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Kelvin

SupportControllerTank Hybrid Damage Mid Game Medium Difficulty

Patch 10-30-2026, 144,520 matches. Updated daily.

How to counter and play Kelvin

Items to buy

  • vs zoning and area denial Enduring Speed Enduring Speed 1,600 souls Tier 2ArmorPassive +25% Slow Resist +2 Out of Combat Regen Builds from Sprint Boots Fleetfoot Fleetfoot 1,600 souls Tier 2WeaponInstantCast +16s Cooldown +5s Duration +100 move speed penalty while shooting reduction +35% Slide Distance +6% Bullet Resist +40% Slow Resist +6% Weapon Damage Restorative Locket Restorative Locket 1,600 souls Tier 2ArmorInstantCast +20s Cooldown +0.1s Cast Delay +8% Spirit Resist +25 Max Stacks +3 Max Stamina Restore
  • vs air mobility Cold Front Cold Front 1,600 souls Tier 2TechInstantCast +25s Cooldown +4s Duration +0.6s Spread Duration: +48% Move Speed +6% Spirit Resist Slowing Bullets Slowing Bullets 1,600 souls Tier 2WeaponPassive +24% Move Speed -20% Dash Distance +3.5s Slow Duration Slowing Hex Slowing Hex 1,600 souls Tier 2TechPress +29s Cooldown +3.5s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay +16% Move Speed -26% Dash Distance
  • vs slows Debuff Reducer Debuff Reducer 1,600 souls Tier 2ArmorPassive +25% Debuff Resist +90 Bonus Health Enduring SpeedDispel Magic Dispel Magic 3,200 souls Tier 3ArmorInstantCast +45s Cooldown +10% Spirit Resist +3s Buff Duration +250 Heal Amount
  • Never fight into Frozen Shelter Frozen Shelter 8m Range5s Duration190s Cooldown Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Crowd Control heavy slow on enemies caught inside; Defensive about +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; 1 -30s cooldown (190s base) 2 enemies inside also fire 20% slower 5 purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +75 health regeneration with improved spirit… — disengage, reset, and take the objective in the window after it expires; its cooldown is long
  • Apply anti-heal (Napalm Napalm 20m Range25s Cooldown 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. Crowd Control movement slow on everyone hit Damage about 40 spirit at base plus the napalm coating over time (deadlock.one) Mobility none directly, though the slow effectively closes distance 1 +20% lifesteal 2 applies about +17% Damage Taken and -33% Healing to affected targets tier 3, Decay Decay 3,200 souls Tier 3TechPress +30s Cooldown +12s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay +8 Spirit Power -55% Incoming Healing +65 Bonus Health , Cursed Relic Cursed Relic 6,400 souls Tier 4TechPress +55s Cooldown +3.25s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay -25% Damage Penalty ) before the dome goes up to cut the regeneration, and be aware tier 3 purges non-ultimate debuffs once he has it
  • Dive him during Arctic Beam Arctic Beam 5s Duration28s Cooldown Channels a beam of freezing energy in front of him that damages targets and progressively cuts their movement speed and fire rate the longer it stays on them. Crowd Control ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction; Damage about 45 damage per second at base; Mobility none — it constrains his own movement while he holds it 1 about -20% fire rate and move speed on targets 2 about +20 DPS with improved spirit scaling 5 about -13s cooldown and fires 2 additional beams at targets within 10m — he is stationary and facing one direction, with no Stun to stop a gap-closer like 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 or Flame Dash Flame Dash 3s Duration38s Cooldown Dashes forward with slow resistance, leaving a burning trail behind that damages anyone standing in it. Damage about 30 damage per second from the trail; Mobility a substantial forward dash, extendable by holding forward Defensive slow resistance during the dash makes it reliable as an escape even into… 1 -12s cooldown 2 +1.0s trail duration and about +20 damage per second 5 2 ability charges with about a 14s recharge
  • Force fights at range where 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 's arc is easy to walk out of and his 14-round magazine runs dry
  • Punish him hard whenever Frozen Shelter is down, since he has zero Hard CC and no way to physically stop a commit
  • Spend your dash before the Frost Grenade lands, not after, because the tier-2 stamina freeze stops it coming back
  • Frozen Shelter physically blocks your ranged damage — nothing you fire from outside reaches through the dome, and his team heals back to full inside it
  • Arctic Beam strips your fire rate progressively; the longer it holds on you, the less damage your carry does, and it is one of the few fire rate debuffs in the game
  • Frost Grenade tier 2 freezes your stamina regeneration, so your dashes do not come back and you cannot kite out of the slow
  • Ice Path Ice Path 8s Duration50s Cooldown Lays down a floating trail of ice that Kelvin and his allies can ride for bonus movement, while Kelvin gains 60% slow resistance for the duration. Mobility substantial — fast movement along the path plus access to elevation nothing… Defensive 60% slow resistance while active makes it very hard to kite him off the… 1 about +2 m/s move speed and +35% bullet resist for Kelvin 2 -25s cooldown 5 about +35% spirit and +20 Spirit Power for Kelvin lets his whole team arrive on a rooftop or flank angle you did not cover
  • A dome dropped on an objective stalls your entire push for its duration, and there is no way to break it
  • Frozen Shelter first — it is the single ability that decides objective fights. Fake a commit onto a walker or a low ally, make him dome, then leave and take the objective on the cooldown
  • Frost Grenade second: force it as a heal rather than as poke, because a grenade spent topping up a teammate is not slowing you during the engage
  • Ice Path third — bait it as an escape, since without it he is a slow hero with no way to disengage from a dive
  • Do not bother baiting Arctic Beam; it has a short enough cooldown and he wants to use it anyway. Punish the channel instead
  • The entire Arctic Beam channel — he is immobile, facing one direction, and has no Stun to protect himself
  • Any fight where Frozen Shelter is on cooldown; his team loses its reset button and he has no Hard CC
  • His 2.58s reload on a 14-round magazine, which comes up often in sustained trades
  • While riding Ice Path he moves in a straight, predictable, un-strafing line and can be knocked off it
  • Immediately after the dome expires — his team is bunched together in a known location with the ultimate on a long cooldown

Plan a game against Kelvin and the rest of their team →

Good at

  • Frozen Shelter is a hard physical barrier that stops ranged damage and ultimates outright
  • Team sustain between Frost Grenade healing and the dome's regeneration
  • Arctic Beam's fire rate reduction is a direct, scarce counter to gun carries
  • Ice Path gives his whole team map mobility and access to angles nothing else reaches

Weak to

  • No Hard CC at all — every one of his control effects is a slow or a debuff, not a Stun
  • Very low burst; he cannot close out a kill without help
  • Arctic Beam requires him to stand still and face one direction
  • Frozen Shelter has a long cooldown, and a team that disengages rather than fighting it wastes the entire ultimate

In lane, good at

  • Frost Grenade heals his lane partner and chips the enemy in one throw, which wins attrition lanes outright
  • Arctic Beam clears waves quickly and pressures the enemy guardian
  • Ice Path is a lane escape, and it brings his partner out too
  • Reasonable durability plus native healing means he can hold a lane he is technically losing

In lane, weak to

  • Almost no burst — he cannot punish a positional mistake with a quick kill
  • 14-round magazine with a 2.58s reload means frequent dead windows in gun trades
  • Arctic Beam pins him in place, so committing to the beam against a diver is dangerous
  • His slows are soft CC only — he has no Stun, so a determined dive is not actually stopped, only inconvenienced
  • Frozen Shelter unlock — Immediately gives his team a defensive cooldown for objective fights
  • Arctic Beam tier 3 — Two extra beams within about 10m turns his main damage from single-target into a teamfight tool
  • Frost Grenade tier 2 — Stamina regeneration freeze makes his slows actually stick against dash-heavy heroes
  • Frozen Shelter tier 3 — The non-ultimate debuff purge plus extra regeneration makes the dome a full reset for his whole team

Ice-Shard Rifle

Medium RangeHeavy HitterProjectile

70.9 DPS

Falloff Range 20m 58m

Moderate fire rate with meaningful per-shot damage from a small 14-round magazine and a fairly long 2.58s reload, giving roughly 71 base DPS — respectable, but magazine-limited, so he cannot hold a target down indefinitely on gun alone.

  • 18.60 Bullet Damage
  • 1 Pellets per Shot
  • 3.81 Bullets per sec
  • 14 Ammo
  • 2.58s Reload Time
  • 160m/s Bullet Velocity
  • 50Light Melee
  • 116Heavy Melee
Vitality and movement
  • 880 Health
  • 1 Health Regen
  • 6.70m/s Move Speed
  • 1.10m/s Sprint Speed
  • 3 Stamina
  • 5.50s Stamina Cooldown

Base values on patch data. Items and boons change all of these.

The heroes Kelvin wins most with, against what their two win rates would predict.

  • Graves Graves ControllerSummonerClose rangeHybrid damage Map pressure while away from the fight via Borrowed Decree Ghouls marching at objectives Durability low (1/3) Burst low (1/3) Mobility none (0/3) Healing low (1/3) 62.8% together +6.5% above expected
  • Deadman Danny Deadman Danny SkirmisherInitiatorMid rangeHybrid damage Free flight: he picks his angles and reaches heroes others can't Durability low (1/3) Burst high (2/3) Mobility very high (3/3) Healing low (1/3) 60.3% together +5.3% above expected
  • Rat King Rat King BruiserSupportClose rangeBullet damage Makes his whole team's guns better: stacking bullet-resist shred from Rat Swarm Durability high (2/3) Burst high (2/3) Mobility low (1/3) Healing low (1/3) 59.8% together +5.2% above expected
  • Abrams Abrams BruiserTankClose rangeHybrid damage Heals himself through Siphon Life and Infernal Resilience's regeneration Durability very high (3/3) Burst low (1/3) Mobility low (1/3) Healing very high (3/3) 59.3% together +5.2% above expected
  • Victor Victor BruiserInitiatorClose rangeSpirit damage Effectively two health bars via Shocking Reanimation, which invalidates the normal 'focus the bruiser' plan Durability very high (3/3) Burst high (2/3) Mobility high (2/3) Healing very high (3/3) 59.3% together +4.5% above expected
  • Seven Seven MageControllerMid rangeSpirit damage Wave and jungle clear through Lightning Ball and Power Surge, which helps him reach item breakpoints sooner Durability low (1/3) Burst high (2/3) Mobility none (0/3) Healing none (0/3) 59.4% together +4.0% above expected

Every Kelvin duo →

Every Kelvin matchup

Kelvin wins 55.3% of games overall. Who counters Kelvin and who Kelvin counters: all 43 opponents, from Kelvin's hardest to easiest, with how far each sits from that average. Kelvin struggles Kelvin does well

Graves and Paige are strong against almost every hero this patch, so they sit near the top here too. The counters that are about Kelvin in particular: Haze (Kelvin wins 50.6%) and Seven (Kelvin wins 49.0%).

Only matches whose average rank was Oracle and above, where Kelvin wins 53.8% overall.

Abilities

Pick an ability to see what it does and how to play around it.

Frost Grenade

Ability 1 · Thrown AoE That Heals Allies and Damages Enemies

Lobs a grenade that bursts into a freezing cloud, healing allies caught in it while dealing Spirit Damage and cutting enemy movement speed.

Purpose: His lane sustain and his poke in a single button — it tops up a teammate and chips the enemy from the same throw.

Damage
About 60 spirit at base, with a matching heal of about 60; tier 1 adds +30 to both (deadlock.one, metabot.gg)
Crowd control
Movement slow on enemies; tier 2 additionally freezes stamina regeneration
Defensive
The primary heal in his kit outside the ultimate, and the stamina freeze denies a chaser's dashes

How to play against it

  • It is a lobbed projectile with an arm delay — step out of the cloud rather than trading inside it
  • The slow plus stamina freeze means you should spend your dash BEFORE the grenade lands, not after
  • Dispel Magic clears the slow and the stamina freeze together
  • Deny the heal value by forcing the fight away from his allies; a grenade that only damages is half an ability

Interactions

  • Heals allies and damages enemies simultaneously, so a grenade into a contested chokepoint swings the trade twice
  • Tier 2's stamina regeneration freeze is the real anti-mobility tool — it stops dash-based escapes from refreshing
  • The slow is what makes Arctic Beam land, since the beam is a sustained frontal cone
  • Clears creep waves and sustains the lane at the same time, which is why he is a strong duo-lane partner
Upgrade tiers
  • Tier 1: +30 damage and +30 heal
  • Tier 2: about -10s cooldown and freezes enemy stamina regeneration
  • Tier 3: +2m radius with improved spirit scaling

Ice Path

Ability 2 · Self-Built Traversal Path with Slow Resist

Lays down a floating trail of ice that Kelvin and his allies can ride for bonus movement, while Kelvin gains 60% slow resistance for the duration.

Purpose: Rotation, escape and vertical access — it turns unreachable rooftops and shortcuts into routes for his whole team.

Mobility
Substantial — fast movement along the path plus access to elevation nothing else in his kit reaches
Defensive
60% slow resistance while active makes it very hard to kite him off the path; tier 1 adds about +35% Bullet Resist for Kelvin

How to play against it

  • He is a large, predictable, un-strafing target while riding the path — lead your shots and punish the straight line
  • 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 removes him from an elevated path segment
  • The path is a visible structure; you can read exactly where he is going and cut off the landing rather than chasing along it
  • Because he has 60% slow resistance during it, a slow is a wasted cooldown here — use Hard CC or burst instead

Interactions

  • Allies can ride it too, so it is a team rotation tool, not just a personal escape
  • 60% slow resistance specifically counters kiting slows (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 , Napalm) while he is escaping
  • Tier 1's Bullet Resist makes riding it through open ground genuinely survivable
  • Frequently used to reach a high position from which to place Frozen Shelter onto a fight below
Upgrade tiers
  • Tier 1: about +2 m/s move speed and +35% Bullet Resist for Kelvin
  • Tier 2: -25s cooldown
  • Tier 3: about +35% spirit and +20 Spirit Power for Kelvin

Arctic Beam

Ability 3 · Sustained Frontal Beam with Ramping Debuff

Channels a beam of freezing energy in front of him that damages targets and progressively cuts their movement speed and fire rate the longer it stays on them.

Purpose: His main damage and an anti-carry tool — holding the beam on an enemy carry strips their fire rate, which is a direct subtraction from their DPS.

Damage
About 45 damage per second at base; tier 2 adds about +20 DPS (deadlock.one, metabot.gg)
Crowd control
Ramping movement speed and fire rate reduction; tier 1 deepens both by about 20%
Mobility
None — it constrains his own movement while he holds it
Defensive
The fire rate reduction is defensive by subtraction: an enemy shooting 20% slower kills his team 20% slower

How to play against it

  • It is a frontal cone — strafe out of the arc; the debuff resets as soon as contact breaks
  • Spirit Armor is the right resist, and the debuff itself is cleared by Dispel Magic
  • He is slow and committed while beaming, so a gap-closing dive during the channel is the correct punish
  • Stay more than about 10m from your teammates to deny the tier-3 split beams

Interactions

  • The debuff ramps with sustained contact, so the beam rewards landing Frost Grenade first to hold the target still
  • Tier 3 fires two additional beams at targets within about 10m, turning it from single-target into a genuine teamfight tool
  • Fire rate reduction is one of the scarcer debuffs in the game and is disproportionately strong against SMG carries like Haze and Infernus
  • He is relatively exposed while beaming, so it wants to be used from inside Frozen Shelter or from an Ice Path elevation
Upgrade tiers
  • Tier 1: about -20% fire rate and move speed on targets
  • Tier 2: about +20 DPS with improved spirit scaling
  • Tier 3: about -13s cooldown and fires 2 additional beams at targets within 10m

Frozen Shelter

Ultimate · Placed Impenetrable Dome with Regeneration

Freezes the air around himself or a targeted hero, raising an impenetrable dome. Allies inside regenerate rapidly and enemies inside are slowed.

Purpose: A defensive cooldown — it physically removes a fight from the map for its duration, healing his team and denying every ranged threat outside it.

Crowd control
Heavy slow on enemies caught inside; tier 2 also cuts their fire rate by 20%
Defensive
About +90 health regeneration and full protection from outside fire; grants invulnerability with respect to objectives; tier 3 also purges non-ultimate debuffs.

How to play against it

  • Do not stand in it — the dome is finite, so leave and re-engage after it expires instead of fighting the regeneration
  • If you are caught inside, the fight is now a pocket brawl; use gap-close and burst rather than trying to escape a slow
  • Anti-heal (Napalm tier 3, Decay, Cursed Relic) applied BEFORE the dome goes up substantially reduces the regeneration payoff, but note tier 3 purges non-ultimate debuffs
  • The counter is tempo: back off, reset, and force the next fight in the window after the ultimate's long cooldown starts

Interactions

  • It can be cast on an ally, not just on himself — it saves a diving teammate or seals a carry safely mid-fight
  • It blocks projectiles from outside, which is a hard counter to any ranged burst ultimate: Guided Owl Guided Owl 125s Cooldown After a short cast, Grey Talon takes control of a spirit owl and flies it across the map; Crowd Control area stun on detonation Damage about 230 at base spirit power (deadlock.one) Mobility none for Grey Talon — in fact he is locked in place 1 +85 damage 2 -40s cooldown 5 instantly kills enemies below about 22% health and grants permanent Spirit Power per… , Bullet Dance Bullet Dance 3.5s Duration165s Cooldown Enters a firing flurry, shooting her weapon at nearby enemies with perfect accuracy and added bullet damage. Damage added bullet damage on top of her weapon; Mobility tier 2 adds about +3 m/s move speed and +10% fire rate during the channel Defensive tier 3 grants 40% evasion, which is a substantial survivability window… 1 +10% fire rate and about +3 m/s movement speed 2 40% evasion and about -65s cooldown and Charged Shot Charged Shot 17s Cooldown Draws back a heavy shot that can be held at full charge and pierces straight through everything it hits. Damage about 80 at base spirit power, +54 at tier 2 (deadlock.one, metabot.gg) 1 +54 damage and -2s charge delay 2 the shot bounces once off a wall (it cannot hit the same target twice), plus improved… all stop at the wall
  • Tier 3's non-ultimate debuff purge cleanses slows, curses and burns from everyone inside
  • Dropped on an objective it can stall a push for its full duration; it is as much an objective tool as a fight tool
Upgrade tiers
  • Tier 1: -30s cooldown (190s base)
  • Tier 2: enemies inside also fire 20% slower
  • Tier 3: purges non-ultimate debuffs and adds about +75 health regeneration with improved spirit scaling
Patch history for these abilities (1)
  • Frozen Shelter As of the 09-16-2026 patch it scales with Spirit Power at a 0.2 ratio.

Values were last changed in patch 10-30-2026.

Kelvin's win rate by game length

Kelvin gets stronger the longer the game goes: 50.1% in games under 25 minutes (#19 of 44), 54.4% in games past 40 (#4 of 44). Worth knowing: the tag at the top says "Mid Game", but on this patch the long games are where Kelvin pulls ahead of other heroes.

45% 50% 55% 60% 0.6% of all games end at 10–15 minutes 1.2% of all games end at 15–20 minutes 3.4% of all games end at 20–25 minutes 11.0% of all games end at 25–30 minutes 23.2% of all games end at 30–35 minutes 26.4% of all games end at 35–40 minutes 17.9% of all games end at 40–45 minutes 9.4% of all games end at 45–50 minutes 4.3% of all games end at 50–55 minutes 1.7% of all games end at 55–60 minutes 0.8% of all games end at 60+ minutes 10–15 min: 48.0% over 870 games (few games, read with care) 48.0% 15–20 min: 47.4% over 1,647 games 47.4% 20–25 min: 51.5% over 4,821 games 51.5% 25–30 min: 56.1% over 16,465 games 56.1% 30–35 min: 56.4% over 35,530 games 56.4% 35–40 min: 56.0% over 39,370 games 56.0% 40–45 min: 54.7% over 25,412 games 54.7% 45–50 min: 54.7% over 12,456 games 54.7% 50–55 min: 54.1% over 5,562 games 54.1% 55–60 min: 53.5% over 2,043 games 53.5% 60+ min: 49.7% over 964 games (few games, read with care) 49.7% 10–1515–2020–2525–3030–3535–4040–4545–5050–5555–6060+
above 50% below 50% under 1,000 games how many games end then
See the numbers
MinutesWinsvs usualGames
10–15 48.0% −7.3% 870
15–20 47.4% −7.9% 1,647
20–25 51.5% −3.8% 4,821
25–30 56.1% +0.8% 16,465
30–35 56.4% +1.1% 35,530
35–40 56.0% +0.7% 39,370
40–45 54.7% −0.6% 25,412
45–50 54.7% −0.6% 12,456
50–55 54.1% −1.2% 5,562
55–60 53.5% −1.8% 2,043
60+ 49.7% −5.6% 964

"vs usual" is against Kelvin's 55.3% over all these games. Faded rows have under 1,000 games, where a few percent either way is noise; under 300, no win rate is shown.

Each point is how often Kelvin won games that ended at that length, not the chance of winning at that minute. Short games are usually one-sided, so the left side is about closing out a lead and the right side about long, close games. Games under 10 minutes are left out. Every hero by game length →

Sources and confidence for this record

Record confidence: Strong evidence. Compiled for patch 10-30-2026, researched 2026-10-30.

Difficulty rating: deadlocklabs.gg hero page lists in-game complexity as 2 of 3 stars (★★☆)