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DeadlockDeadlock Kelvin Guide and Overview

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

Deadlock Kelvin Overview

Kelvin is a beginner-friendly hero who can adapt to a wide range of playstyles.

Want to be a tanky frontliner? Prefer to be more supportive with heals? Split push and apply pressure across the map? He’s your guy.

Deadlock Kelvin Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

  • Hard to kill due to healing and debuffs.

  • Highly mobile with fast-rotation potential.

  • One of the best AoE disruptors.

Weaknesses

  • Can get poked from afar due to operating at close-mid range.

  • Slow rate of fire compared to other primary guns.

  • Anti-healing items like Toxic Bullets, Healbane, and Decay.

Deadlock Kelvin Abilities

Underlined = Scales with Spirit

Frost Grenade (1)

Throw a grenade that explodes in a cloud of freezing ice, damaging and slowing enemies.

1 Charge

7s between Charges

22s CD

6.5m Radius

80 Damage

40% Movement Slow

4s Slow Duration

Frost Grenade Upgrades

1 AP

2 AP

5 AP

+1 Charges

Frost Grenade now heals 145 HP to friendly targets. Scales with Spirit.

+175 Damage

Maxing Frost Grenade lets you spam more grenades due to the increased charge, lets you provide AoE heals to yourself and team, and bumps up its overall damage.

Tips for Frost Grenade

  • Items like Mystic Reach and its upgrades extend the radius of your Grenade.

  • In team fights, try to find the sweet spot where you can throw the Grenade down at your legs to hit yourself, allies, and enemies.

Ice Path (2)

Kelvin creates a floating trail of ice and snow that gives movement bonuses to him and his allies. Kelvin gains 60% slow resistance for the duration. Enemies can also walk on the floating trail.
Press [LEFT SHIFT] / [LEFT CTRL] to travel up or down while in Ice Path.

8s Duration

18s Duration

38s CD

+2m/s Move Speed

+2m/s Sprint Speed

Ice Path Upgrades

1 AP

2 AP

5 AP

+4m/s Sprint Speed

-16s CD

While active, gain +1 Spirit Power per meter of Ice Path trail created. Max of 55 Spirit Power

Maxing Ice Path allows you to be insanely mobile due to increased sprint speed, lower CD, and you’ll even get bonus Spirit Power as you create paths. This is your choice if you want to gank often, farm neutrals, and split push.

Tips for Ice Path

  • You can make instant high ground on command, so look to create advantageous angles when engaging.

  • It’s also a great way to catch a Vindicta or Grey Talon since they have slow movement speed while floating

Arctic Beam (3)

Shoot freezing cold energy out in front of you, damaging targets and building up movement and fire rate slow against them the longer you sustain the beam on them. You have reduced movement speed while using Arctic Beam.

5s Channel Time

25m Beam Length

24s CD

60 DPS

70% Max Flow, 40% Max Fire Rate Slow

2s Slow Linger

2s Max Slow Build Time

Arctic Beam Upgrades

1 AP

2 AP

5 AP

-8s CD

+40 DPS

Fires 2 Additional Arctic Beams toward enemies within 13m of the last target hit

Maxing Arctic Beam makes you an absolute menace in team fights you can extend the beam to bounce to 2 additional targets.

This alone can win extended teamfights as you’ll reduce the firing rate of all enemies hit with the beam.

Tips for Arctic Beam

  • Track enemy build paths by pressing Tab and hovering their name. Identify the ones that are building toward Weapon (left-click) builds and look to prioritize them over enemies that are focusing on Spirit (ability) builds as they won’t be as hindered by your beam.

Frozen Shelter (4)

Kelvin freezes the air around him, creating an impenetrable dome around himself. While in the dome, allies rapidly regenerate health and enemies are slowed.

10m Radius

5.5s Duration

127s CD

+120 Health Regen

35% Movement Slow

Frozen Shelter Upgrades

1 AP

2 AP

5 AP

+40% Fire Rate Slow

-40s CD

+70 Health Regen and now scales with Spirit Power

Maxing Frozen Shelter increases its Fire Rate Slow, significantly lowers its CD, and makes you even tankier while within the dome with boosted Health Regen. Essentially, it’s the tanky frontliner build.

Tips for Frozen Shelter

  • Frozen Shelter can be clutch in offensive or defensive situations. On offense, look to wombo-combo with Haze or Seven who have incredibly strong AoE ults.

  • Similarly on defense, you can put a Dome around enemies channeling AoE abilities to prevent them from hitting anyone else but you (you’ll usually survive with your increased tankiness).

Hero Overview

Weapon Stats

DPS

83

Bullet Damage

21

Ammo

15

Bullets per Second

4

Light Melee

63

Heavy Melee

116

Vitality Stats

Max Health

600

Health Regen

2

Bullet Resist

0%

Spirit Resist

10%

Move Speed

6.5 m/s

Sprint Speed

0 m/s

Stamina

3

How to Counter Kelvin

  • If Kelvin is on top of you it's already too late. Try to keep your distance unless you have an advantage.

  • His Grenade has a 22s base CD and his Beam has a CD of 16s after rank 1. If these are down, you have a decent window to kill him, especially pre-ult.

  • Healing Reduction helps keep his tankiness in check.

Toxic Bullets3000
Healbane1250
Decay1250
Ethereal Shift3000