Shiv vs Apollo

Do

• Plan for Slowing Hex Slowing Hex 1,600 souls Tier 2TechPress +29s Cooldown +3.5s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay +16% Move Speed -26% Dash Distance — know which tier it sits in so you are not improvising at the shop.
• Know what Riposte looks like. It is the cooldown this lane revolves around.

Avoid

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

Do

• Only ~49 weapon DPS with 2.63 shots per second — he cannot burst a healthy laner down through raw gunfire
• Poor wave clear; he farms slowly compared to Calico or Drifter
• Serrated Knives Serrated Knives 16s Cooldown Shiv throws a knife that damages and bleeds the target. Crowd Control Applies a movement slow with the bleed; Damage 32 impact damage plus 10 bleed DPS per knife stack over a 5s debuff; 1 1 AP: +2s debuff duration 2 2 AP: +2 charges (four knives available for a full stack dump) 5 5 AP: +7 bleed DPS per stack, and +0.01 spirit scaling on the full-Rage impact damage give him free chip at range with 2 charges on a 16s cooldown, which wins the health-bar war without him ever entering shotgun range

Avoid

• The no-falloff-to-25m weapon means he wins medium-range trades against heroes whose damage is already degrading at that distance
• Disengaging Sigil lets him take an aggressive trade and immediately deny the counter-trade, which is very hard to punish

Do

• Their first real spike is 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) — respect it from that point, not before.
• Your spike is ult unlock: Killing Blow makes every low-health enemy within 12m a guaranteed kill and turns on the Rage passive that upgrades all three basic abilities

Avoid

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

Do

• Watch for 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% . The charge is a visible, immobilising wind-up — break line of sight behind a pillar during the charge and the slash cannot reach you
• Never fire into a stationary Apollo who is facing you — that is the Riposte window. Feint a readable threat, let the parry expire, then commit the real damage into the 14-22s recovery

Avoid

• Spending your own escape before Riposte is on cooldown.

• Itani Lo Sahn Ultimate

  The one cooldown worth tracking on its own timer: stasis-style lockdown — the target cannot take action and is stuck in slow motion, plus a healing prevention effect for the duration.

  • The charge is a visible, immobilising wind-up — break line of sight behind a pillar during the charge and the slash cannot reach you
  • Do not spend your own burst or single-target ultimate while he is in the slow-motion effect; he is invulnerable and it is thrown away
  • Stay above half health when he has ultimate up — the bonus scales specifically against low-health targets and is where the execute damage comes from
• Disengaging Sigil Ability 1

  Sticking power rather than damage: movement slow on enemies caught in the blast.

  • The leap goes backwards along a predictable vector — cut the retreat line rather than chasing directly behind him
  • The sigil has a visible draw animation before it detonates; step out of the sphere and he gets neither the damage nor the slow
  • Once the sigil is spent (12s base cooldown), his next approach has no exit and that is when to commit
• Riposte Ability 2

  Movement and control on the same button, which is what makes it awkward to trade against: a 1.5s immobilize and parry disable on the counter-dash target, not a Stun, so they can still shoot and cast.

  • Do not throw your damage into an Apollo who is standing still and facing you — that pose is the parry, and feeding it hands him an immobilize and a free dash
  • Bait it with a readable but harmless action, let the window lapse, then commit the real burst into the recovery
  • Attack from multiple angles at once; a single perfectly-timed deflection cannot answer crossfire from two directions
• Flawless Advance Ability 3

  His main damage tool and his in-fight movement at the same time. The timing mechanic means a skilled Apollo does roughly two and a half times the damage of a careless one with the same ability.

  • The lunges are linear and telegraphed — strafing perpendicular denies the piercing stab entirely
  • Do not shoot bullets into him during the lunges once he has Tier 2; the 60% bullet resistance makes it a wasted magazine. Use Spirit Damage or wait
  • Deny the hero hit and he loses the Tier 1 heal, which is most of his in-combat sustain

1. 1 Riposte

   Riposte first, always — it is the hero. Show a readable threat, hold the real damage half a second, and punish the recovery. With Riposte down he is a low-durability duellist with a 49 DPS gun

2. 2 Disengaging Sigil

   Disengaging Sigil second — it is his exit and his dash reset. Force it early in a skirmish and his next approach has no way out; the base cooldown is 12s so you have a real but short window

3. 3 Flawless Advance

   Flawless Advance third — baiting the lunges denies both his damage and the T1 heal, and the 60% Bullet Resist window closes

• Very little teamfight contribution — his ultimate is single-target and his damage is duel-shaped Strong evidence
• Low durability; a Stun chain he cannot parry kills him quickly Strong evidence
• Riposte is a read that can be baited, and a wrongly-spent parry leaves him exposed for 14-22s Strong evidence
• Apollo threatens you two ways at once — a combo that kills and a disable that makes the combo land — and the three big defensive actives are deliberately orthogonal, so you have to decide which half you are answering. Metal Skin Metal Skin 3,200 souls Tier 3ArmorInstantCast +24s Cooldown +5s Duration +12% Bullet Resist -20% Dash Distance +20% Gravity Scale blocks Bullet Damage and no statuses; Unstoppable Unstoppable 6,400 souls Tier 4ArmorInstantCast +60s Cooldown +5.5s Duration +125 Bonus Health +25% Debuff Resist Builds from Debuff Reducer blocks statuses and no damage; Ethereal Shift Ethereal Shift 6,400 souls Tier 4TechInstantCast +37s Cooldown +4s Duration +5s Buff Duration +30% Spirit Resist +20 Spirit Power blocks everything but takes you out of the fight and cancels your own channels. Buying two is the honest answer if you have the souls; buying the wrong one is the same as buying nothing. Strong evidence

• Riposte turns your committed damage against you: it deflects, makes him briefly invulnerable, then dashes him onto you with an immobilize, a parry lock and a -30% melee resist debuff Strong evidence
• Itani Lo Sahn freezes you in slow motion with healing disabled, then detonates for 200+ delayed damage — and the bonus is amplified against targets under half health, so a chipped hero is dead outright Strong evidence
• Flawless Advance perfect-timing hits do roughly 65 base compared to 25 on a lazy release, so a good Apollo's damage in a duel is far higher than his DPS number suggests Strong evidence
• Disengaging Sigil resets his dashes and air jumps at T2, so a fight you thought you had cornered him in usually ends with him leaving and you slowed Strong evidence
• For 1.5s after the counter-dash you can neither move nor parry, so his melee follow-up lands unanswered; you can still shoot and cast Strong evidence

• Never fire into a stationary Apollo who is facing you — that is the Riposte window. Feint a readable threat, let the parry expire, then commit the real damage into the 14-22s recovery Strong evidence
• Attack from two angles at once; Riposte answers one incoming attack, and crossfire defeats it by definition Strong evidence
• Engage him from the air where you can — tracklock notes the Riposte counter-dash loses reliability against airborne targets because Apollo descends during it Strong evidence
• Stop shooting bullets during Flawless Advance once he has T2 — the 60% bullet resistance makes it a wasted magazine; use Spirit Damage or simply strafe out of the linear lunges Strong evidence
• Break line of sight while he charges Itani Lo Sahn; the wind-up immobilises him and any pillar or corner denies the slash entirely Strong evidence
• Stay above half health when his ultimate is up — the execute bonus keys off low-health targets, and topping up before a contest removes most of its damage Strong evidence
• Do not burn burst or a single-target ultimate while he is invulnerable (during the Riposte deflect or the ultimate's slow-motion); wait the window out Strong evidence
• Against Apollo the item that changes the matchup is Slowing Hex, and not for the slow. It silences movement abilities and movement items — that is their dash, their blink, their Warp Stone Warp Stone 3,200 souls Tier 3ArmorInstantCast +16s Cooldown +30% Bullet Resist +6s Buff Duration and their 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 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 14-22s after a wasted Riposte — no parry, no counter-dash, and a fragile hero with low weapon DPS Strong evidence
• During the Itani Lo Sahn charge: he is immobilised while holding it, so a flank or a long-range burst catches him standing still Strong evidence
• Immediately after Disengaging Sigil is spent (12s base cooldown) — his next engage has no exit and no dash reset Strong evidence
• In extended fights after his cooldowns are through; dramalock notes he specifically 'falters in extended fights after cooldown usage' Strong evidence
• Any time he is caught in layered CC he cannot parry — his durability is low and he has no sustain beyond the 35 health per Flawless Advance hero hit Strong evidence
• Parry is your best tool against Apollo's arrival and it is now a commitment rather than a hedge. Since 09-16-2026, parrying during a dash cancels the dash and its momentum, so you cannot both reposition and hold F. The cooldown maths makes the decision for you: a successful parry costs 0.5 seconds and stuns them for 3 with no Debuff Resist reduction possible, while a whiff costs 4.5 seconds — against a hero who arrives on a cooldown, that whiff is the entire window they needed. Documented

• Apollo closes distance on a cooldown and you have no exit, so in the 0-6 minute window your Guardian is your escape item. Fight with it behind you and inside its range, not beside you: their gap-close has to end somewhere, and ending it inside 116 DPS of Guardian fire is the only punish you own before you have items. The moment the Guardian falls at around 6:00, that safety disappears and the matchup gets materially worse — plan your first defensive purchase for that timing. Strategic

• If you are behind and planning to fight Apollo on the Rift point because of the comeback bubble, recheck the number. As of 09-16-2026 the behind-team resist bonus inside the 35m radius is no longer a flat 35% — it is 10% + 1% per minute, capping at 40% only at 30:00, which is roughly 20% at the first Rift. Twenty percent does not turn a losing fight against burst into a winning one. The reduced capture time (floor 6 seconds) is the part of the comeback package that is still worth playing for. Documented
• There is a hard behavioural change at 20:00 in this matchup: respawn goes from 35 to 38 seconds as of 09-16-2026, and you are the hero Apollo can pick off without a fight starting. Three seconds does not sound like much until you price it against the Rift's 7-minute cadence and the Urn at 20 and 25 — a single death now reliably costs you presence at the next objective. Past 20:00, stop taking the solo camp that is one rotation from their side of the map. Documented

• Fight Apollo 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

• Apollo 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
• Slowing Hex (spirit T2) — Apollo's Disengaging Sigil is what you are buying against here. Buy it when an enemy repeatedly uses a movement ability or item to dash, blink or fly out of your kill window. Documented
• Vortex Web Vortex Web 6,400 souls Tier 4TechPress +42s Cooldown +4s Duration +0.2s Cast Delay +0.5s Tether Duration +28% Move Speed -36% Dash Distance +8% Ability Range +8% Radius Builds from Slowing Hex (spirit T4) — Apollo's Disengaging Sigil is what you are buying against here. Buy to set up team wipes against scattered, mobile enemies — it groups them and takes away their escapes at once. Documented
• Knockdown (spirit T3) — Buy whenever an enemy fights from the sky — it answers flying and airborne heroes and channelled aerial ultimates. What you are answering here: Apollo's Disengaging Sigil. Documented

• Your instinct is to jump on Apollo's backline the moment you see an opening, and the mistake is not checking what is above you. A Walker's Stomp is 350 damage + 15% of your max health inside 15m with a 2-second Stun on a 7-second cooldown — a 2-second Stun handed to a team with peel is a death. Dive under their Walker only with Unstoppable pre-cast or after the Stomp has just gone off. Strong evidence