Rat King vs Kelvin

Do

• Plan for Arctic Blast Arctic Blast 6,400 souls Tier 4TechInstantCast +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 Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… looks like. It is the cooldown this lane revolves around.

Avoid

• Walking to lane on the same path every wave against a hero with Kelvin's engage range.

Do

• Almost no burst — he cannot punish a positional mistake with a quick kill
• 14-round magazine with a 2.59s reload means frequent dead windows in gun trades
• Scrap Grenade Scrap Grenade 26s Cooldown Rat King throws a bouncing lump of scrap that goes off three times where it lands. Crowd Control 20% movement slow for 4s (scales slightly with Spirit). Damage 70 bullet damage per detonation (+0.6 weapon-damage scaling), three… Defensive The 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 detonation 5 one extra, bigger final detonation — 300 damage, 14m radius, 40% slow clears a trooper wave in three hits and slows anyone farming in it, so he wins wave tempo early

Avoid

• Frost Grenade Frost Grenade 30s Cooldown Lobs a grenade that bursts into a freezing cloud, healing allies caught in it while dealing spirit damage and cutting enemy movement speed. Crowd Control movement slow on enemies; Damage about 60 spirit at base, with a matching heal of about 60; Defensive the primary heal in his kit outside the ultimate, and the stamina freeze… 1 +30 damage and +30 heal 2 about -10s cooldown and freezes enemy stamina regeneration 5 +2m radius with improved spirit scaling heals his lane partner and chips the enemy in one throw, which wins attrition lanes outright
• Arctic Beam Arctic Beam 5s Duration28s Cooldown Channels a beam of freezing energy in front of him that damages targets and progressively cuts their movement speed and fire rate the longer it stays on them. Crowd Control ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction; Damage about 45 damage per second at base; Mobility none — it constrains his own movement while he holds it 1 about -20% fire rate and move speed on targets 2 about +20 DPS with improved spirit scaling 5 about -13s cooldown and fires 2 additional beams at targets within 10m clears waves quickly and pressures the enemy guardian

Do

• Their first real spike is ult unlock — respect it from that point, not before.
• Your spike is ult unlock: Rule, Ratannia! Rule, Ratannia! 10s Duration160s Cooldown Rat King raises the banner of Ratannia. Crowd Control Knockup and a 40% slow on the slam, plus Rat Swarm from the rats it… Damage 200 bullet damage on the slam (+1.2 weapon-damage scaling), 20m radius (cut… Mobility +3 m/s movement speed for him and nearby allies for up to 10s while the… 1 +2 m/s movement speed (no cooldown reduction since 5 October) 2 +5s banner duration and +8m radius 5 +150 slam damage and +10% damage reduction turns him into the team's fight-starter: slow immunity and speed on the way in, a 20m Knockup on arrival

Avoid

• Taking an even fight against Kelvin on their spike timing when you could take the same fight ten minutes later on yours.

Do

• Watch for Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… . Do not stand in it — the dome is finite, so leave and re-engage after it expires instead of fighting the regeneration
• Never fight into Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… — disengage, reset, and take the objective in the window after it expires; its cooldown is long

Avoid

• Spending your own escape before Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… is on cooldown.

• Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… Ultimate

  The tool that keeps you inside everything else Kelvin throws — heavy slow on enemies caught inside.

  • Do not stand in it — the dome is finite, so leave and re-engage after it expires instead of fighting the regeneration
  • If you are caught inside, the fight is now a pocket brawl; use gap-close and burst rather than trying to escape a slow
  • Anti-heal ( Napalm Napalm 20m Range25s Cooldown Sprays a burning mixture in front of him that deals spirit damage, slows whoever it touches, and leaves them coated in napalm that keeps burning. Crowd Control movement slow on everyone hit Damage about 40 spirit at base plus the napalm coating over time (deadlock.one) Mobility none directly, though the slow effectively closes distance 1 +15% lifesteal 2 applies about +17% Damage Taken and -33% Healing to affected targets tier 3, Decay Decay 3,200 souls Tier 3TechPress +30s Cooldown +12s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay +8 Spirit Power -50% Incoming Healing -50% Incoming Healing +65 Bonus Health , Cursed Relic Cursed Relic 6,400 souls Tier 4TechPress +55s Cooldown +3.25s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay -25% Damage Penalty ) applied BEFORE the dome goes up substantially reduces the regeneration payoff, but note tier 3 purges non-ultimate debuffs
• Frost Grenade Frost Grenade 30s Cooldown Lobs a grenade that bursts into a freezing cloud, healing allies caught in it while dealing spirit damage and cutting enemy movement speed. Crowd Control movement slow on enemies; Damage about 60 spirit at base, with a matching heal of about 60; Defensive the primary heal in his kit outside the ultimate, and the stamina freeze… 1 +30 damage and +30 heal 2 about -10s cooldown and freezes enemy stamina regeneration 5 +2m radius with improved spirit scaling Ability 1

  Sticking power rather than damage: movement slow on enemies.

  • It is a lobbed projectile with an arm delay — step out of the cloud rather than trading inside it
  • The slow plus stamina freeze means you should spend your dash BEFORE the grenade lands, not after
  • Dispel Magic Dispel Magic 3,200 souls Tier 3ArmorInstantCast +45s Cooldown +10% Spirit Resist +3s Buff Duration +250 HP Healed On Activate clears the slow and the stamina freeze together
• Arctic Beam Arctic Beam 5s Duration28s Cooldown Channels a beam of freezing energy in front of him that damages targets and progressively cuts their movement speed and fire rate the longer it stays on them. Crowd Control ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction; Damage about 45 damage per second at base; Mobility none — it constrains his own movement while he holds it 1 about -20% fire rate and move speed on targets 2 about +20 DPS with improved spirit scaling 5 about -13s cooldown and fires 2 additional beams at targets within 10m Ability 3

  Not lockdown, but it makes disengaging cost more than it should: ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction.

  • It is a frontal cone — strafe out of the arc; the debuff resets as soon as contact breaks
  • Spirit Armor is the right resist, and the debuff itself is cleared by Dispel Magic Dispel Magic 3,200 souls Tier 3ArmorInstantCast +45s Cooldown +10% Spirit Resist +3s Buff Duration +250 HP Healed On Activate
  • He is slow and committed while beaming, so a gap-closing dive during the channel is the correct punish
• Ice Path Ice Path 8s Duration50s Cooldown Lays down a floating trail of ice that Kelvin and his allies can ride for bonus movement, while Kelvin gains 60% slow resistance for the duration. Mobility substantial — fast movement along the path plus access to elevation nothing… Defensive 60% slow resistance while active makes it very hard to kite him off the… 1 about +2 m/s move speed and +35% bullet resist for Kelvin 2 about +35% spirit and +20 Spirit Power for Kelvin Ability 2

  Rotation, escape and vertical access — it turns unreachable rooftops and shortcuts into routes for his whole team.

  • He is a large, predictable, un-strafing target while riding the path — lead your shots and punish the straight line
  • Knockdown Knockdown 3,200 souls Tier 3TechPress +35s Cooldown +0.1s Cast Delay +2s Stun Delay +0.5s Stun Duration +75 Bonus Health +5% Ability Range +5% Radius removes him from an elevated path segment
  • The path is a visible structure; you can read exactly where he is going and cut off the landing rather than chasing along it

1. 1 Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit…

   Frozen Shelter first — it is the single ability that decides objective fights. Fake a commit onto a walker or a low ally, make him dome, then leave and take the objective on the cooldown

2. 2 Frost Grenade Frost Grenade 30s Cooldown Lobs a grenade that bursts into a freezing cloud, healing allies caught in it while dealing spirit damage and cutting enemy movement speed. Crowd Control movement slow on enemies; Damage about 60 spirit at base, with a matching heal of about 60; Defensive the primary heal in his kit outside the ultimate, and the stamina freeze… 1 +30 damage and +30 heal 2 about -10s cooldown and freezes enemy stamina regeneration 5 +2m radius with improved spirit scaling

   Frost Grenade second: force it as a heal rather than as poke, because a grenade spent topping up a teammate is not slowing you during the engage

3. 3 Ice Path Ice Path 8s Duration50s Cooldown Lays down a floating trail of ice that Kelvin and his allies can ride for bonus movement, while Kelvin gains 60% slow resistance for the duration. Mobility substantial — fast movement along the path plus access to elevation nothing… Defensive 60% slow resistance while active makes it very hard to kite him off the… 1 about +2 m/s move speed and +35% bullet resist for Kelvin 2 about +35% spirit and +20 Spirit Power for Kelvin

   Ice Path third — bait it as an escape, since without it he is a slow hero with no way to disengage from a dive

• No Hard CC at all — every one of his control effects is a slow or a debuff, not a Stun Strong evidence
• Very low burst; he cannot close out a kill without help Strong evidence
• Arctic Beam Arctic Beam 5s Duration28s Cooldown Channels a beam of freezing energy in front of him that damages targets and progressively cuts their movement speed and fire rate the longer it stays on them. Crowd Control ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction; Damage about 45 damage per second at base; Mobility none — it constrains his own movement while he holds it 1 about -20% fire rate and move speed on targets 2 about +20 DPS with improved spirit scaling 5 about -13s cooldown and fires 2 additional beams at targets within 10m requires him to stand still and face one direction Strong evidence
• Neither of you deletes the other, so this matchup is decided by multipliers rather than damage. Resists stack multiplicatively, which means your fourth resist item buys much less percentage than your first; shred is subtracted from the total afterward, which means it is worth more the tankier they get; and healing reduction stacks multiplicatively too, so a second anti-heal source on top of a first is worth far less than the first. The efficient build against Kelvin is one anti-heal, one shred, and damage after that. Strong evidence

• Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… physically blocks your ranged damage — Guided Owl Guided Owl 125s Cooldown After a short cast, Grey Talon takes control of a spirit owl and flies it across the map; Crowd Control area stun on detonation Damage about 230 at base spirit power (deadlock.one) Mobility none for Grey Talon — in fact he is locked in place 1 instantly kills enemies below about 22% health and grants permanent Spirit Power per… , Charged Shot Charged Shot 17s Cooldown Draws back a heavy shot that can be held at full charge and pierces straight through everything it hits. Damage about 80 at base spirit power, +54 at tier 2 (deadlock.one, metabot.gg) 1 +54 damage 2 roughly -3s charge delay plus improved spirit scaling, turning it from a setpiece into a… and Bullet Dance Bullet Dance 3.5s Duration165s Cooldown Enters a firing flurry, shooting her weapon at nearby enemies with perfect accuracy and added bullet damage. Damage added bullet damage on top of her weapon; Mobility tier 2 adds about +3 m/s move speed and +10% fire rate during the channel Defensive tier 3 grants 40% evasion, which is a substantial survivability window… 1 +10% fire rate and about +3 m/s movement speed 2 40% evasion and about -65s cooldown simply do not reach through the dome, and his team heals back to full inside it Strong evidence
• Arctic Beam Arctic Beam 5s Duration28s Cooldown Channels a beam of freezing energy in front of him that damages targets and progressively cuts their movement speed and fire rate the longer it stays on them. Crowd Control ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction; Damage about 45 damage per second at base; Mobility none — it constrains his own movement while he holds it 1 about -20% fire rate and move speed on targets 2 about +20 DPS with improved spirit scaling 5 about -13s cooldown and fires 2 additional beams at targets within 10m strips your fire rate progressively; the longer it holds on you, the less damage your carry does, and it is one of the few fire rate debuffs in the game Strong evidence
• Frost Grenade Frost Grenade 30s Cooldown Lobs a grenade that bursts into a freezing cloud, healing allies caught in it while dealing spirit damage and cutting enemy movement speed. Crowd Control movement slow on enemies; Damage about 60 spirit at base, with a matching heal of about 60; Defensive the primary heal in his kit outside the ultimate, and the stamina freeze… 1 +30 damage and +30 heal 2 about -10s cooldown and freezes enemy stamina regeneration 5 +2m radius with improved spirit scaling tier 2 freezes your stamina regeneration, so your dashes do not come back and you cannot kite out of the slow Strong evidence
• Ice Path Ice Path 8s Duration50s Cooldown Lays down a floating trail of ice that Kelvin and his allies can ride for bonus movement, while Kelvin gains 60% slow resistance for the duration. Mobility substantial — fast movement along the path plus access to elevation nothing… Defensive 60% slow resistance while active makes it very hard to kite him off the… 1 about +2 m/s move speed and +35% bullet resist for Kelvin 2 about +35% spirit and +20 Spirit Power for Kelvin lets his whole team arrive on a rooftop or flank angle you did not cover Strong evidence
• A dome dropped on an objective stalls your entire push for its duration, and there is no way to break it Strong evidence

• Never fight into Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… — disengage, reset, and take the objective in the window after it expires; its cooldown is long Strong evidence
• Apply anti-heal ( Napalm Napalm 20m Range25s Cooldown Sprays a burning mixture in front of him that deals spirit damage, slows whoever it touches, and leaves them coated in napalm that keeps burning. Crowd Control movement slow on everyone hit Damage about 40 spirit at base plus the napalm coating over time (deadlock.one) Mobility none directly, though the slow effectively closes distance 1 +15% lifesteal 2 applies about +17% Damage Taken and -33% Healing to affected targets tier 3, Decay Decay 3,200 souls Tier 3TechPress +30s Cooldown +12s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay +8 Spirit Power -50% Incoming Healing -50% Incoming Healing +65 Bonus Health , Cursed Relic Cursed Relic 6,400 souls Tier 4TechPress +55s Cooldown +3.25s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay -25% Damage Penalty ) before the dome goes up to cut the regeneration, and be aware tier 3 purges non-ultimate debuffs once he has it Strong evidence
• Dive him during Arctic Beam Arctic Beam 5s Duration28s Cooldown Channels a beam of freezing energy in front of him that damages targets and progressively cuts their movement speed and fire rate the longer it stays on them. Crowd Control ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction; Damage about 45 damage per second at base; Mobility none — it constrains his own movement while he holds it 1 about -20% fire rate and move speed on targets 2 about +20 DPS with improved spirit scaling 5 about -13s cooldown and fires 2 additional beams at targets within 10m — he is stationary and facing one direction, with no Stun to stop a gap-closer like Phantom Strike Phantom Strike 6,400 souls Tier 4ArmorPress +35s Cooldown +0.35s Cast Delay +8 Spirit Power +15% Weapon Damage +40% Move Speed +3s Slow Duration or Flame Dash Flame Dash 3s Duration38s Cooldown Dashes forward with slow resistance, leaving a burning trail behind that damages anyone standing in it. Damage about 30 damage per second from the trail; Mobility a substantial forward dash, extendable by holding forward Defensive slow resistance during the dash makes it reliable as an escape even into… 1 +1.0s trail duration and about +20 damage per second 2 2 ability charges with about a 14s recharge Strong evidence
• Force fights at range where Frost Grenade Frost Grenade 30s Cooldown Lobs a grenade that bursts into a freezing cloud, healing allies caught in it while dealing spirit damage and cutting enemy movement speed. Crowd Control movement slow on enemies; Damage about 60 spirit at base, with a matching heal of about 60; Defensive the primary heal in his kit outside the ultimate, and the stamina freeze… 1 +30 damage and +30 heal 2 about -10s cooldown and freezes enemy stamina regeneration 5 +2m radius with improved spirit scaling 's arc is easy to walk out of and his 14-round magazine runs dry Strong evidence
• Punish him hard whenever Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… is down, since he has zero Hard CC and no way to physically stop a commit Strong evidence
• Spend your dash before the Frost Grenade Frost Grenade 30s Cooldown Lobs a grenade that bursts into a freezing cloud, healing allies caught in it while dealing spirit damage and cutting enemy movement speed. Crowd Control movement slow on enemies; Damage about 60 spirit at base, with a matching heal of about 60; Defensive the primary heal in his kit outside the ultimate, and the stamina freeze… 1 +30 damage and +30 heal 2 about -10s cooldown and freezes enemy stamina regeneration 5 +2m radius with improved spirit scaling lands, not after, because the tier-2 stamina freeze stops it coming back Strong evidence
• You cannot out-move Kelvin's gun, so the answer is the item that changes what their bullets do rather than where you stand. Plated Armor Plated Armor 6,400 souls Tier 4ArmorPassive +1s Cooldown +30% Deflection Percent +50% On-Hit Prevention Percent +130 Bonus Health deflects bullets outright and — the part most players miss — strips their on-hit build-ups, which is the only clean answer to Silencer Silencer 6,400 souls Tier 4WeaponPassive +12% Spirit Resist -25% Spirit Damage Reduction +2.5s Silence Duration +6s Debuff Duration +10s Immunity Duration , Toxic Bullets Toxic Bullets 3,200 souls Tier 3WeaponPassive -35% Incoming Healing -35% Incoming Healing and Inhibitor Inhibitor 6,400 souls Tier 4ArmorPassive +150 Bonus Health +5s Debuff Duration -30% Damage Penalty +10% Weapon Damage -40% Incoming Healing -40% Incoming Healing stacks landing on you. If 6,400 is too far away, Battle Vest Battle Vest 1,600 souls Tier 2ArmorPassive +18% Bullet Resist +3 Out of Combat Regen +65% Life Threshold +18% Weapon Damage +7% Fire Rate at +18% Bullet Resist is the efficient Tier II step and Bullet Resilience Bullet Resilience 3,200 souls Tier 3ArmorPassive +30% Bullet Resist +3 Out of Combat Regen at +30% (with a further +15% below half health) the Tier III one. Strong evidence
• You are the one standing in front of Kelvin's gun, which makes the fire-rate items pay for you in a way they do not for your backline. Juggernaut Juggernaut 6,400 souls Tier 4ArmorPassive +25% Melee Resist +50% Slow Resist +40% Fire Rate +8 Health Regen +4s Duration Builds from Enduring Speed cuts fire rate by 40% on anyone shooting you — it is a passive tax on their entire damage output for as long as you hold the frontline — and Return Fire Return Fire 1,600 souls Tier 2ArmorInstantCast +23s Cooldown +6.5s Duration +65% Bullet Damage Returned +25% Spirit Damage Returned +10% Bullet Resist punishes the same behaviour. Compare that against another resist item honestly: resists stack multiplicatively so your fifth resist source buys little, while a fire-rate cut applies to a number nothing else in your build is touching. Strong evidence

• The entire Arctic Beam Arctic Beam 5s Duration28s Cooldown Channels a beam of freezing energy in front of him that damages targets and progressively cuts their movement speed and fire rate the longer it stays on them. Crowd Control ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction; Damage about 45 damage per second at base; Mobility none — it constrains his own movement while he holds it 1 about -20% fire rate and move speed on targets 2 about +20 DPS with improved spirit scaling 5 about -13s cooldown and fires 2 additional beams at targets within 10m channel — he is immobile, facing one direction, and has no Stun to protect himself Strong evidence
• Any fight where Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +65 health regeneration with improved spirit… is on cooldown; his team loses its reset button and he has no Hard CC Strong evidence
• His 2.59s reload on a 14-round magazine, which comes up often in sustained trades Strong evidence
• While riding Ice Path Ice Path 8s Duration50s Cooldown Lays down a floating trail of ice that Kelvin and his allies can ride for bonus movement, while Kelvin gains 60% slow resistance for the duration. Mobility substantial — fast movement along the path plus access to elevation nothing… Defensive 60% slow resistance while active makes it very hard to kite him off the… 1 about +2 m/s move speed and +35% bullet resist for Kelvin 2 about +35% spirit and +20 Spirit Power for Kelvin he moves in a straight, predictable, un-strafing line and can be knocked off it Strong evidence
• Immediately after the dome expires — his team is bunched together in a known location with the ultimate on a long cooldown Strong evidence

• Confirming and denying a soul orb is a hit-check, not a damage-check — one bullet or one pellet takes it regardless of how much damage it does. That is good news for you in the abstract and bad news against Kelvin specifically, because your projectile has travel time and their hitscan does not. On the contested floating orb you have to pre-fire: start the shot before the trooper dies and lead the orb's spawn point, because if you both react at the same instant they win every time. Strong evidence
• Kelvin will shove the wave into your Guardian to push you off souls, and you are not fast enough to walk around it. The thing to protect is the floating orb — the ground orb drops and cannot be denied, so half your income is safe no matter what they do, and the contest is only ever over the other 50. Position on your Guardian's side of the wave so you are already in range of the floating orbs when they pop, and give up the forward orbs rather than crossing for them. Strategic

• Fights against Kelvin recur on the objective clock — the Rift every 7 minutes from about 11:00, the Urn every 5 from 10:00 — which means the question is not whether your ultimate is strong but whether it is up for the next one. Ultimate Cooldown Reduction is a new stat introduced on 09-16-2026, first appearing on Diviner's Kevlar Diviner's Kevlar 6,400 souls Tier 4ArmorPassive +40s Cooldown +40 Spirit Power +1000 Barrier +20s Buff Duration +15% Ability Duration +10% Ultimate Cooldown Reduction at +10%. Against a team-fight hero, buying into a recurring ultimate is a different and often better purchase than buying into a bigger one. Documented

• Fight Kelvin 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
• Kelvin 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 Bullet Damage, so Toxic Bullets Toxic Bullets 3,200 souls Tier 3WeaponPassive -35% Incoming Healing -35% Incoming Healing is your anti-heal route against Kelvin — Healbane Healbane 1,600 souls Tier 2ArmorPassive +8s Duration +7 Spirit Power -35% Incoming Healing -35% Incoming Healing +275 Heal On Hero Kill keys off Spirit Damage and will barely apply for you. Note that melee hits do not build the bullet route. Strong evidence
• Kelvin fights from the air, which is exactly what Knockdown Knockdown 3,200 souls Tier 3TechPress +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
• Do not assume Kelvin shrugs off your anti-heal by going immune. Unstoppable Unstoppable 6,400 souls Tier 4ArmorInstantCast +60s Cooldown +5.5s Duration +125 Bonus Health +25% Debuff Resist Builds from Debuff Reducer explicitly does not suppress healing reduction — if you have the debuff on them before they pop it, they are still healing at the reduced rate through the whole window. Documented
• If Kelvin buys Dispel Magic Dispel Magic 3,200 souls Tier 3ArmorInstantCast +45s Cooldown +10% Spirit Resist +3s Buff Duration +250 HP Healed On Activate to purge your anti-heal, bullet-applied reduction re-lands on your very next shot, while spirit-applied reduction has to wait for your next ability. That asymmetry is a real argument for the bullet route against a hero who will buy a purge. Strong evidence
• Arctic Blast Arctic Blast 6,400 souls Tier 4TechInstantCast +24s Cooldown +0.6s Spread Duration: +48% Move Speed +4s Slow Duration +10% Spirit Resist +1s Freeze Duration Builds from Cold Front (spirit T4) — Buy to lock down a mobile enemy team or to peel a dive off your backline — the stamina freeze stops them dashing out. That matters here because of the air mobility from Kelvin. Documented
• Knockdown Knockdown 3,200 souls Tier 3TechPress +35s Cooldown +0.1s Cast Delay +2s Stun Delay +0.5s Stun Duration +75 Bonus Health +5% Ability Range +5% Radius (spirit T3) — Kelvin 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
• Phantom Strike Phantom Strike 6,400 souls Tier 4ArmorPress +35s Cooldown +0.35s Cast Delay +8 Spirit Power +15% Weapon Damage +40% Move Speed +3s Slow Duration (vitality T4) — Kelvin is where this lineup’s air mobility comes from. Buy to catch flying or long-range heroes who otherwise never enter your range, and to Disarm a gun carry mid-burst. Documented

• Anti-heal against Kelvin is bought correctly and applied at the wrong moment. Healbane Healbane 1,600 souls Tier 2ArmorPassive +8s Duration +7 Spirit Power -35% Incoming Healing -35% Incoming Healing +275 Heal On Hero Kill 's reduction runs for 8 seconds from your Spirit Damage and Toxic Bullets Toxic Bullets 3,200 souls Tier 3WeaponPassive -35% Incoming Healing -35% Incoming Healing ' runs while the bleed is up — both are windows, and re-applying the same source before it expires does not stack a second instance. The mistake is opening the fight clean and reaching for anti-heal once they start healing; by then you have spent the fight. Land it before they commit, then keep the window refreshed rather than re-triggering it. Strong evidence
• The losing pattern against Kelvin is deciding to leave, walking to the zipline and finding you cannot attach. Any damage from an enemy hero or objective blocks zipline attachment for 3 seconds, and Kelvin has the chip range to keep that 3-second timer rolling indefinitely. Break line of sight first, wait out the lockout, then attach — do not walk to the rope while still taking fire. Documented
• The specific error is walking into Kelvin's area denial after it is already down, because your team is in there and you feel late. You are slow enough that entering a committed zone is a one-way decision — you will be inside it for its full duration, not for the two seconds you intended. Arrive before the zone or arrive from the other side of it; arriving into it is how this matchup is lost even when your team wins the fight. Strategic
• The Unstable Rift capture point is a 20m circle on a bridge, capture only progresses when no enemy is inside it, and everyone standing in it is revealed on the minimap. That is a purpose-built trap for Kelvin. The mistake is treating the circle as the objective: you do not need to stand in it, you need them not to. Contest from outside the radius, deny with a single body at the edge, and let their Area Damage land on empty bridge. Strategic