Violet vs Rat King
Written for the Violet player. Playing Rat King? See Rat King vs Violet →
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 →
How to beat Rat King
- Dash as soon as the rats land — every ground or air dash shakes one off, and the bullet-resist shred falls off 4 seconds after the last bite
- Step out of the 8m grenade circle after the first detonation, or melee the grenade away from you
- Break
Royal Pestments Royal Pestments Rat King puts on scrap armour that gives him a barrier worth a share of his maximum health. Damage Reflected bullets return their full damage to the shooter. Defensive Barrier equal to 15% of his max health for 6s on a 22s cooldown. 1 +4s duration 2 -8s cooldown and +15% bullet return chance 5 +10% max health as barrier, and no single hit deals more than 250 while it holds with Spirit Damage, which is never reflected, or wait out its 6 seconds before you commit your gun - When the banner is planted, leave the 20m circle and come back when it falls 12 seconds later rather than fighting into the damage reduction
Bait these first
- Royal Pestments Royal Pestments Rat King puts on scrap armour that gives him a barrier worth a share of his maximum health. Damage Reflected bullets return their full damage to the shooter. Defensive Barrier equal to 15% of his max health for 6s on a 22s cooldown. 1 +4s duration 2 -8s cooldown and +15% bullet return chance 5 +10% max health as barrier, and no single hit deals more than 250 while it holds first — poke him until he armours up, then hold your gun until the 6 seconds are over; without it he has no defensive button left
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Rat Swarm Rat Swarm Rat King calls a swarm of rats to a spot up to 50m away. Damage 8 spirit damage per bite (+0.08 Spirit scaling), one bite per attached rat… 1 +1 charge (8s between charges) 2 a larger swarm and +4s debuff duration 5 +8 damage and an extra -1% bullet resist per bite second — once it is on cooldown (24s since 5 October) your dashes are free for positioning instead of shaking rats -
Scrap Grenade Scrap Grenade 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 last — it is the easiest to sidestep or melee away, and it is his only slow outside the ultimate
What Rat King does to you
- Rat Swarm Rat Swarm Rat King calls a swarm of rats to a spot up to 50m away. Damage 8 spirit damage per bite (+0.08 Spirit scaling), one bite per attached rat… 1 +1 charge (8s between charges) 2 a larger swarm and +4s debuff duration 5 +8 damage and an extra -1% bullet resist per bite strips 1% Bullet Resist per bite and keeps biting faster as more rats land, so the longer you fight covered in rats, the harder every gun on his team hits you
- Scrap Grenade Scrap Grenade 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 goes off three times in an 8m circle with a slow on each hit — standing in it to trade costs you all three detonations
- Royal Pestments Royal Pestments Rat King puts on scrap armour that gives him a barrier worth a share of his maximum health. Damage Reflected bullets return their full damage to the shooter. Defensive Barrier equal to 15% of his max health for 6s on a 22s cooldown. 1 +4s duration 2 -8s cooldown and +15% bullet return chance 5 +10% max health as barrier, and no single hit deals more than 250 while it holds sends a share of your bullets back at you, and at Tier 3 caps any single hit at 250 while it holds
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 Rat King
- Nurse Harrow vs Rat King from 16 Oct