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Deadlock Guide: Mastering Abrams

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Posted on:
29th January 2025
Updated:
ago
Est reading:
7 minutes

Intro to Abrams

Abrams is a close-range powerhouse in Deadlock, hailing from the Tank category of heroes. He excels in absorbing damage while dishing out devastating blows, especially when within range of his foes. In this Deadlock Abrams guide, we'll break down how to dominate as Abrams, including his abilities, strengths and weaknesses, build strategies, and optimal macro gameplay. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned player, this guide will equip you with the insights to master Abrams and crush your enemies. This Abrams guide will also cover the best Abrams build strategies and highlight crucial tips for team fights.

Deadlock Abrams Overview

Abrams is the epitome of a bruiser Deadlock hero, a tanky fighter who excels in close combat. This ideal choice for players who enjoy melee attacks and close-range combat utilizes unique abilities designed for soaking up damage and delivering punishing strikes. With abilities that allow him to sustain himself in fights, disrupt enemies, and deal high AoE damage, Abrams shines in the heat of battle. This Abrams overview will help you understand how to make the most of his kit.

At his core, Abrams is designed for players who enjoy charging into the thick of combat, shrugging off incoming damage, and becoming an unkillable force. His role as a frontline tank means that his main job is to soak damage, initiate fights, and control enemies. However, he’s not without weaknesses—characters who can control or zone him out from a distance can be a thorn in his side, especially heroes like Vindicta or Grey Talon who excel at ranged combat and crowd control.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

  • Durability: Abrams can take a significant amount of incoming damage, with multiple abilities that allow him to regenerate health or mitigate damage. His health regen and regenerative abilities make him tough to kill in drawn-out fights.
  • Initiation Power: His Shoulder Charge lets him charge forward quickly, stunning enemies and setting up combos. Abrams’s Shoulder Charge is excellent for catching enemies off-guard.
  • Crowd Control: His ultimate ability, Seismic Impact, is a game-changer in team fights, with a massive AoE stun that can turn the tides of battle.
  • Sustainability in Fights: With his Infernal Resilience passive, Abrams can heal himself over time, ensuring he stays in the fight longer than most other heroes. He drains health from enemies and benefits from lifesteal.

Weaknesses

  • Mobility: While Abrams can charge forward into fights, his mobility is limited outside of Shoulder Charge, making him vulnerable to kiting by long-range heroes.
  • Dependence on Melee Range: Abrams excels when close to his enemies, but this means that ranged heroes or characters with zoning abilities can keep him at bay, negating his impact.
  • Cooldown Reliance: His abilities, particularly Seismic Impact, have long cooldowns. Without these abilities, Abrams becomes far less threatening in fights.

Abilities Explained

Siphon Life

Abrams drains health from enemies in front of him within a certain radius, allowing him to heal while dealing damage. This is an essential ability for keeping him alive in extended fights. At higher levels, it deals significant damage per second, making it a reliable source of both healing and incoming damage over time.

Tip: Use Siphon Life in the middle of team fights when surrounded by enemies to maximize healing and ensure you stay alive longer. Combining this with Infernal Resilience enhances your melee lifesteal and overall regen, providing sustained survivability. Prioritize Siphon Life early to reduce its cooldown and increase effectiveness.

Shoulder Charge

This ability enables Abrams to charge forward, acting as a melee charge, dragging enemies along and stunning enemies if they collide with a wall. It's perfect for initiating fights or disengaging from dangerous situations. Upgraded, Shoulder Charge increases his weapon damage, boosting his melee damage after colliding with an enemy, giving Abrams an offensive edge following an engagement.

ip: Use Shoulder Charge to pick off squishy heroes or disrupt the enemy’s backline. This works exceptionally well when you aim for walls to ensure the stun lands, setting up your team for a quick follow-up. Abrams’s Shoulder Charge can be the key to a successful initiation.

Infernal Resilience

Abrams' Infernal Resilience allows him to regenerate a portion of incoming damage he receives over time. This regenerative ability makes him tough to kill, especially when paired with defensive items. At max level, this ability regenerates a significant percentage of the damage he takes, making him an incredibly durable frontliner.

Tip: Take full advantage of Infernal Resilience by diving into enemy lines when you have support from your healers. Your health regen will allow you to absorb tons of damage and stay in the fight longer.

Seismic Impact (Ultimate)

Abrams’ ultimate ability allows him to leap high into the air and choose a ground location to crash down, dealing AoE damage and stunning enemies caught in the impact zone. You can even crash down early by reactivating the ability. When fully upgraded, Seismic Impact also grants immunity to various crowd control effects like Stun, Silence, and Root for three seconds after landing, making Abrams unstoppable during his ult.

Tip: Save Seismic Impact for high-priority team fights, especially when the enemy team is clustered together. The AoE radius is significant, so aim for maximum impact. The immunity to debuffs makes you an untouchable threat during the chaos.

Best Abrams Build Guide

Early Game Build Progression

In the early game, focus on items that enhance your regen and health regen to improve survivability. This build progression will set you up for success.

Items to Buy:

  • Enduring Spirit: Provides extra stamina and grants spirit lifesteal, improving your melee lifesteal and allowing you to drain more health from enemies.
  • Fortitude: Increases health and health regeneration, making Abrams tankier.

Mid to Late Game Items

Transition into items that boost damage and further improve sustainability in the late game.

Best Item Choices:

  • Titan Magazine: Increases fire rate, damage, and reduces reload times, allowing you to deal more damage with impunity.
  • Escalating Resilience: Enhances bullet resist and Infernal Resilience, providing better defense against ranged attacks.
  • Bullet Resist Shredder: Useful against enemies who rely on bullets, it shreds their bullet resist.

Situational Items

Consider situational items depending on the enemy team composition.

  • Healbane: If enemies have strong healing capabilities, this item applies a healing reduction debuff.
  • Spirit Strike: Adds light or heavy melee attacks that can be useful in certain matchups.

Tip: Choosing the right items is essential to maximize your damage and survivability. Adjust your build according to the match's flow. Items that boost your lifesteal and damage are crucial for making Abrams an unstoppable force.

Ability Upgrade Order

  1. Prioritize Siphon Life (First Max) – Maxing out Siphon Life early ensures that Abrams can sustain himself in fights and clear waves of enemies efficiently. The increased duration and damage make him much more dangerous in skirmishes, maximizing your damage output in the early game.
  2. Infernal Resilience (Second Max) – Upgrading this next increases Abrams' health pool and allows him to regenerate more damage, staying alive longer in drawn-out fights.
  3. Shoulder Charge (Third Max) – Shoulder Charge should be upgraded after your sustain abilities. The extra damage and cooldown reduction make this ability useful for initiating fights and chasing down fleeing enemies.
  4. Seismic Impact (Max when possible) – Upgrade your ultimate whenever you can. The AoE damage and crowd control it provides are invaluable in team fights, and the immunity to crowd control effects at level three makes Abrams a terrifying force on the battlefield.

Gameplay Strategies

Early Game Laning

During the early game, focus on laning and farming to build up your items. Use Shoulder Charge to secure kills or escape ganks. Always be mindful of your cooldowns to avoid being caught off-guard.

Team Fights

In team fights, your role is to initiate and absorb damage. Use Shoulder Charge to start engagements, follow up with Siphon Life, and then unleash Seismic Impact to stun enemies and deal massive damage.

Tip: Always look for opportunities where the enemy team is grouped to maximize your impact. Your ability to turn the tides of battle makes you invaluable during these moments.

Facing Heroes Like Vindicta or Grey Talon

Against ranged heroes like Vindicta or Grey Talon, who can kite you, use terrain to your advantage and engage when they are overextended. Your bullet resist and abilities can mitigate their damage.

Comparisons to Other Heroes

Abrams' playstyle is reminiscent of tanks in games like League of Legends or characters like Bebop, focusing on initiation and damage absorption. Players familiar with such roles will find Abrams intuitive to pick up.

Mastering Abrams

By understanding how Abrams' abilities work and making Abrams the frontline threat he is meant to be, you can dominate matches. Practice his abilities, learn when to engage, and you'll become proficient in playing Abrams. Your journey to master Abrams involves mastering his melee combat and effective use of powerful items.

For visual learners, exploring the world on YouTube can provide valuable insights and gameplay examples to enhance your understanding.

Conclusion

Abrams is a formidable tank in Deadlock, capable of turning the tides of battle with his powerful crowd control and sustainability. With this Deadlock Abrams build guide, you have all the tools you need to excel. Remember to adapt your build progression, focus on the best items, and utilize your abilities effectively to become unstoppable. Stay tuned and be ready for when we release our favourite builds for Abrams.

Want to learn more about the Deadlock heroes? Check out our other articles at SaveGame or our Deadlock lore article.

Disclaimer: This guide is based on the current patch and may change with future updates. For the most up-to-date strategies, be sure to check the latest guides and gameplay videos.

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