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Deadlockhas an impressive roster of characters that are usually simple to pick up. But, in the case of Viscous, the odds may not be in favor of new players, as he’s one of the most challenging heroes to master. But, in the right hands, he can wipe entire teams and win a game.
He’s great for solo players, and certain items and build choices can make Viscous indestructible and hard to counter. Furthermore, the hero has a lot of options for survivability and can be a safe choice for players who like to scout and jungle through the map early on.
Deadlock is in alpha, so everything in this guide is subject to change in the future.
Viscous Overview
Viscous is one of the few tanks in the game that’shard to kill, yet extremely mobile. He can turn into a cube to protect himself and into a ball when he needs to roll into a fight or out of it. Abilities like these help him survive and become an absolute menace to opponents trying to kill him.
He has a maximumvitality of 550 and deals 70 damage per second (DPS). On the surface, it may seem like he’s an easy and reliable pick, but the truth is that Viscous' variety of abilities often make hima tough choice for new players.
verify you understand the map knowledge well to make the best use of your Goo Ball ability.
Viscous Abilities
Much of Viscous' abilitiesfocus on crowd control and mobility, combined with tankiness, which makes him tough to eliminate. This lets you play the game like a skirmisher rather than being in one place all the time. After multiple playthroughs, you can explore which abilities work best in your favor and structure a build around them.
Description
Splatter
You throw a ball of goo thatslows down enemies and damages them. It also leaves behind a puddle in a five-meter-radius.
The Cube
Turn yourself or a target into a cube whichprotects them from damage. It also helps regenerate health.
Puddle Punch
Conjurea fist that punches enemiesin a four-meter-radius, knocking them off their positions.
Goo Ball
Turn yourself into a large ball for ten seconds thatstuns enemies and damages themupon impact.
Firstly, there’s Splatter, which lets you throw a ball of goo. Even with its small radius, it deals considerable damage of 100. A 21-second cooldown timer can make this effective in fights, and since itslows down enemies by 35 percent, it can be a trustworthy ability in a 1v1 situation. It also leaves behind a puddle that stays for ten seconds, leaving you some roomfor further lane push opportunitiesor space to get out of a fight.
Next, The Cube ability serves a supportive role in your gameplay. It has a 30-meter range, so you can enclose targets at a distance. However, it’s 48-second long timer makes it an ability that you’ll have to use more carefully, and it only lasts a short while (four seconds). Thus, it’s best tokeep upgrading this oneas the match progresses.
The Puddle Punch acts as one of Viscous' aggressive playmakers that can give you a slight advantage even if you’re at a distance. This ability can be triggered from as far as 60 meters and has a fairly quick cooldown of 30 seconds. Additionally, slowing down enemies by 20 percent can be a useful tacticwhen trying to catch hold of enemiestrying to run away from you.
Finally, the Goo Ball stays as Viscous' highlight play. This ability allows him to deal 140 damage and have 70 percent Spirit Resist and 60 percent Bullet Resist. However, an extremely long cooldown of 95 seconds makes itan ability best used situationally.
Upgrades And Builds For Viscous
Early in the game, you can focus on buffing up Viscous' damage output for basic lane pushing. It also helps to improve your mobility a little, as it canhelp you farm faster and earn enough soulsfor a few major items, like High-Velocity Mag and Mystic Burst. An item like Melee Lifesteal can also help you sustain your vitality.
Mid-game will see an improvement in Viscous' ability usage. Instead of buying something like Improved Cooldown and Improved Spirit in later stages of the game, get them earlier so you can continue using all of fewer abilities with fewer cooldown timers. Additionally, you’ll also want tofocus on maximizing Viscous' damage outputby this point.
Items
Early Game: Focus on farming and building damage output.
Melee Lifesteal, Extra Charge, Spirit Strike, Extra Spirit, Enduring Spirit, Mystic Burst and High-Velocity Mag.
Mid Game: Focus on maximizing damage output and abilities.
Improved Spirit, Improved Burst, Improved Cooldown, Mystic Shot, Soul Shredder Bullets, Lifestrike and Spirit Lifesteal.
Late Game: Focus on using abilities more efficiently and quickly.
Mystic Slow, Rapid Recharge, Boundless Spirit, Echo Shard, Superior Cooldown, Leech, Improved Reach, Mystic Reverb, Superior Stamina and Superior Duration.
In late-game scenarios, there’s a chance that Viscous' damage doesn’t feel as significant because enemies are probably much stronger by now.To counter this, items like Rapid Recharge, Superior Cooldown, and Mystic Reverb can help youuse your abilities more efficientlyand refrain from feeling underpowered in front of powerful opponents.In addition to these items, also consider getting some situational items from the shop.
Playstyle Strategy
Viscous is a strong hero with great mobility. However, you shouldavoid eliminating opponents during the early stagesof the game. Instead, use this time to farm as many souls as you can, as it will come in handy towards the mid and late game.
Puddle Punch For Farming
Since Viscous does such a good job at getting those minion kills early on, Puddle Punch is theperfect ability to upgrade during early game. As you make range and melee attacks to gain souls at short distances, Puddle Punch can help you do this at greater distances.
If you are good at jungling, keep this ability as your priority since it can get you more kills in jungle camps.
Splatter For Versatility
Splatter can be used in a multitude of scenarios. You can use this to first intimidate an enemy opponent, then go for a kill. Or, you can use this to get away by firstfiring it and covering a pathso enemies eventually give up on chasing you. You can even use this strategy to slow down enemies a little so you can eliminate them.
The Cube For Protection
Imagine your opponent is about to eliminate you… and you suddenly decide to turn into a cube. Well,Viscous gets a lot of healing out of his cube formand can confuse enemies when doing so. It’s best to use this when you or your ally are about to lose a fight.
Goo Ball For Disruption
Turning into a deadly ball is not something that’s easy to counter. Your enemies will struggle to aim and shoot at you when you’re in this form, and you’re able to flank as well as push across enemy teams if you wish to. This ability is even deadlier indoors, as you bounce off walls and damage multiple enemies. There’s no right answer to the correct time to use Goo Ball, but a simple strategy would be tosave it for the big fights.
Play around with this ability in Sandbox Mode to build a better understanding of its movement mechanics.
