In Deadlock by Valve, Haze is a stealthy, agile assassin-type hero who thrives on outmanoeuvring her opponents with precision strikes and mobility. As one of the most popular choices among Haze players, she excels in burst damage and tactical engagements. Whether you’re roaming the map looking for targets or executing perfect ganks, Haze is built for hit-and-run tactics. This guide will walk you through the strengths, abilities, and strategies needed to master Haze in Deadlock. Stay tuned for our upcoming Item Build Guide, which will delve deeper into the optimal item choices to maximise Haze’s potential in various scenarios.
If you're someone who enjoys darting in and out of battles, picking off isolated enemy players, and using stealth to your advantage, then this Deadlock hero might just be the perfect pick for you. Let’s dive into the abilities and strategy that make Haze so deadly on the battlefield.
Understanding Haze’s strengths and weaknesses is crucial for mastering her playstyle in Deadlock. As a mobile assassin, she can outplay her opponents with ease, but she’s also quite fragile.
Haze excels due to her high mobility, which allows her to quickly enter and exit fights using her Smoke Bomb ability. This mobility not only makes her elusive but also provides her with great escape potential when things get heated. Haze’s Sleep Dagger ability gives her reliable crowd control, allowing her to put key targets to sleep and incapacitate them, opening up opportunities for finishing blows or strategic repositioning.
Her Fixation ability is another core strength, as each bullet that hits an enemy boosts her damage over time. This ability grows stronger with each hit, and if Haze manages to land headshots, her damage scales even faster, making her an increasingly lethal threat. Additionally, Haze is highly effective in the mid-to-late game, especially in prolonged fights where she can stack Fixation for devastating burst damage.
However, Haze is a very fragile character, meaning she can’t survive much incoming damage. This makes her highly vulnerable in situations where she’s caught off-guard or surrounded by enemies. Her reliance on precise positioning can be a double-edged sword; if she’s out of position or can’t execute her stealth mechanics properly, she’s very likely to be eliminated quickly.
Moreover, Haze tends to struggle during the early game when she doesn’t have enough damage output or Fixation stacks to take down enemies easily. This can put her at a disadvantage against stronger lane heroes early on. If her mobility and stealth abilities are misused, it can leave her exposed, making her very easy to target and kill.
Haze’s abilities revolve around her stealth, crowd control, and burst damage. Mastering these abilities will allow you to dominate in the game and control key engagements.
Sleep Dagger is one of Haze’s core abilities and one of the most important tools in her kit. When activated, Haze throws a dagger at the target, dealing spirit damage and putting the target to sleep. This gives Haze a crucial window of opportunity to either reposition or follow up with additional damage while the enemy is incapacitated. Over time, upgrading Sleep Dagger removes 1 stamina from the target, reduces its cooldown, and at max level, it lowers the target’s bullet resistance by 12%. This combination makes it easier for Haze to take down the target in the moments following the attack.
How to use it:
Tip: Remember, Sleep Dagger does not interrupt channelling abilities, so you’ll need to time it carefully to avoid giving the enemy a chance to retaliate.
The Smoke Bomb ability is what gives Haze her signature stealth and escape potential. When activated, she becomes invisible, and she gains a sprint speed boost that allows her to reposition, ambush, or retreat from fights. Upgrading this ability further increases her speed, and at the third level, Haze gains bullet lifesteal for 8 seconds after exiting stealth. This gives her some much-needed sustain during combat. However, be cautious when using Smoke Bomb, as attacking or using other abilities will break your invisibility, and nearby enemies can still detect her.
How to use it:
Tip: Smoke Bomb can also be used to create confusion during teamfights. Enemies may lose track of you, giving you the opportunity to reposition and strike again from an unexpected angle.
Fixation is Haze’s passive ability, which scales her damage based on how many hits she lands. Every successful hit adds Fixation stacks, which increase her weapon damage. Headshots count for double stacks, allowing Haze to rapidly increase her damage during fights. As this ability is upgraded, the stack duration is extended, and the max stacks are increased, making it essential to fully upgrade Fixation to maximise Haze’s damage potential in mid to late-game battles.
How to use it:
Tip: Patience is key. Don’t rush into engagements—wait until you can safely maintain your Fixation stacks to unleash your full potential.
Haze’s ultimate, Bullet Dance, allows her to enter a flurry of automatic attacks, with her shots auto-targeting nearby enemies. This ability increases her fire rate and ricochets her bullets off walls, allowing her to deal damage to multiple targets at once. As Bullet Dance is upgraded, it increases in power, making Haze a terrifying force in large-scale teamfights.
How to use it:
Tip: Time Bullet Dance wisely. Using it too early can waste its potential, especially if enemies can quickly spread out. Wait for the right moment when enemies are grouped up or distracted.
Fixation is the core of Haze’s kit, and understanding how to use it is key to dominating as Haze in Deadlock. Each hit Haze lands on an enemy builds Fixation stacks, significantly increasing her weapon damage. Headshots are even more powerful, allowing Fixation stacks to double and rapidly amplify her damage. If Haze remains in combat and consistently hits her enemies, her Fixation stacks can continue building, turning her into a powerful damage-dealing machine.
The best way to take advantage of Fixation is by keeping up the pressure on your target without allowing the stacks to drop off. By maintaining these stacks, Haze’s damage output will outpace that of other heroes, especially during extended teamfights or against tankier foes. Precision and patience are key when utilising Fixation—don’t waste it by missing your shots.
To maximise Haze’s performance in Deadlock, you’ll want to prioritise certain abilities first. Fixation should be your top priority, as upgrading it early will give you the scaling damage you need to dominate in mid and late-game scenarios. Once Fixation is upgraded, focus on Smoke Bomb for the improved mobility and survivability it provides. Being able to reposition quickly and escape from bad situations is critical for an assassin like Haze.
After Smoke Bomb, you’ll want to upgrade Sleep Dagger to improve your crowd control and lower its cooldown. This makes Sleep Dagger more reliable and gives you more opportunities to isolate and eliminate high-priority targets. Lastly, you should upgrade Bullet Dance to its maximum level. Bullet Dance is incredibly powerful in teamfights, especially when combined with fully stacked Fixation. This ability can be the game-changer in big battles, allowing Haze to shred through multiple enemies.
Haze is most effective when you combine her abilities strategically, setting up combos that maximise her damage potential. One of the most common combos is Sleep Dagger + Fixation. Using Sleep Dagger to incapacitate an enemy gives you a perfect opportunity to follow up with Fixation-powered shots. This combo allows you to quickly build Fixation stacks and burst down your target before they can react.
Another effective combo is Smoke Bomb + Bullet Dance. Use Smoke Bomb to sneak into an ideal position, then activate Bullet Dance for maximum burst damage. Bullet Dance automatically targets enemies, so combining it with the mobility of Smoke Bomb ensures that you’ll be in the perfect position to deal damage.
Finally, always prioritise landing headshots with your Fixation stacks. Headshots not only build Fixation stacks faster but also deal increased damage, making it crucial to aim carefully and use Haze’s precision to your advantage.
The right items are critical to unlocking Haze's full potential. To start, the Basic Magazine is a great early item for Haze, as it increases her ammo capacity and bullet damage, allowing her to stay in fights longer. As the game progresses, upgrading to the Titan Magazine becomes essential. This item gives Haze increased bullet resistance and magazine size, further enhancing her damage output and survivability.
For sustain, the Heroic Aura is a must-have, as it provides bullet lifesteal and increased movement speed, which synergises perfectly with Haze’s mobility. These items give Haze the balance she needs between damage, survivability, and sustain during extended fights.
Tip: When selecting your items, focus on those that increase weapon damage, sustain, and bullet resistance to complement your Fixation stacks and ensure that you can dominate in any fight.
As a roaming assassin, Haze excels at jungle control and ganking vulnerable targets in lane. Your goal should be to farm jungle camps efficiently and secure key objectives like the Walker or Shrine to gain a Soul advantage for your team. Look for opportunities to gank overextended enemy players and use your stealth abilities to sneak up on them for quick kills.
In teamfights, Haze should prioritise taking down squishy targets like enemy Supports or DPS, who are most vulnerable to her burst damage. Use Smoke Bomb to position yourself carefully and initiate the fight on your terms.
This Deadlock Haze guide outlines everything you need to master Haze in Deadlock. Whether you're using her stealthy Smoke Bomb, stacking damage with Fixation, or bursting through enemies with Bullet Dance, Haze can become a lethal force when played correctly. By following this Haze build in Deadlock, using the right items, and mastering her abilities, you’ll quickly find yourself dominating the battlefield with precision and agility.
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.
