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DeadlockDeadlock Calico Guide and Overview

In this Deadlock Calico guide, you’ll learn the fundamentals of her abilities, unique play styles, and fundamental tips.

Calico's hero tags are: Tricksy, Slippery, Burst Damage

Overview

From the official Deadlock Steam page:

A feared assassin; Calico uses the shadows to her advantage, weaving in and out of combat to hunt down her enemies one by one. More importantly, you can possess her sphinx Ava and run around as a cat.

In-game description:

Calco uses the shadows to her advantage, weaving in and out of combat to hunt down her enemies one by one.

Deadlock Calico Abilities

Underlined = Scales with Spirit.

Gloom Bombs (1)
Throw an explosive barrel that arms after a delay. Once armed, the barrel can be shot, meleed, launched, or detonated by another barrel to explode, dealing Damage.
3m Radius	14s Cooldown
45 Damage	4 Bomb Count

Gloom Bombs (1)

Throw an explosive barrel that arms after a delay.

Once armed, the barrel can be shot, meleed, launched, or detonated by another barrel to explode, dealing Damage.

3m Radius

14s Cooldown

45 Damage

4 Bomb Count

Gloom Bombs Upgrades
1 AP	2 AP	5 AP
-3s Cooldown	+18 Damage	+3 Bomb Count

Tips for Gloom Bombs

Use Gloom Bombs looking downwards, ideally after Leaping Slash, in order to consolidate the bombs and get more bomb damage/hits.

Leaping Slash (2)
Dash forward before slashing all enemies in a circle, dealing Light Melee Damage. If the ability hits at least one target, heal a small amount of health.
11s Cooldown	40 Heal Amount
82 Damage
9m Dash Range and 4.5m Slash Radius

Leaping Slash Upgrades
1 AP	2 AP	5 AP
+35 Heal Amount	+55 Damage	-50% Cooldown On Hit

Tips for Leaping Slash

Leaping Slash works on creeps and jungle camps, so use it often to sustain in lane/jungle. Also procs items such as Melee Lifesteal/Lifestrike/Spirit Strike to double dip on the healing!

Ava (3)
Turn to shadows and possess Ava. You gain Movement Speed and become Hiddeon on the Minimap, but cannot attack or cast abilities. Cannot be used for 6s after taking damage from an enemy hero. Destroys breakables it runs through.
45s Cooldown
65% Move Speed bonus	16s Buff Duration

Ava Upgrades
1 AP	2 AP	5 AP
+14s Buff Duration	+45% Move Speed bonus	-20s Cooldown, Gain 25 Health Regen during Ava.

Tips for Ava

Ava can mantle and climb ropes!

Return to Shadows (4)
Instantly turn to shadows, becoming Untargetable, gaining Movement Speed, and dealing Damage. After 3s, return from the shadows, dealing Damage again.
7.5m Radius, 90s Cooldown	3 Shadow Duration
140 Damage
30% Move Speed bonus

Return to Shadows Upgrades
1 AP	2 AP	5 AP
-25s Cooldown	+75 Damage, +20% Move Speed	Reset all cooldowns and gain 18% Damage Amp for 6s.

Tips for Return to Shadows

Return to Shadows does 2 instances of damage, both at the start of the cast and end of the cast, so use it shortly after Leaping Slash / Gloom Bombs to maximize damage!

Calico Weapon Stats

DPS	72
Bullet Damage	2
Ammo	12
Bullets per Second	4.76
Light Melee	63
Heavy Melee	116

Calico Vitality Stats

Max Health	650
Health Regen	2
Bullet Resist	0%
Spirit Resist	0%
Move Speed	7.29 m/s
Sprint Speed	2 m/s
Stamina	3

How to Counter Calico

Slowing Hex and Billy's Chain Gang disables the use of Leaping Slash.
Similarly, Silence Wave and Focus Lens are fantastic to disable the use of Leaping Slash and Return to Shadows.
Keeping verticality with items like Warp Stone and the use of jumppads around the map drastically reduce the danger of Calicos being able to close the gap.