Mechanics

Status effects

Status effects alter units after conditions are met. Positive effects are buffs and negative effects debuffs. They generally last a set duration unless cleared, and may appear above the health bar, as a body overlay, or not visibly.

ContentsHide
  1. 1Barrier
  2. 2Fire Rate Buff
  3. 3Health Regeneration
  4. 4Invincibility
  5. 5Lifesteal
  6. 6Movement Speed Buff
  7. 7Resistance Buff
  8. 8Spirit Power Buff
  9. 9Stealth
  10. 10Hidden on minimap
  11. 11Unstoppable
  12. 12Weapon Damage Buff
  13. 13Bleed
  14. 14Burn
  15. 15Curse
  16. 16Damage Output Reduction
  17. 17Disarm
  18. 18Displace
  19. 19Healing Reduction
  20. 20Immobilized
  21. 21Movement Silence
  22. 22Movement Slow
  23. 23Silence
  24. 24Sleep
  25. 25Stun
  26. 26Time Stop
  27. 27Stealth exceptions
  28. 28Hero-specific effects
  29. 29Countering debuffs
  30. 30Sources and editorial notes

Status effects alter units after conditions are met. Positive effects are buffs and negative effects debuffs. They generally last a set duration unless cleared, and may appear above the health bar, as a body overlay, or not visibly.

Barrier

Absorbs a fixed amount of incoming damage before breaking.

Sources: The Doorman’s Doorway (Tier 2); Ivy’s Air Drop (Tier 1); Paige’s Plot Armor; Rat King’s Royal Pestments; Vyper’s Slither (Tier 3); Warden’s Willpower; Wraith’s Project Mind (Tier 2); Divine Barrier (Active); Diviner’s Kevlar; Grit; Guardian Ward (Active); Indomitable; Majestic Leap (Active); Reactive Barrier; Spirit Shielding; Weapon Shielding.

Fire Rate Buff

Temporarily increases weapon fire rate.

Sources: Gun Powerup; Paige’s Plot Armor (Tier 1); Wraith’s Full Auto; Ivy’s Kudzu Connection; Mina’s Sanguine Retreat (Tier 1); Mirage’s Traveler (Tier 1); Sinclair’s Spectral Assistant (Tier 3); Silver’s Lycan Curse; Silver’s Slam Fire; Victor’s Shocking Reanimation (Tier 1); Active Reload; Blood Tribute; Burst Fire; Cultist Sacrifice; Frenzy; Fury Trance; Healing Tempo; Heroic Aura; Kinetic Dash; Mercurial Magnum; Quicksilver Reload; Shadow Weave; Spellslinger; Spiritual Overflow; Surge of Power; Vampiric Burst.

Health Regeneration

Restores health over time; instant heals and lifesteal are separate.

Sources: Survival Powerup; Abrams’ Infernal Resilience (conditional); Dynamo’s Rejuvenating Aurora; Kelvin’s Frozen Shelter; McGinnis’s Medicinal Specter; Victor’s Jumpstart; Fortitude (conditional); Healing Rite; Healing Nova; Mystic Regeneration; Radiant Regeneration.

Invincibility

Briefly prevents damage and hostile targeting.

Sources: Apollo’s Riposte; Calico’s Return to Shadows; Dynamo’s Quantum Entanglement; Ivy’s Stone Form; Pocket’s Enchanter’s Satchel; Mina’s Sanguine Retreat; Mirage’s Tornado; Victor’s Shocking Reanimation; Yamato’s Shadow Transformation (While transforming); Ethereal Shift.

Lifesteal

Heals the user for a percentage of damage dealt.

Sources: Haze’s Smoke Bomb (Tier 3) (Bullet Lifesteal); Ivy’s Kudzu Connection (Bullet Lifesteal); Active Reload (Bullet Lifesteal); Fury Trance (Bullet Lifesteal); Infuser (Spirit Lifesteal); Vampiric Burst (Bullet Lifesteal); Leech (Bullet and Spirit Lifesteal).

Movement Speed Buff

Temporarily increases movement speed.

Sources: Movement Powerup; Calico’s Ava; Drifter’s Bloodscent (Tier 1 Upgrade and have an isolated enemy hero around); Dynamo’s Rejuvenating Aurora; Haze’s Smoke Bomb; Kelvin’s Ice Path; Rat King’s Rule, Ratannia!; Silver’s Lycan Curse; Victor’s Jumpstart; Warden’s Willpower; Yamato’s Shadow Transformation (Tier 2 Upgrade); Active Reload; Backstabber (conditional); Blood Tribute; Burst Fire (conditional); Counterspell; Dispel Magic (Active); Divine Barrier (Active); Ethereal Shift; Fleetfoot; Fortitude; Frenzy; Guardian Ward; Healing Rite; Healing Tempo; Headhunter; Heroic Aura (Active); Magic Carpet; Radiant Regeneration; Surge of Power (Conditional); Spirit Shielding; Veil Walker; Weapon Shielding.

Resistance Buff

Temporarily reduces damage from a specified source.

Sources: Billy’s Chain Gang (during cast time); McGinnis’s Medicinal Specter (Tier 3 Upgrade – Spirit); Rat King’s Rule, Ratannia! (Reduces incoming damage via Damage Reduction); Yamato’s Power Slash (Tier 1 Upgrade – Bullet); Yamato’s Shadow Transformation (Bullet and Spirit); Blood Tribute (Debuff Resistance); Colossus (Bullet and Spirit); Escalating Resilience (stacking Bullet Resist on hit); Frenzy (Debuff, when below 50% health); Fury Trance (Spirit); Metal Skin (Bullet Immunity); Spirit Snatch (steals Spirit Resist on melee hit); Warp Stone (Bullet).

Spirit Power Buff

Temporarily increases Spirit Power.

Sources: Casting Powerup; Arcane Surge; Counterspell; Diviner’s Kevlar; Enchanter’s Emblem; Ethereal Shift; Infuser; Shadow Weave; Spirit Snatch; Spiritual Overflow.

Stealth

Makes the user invisible. Enemies nearby see a silhouette; attacks and ability casts normally break it, and damage temporarily reveals the user. Reveal distances vary by source.

Sources: Being close to any enemy reveals a silhouette of the player.; Attacking or casting an ability breaks the stealth.; Receiving damage temporarily reveals the player with stealth.; Haze’s Smoke Bomb; Shadow Weave; Veil Walker; Shadow Strike.

Hidden on minimap

Temporarily hides the user from the minimap.

Sources: Calico’s Ava.

Unstoppable

Prevents crowd control such as stun, silence, sleep and immobilize, but does not prevent damage.

Sources: Abrams’ Seismic Impact (Tier 3); Billy’s Chain Gang (Tier 3); The Doorman’s Hotel Guest (Tier 3); Warden’s Last Stand (Tier 3) (While channeling); Rem’s Naptime (Tier 3) (While channeling); Yamato’s Shadow Transformation; Unstoppable (Active).

Weapon Damage Buff

Temporarily increases weapon damage.

Sources: Paige’s Plot Armor; Abrams’s Shoulder Charge (Tier 1); Bebop’s Exploding Uppercut (Tier 2); Billy’s Rising Ram (Tier 2); Lash’s Grapple (Tier 2); Berserker; Split Shot.

Bleed

Deals health-percentage damage over time, except Shiv’s Serrated Knives, which uses flat damage.

Sources: Drifter’s Stalker’s Mark; Vindicta’s Crow Familiar; Shiv’s Serrated Knives; Decay; Toxic Bullets.

Burn

Deals spirit damage over time; Venator’s Consecrating Grenade instead deals weapon and pure damage.

Sources: Holliday’s Powder Keg; Infernus’ Afterburn; Venator’s Consecrating Grenade (deals Weapon Damage and Pure Damage instead of Spirit); Spirit Burn.

Curse

Interrupts, disarms, and silences abilities and active items. Apollo’s Itani Lo Sahn is similar but adds slow motion and does not interrupt abilities.

Sources: Grey Talon’s Spirit Snare; Cursed Relic (also removes non-ultimate buffs); Mystical Piano (also applies movement slow); Patron and Shrines defensive attack; Apollo’s Itani Lo Sahn applies an effect similar to Curse, but it also applies Slow Motion and does not interrupt abilities..

Damage Output Reduction

Reduces the target’s outgoing damage, either all types or a specified type.

Sources: Infernus’ Afterburn (Tier 2) – Decreases spirit damage output (Built-Up from Bullets); Mirage’s Fire Scarabs (Base and Tier 3) – Decreases all damage outputs; Silver’s Boot Kick (Tier 3) – Decreases all damage outputs; Warden’s Alchemical Flask (Base and Tier 2) – Decreases weapon damage output; Graves’ Essence Theft (Base and Tier 2) – Decreases weapon damage output (Built-Up from Bullets); Inhibitor – Decreases all damage outputs (Built-Up from Bullets); Silencer – Decreases spirit damage outputs (Built-Up from Bullets).

Disarm

Prevents weapon fire but permits melee and abilities. It affects primary-fire modifiers such as Ira Domini and Kinetic Carbine, but not weapon-damage abilities that do not use primary fire, such as Bullet Dance, Consecrating Grenade and Gutshot, or Vindicta’s Assassinate.

Sources: Apollo’s Itani Lo Sahn; Grey Talon’s Spirit Snare; Mo & Krill’s Sand Blast; Silver (Transformed)’s Tail Whack; Cursed Relic; Disarming Hex; Mystical Piano; Phantom Strike; Patron and Shrines defensive attack.

Displace

Changes movement direction and acceleration; pulls, knockups and knockbacks are examples.

Sources: Abrams’ Shoulder Charge; Abrams’ Seismic Impact; Baba’s Granny Long Legs; Bebop’s Exploding Uppercut; Bebop’s Grapple Arm; Billy’s Bashdown; Billy’s Rising Ram; Billy’s Chain Gang; The Doorman’s Luggage Cart; Dynamo’s Kinetic Pulse; Dynamo’s Singularity; Holliday’s Powder Keg; Holliday’s Spirit Lasso; Ivy’s Air Drop; Lash’s Ground Strike (Tier 2); McGinnis’s Spectral Wall; Mirage’s Tornado; Mo & Krill’s Burrow; Mo & Krill’s Combo; Paige’s Rallying Charge; Paradox’s Paradoxical Swap; Rat King’s Rule, Ratannia!; Rem’s Pillow Toss; Silver’s Boot Kick; Venator’s Gutshot and Ira Domini; Viscous’ Puddle Punch; Viscous’ Goo Ball; Wraith’s Telekinesis; Knockdown (If the target is not on the ground); Phantom Strike (If the target is not on the ground); Rescue Beam; Vortex Web.

Healing Reduction

Reduces healing received from all sources.

Sources: Drifter’s Stalker’s Mark (Tier 3); Pocket’s Affliction (Tier 3); Infernus’ Napalm (Tier 3); Venator’s Consecrating Grenade; Vindicta’s Crow Familiar (Tier 1); Vyper’s Lethal Venom (Tier 2); Cheat Death (Self); Crippling Headshot; Decay; Healbane; Inhibitor; Spirit Burn; Toxic Bullets.

Immobilized

Prevents movement but permits weapon fire and abilities.

Sources: Apollo’s Riposte; Billy’s Bashdown (when pulling an enemy downwards); Graves’ Grasping Hands; Lash’s Ground Strike (when dragging an enemy to the ground); Paige’s Captivating Read; Silver’s Boot Kick (when kick connects to the target); Venator’s Hex-Lined Snap Trap; Warden’s Binding Word; Arctic Blast.

Movement Silence

Slows movement and blocks movement abilities and active items; some sources also block stamina.

Sources: Silver’s Entangling Bola (also prevents stamina use); Wraith’s Telekinesis (also prevents stamina use); Capacitor (also prevents stamina use); Slowing Hex; Vortex Web.

Movement Slow

Reduces movement and sprint speed; Enduring Speed can reduce its effectiveness.

Silence

Blocks ability casts but not passive abilities or active items, except when caused by curse.

Sources: Apollo’s Itani Lo Sahn; Baba’s Baba’s Brew (Silencing); Celeste’s Dazzling Trick; Drifter’s Rend (Tier 3); Grey Talon’s Spirit Snare; Ivy’s Air Drop (Tier 3); Lady Geist’s Soul Exchange (Tier 2); Paradox’s Time Wall (Tier 2); Warden’s Binding Word (Tier 3); Mina’s Nox Nostra; Cursed Relic (also silences active items); Focus Lens; Fury Trance (Self, also silences stamina); Mystical Piano; Silence Wave; Silencer.

Sleep

Prevents actions while allowing extremely slow movement; damage can wake the target.

Sources: Haze’s Sleep Dagger; Rem’s Naptime.

Stun

Prevents movement and all actions until expiry.

Sources: Parry; Getting knocked off a zipline; Getting knocked off a rope; Walker’s Stomp; Abrams’ Shoulder Charge; Abrams’ Seismic Impact; The Doorman’s Luggage Cart (Tier 3); Dynamo’s Singularity; Grey Talon’s Guided Owl; Holliday’s Spirit Lasso; Infernus’ Concussive Combustion; Ivy’s Stone Form; Lash’s Death Slam (Tier 3 unlocks additional stun on hit); Mo & Krill’s Combo; Paige’s Rallying Charge; Seven’s Static Charge; Venator’s Gutshot (If target hits a wall); Victor’s Shocking Reanimation; Viscous’ Goo Ball; Wraith’s Telekinesis; Crushing Fists; Knockdown; Lightning Scroll; Mystical Piano.

Time Stop

Slows actions, inertia and gravity; also called time slow or slow motion. Paradox’s Pulse Grenade description says time slow, but applies movement slow.

Sources: Apollo’s Itani Lo Sahn; Paradox’s Kinetic Carbine (also applies to self when aiming in the air); The Doorman’s Hotel Guest (on return).

Stealth exceptions

Abilities that do not break stealth: Haze’s Sleep Dagger; McGinnis’s Spectral Wall when placing it; Paradox’s Kinetic Carbine when starting its charge (firing breaks stealth); Rem’s initial Tag Along cast (hopping to another ally breaks it); Sinclair’s Vexing Bolt redirection and swap with a placed Spectral Assistant. Fleetfoot, Heroic Aura and Restorative Locket do not break stealth; Blood Tribute does not when toggled off.

Hero-specific effects

Effect Source and behavior
Affliction Pocket: long damage over time, non-lethal below one health, with no item procs.
Eternal Night Drifter: severely limits vision.
Fixation Haze: increases damage the target receives from Haze.
Hotel Guest Doorman: sends the target to the Baroness Hotel, where they must reach the elevator to escape.
Lethal Venom Vyper: delayed spirit damage with maximum based on missing health.
Lifesteal Apollo’s Riposte gives Apollo 75% lifesteal against the affected target.
Malice Lady Geist: decaying movement slow and increased damage from Geist; stacks up to five and can be refreshed.
Parry Prevention Apollo’s Riposte prevents the target from parrying.
Petrified Vyper’s Petrifying Bola interrupts and prevents movement and actions, while blocking incoming damage except Lethal Venom buildup and damage.
Rabbit Hex Sinclair: transforms the target into a rabbit with its hitbox, increased movement speed and amplified damage received. Only walking and jumping are possible, but previously started actions and abilities are not interrupted.
Tether Vindicta’s Stake keeps nearby targets within a short radius of a central point.
Wrecked Billy’s Blasted passive marks enemies hit by melee; activating Blasted grants extra bullet damage against them.

Countering debuffs

Invincibility blocks damage and hostile effects, Unstoppable blocks crowd control, and Indomitable blocks one crowd-control effect. Purges immediately remove active debuffs:

Purge Removes ultimate debuffs?
Dynamo: Quantum Entanglement tier 3 No
Haze: Smoke Bomb tier 3 No
Kelvin: Frozen Shelter tier 3 No
Victor: Shocking Reanimation Yes
Viscous: The Cube tier 3 No
Yamato: Shadow Transformation Yes
Dispel Magic No
Divine Barrier Yes

Debuff Resist shortens debuff duration. Abrams’s Infernal Resilience tier 3 and Warden’s Willpower tier 3 provide it; the source describes these as character stats except Willpower’s temporary buff.

Item Cost Category Debuff Resist
Blood Tribute 3,200 Weapon +35%
Weighted Shots 3,200 Weapon +22%
Frenzy 6,400 Weapon +40%
Debuff Reducer 1,600 Vitality +25%
Spellbreaker 6,400 Vitality +25%
Unstoppable 6,400 Vitality +25%
Nullification Burst Legendary Vitality +40%
Scourge 6,400 Spirit +20%

Sources and editorial notes

Adapted from Status Effects (revision 218047) by Deadlock Wiki contributors, checked 2026-11-01. Source text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.