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Calico, a recent addition to the roster in Deadlock, emerges as a cunning and agile hero, excelling in fast-paced combat scenarios. This character distinguishes herself with a unique blend of spirit, bullet, and melee damage, presenting players with various strategic building options. To assist you in maximizing Calico’s potential, we provide a comprehensive guide to her optimal build in this engaging game.
Calico’s abilities in Deadlock
Calico thrives in aggressive confrontations, engaging enemies head-on with lethal precision. Like her peers in Deadlock, Calico boasts three standard abilities accompanied by a formidable Ultimate. Her abilities include:
Gloom Bombs: Calico launches a cluster of violet grenades to a designated location, which detonate after a brief delay, inflicting spirit damage.
Leaping Slash: She dashes toward her targeted direction, striking at foes nearby and dealing light melee damage. Additionally, she heals when she successfully strikes an enemy.
Ava: Calico transforms into her loyal companion, Ava, enhancing her movement speed while rendering her invisible on the minimap. During this state, she cannot cast spells or make attacks.
Ultimate – Return to Shadows: Calico morphs into a shadow, becoming invulnerable, increasing her speed, and damaging foes in the vicinity. After a set duration, she reverts to normal, dealing damage again in a specified area.
Equipped with a distinctive wrist-gun that features a rapid-fire mechanism yet exhibits substantial bullet spread, Calico is particularly effective at close range. Her diverse damage sources render her a challenging target for opponents, emphasizing the need for a carefully curated build to harness her full capabilities.
The best build for Calico in Deadlock
Early game
Focusing on melee damage and the effective use of Leaping Slash is essential during the early phases of the game. Given Calico’s varied damage output, it’s imperative to enhance her abilities to ensure her effectiveness from the start. Prioritizing melee damage is particularly crucial as Leaping Slash serves as a foundational component of her build.
Items such as Monster Rounds, Mystic Shot, and Cold Front are instrumental in boosting overall damage. For further support, consider acquiring Melee Lifesteal and Spirit Strike to enhance Leaping Slash’s efficacy in close quarters. Defensive options like Extra Health, Armors, Soul Shredder Bullets, and Enduring Spirit can also reinforce your survivability.
In these initial stages, strive to unlock all three abilities promptly, directing your first available ability point to enhance Gloom Bombs. The additional damage, combined with spirit bonuses from your items, will prove invaluable in farming and against formidable adversaries. For newcomers to Calico, think of Gloom Bombs as akin to Lady Geist’s Essence Bomb, providing a strategic advantage.
Mid game
Continuing to develop Leaping Slash remains vital in the mid-game, so overall damage and sustain improvements should also be prioritized. As the game progresses, bolstering Calico’s melee damage becomes essential to fully realize Leaping Slash’s potential. The Lifestrike item becomes a key asset, enhancing healing from Leaping Slash while simultaneously augmenting its damage.
During this phase, consider upgrading Spirit Strike to Spirit Snatch, offering additional melee buffs and increasing spirit damage output. Torment Pulse and Healbane are also strong contenders, especially Healbane, which grants healing upon defeating enemy heroes—this sustenance can significantly enhance longevity in battle.
Items such as Healing Booster, Kinetic Dash, Armors (if not already acquired), and Healing Rite also make for excellent mid-game choices.
By mid-game, aim to have unlocked your Ultimate. Use your ability points to reduce its cooldown by a remarkable 30 seconds, then focus on upgrading Leaping Slash to at least level two before allocating points to maximize the Bombs. Don’t forget to improve Ava’s ability for extended duration.
Late game
As you transition to the late game, choices become more varied, yet sustaining damage, spirit effects, and overall stats should remain a priority. By this point, you should have accumulated numerous souls for purchasing high-value items. Equipment such as Divine’s Kevlar and Superior Cooldown provides substantial spirit enhancements and reduces cooldowns considerably, ensuring impactful use of your Ultimate.
Additionally, items like Mystic Slow synergize well with Lifestrike to further destabilize opponents, while Leech rounds out your lifesteal capabilities. Options such as Mystic Reverb and Spiritual Overflow are excellent for bolstering your lineup, along with Improved Armors for enhanced defensive strategies. If facing heavy crowd control or area damage spells, consider acquiring Unstoppable to maintain mobility and resist control effects.
As you max out your Gloom Bombs and Leaping Slash, focus on leveling your Ultimate, followed by enhancing Ava as the final priority. This advancement route, in conjunction with the aforementioned items, positions you for victory, ensuring that your opponents will struggle against your strengthened presence.
Source
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