stone
Warp Stone +16s Cooldown +30% Bullet Resist +6s Buff Duration and their
Phantom Strike
Phantom Strike +35s Cooldown +0.35s Cast Delay +8 Spirit Power +15% Weapon Damage +40% Move Speed +3s Slow Duration all turned off at once — and raises their gravity to 120% on top. At Tier II Spirit for 1,600 it is the cheapest way to convert a mobility advantage into a stationary target, and you deal the Spirit Damage needed to apply the follow-up. Strong evidence
- The 38s after
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown is spent — she is a sub-700-health hero with no barrier, no Silence and no untargetable escape Strong evidence - Any moment she is out of stamina charges; her air mobility is her only real defence and the 5.3s stamina cooldown is slow to refill Strong evidence
- The 8s
Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling window when you have broken line of sight — she is doing 31 DPS with no Lifesteal and cannot ramp
Radiant Daggers
Radiant Daggers Celeste calls a shaft of light down from above a chosen point. Damage 55 impact damage base (deadlock.one); Defensive Used behind her to deter a chase through a corridor. 1 +2 charges 2 +80 impact damage and -22s cooldown 5 +8% spirit amp and +9% fire rate per stack stacks Strong evidence - During her 2.00s reload with an 8-round clip; at 1.72 shots per second she empties and reloads frequently Strong evidence
- While she is mid-air after a Knockup or displacement — she cannot correct her position and her air control is what she was relying on Strong evidence
- Early game generally: mobalytics and dramalock both note her laning phase is weak and her sub-700 health makes her the easiest lane kill of this group Strong evidence
- Your weapon has travel time and Celeste is fast enough to make that matter. Lead into where their movement is constrained rather than where they are — the closer the fight, the less your projectile speed costs you. Strategic
- When Celeste puts up a barrier, do not reset the trade and wait for it to drop. Overflow damage carries through to health, so a single large hit spends the barrier and keeps going in one action — there is no wasted remainder. What does get wasted is chip, because barriers decay on their own and small hits are exactly what a temporary pool absorbs for free. Either commit your burst through it or disengage entirely; the middle option gives them a free absorb. Strong evidence
- Your escape route is vertical and the 09-16-2026 patch aimed at exactly that: slows now affect air drag at 35% of their value, where previously they mostly did not bite in the air. Going airborne to break Celeste's slow no longer restores your full movement — you carry a fraction of it into the air with you, at the moment you are also a stationary silhouette. The slow cut of ~20% partly offsets it, but the net is that air-escaping a slow is worse this patch than last. Documented
- Four stamina charges plus her air-control passive (enhanced air acceleration and reduced gravity effects) make her extremely hard to pin down in a lane Strong evidence
- The bounce weapon's aim assistance means near-misses still connect, which forgives imperfect aim at awkward angles Strong evidence
- Genuinely awkward laning — the 50 m/s projectile speed and bounce mechanic take real practice, and mobalytics explicitly calls her laning phase weak Strong evidence
- Around 690-700 maximum health puts her at the bottom of the roster for durability Strong evidence
-
Threadsap
Threadsap Baba throws a spool of thread that follows her crosshair as it flies, then bursts along the whole line it drew. Crowd Control none at base. Tier 3 makes each hit pull the enemy 7m along the thread. Damage 50 spirit damage on the burst. Defensive Taking Spirit away from a caster lowers the damage of their next abilities… 1 +8 spirit damage per bullet while she holds stolen Spirit 2 -12s cooldown and +8s on the steal 5 +1 charge, and every hit pulls the enemy 7m reaches 35m and steals Spirit from both laners at once if they stand in line, so she wins spirit trades early Strategic
- Celeste will be their Urn runner and you are the one who can stop it. The Urn cannot be voluntarily dropped — it comes loose only on melee, a Stun, or death — so chip damage and slows do not deny a delivery, your Hard CC does. Hold it for the carry rather than spending it on the approach fight, and note the favoured team gets +50% Bullet and Spirit Resist in a 60m bubble while carrying and depositing, which is why trying to burst the runner down usually fails. Documented
- Your kit is built around lockdown and that is worth less on the Mid Boss than on Celeste — it carries 35% Debuff Resist as of 03-06-2026, so your disables run roughly two-thirds as long on it. Plan the take around damage and positioning rather than a CC chain, and spend the chain on Celeste if they contest. The payoff is worth the trip: 3,000 souls + 50 per minute, two permanent buffs each, and a Rejuvenator crystal giving up to three single-use revives that return a player at full health after 3 seconds, for 3 minutes. Documented
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Light Eater
Light Eater Celeste fires a flare of light in a cone ahead of her. Damage 40 flare damage plus 15 per subsequent tagged hit, over an 8s duration… Defensive The spirit lifesteal it enables is her only meaningful in-combat healing. 1 +15% spirit lifesteal 2 -10s cooldown (from a 20s base) and +3m cast range 5 +25 damage and +0.2 spirit scaling T1/T2 — The extra spirit Lifesteal and -10s cooldown turn her from a fragile poker into a hero who sustains through skirmishes Strong evidence -
Radiant Daggers
Radiant Daggers Celeste calls a shaft of light down from above a chosen point. Damage 55 impact damage base (deadlock.one); Defensive Used behind her to deter a chase through a corridor. 1 +2 charges 2 +80 impact damage and -22s cooldown 5 +8% spirit amp and +9% fire rate per stack T1 (+2 charges) — Multiple charges let her actually cover the ground an enemy must walk through, which is when the delay stops mattering Strong evidence -
Shining Wonder
Shining Wonder Celeste launches an orb of light that damages the first target it strikes, slowing them and shortening their dash distance, then bounces on to other enemies in range. Crowd Control Movement slow plus a dash-distance reduction on each target hit; Damage 140 base spirit damage (deadlock.one); Defensive Slowing a chase is a real disengage use for a hero this fragile. 1 +20% move-speed slow and -15% dash distance 2 +80 damage 5 +8 maximum bounces and -30s cooldown unlock — Gives her the multi-target slow and dash reduction she needs to matter in a real teamfight Strong evidence - Late 35min+ with
Radiant Daggers
Radiant Daggers Celeste calls a shaft of light down from above a chosen point. Damage 55 impact damage base (deadlock.one); Defensive Used behind her to deter a chase through a corridor. 1 +2 charges 2 +80 impact damage and -22s cooldown 5 +8% spirit amp and +9% fire rate per stack T3 stacks — +8% spirit amp and +9% fire rate per stack compound through a long fight, which is where her late-game scaling lives Strong evidence
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Feed The Birds
Feed The Birds Baba channels for up to 6.5 seconds, covering enemies in front of her with bread. Crowd Control A stacking slow up to 32% during the channel (64% at Tier 1), then a pigeon… Damage Up to 450 spirit damage per target at full stacks (+1.6 per Spirit), reached… Mobility She can keep moving while she channels. 1 +4m cast range and +32% max slow 2 -55s cooldown 5 +125 max damage, +1.5 Spirit scaling and +0.5s on the hex unlock — Lets her slow and hex a whole team that walks into her cone Strategic -
Threadsap
Threadsap Baba throws a spool of thread that follows her crosshair as it flies, then bursts along the whole line it drew. Crowd Control none at base. Tier 3 makes each hit pull the enemy 7m along the thread. Damage 50 spirit damage on the burst. Defensive Taking Spirit away from a caster lowers the damage of their next abilities… 1 +8 spirit damage per bullet while she holds stolen Spirit 2 -12s cooldown and +8s on the steal 5 +1 charge, and every hit pulls the enemy 7m T1 — +8 more Spirit Damage on every bullet while she holds stolen Spirit doubles the payoff of a hit Strategic
- Your Silence may be worth more in a chain than a teammate's Stun. The 03-06-2026 diminishing-returns system reduces subsequent CC by 10% then 30% inside an 8-second window, and community reporting holds it applies to stuns only — not to silences, slows, hexes or disarms. If that is right, sequencing your Silence after an ally's Stun costs you nothing, while a second Stun in the chain is already 10% shorter. Treat it as community-reported rather than confirmed, but order your chain accordingly against Celeste. Uncertain
- Your habit of taking the fight vertical to reset spacing against Celeste is weaker on 09-16-2026 than it was. Slows now apply to air drag at 35% of their value, so the air is no longer a slow-free zone, and 2026 has been a steady closing of exactly these loopholes — wall jumping costs 25% stamina regeneration for 5 seconds, and knockups came under debuff reduction in May. Going up is still correct against their ground CC; it is no longer a way to ignore their slows. Documented
- Fight Celeste under cover — indoors, under walkways, inside stairwells. Taking away the vertical axis removes most of their kit's value before you spend a single item slot on it. Strategic
- Riding a zipline in Celeste's line of sight is worse than walking. Enemy hero damage while you are riding knocks you off for 15% of your max health, a 2.5-second Stun and a fall — for a hero with your health pool that is most of a death handed over for free. You gain knockoff immunity only after 3 consecutive seconds of riding, signalled by a blue particle effect, so the dangerous part is the first three seconds. Mount out of their sight line, not near it. Documented
- Celeste wins by choosing where the fight happens. Take your position before the zoning goes down, not after — once the area is committed you are fighting on their terms, and walking in to contest it is exactly the mistake the kit is built to farm. Strategic
- You deal Spirit Damage, so
Healbane
Healbane +8s Duration +7 Spirit Power -35% Incoming Healing -35% Incoming Healing +275 Heal On Hero Kill is the cheaper and more reliable anti-heal against Celeste — it lands off your abilities at T2 rather than asking you to sustain gunfire you are not built for. Strong evidence - Celeste fights from the air, which is exactly what
Knockdown
Knockdown +35s Cooldown +0.1s Cast Delay +2s Stun Delay +0.5s Stun Duration +75 Bonus Health +5% Ability Range +5% Radius exists for: it applies +100% gravity to an airborne target (raised from +50% in March 2026) and its Stun scales with altitude, up to about +1.5s at 30m. The higher they commit, the harder the punish — and Debuff Resist will not shorten that Stun for them. Documented - Your escape is a big part of why you survive fights, and Celeste can turn it off. Debuff Resist shortens the lockout, and a cleanse removes it outright — one of the two is worth a slot specifically because of this hero. Strategic
-
Arctic Blast
Arctic Blast +24s Cooldown +0.6s Spread Duration: +48% Move Speed +4s Slow Duration +10% Spirit Resist +1s Freeze Duration Builds from Cold Front (spirit T4) — Celeste's
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown is what you are buying against here. Buy to lock down a mobile enemy team or to peel a dive off your backline — the stamina freeze stops them dashing out. Documented -
Dispel Magic
Dispel Magic +45s Cooldown +10% Spirit Resist +3s Buff Duration +250 HP Healed On Activate (vitality T3) — Buy when enemy debuffs — slows, silences, anti-heal, disarms, hexes — are what is killing you rather than raw damage. What you are answering here: Celeste's
Dazzling Trick
Dazzling Trick Celeste wraps herself in a protective prism. Crowd Control Silence on nearby enemies when the barrier is destroyed; Damage Deals a portion of the barrier value as damage on break; Mobility Tier 1 grants +3.5m move speed while active. 1 +3.5m move speed 2 +80 combat barrier and +0.7 spirit scaling 5 +1.5s silence duration and -18s cooldown . Documented -
Knockdown
Knockdown +35s Cooldown +0.1s Cast Delay +2s Stun Delay +0.5s Stun Duration +75 Bonus Health +5% Ability Range +5% Radius (spirit T3) — Celeste is where this lineup’s air mobility comes from. The consensus answer to flying and airborne heroes and to channelled aerial ultimates — buy it whenever an enemy fights from the sky. Documented
- The reflex buy against a hero who keeps deleting you is
Metal Skin
Metal Skin +24s Cooldown +5s Duration +12% Bullet Resist -20% Dash Distance , and against Celeste it does nothing.
Metal Skin
Metal Skin +24s Cooldown +5s Duration +12% Bullet Resist -20% Dash Distance is bullet-damage immunity only — Spirit Damage, abilities and every status effect pass straight through it, and you pay −1.5 m/s move speed and −20% dash distance for the privilege. The three big defensive actives are deliberately orthogonal:
Metal Skin
Metal Skin +24s Cooldown +5s Duration +12% Bullet Resist -20% Dash Distance stops bullets,
Unstoppable
Unstoppable +60s Cooldown +5.5s Duration +125 Bonus Health +25% Debuff Resist Builds from Debuff Reducer stops statuses,
Ethereal Shift
Ethereal Shift +37s Cooldown +4s Duration +5s Buff Duration +30% Spirit Resist +20 Spirit Power stops everything but disables you. Celeste is a spirit threat, so it is the last two you are choosing between. Documented
Next
Baba’s other hard matchups
- vs Paige -6.9 pts
- vs Rat King -6.6 pts
- vs Haze -6.1 pts
- vs Graves -5.4 pts
All of Celeste
Who beats Celeste, the items that shut Celeste down, and every ability.
Facing more than Celeste?
Add the other five enemies: who to focus first and what to buy against the whole team.
Sources and method for this page
Everything on this page is generated for Deadlock patch 09-29-2026 from Celeste's current kit, measured match results and a mechanics rule base. Each line carries its own confidence label.
Celeste's kit and counterplay were compiled from 9 sources, cross-checked for patch 09-29-2026. Threat ratings compare this pairing against Baba's own baseline win rate rather than a flat 50%, because ranking by raw win rate produces the wrong answer for heroes whose overall win rate is not 50%.
- https://deadlock.one/en/heroes/celeste
- https://deadlock.io/en/heroes/celeste
- https://tracklock.gg/articles/deadlock-new-hero-celeste
- https://dramalock.org/guides/celeste-deadlock-guide-abilities-playstyle/
- https://mobalytics.gg/deadlock/celeste-guide
- https://tracklock.gg/articles/deadlock-update-09-16-26-patch-notes