Sinclair vs Violet
Written for the Sinclair player. Playing Violet? See Violet vs Sinclair →
Violet is announced but not out yet. New heroes release Tuesdays and Fridays at 2:00 pm Pacific, in an order set by player vote; the next slot is Friday 16 October.
This page becomes the full matchup guide on release day: the measured win rate, who is favoured, how to win, a phase-by-phase plan and the abilities to watch. Everything known about Violet so far →
Your side: Sinclair in lane
Lane strengths
- 16.5 damage per bullet with falloff not starting until 20m still gives him one of the longest comfortable poke ranges in this group
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Vexing Bolt Vexing Bolt Sinclair fires a bolt of magic whose damage grows the further it travels. Crowd Control None at base. The 1 AP upgrade applies -25% fire rate for 5s. Damage 60 minimum to 120 maximum depending on distance travelled; Defensive The fire-rate slow at 1 AP is a genuine defensive debuff against gun-primary… 1 1 AP: applies -25% fire rate for 5s 2 2 AP: -13s cooldown (24s to roughly 11s) 5 5 AP: +50% maximum damage and +50% assistant bolt damage at 60-120 distance-scaled damage with a mid-flight redirect is extremely hard to fully avoid in a lane -
Spectral Assistant Spectral Assistant Sinclair summons an Assistant at a targeted location. Damage 15 damage per Assistant attack, +14 at 5 AP. Mobility The swap is a functional blink to a pre-chosen location, usable twice per… Defensive His only escape tool — placing the Assistant behind cover and swapping is… 1 1 AP: -10s cooldown (40s to 30s) 2 2 AP: +7s duration and +5m placement range 5 5 AP: +60% Assistant fire rate and +14 Assistant damage swap doubles as an instant reload, so his 2.50s reload rarely costs him a trade
Lane weaknesses
- 730 max health with no healing whatsoever in the kit
- 300 m/s projectile speed means his gun must lead moving targets — a strafing laner takes far less than the paper DPS suggests
- At only 2.72 bullets/second, a single missed burst is a large share of his damage window
Power spikes
- 1 AP into
Rabbit Hex Rabbit Hex Sinclair hexes an area, turning every enemy inside it into a rabbit for a short time. Crowd Control A hard disable — hexed targets cannot use most actions for 2s (3s at 2 AP). Damage No direct damage; applies 15% increased damage taken (+7% at 5 AP). 26s… Mobility None for Sinclair. Hexed enemies move faster, which is a real drawback of… 1 1 AP: -12s cooldown (26s to 14s) 2 2 AP: +1s duration (2s to 3s) 5 5 AP: +7% damage amplification and +2m radius (was +3m before 5 October) — -12s cooldown (26s to 14s) makes the hard disable available in nearly every skirmish instead of once per fight - 2 AP into Vexing Bolt Vexing Bolt Sinclair fires a bolt of magic whose damage grows the further it travels. Crowd Control None at base. The 1 AP upgrade applies -25% fire rate for 5s. Damage 60 minimum to 120 maximum depending on distance travelled; Defensive The fire-rate slow at 1 AP is a genuine defensive debuff against gun-primary… 1 1 AP: applies -25% fire rate for 5s 2 2 AP: -13s cooldown (24s to roughly 11s) 5 5 AP: +50% maximum damage and +50% assistant bolt damage — -13s cooldown (24s to ~11s) turns his poke from a punctuation mark into continuous pressure
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Audience Participation Audience Participation Sinclair copies an enemy hero's ultimate for a limited time. Crowd Control Whatever CC the copied ultimate provides Damage No inherent damage — output depends entirely on the copied ultimate. Mobility Whatever mobility the copied ultimate provides 1 1 AP / 2 AP / 5 AP: each tier upgrades the copied ultimate one additional step unlock, plus a fed enemy ultimate — Copies with inherited upgrade points, so the spike is really the enemy's ultimate spike
What Valve has shown of Violet
Abilities not shown yet. Valve's words for Violet: ambitious, nimble, creative. A painter. Likely a zoning or terrain-painting kit; nothing confirmed yet.
Other new heroes against Sinclair
- Sinclair vs Nurse Harrow from 16 Oct