Infernus

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.

Purpose: His lane harass, his wave-clear and his chase tool — it is the button that starts every fight and the reason he wins extended trades.

Damage

About 40 spirit at base plus the napalm coating over time (deadlock.one)

Crowd control

Movement slow on everyone hit

Mobility

None directly, though the slow effectively closes distance

Defensive

The slow is a real disengage tool against a chasing melee hero

How to play against it

• It is a short cone — back out of the arc rather than trading through it; the coating stops ticking once the burn expires
• Spirit Armor is the correct resist because all of it is Spirit Damage, not bullet
• At tier 3 the -33% healing means you cannot outsustain him — disengage instead of trying to heal through it
• Dispel Magic clears the coating and the slow together, resetting the Afterburn ramp with it

Interactions

• Tier 3 applies about +17% damage taken and -33% healing, which makes it both a damage amp and a native anti-heal
• The napalm coating is an ability-source burn, so it refreshes Afterburn's base duration
• Hits cloaked heroes in the cone — a useful flush for Haze's Smoke Bomb Smoke Bomb 8s Duration33s Cooldown Vanishes from sight and gains bonus sprint speed. Mobility significant sprint speed bonus while active; Defensive an escape — at tier 3 it also purges non-ultimate debuffs and grants 50%… 1 grants 2 ability charges 2 removes non-ultimate debuffs on cast and grants 50% bullet lifesteal for 5 seconds
• Clears creep waves fast, which is why he is a strong farmer despite low raw gun damage

Dashes forward with slow resistance, leaving a burning trail behind that damages anyone standing in it. Holding forward extends the dash further.

Purpose: His gap-close and his escape, plus a lingering zone that makes retreating through the same corridor costly.

Damage

About 30 damage per second from the trail; tier 2 adds about +20 DPS (deadlock.one, metabot.gg)

Mobility

A substantial forward dash, extendable by holding forward

Defensive

Slow resistance during the dash makes it reliable as an escape even into enemy slows

How to play against it

• Before tier 3 he has one charge — if he dashes in, he has no dash out; collapse on him immediately
• The dash is a fixed straight line; sidestep and he overshoots past you
• Do not walk back down the corridor he dashed through — the trail persists and refreshes his burn
• 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 or a Stun during the dash cancels the reposition and strands him in your team

Interactions

• Trail damage is an ability source, so it refreshes Afterburn duration on anyone standing in it
• Slow resistance during the dash specifically counters kiting slows like Crackshot Crackshot 20s Cooldown Her headshots deal bonus damage and apply a fading movement speed penalty. Crowd Control a fading movement speed penalty; Damage about 55 bonus damage at base; Defensive the slow is a kiting tool against a chasing bruiser 1 about -20% additional fading move speed penalty 2 about +49.5 damage and -6% Bullet Resist on the target for 5 seconds 5 about -6s cooldown on hero headshots and -3s on NPC headshots , Malice Malice 6s Cooldown Spends more of her own health to fire blood shards that each apply a stack of Malice. Crowd Control stacking movement slow that decays over time Damage about 23 per shard at base spirit power; Defensive the slow helps her disengage, but the health cost partly offsets that 1 -3s cooldown 2 about +25.2 damage and +4 blood shards 5 about +8% additional damage amplification and 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 3's two charges turn it from a commitment into a genuine in-and-out skirmish tool
• Laying the trail across a doorway is meaningful area denial in tight interiors

His weapon hits build a burning effect that deals Spirit Damage over time. Abilities reset the burn to its base duration and weapon hits extend it.

Purpose: The engine of the hero — it converts his low per-Bullet Damage into a persistent damage source that keeps ticking after he breaks line of sight.

Damage

About 14 Spirit Damage per second at base (deadlock.one)

How to play against it

• Spirit Armor mitigates it since the burn is Spirit Damage despite being applied by bullets
• Dispel Magic removes the burn outright, which is worth a slot against an Infernus-heavy team
• Break contact fully — the burn only extends on weapon hits, so a few seconds behind hard cover lets it expire
• Healing items are weak against him once Napalm is at tier 3 (-33% healing); positional disengage beats sustain here

Interactions

• Abilities refresh to base duration while weapon hits extend it — so the optimal pattern is ability, then sustained gun, not the reverse
• The burn is Spirit Damage from a weapon-hit trigger, which means both Spirit Power and fire-rate items increase his total output
• Tier 2 adds a -35% Spirit Damage debuff to burning targets, which is meaningful against spirit-heavy enemies
• Stacks naturally with Napalm's tier-3 damage amp and healing reduction

Turns Infernus into a living bomb that detonates after a delay, dealing Spirit Damage and stunning every nearby enemy. Once cast, it cannot be interrupted.

Purpose: His teamfight opener and his all-in — an area Stun he can commit to without fear of being cancelled, which is rare among ultimates.

Damage

About 125 spirit at base (deadlock.one)

Crowd control

Area Stun on detonation; tier 3 adds about +0.9s Stun duration

Defensive

Uninterruptible, so it functions as a panic button that punishes whoever dove him

How to play against it

• Do not try to Stun him out of it — it is explicitly uninterruptible; instead use the delay to leave the radius
• Unstoppable pre-cast makes you immune to the Stun even if you eat the damage
• Ethereal Shift during the delay makes you untargetable through the detonation entirely
• Before tier 3's +10m radius, simply walking or dashing out is reliable; after tier 3, plan to spend an item instead

Interactions

• Cannot be interrupted once cast — stunning him mid-delay does NOT stop the explosion, unlike most channelled ults
• Tier 2's 100% explosion Lifesteal makes it a full heal when it lands on multiple enemies
• Tier 3's +10m radius makes it very hard to simply walk out of
• Pairs with Flame Dash: dash into the group, then detonate before they can scatter