Deadlock Ivy Guide: Abilities, Builds, and Strategies

Ivy

This guide will teach you how to make the most of Ivy in Deadlock. We’ll cover her key abilities, strengths and weaknesses, as well as recommended items and strategies to help you master her unique hybrid playstyle. Whether you’re playing as a support, DPS, or mobile roamer, Ivy offers plenty of options for effective gameplay.

Ivy stands out as one of the most versatile heroes in Deadlock, offering a wide variety of playstyles.

Want to build her as a DPS, a Support, or a roaming Splitpusher? She’s got you covered!

Ivy can also take to the skies and even carry an ally to drop them on enemies like a bomb. With her unique abilities, Ivy brings incredible value and flexibility that few heroes can match.

Weapon Stats

Vitality Stats

Deadlock Ivy Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths:

• Extremely mobile with the unique ability to fly and possessing the highest base Stamina (4).

• Versatile playstyle, effective solo or in team scenarios.

• Difficult to take down due to escape abilities, self-healing, and defensive Stone Form.

Weaknesses:

• Vulnerable to anti-healing counter items.

• Stone Form has a long cooldown, requiring careful usage.

• Requires coordination with teammates to fully utilize her ultimate.

Kudzu Bomb (1)

Summon a patch of choking vines that damages and slows enemies in its radius.

• 1 Charges

• 8s Cooldown Between Charges

• 32s Cooldown

• 6m Radius

• 60 DPS

• 4s Duration

• 35% Movement Slow

Kudzu Bomb Upgrades

Maxing Kudzu Bomb provides additional control by allowing more frequent and powerful bomb casts, extending its range and damage.

Tips for Kudzu Bomb

Adapt the Kudzu Bomb’s use to fit different scenarios. Use it offensively to trap escaping enemies, defensively to block advances, or strategically to clear waves and neutral camps.

Watcher’s Covenant (2)

Gain bonuses and automatically connect with a nearby ally to share them. Healing is replicated among all those connected. Connection requires line of sight. Press [2] to lock onto a target.

• 16m Range

• 12s Duration

• 37s Cooldown

• +10% Fire Rate

• +15% Bullet Lifesteal

• 30% Replicated Healing

• 1 Tether Count

Watcher’s Covenant Upgrades

Maxing Watcher's Covenant enhances Ivy’s supportive role, allowing her to share buffs across two allies and herself, increasing team effectiveness.

Tips for Watcher's Covenant

Switch tether targets as needed; keep the tether active but adjust targets for maximum impact as allies enter battle.

Stone Form (3)

Transform into impervious stone and smash into the ground, stunning and damaging nearby enemies. Heals Ivy for a percentage of her max health. Allows limited air control before landing.

• 6m Radius

• 2s Duration

• 42s Cooldown

• 80 Damage

• 0.75s Stun Duration

• 10% Max Health Heal

Stone Form Upgrades

Maxing Stone Form greatly enhances Ivy’s defensive and engagement options, reducing cooldown, increasing damage, extending stun duration, and boosting healing.

Tips for Stone Form

Consider using Echo Shard for extended up-time on Watcher’s Covenant, but it can also be highly effective when combined with Stone Form, providing extra crowd control or helping Ivy endure until reinforcements arrive.

Air Drop (4)

Take flight with an ally or bomb, then drop them for a powerful explosion that slows enemy movement. Ivy and her ally receive a bullet shield after landing. While airborne, the ally gains bullet resistance but cannot attack and deals -50% damage. Air Drop has a quicker cast time when targeting an ally.

• 8m Range

• 17s Duration

• 85s Cooldown

• 150 Explosion Damage

• 200 Bullet Shield

• 4.5s Slow Duration

• 30% Movement Slow

• 12s Shield Duration

• 14m Explosion Radius

• +40% Ally Bullet Resistance

Air Drop Upgrades

Maxing Air Drop enhances Ivy’s ability to inflict status effects and boosts survivability for her and her ally, making her a formidable force from the air.

Tips for Air Drop

• Use Air Drop to assist an ally carrying the Soul Urn to cash in faster.

• With some timing practice, Ivy can even carry the Soul Urn herself, though it requires a bit of skill to perfect.

Ability Point Order

How to Counter Ivy

• Exploit Early Weakness: Ivy has a weaker laning phase, so aim to play aggressively against her early on to establish dominance.

• Punish Solo Ult: When Ivy uses her ultimate (Air Drop) on herself, the cast time is slower than when she ults an ally. If she’s isolated, use this window to pressure her before she takes flight.

• Spirit Urn Strategy: Be extra cautious when playing around the Spirit Urn. Ivy can ult her ally carrying it, making it harder to interrupt their cash-in.

• Counter Healing Buffs: Ivy’s Watcher's Covenant ability can grant healing to her allies, so equip your team with Healing Reduction items or abilities to mitigate this advantage.

	Item	Cost
	Toxic Bullets	3,000
	Healbane	1,250
	Decay	1,250
	Knockdown	3,000

Deadlock Ivy Build

This straightforward build transforms Ivy into a resilient support character, capable of sustaining heavy hits while using melee attacks to deliver unexpectedly high damage.

Early Game

Start by purchasing Health Nova, which can be acquired early in the game, even before finishing other starting items. If you're facing challenges in lane, Healing Rite is also a solid option as it can later upgrade into Rescue Beam.

Your initial items, Restorative Shot and Extra Health, will make you exceptionally tanky early on, allowing you to play aggressively with melee attacks and Stone Form. Don’t forget that your weapon is effective for last-hitting and denying, thanks to its solid fire rate and clip size.

	Item	Cost
	Restorative Shot	500
	Extra Health	500
	Spirit Strike	500
	Monster Rounds	500
	Sprint Boots	500
	Healing Rite	500

Mid Game

The combination of Melee Charge and Berserker enhances the effectiveness of your melee attacks, letting you leverage your tankiness to contribute in skirmishes or even 1v1 fights. Don’t overlook the active ability on Health Nova—it’s incredibly impactful.

Enduring Speed further boosts your ganking and roaming potential. Pair it with your Ultimate to maximize the crowd control and presence you bring to fights. Always aim to join skirmishes early to turn the tide in your favor!

	Item	Cost
	Health Nova	1,250
	Healing Booster	1,250
	Melee Charge	1,250
	Berserker	1,250
	Mystic Reach	500
	Enduring Speed	1,250

Late Game

If you or your team are gaining an advantage, consider buying Heroic Aura earlier to provide an extra edge.

Choose between Spirit Armor or Bullet Armor based on which resistance is most needed, and this applies to the Improved versions as well.

As the game progresses, Monster Rounds can be swapped out for Heroic Aura, and Extra Health can be sold to make room for your first Armor item if necessary.

	Item	Cost
	Heroic Aura	3,000
	Hunter's Aura	3,000
	Spirit Armor	1,250
	Bullet Armor	1,250
	Duration Extender	1,250
	Slowing Hex	1,250

Situational Items + Luxury Items

Rescue Beam is an excellent choice with strong base stats. It’s ideal if you’re comfortable using its pull effect to save teammates or if you simply want to amplify your healing. It can also be self-cast for added survivability.

Curse is useful for dealing with an overpowered enemy carry, providing additional crowd control to handle challenging threats.

Consider upgrading your Spirit Armor and Bullet Armor once you have your core items, as they don’t take up additional slots and offer significant value for survivability—especially if you’re adept at timing Stone Form.

Decay is highly effective against self-healing tanks or dedicated healers on the enemy team. This item provides excellent value for its cost, but keep in mind that you’re limited to four active items at a time.

If you obtain Superior Cooldown, imbue it with Stone Form for maximum uptime. If you choose Superior Duration, pair it with Watcher’s Covenant.

	Item	Cost
	Rescue Beam	3,500
	Curse	6,200
	Decay	1,250
	Improved Bullet Armor	3,000
	Improved Spirit Armor	3,000
	Superior Cooldown	3,000
	Superior Duration	3,000
	Inhibitor	6,200
	Soul Rebirth	6,200