Deadlock‘s Warden is a tanky gunner who excels at keeping enemies from running away with the best build. With the right abilities and items, your Warden can become a terrifying opponent to the enemy team.
Deadlock provides players with a variety of characters to choose from in this 6v6 MOBA shooter, but beginners may have a tough time figuring out the best builds for each hero.
We’re here to help you figure out the best items and abilities to use with Warden so you can get the most out of his rushdown playstyle.
Pros and Cons of Warden
Pros:
Despite his authoritarial dress sense connoting law and order, Warden is an unapologetic bully in Deadlock. Able to harass and pressure any lane opponent unfortunate to be paired with him in the early game, the character’s Binding Word (3) ability is extremely powerful when used correctly, especially against heroes like Vindicta who prefer to fight from afar.
As a bruiser, Warden shines brightest in 1v1s, able to punish mistakes big or small and easily translate them into kills. Like Binding Word, Alchemical Flask (1) is all about CCing, inflicting nasty debuffs on any opponent caught in the blast, hindering their ability to retaliate.
With incredible bulk and damage to boot, Warden can and will snowball out of control in the late game if left unchecked.
Cons:
As for drawbacks, they’re few and far between, but integral to be aware of if you hope to prevent Warden from running away with the game. First, his ultimate, Last Stand, is one of Deadlock’s weaker abilities. While it has the potential to inflict extremely high damage, Last Stand requires a lengthy charge time and can be easily avoided unless you’re being chain-stunned/CCed.
Second, Binding Word might be an early game powerhouse able to secure Warden easy kills, but its effectiveness drops off hard into the mid game and beyond. If he can be prevented from getting an early lead – play defensively and don’t overextend in your lane – he’ll struggle to catch up and ultimately become much less of a danger as a result.
Where does Warden sit in the meta?
As of Deadlock’s October 10 patch, Warden sits at the top of the meta as an S-tier member of the roster alongside Pocket, Lady Geist, Dynamo, and Ivy. As always, it’s worth pointing out that any hero considered top of the food chain isn’t automatically going to win you games and still needs to be built and played to their strengths.
Rankings can and will change as Valve deploys additional patches. We’ll update this guide and our tier list to reflect any Warden-related shifts in the meta, should he receive any nerfs or buffs.
Warden abilities explained: What should you max?
| Ability | Description | Level Up Bonuses |
|---|---|---|
| Alchemical Flask (1) | Throw a flask that damages, slows, and reduces the weapon damage and stamina of enemies it hits. | +1: +40 Damage+2: +1 Stamina Reduction+3: -7 seconds Cooldown and applies 35% Fire Rate Slow |
| Willpower (2) | Gain a spirit shield and bonus movement speed. | +1: +20% Move speed bonus+2: -20 seconds Cooldown+5: +200 Spirit Shield Health and now scales with Spirit Power |
| Binding Word (3) | Curse an enemy hero. If they don’t move away from their initial position within the escape time, they will be damaged and immobilized. | +1: +1 second Immobilize Duration+2: -20 seconds Cooldown+5: Warden deals +20% more Bullet Damage to trapped Heroes for 6 seconds |
| Last Stand (4) | After charging for 2.2 seconds, releases pulses that damage enemies and heal you based on the damage done. | +1: +3m Radius+2: +70 DPS+5: -60 second Cooldown |
When upgrading your abilities, prioritize your first three abilities until they’re all Level 2. Once that’s done, fully upgrade Last Stand, as this is crucial to win endgame fights.
Your last three upgrades can be used to improve Willpower and Binding Word, as they will be your most-used abilities during this stage of the game. You can end it off by fully upgrading Alchemical Flask to get that Attack Speed reduction. Getting that last point in Flask early is a solid option if you’re doing a lot of split pushing.
Here’s the best upgrade order:
Best items to build on Warden
We’ve divided the items here into four different sections: Early game, mid game, late game/luxury buys, and situational items.
The first three sections are the most important and should give you a good idea of the items you’ll be most often be buying during each stage. Situational items are only used in unique situations where you need to counter different enemy mechanics.
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Let’s look at the best items you should purchase for Warden during each stage of the game:
Early game items
Weapon items:
- High-Velocity Mag: You’ll want to make sure to get High-Velocity Mag for a faster and deadlier weapon.
- Monster Rounds: Monster Rounds is a great all-rounder for lane pressure, and it’ll make it much easier to kill jungle camps so you can build your lead.
Vitality items:
- Sprint Boots: Fantastic for building an early lead by rotating to other lanes or stealing jungle but can be subbed out for Extra Stamina if you’re struggling in lane.
- Healing Rite: Pairs well with Sprint Boots for the additional movement speed. If you’re behind, Get this first for the bonus healing.
- Extra Regen: Incredibly useful for the lane phase for the sustain it provides and especially important if you’re on the back foot early. If you feel you’re able to take risks against your opponent, you can forego this and put savings towards building for mid game.
Mystic items:
- Slowing Hex: Warden prides himself on catching up to fleeing foes, so make sure to grab Slowing Hex to slow enemies down trapped in your Binding Word.
- Mystic Burst: You’ll want this and Slowing Hex ASAP to bully your enemy out of lane.
Mid game items
Weapon Items:
- Fleetfoot: In the mid game, you’ll be improving Warden’s speed using items like Fleetfoot to reduce his movement speed penalty while firing.
- Active Reload: Warden’s weapon packs a huge punch. The less time you spend reloading. Hitting the Active Reload window also provides lifesteal and increased fire rate.
- Slowing Bullets: Important for fast-moving heroes such as Seven and Haze to make them easier to hit.
Vitality Items:
- Fortitude: Warden’s already naturally bulky but Fortitute is still going to be important in the mid game to deter enemies from ganking you.
- Bullet Armor & Spirit Armor: Provides additional resistance to Bullet and Spirit damage respectively and should be second priority after Fortitude for added defence.
Mystic Items:
- Bullet Resist Shredder: Great for reducing your target’s Bullet damage resistance when they’re locked in place.
- Knockdown: Either use it on enemies trying to dive you to lock them in place, or use it on someone already locked down by Binding Word to CC them even longer.
- Quicksilver Reload: Essential for Alchemical Flask so you don’t have to reload as often.
Late game/Luxury items
Weapon Items:
- Heroic Aura: If you want to be a split push menace, get Heroic Aura so you can grant nearby allies and minions additional movement speed and fire rate.
- Pristine Emblem: One of Deadlock’s strongest items. You’ll get increased Weapon damage, Spirit power, resist, and Bullet Velocity, with a passive that causes the user’s attacks to deal even more bonus weapon damage to any enemy above 50% max health.
- Point Blank: Warden works best when he gets up in the opponent’s face. Point Blank’s increased weapon damage relative to proximity is a natural pick.
is a Tier 3 Weapon Item that grants increased Weapon Damage, Spirit Power, Spirit Resist and Bullet Velocity. Its passive causes the user’s attacks to deal bonus Weapon Damage to enemies who are above 50% Max Health.
Vitality Items:
- Veil Walker: Grants you some bonus shield to run into lane with along with stealth.
- Inhibitor: Important for improving your own damage while also debuffing enemies in team fights.
- Improved Bullet & Spirit Armor: Superior to mid game versions, you’ll want both as standard to make sure you last long enough in team fights.
Mystic Items:
- Improved Reach: Put this on Binding Word to increase the size of the cage.
Situational items
While these items aren’t required for this build, there are some reasons why you may choose these items in your matches:
Weapon Items:
- Alchemical Fire: Works alongside Alchemical Flask to damage and debuff your enemies, use on someone once they’re bound with Binding Word.
- Crippling Headshot: Lowers your enemy’s overall damage resistance, great for bursting down bulky heroes that you bind.
- Silencer: Prevents your foes from using abilities when they’re Silenced, use this if you have enemies with aggravating abilities.
Vitality Items:
- Debuff Remover: Will cleanse you of any debuffs while also increasing your movement speed.
- Unstoppable: Pick this if you’re sick of getting stunned, silenced, or put to sleep, amongst other debilitations as you become immune to them. Pop before your ult if you’re worried about getting CCed.
- Phantom Strike: Close the distance on quick-footed enemies by teleporting to a target, disarming and slowing them at the same time.
Mystic Items:
- Cold Front: Another good pick if you want to deal Spirit damage while also reducing your enemies’ movement speed.
- Decay: If your enemies are healing too often, this reduces the amount of healing they receive while also dealing damage.
- Ethereal Shift: Get this item if you want to be untargetable for certain periods of time while getting the jump on enemies, or if you’re getting dived.
That’s everything you need to know about creating the best build for Warden. If you’re interested in other characters, check out our tier list, and the best builds for Shiv, Pocket, Ivy, and Grey Talon.