Deadlock burst mitigation items
Buys you the seconds a burst combo needs. Barriers and damage reduction that fire when you are hit hardest.
21 items on patch 09-16-2026. Pick a tier, then an item, for what it does and when to buy it.
Vitality
18 items800 souls each
Extra Health Extra Health +210 Bonus Health Strong evidence Flat bonus health — the cheapest way to survive one more ability.
Buy when: Buy early against burst lanes when you are getting one-shot out of trades.
Grit Grit +60s Cooldown +200 Barrier +1 Out of Combat Regen +4s Barrier Duration Strong evidence Converts a portion of incoming damage into a temporary barrier, blunting burst spikes.
Buy when: Cheap early answer to a burst-heavy lane; also the component for several key defensive items.
Rebuttal Rebuttal +75 Bonus Health +1.75s Parry Cooldown +6s Buff Duration +30% Bonus Damage +100% Damage Parried as Heal +18% Melee Resist Documented Makes parrying genuinely rewarding: a successful parry on a hero heals you for the damage blocked, reflects it back, and buffs your damage. It also shortens your parry cooldown and adds melee resist.
Buy when: Buy against melee-heavy divers and heroes with telegraphed heavy melee; it makes parry a real counterplay tool.
+75 Bonus Health, +18% Melee Resist, -1.75s Parry Cooldown; on parry: heal for damage parried, return that damage, +30% Bonus Damage for 6s
1,600 souls each
Guardian Ward Guardian Ward +60s Cooldown +0.2s Cast Delay +1.5 Out of Combat Regen +6s Buff Duration +8% Ability Range +8% Radius Documented Targeted barrier and move speed you can throw on yourself or an ally at range.
Buy when: Buy on supports to save a focused ally from a burst window; it is the path to 
Divine Barrier Divine Barrier +45s Cooldown +0.2s Cast Delay +1.5 Out of Combat Regen +6s Buff Duration +600 Barrier +10% Ability Range +10% Radius Builds from Guardian Ward .
250 Barrier and +2.75m Move Speed for 6s, 40m cast range, 60s cooldown (30s on allies); +8% Ability Range, +1.5 out-of-combat regen
Reactive Barrier Reactive Barrier +55s Cooldown +10s Duration +1 Out of Combat Regen Documented Automatically grants a barrier the moment you are stunned, chained, immobilised, slept or silenced — it turns a CC chain into a survivable one.
Buy when: Buy when enemy crowd control is followed by burst damage — it buys you the seconds you need to live through the combo.
325 Barrier (+1.8 spirit scaling) for 10s, 55s cooldown; +1 out-of-combat regen
Watch out: Triggers only on Stun, Chain, Immobilize, Sleep or Silence — not on plain damage
Spirit Shielding Spirit Shielding +45s Cooldown +3.5s Time Frame +225 Damage Threshold +2.5 Out of Combat Regen +8s Barrier Duration +18% Spirit Resist Documented Automatically shields you and grants temporary Spirit Resist after you take a burst of Spirit Damage in a short window.
Buy when: Buy against spellcaster burst combos — it absorbs the opening spike and hardens you for the follow-up.
300 Barrier for 8s and +18% Spirit Resist when you take 225 spirit damage within 3.5s; 45s cooldown; +2.5 out-of-combat regen
Watch out: Self-only; cannot be cast on allies
Weapon Shielding Weapon Shielding +35s Cooldown +4s Time Frame +250 Damage Threshold +2.5 Out of Combat Regen +8s Barrier Duration +18% Bullet Resist Documented The gun-damage mirror of Spirit Shielding Spirit Shielding +45s Cooldown +3.5s Time Frame +225 Damage Threshold +2.5 Out of Combat Regen +8s Barrier Duration +18% Spirit Resist Builds from Grit : a barrier and temporary Bullet Resist after you take a burst of weapon damage.
Buy when: Buy against a gun carry whose opening burst kills you before you can respond.
300 Barrier for 8s and +18% Bullet Resist when you take 250 weapon damage within 4s; 35s cooldown; +2.5 out-of-combat regen
Watch out: Melee damage also counts toward the trigger threshold
3,200 souls each
Counterspell Counterspell +23s Cooldown +20 Spirit Power +6s Buff Duration +0.8s Spell Parry Duration +50 Bonus Health +5 Spirit Power Documented Charges your parry so that the next one blocks the damage and effects of an enemy ability or item outright, healing and buffing you when it lands.
Buy when: Buy against telegraphed single-target ultimates and hex-style point-and-click abilities you can read and parry.
0.8s parry window; on a successful spell parry: 150 heal, +20 Spirit Power, +1.75m Move Speed for 6s; 23s cooldown; +50 Bonus Health, +5 Spirit Power
Watch out: Multiple abilities can be parried in the window, but the heal and buffs only apply from the first
Fortitude Fortitude +10s Restore Delay +2.25% Max Health Regen +375 Bonus Health Documented A big flat health pool plus strong regeneration once you have been out of damage for a short while.
Buy when: Buy when enemy poke keeps forcing you off the map and you want to reset in the field.
+375 Bonus Health, +2.25% Max Health Regen, +1.5m Move Speed while above 75% health; regen starts after a 10s damage-free delay
Metal Skin Metal Skin +24s Cooldown +5s Duration +12% Bullet Resist -20% Dash Distance Documented Makes you flatly immune to bullets for several seconds, at the cost of reduced movement while it runs. Against a gun carry's damage window it is an absolute wall; against spellcasters it does nothing.
Buy when: Buy to blank an enemy gun carry's ultimate or burst window entirely.
+12% Bullet Resist passive; active grants bullet immunity for 5s, 24s cooldown, -1.5m Move Speed and -20% Dash Distance during it
Watch out: Blocks weapon damage from players and NPCs, but on-bullet-hit effects and build-ups still apply
6,400 souls each
Cheat Death Cheat Death +90s Cooldown +4.5s Death Immunity Duration +200 Bonus Health +15% Bullet Resist -60% Damage Reduction -60% Healing Reduction -60% Healing Reduction Documented When you would die, you instead survive with temporary invulnerability and all non-Stun debuffs cleared — at the cost of heavily reduced damage and healing during the window.
Buy when: Buy when you are being assassinated in every fight — it converts one death per 90 seconds into an escape window.
4.5s death immunity, 90s cooldown, -60% damage and -60% healing during it; +200 Bonus Health, +15% Bullet Resist
Watch out: Clears all non-stun debuffs when it triggers
Colossus Colossus +37s Cooldown +7s Duration +25% Base Health +15% Weapon Damage +35% Bullet Resist +35% Spirit Resist +24% Move Speed -22% Dash Distance +20% Model Scale +30% Melee Damage Documented You grow larger and gain heavy bullet and Spirit Resist while slowing every enemy around you — a frontline engage and survive button.
Buy when: Buy on frontliners who need to absorb a full team's damage while holding enemies in place.
+25% Base Health, +15% Weapon Damage; active: +35% Bullet Resist, +35% Spirit Resist, +30% Melee Damage, -30% enemy Move Speed in a 14m radius for 7s, 37s cooldown
Watch out: The bonus base health applies only to starting base health and boon health, not health from abilities or other items
Divine Barrier Divine Barrier +45s Cooldown +0.2s Cast Delay +1.5 Out of Combat Regen +6s Buff Duration +600 Barrier +10% Ability Range +10% Radius Documented Strips all non-Stun debuffs from an ally (or yourself) at range and gives them a large barrier and move speed. It is the only ranged cleanse in the game.
Buy when: Buy on supports to cleanse a focused ally's debuffs and shield them through a burst window from across the fight.
600 Barrier, +2.75m Move Speed for 6s, 40m cast range, 45s cooldown (halved when cast on allies); +10% Ability Range, +1.5 out-of-combat regen
Watch out: Removes non-stun debuffs only — stuns are not cleansed
Diviner's Kevlar Diviner's Kevlar +40s Cooldown +40 Spirit Power +1000 Barrier +20s Buff Duration +15% Ability Duration +10% Ultimate Cooldown Reduction Documented Casting your ultimate gives you a very large barrier and a Spirit Power boost, so committing to your ult stops being a death sentence.
Buy when: Buy on heroes with a channelled or commitment-heavy ultimate that the enemy tries to burst you out of.
1000 Barrier and +40 Spirit Power for 20s on ultimate cast, 40s cooldown; +15% Ability Duration, +10% Ultimate Cooldown Reduction
Inhibitor Inhibitor +150 Bonus Health +5s Debuff Duration -30% Damage Penalty +10% Weapon Damage -40% Healing Reduction -40% Healing Reduction Documented Your bullets build up a debuff that both cuts the target's outgoing damage and applies heavy healing reduction — the strongest single answer to a self-sustaining carry.
Buy when: Buy on a gun hero when one enemy is both out-damaging and out-healing your team — it hits both problems at once.
-30% enemy Damage and -40% Healing Reduction for 5s at full build-up; +10% Weapon Damage, +150 Bonus Health; build-up per shot varies by hero
Watch out: The damage penalty does not apply to spirit damage from an enemy with Unstoppable active; the healing reduction always applies
Plated Armor Plated Armor +1s Cooldown +30% Deflection Percent +50% On-Hit Prevention Percent +130 Bonus Health Documented A chance for incoming bullets to be deflected outright, or at minimum to have all their on-hit effects stripped. It shuts down bullet build-up items as much as Bullet Damage.
Buy when: Buy against high-fire-rate gun carries, especially ones relying on bullet build-up debuffs like 
Silencer Silencer +12% Spirit Resist -25% Spirit Damage Reduction +2.5s Silence Duration +6s Debuff Duration +10s Immunity Duration , 
Toxic Bullets Toxic Bullets -35% Healing Reduction -35% Healing Reduction or Inhibitor Inhibitor +150 Bonus Health +5s Debuff Duration -30% Damage Penalty +10% Weapon Damage -40% Healing Reduction -40% Healing Reduction .
+130 Bonus Health; 30% chance to deflect a bullet entirely, 50% chance to prevent its on-hit effects
Watch out: Deflected bullets keep flying and can still damage other targets
Siphon Bullets Siphon Bullets +15% Weapon Damage +10% Bullet Resist +9999 Max Stacks +17s Steal Duration +1.2s Max Frequency +2.5% Hero Lifesteal Documented Your bullets temporarily steal maximum health from the target and add it to yours; the target gets it back when the debuff expires.
Buy when: Buy on sustained gun carries fighting big-health frontliners — it shrinks them and grows you at the same time.
2.5% max HP stolen per bullet, 17s steal duration, 1.2s cooldown; +15% Weapon Damage, +10% Bullet Resist
Watch out: Stolen health decays exponentially with successive applications because it scales off the enemy's reduced max HP
Spellbreaker Spellbreaker +9s Cooldown +18% Spirit Resist +25% Debuff Resist +175 Damage Threshold +65% Spirit Damage Reduction +90 Bonus Health Documented Combines strong Spirit Resist and debuff resist with a passive that heavily blunts the next large hit of Spirit Damage you take.
Buy when: The go-to answer to a spellcaster who deletes you with one big ability — it caps the spike and shortens their stuns at the same time.
+18% Spirit Resist, +25% Debuff Resist, +90 Bonus Health; 65% reduction on a single spirit hit above a 175 damage threshold, 9s cooldown
Watch out: Now builds from Debuff Reducer as of 30 Jan 2026
Spirit
3 items1,600 souls each
Spirit Sap Spirit Sap +18s Cooldown +12s Duration +0.1s Cast Delay -9% Spirit Resist +50 Bonus Health -30 Spirit Power Documented Targets an enemy to strip both their Spirit Resist and their Spirit Power — it weakens an enemy caster while making them easier to burst.
Buy when: Buy against an enemy spellcaster: it lowers their damage and raises yours against them at the same time.
-9% Spirit Resist and -30 Spirit Power for 12s, 40m cast range, 18s cooldown; +50 Bonus Health
3,200 souls each
Spirit Snatch Spirit Snatch +6s Cooldown +10s Duration -25 Spirit Power +7% Melee Damage +75 Bonus Health Strategic Landing abilities on enemy heroes steals Spirit Power from them for a duration.
Buy when: Buy in a caster-versus-caster matchup to swing the spirit-power race.
6,400 souls each
Ethereal Shift Ethereal Shift +37s Cooldown +4s Duration +5s Buff Duration +30% Spirit Resist +20 Spirit Power Documented Sends you into a void state where you are untargetable and invincible for several seconds, then leaves you with Spirit Resist and move speed. It is the cleanest way to blank an enemy burst combo.
Buy when: Buy to survive a telegraphed assassination combo or ultimate — you simply cease to be a target for four seconds.
4s untargetable and invincible, drifting at 2.5 m/s, 37s cooldown; on exit +20 Spirit Power, +30% Spirit Resist, +3m Move Speed for 5s
Watch out: Interrupts your own channelled abilities on activation
Other things to buy for
Each of these lists the items that provide it, the same way.