Violet vs Calico

How to beat Calico

• Hold Hard CC for her — she has zero crowd control and only 1-tier durability, so a single Stun, Root or Knockup that lands outside her ultimate window usually kills her
• Do not waste burst or a single-target ultimate during Return to Shadows Return to Shadows 115s Cooldown Calico instantly vanishes into shadow, becoming untargetable and gaining movement speed, damaging enemies around her as she goes. Damage 150 base spirit damage per hit (deadlock.one), applied on both entry and… Mobility Bonus move speed during the untargetable phase, which she uses to reposition… Defensive Full untargetability for the duration — it can be used purely to survive a… 1 -20s cooldown (from a 115s base) 2 +75 damage and +20% bonus move speed 5 +450 heal amount and +1s cooldown refund ; she is untargetable, so wait out the ~3s and pre-aim the exit point instead
• Place area-denial on her likely reappearance point — Dynamo's Singularity Singularity 250s Cooldown Dynamo forms a black hole in his hands that drags nearby enemies toward him, stunning them and burning them with spirit damage for the duration of the channel. Crowd Control AoE stun plus a continuous vacuum pull for the full channel duration — the… Damage 75 spirit damage per second base (deadlock.one) over a ~2.75s channel; Mobility none; Dynamo is rooted in place for the channel 1 +2m vacuum radius 2 +0.75s channel time 5 +6% damage per enemy's missing health , Mo & Krill's burrow, McGinnis turrets — rather than trying to react to the exit
• Shoot her once while she is in Ava Ava 30s Cooldown Calico dissolves into shadow and takes the form of Ava, gaining movement speed that builds the longer she stays in the form and disappearing from the enemy minimap. Mobility Ramping bonus move speed (up to +45% more at Tier 2) and concealment from… Defensive Escape only through raw speed; 1 +15s buff duration 2 +45% maximum bonus move speed and +15 health regeneration 5 +20% outgoing damage, +6s damage amp duration and +10s build duration form; hero damage resets the ramping speed bonus and locks the form out, which strands her mid-rotation

Bait these first

• Return to Shadows Return to Shadows 115s Cooldown Calico instantly vanishes into shadow, becoming untargetable and gaining movement speed, damaging enemies around her as she goes. Damage 150 base spirit damage per hit (deadlock.one), applied on both entry and… Mobility Bonus move speed during the untargetable phase, which she uses to reposition… Defensive Full untargetability for the duration — it can be used purely to survive a… 1 -20s cooldown (from a 115s base) 2 +75 damage and +20% bonus move speed 5 +450 heal amount and +1s cooldown refund above all — it is simultaneously her dive and her escape. Force her to burn it defensively (feign a collapse, show a Stun) and the next 95-115 seconds she is a fragile no-CC hero you can walk at
• Leaping Slash Leaping Slash 9m Range13s Cooldown Calico lunges forward and then sweeps everything around her with a melee slash. Damage 10 impact damage plus 40 heal scaling per Spirit Power at base… Mobility A committed forward dash — good for closing, mediocre for escaping since it… Defensive Heals on hero hit (+25 at Tier 1), giving her a reason to stay in a fight… 1 +25 heal amount 2 +200 bonus gold on kill and +3s bounty duration 5 +10 damage, +50% cooldown refund and +60 impact damage second, because it is both her gap-close and her in-fight heal; sidestep it and she gets neither
• Ava Ava 30s Cooldown Calico dissolves into shadow and takes the form of Ava, gaining movement speed that builds the longer she stays in the form and disappearing from the enemy minimap. Mobility Ramping bonus move speed (up to +45% more at Tier 2) and concealment from… Defensive Escape only through raw speed; 1 +15s buff duration 2 +45% maximum bonus move speed and +15 health regeneration 5 +20% outgoing damage, +6s damage amp duration and +10s build duration third — landing any hero shot resets it, and a Calico who has to rotate on foot is trackable again

What Calico does to you

• Return to Shadows Return to Shadows 115s Cooldown Calico instantly vanishes into shadow, becoming untargetable and gaining movement speed, damaging enemies around her as she goes. Damage 150 base spirit damage per hit (deadlock.one), applied on both entry and… Mobility Bonus move speed during the untargetable phase, which she uses to reposition… Defensive Full untargetability for the duration — it can be used purely to survive a… 1 -20s cooldown (from a 115s base) 2 +75 damage and +20% bonus move speed 5 +450 heal amount and +1s cooldown refund lets her enter a fight untargetable, land the exit detonation on your backline, and leave before you can select her as a target — a lone support or sniper is simply dead
• Ava Ava 30s Cooldown Calico dissolves into shadow and takes the form of Ava, gaining movement speed that builds the longer she stays in the form and disappearing from the enemy minimap. Mobility Ramping bonus move speed (up to +45% more at Tier 2) and concealment from… Defensive Escape only through raw speed; 1 +15s buff duration 2 +45% maximum bonus move speed and +15 health regeneration 5 +20% outgoing damage, +6s damage amp duration and +10s build duration keeps her off the minimap while she rotates, so the first warning you get is usually Gloom Bombs Gloom Bombs 14s Cooldown Calico lobs a handful of bombs that scatter and blow up after a short fuse, dealing spirit damage in the area they land. Damage 45 base spirit damage per bomb (deadlock.one); Defensive Can be thrown behind her while retreating to deter a chase through a choke. 1 -3s cooldown (from a 14s base) 2 -6% melee resist on targets hit and +6s duration 5 +3 grenades landing at your feet
• Gloom Bombs Gloom Bombs 14s Cooldown Calico lobs a handful of bombs that scatter and blow up after a short fuse, dealing spirit damage in the area they land. Damage 45 base spirit damage per bomb (deadlock.one); Defensive Can be thrown behind her while retreating to deter a chase through a choke. 1 -3s cooldown (from a 14s base) 2 -6% melee resist on targets hit and +6s duration 5 +3 grenades plus Leaping Slash Leaping Slash 9m Range13s Cooldown Calico lunges forward and then sweeps everything around her with a melee slash. Damage 10 impact damage plus 40 heal scaling per Spirit Power at base… Mobility A committed forward dash — good for closing, mediocre for escaping since it… Defensive Heals on hero hit (+25 at Tier 1), giving her a reason to stay in a fight… 1 +25 heal amount 2 +200 bonus gold on kill and +3s bounty duration 5 +10 damage, +50% cooldown refund and +60 impact damage plus a full 79 DPS spreadshot magazine is a burst sequence that kills anyone under about 1 durability at point-blank range

How to counter Calico →

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 Calico

• Nurse Harrow vs Calico from 16 Oct