The Rat King in Deadlock: Abilities, Build, and Gameplay Tips

The Rat King is a Deadlock hero who fights on the front lines, weakens enemies, and buffs allies. His rats reduce bullet resistance, his armor helps him withstand counterattacks, and his ultimate allows the entire team to engage in combat faster. In this guide, we’ll break down the Rat King’s abilities in Deadlock, his items, and key gameplay strategies.

The King throws a bouncing grenade that deals area-of-effect damage and slows enemies. It tries to bounce toward the nearest enemies, but any character can deflect it with a melee attack. The grenade’s damage scales with weapon damage, and its slow effect scales with spiritual power. Upgrades reduce the cooldown, increase damage, and add a powerful final explosion.

Use the Scrap Grenade to disrupt enemies on the front lines, slow down fleeing targets, and attack multiple enemies in a team fight.

The Rat King unleashes a swarm of rats that latch onto enemies. Their bites deal periodic spiritual damage and reduce bullet resistance. The more rats on a target, the more frequently they bite it. Up to five rats can latch onto a single enemy at once.

An enemy can shake off a rat by dashing on the ground or in the air. Therefore, it’s more effective to use Rat Swarm when the enemy has already depleted their stamina.

Upgrades provide an additional charge, increase the size of the swarm and the duration of the debuff, and also boost damage and the reduction to bullet resistance.

The hero equips armor and gains a barrier whose strength depends on maximum health. While the armor is active, some bullets that hit it may be reflected back at the attacker.

Upgrades extend the ability’s duration, reduce the cooldown, and increase the chance of deflection. The final upgrade increases the shield’s strength and caps damage from a single hit at 250.

Activate Royal Pestments before a lane trade or an expected heavy attack. The shield is most effective when it absorbs damage from the start of a fight.

The Rat King raises his banner and launches an assault. Nearby allies gain movement speed, immunity to slows, and reduced damage taken.

At the end of this phase or upon reactivation, the hero drives the banner into the ground. The strike deals projectile damage, knocks up, and slows nearby enemies. Rats emerge from the ground, applying Rat Swarm to affected targets. The banner continues to buff allies within its area.

Upgrades reduce the cooldown, increase movement speed, extend the duration and radius of the phases, and boost damage and defense.

Use the ultimate for coordinated assaults and fights over key objectives. Activate it in advance: the ability takes time to prepare.

The core of this build is weapon damage, health, and survivability. The Sovereign’s Decree machine gun fires slowly, and its bullets travel relatively far, but each hit deals high damage. The extra health also strengthens the Royal Pestments barrier.

At the start, you’ll find the following useful:

On the front lines, alternate between shooting and using Scrap Grenades. For active firefights, try to wait until Royal Pestments are ready.

Speed Stamina helps you chase down enemies and catch up to allies faster. Endurance is suitable for a health and survivability build.

Choose defensive items based on the main threats on the enemy team:

In prolonged battles, Restrictor and Bruiser will come in handy. To use abilities more frequently, consider Superior Ability Cooldown Reduction, and if there’s a lot of crowd control, consider Unstoppable.

Your build order depends on the match. If the Rat King dies before placing the banner, prioritize survivability first, then boost your damage.

On the lane, pressure the enemy with gunfire and grenades. Activate Royal Pestments before returning fire, and use Rat Swarm after enemy dashes: this way, the target will remain under the rats’ effect longer.

In team fights, pick a priority target and focus your attacks on them. Rat Swarm reduces bullet resistance, so it’s easier for you and your allies to deal damage to a weakened target.

Example sequence of actions:

The Rat King is especially effective when near his team. Don’t push too far forward just to land your ultimate—your allies need to be able to take advantage of the buffs and support you with damage.

Rabbit’s Gaze restricts the target’s movements and increases the damage it takes. This allows the team to focus their attacks on the Rat King while he’s vulnerable. Phantom Helper helps Sinclair reposition and avoid retaliatory pressure.

Telekinesis lets you target a single enemy, while Mind Project allows you to quickly close the distance. Against the Rat King, these abilities are useful for coordinating a coordinated attack on him from a distance away from teammates or while retreating from a dangerous area. It’s best to deal weapon damage after Royal Pestments ends to avoid firing at active armor that reflects bullets.

Smoke Bomb helps you approach from an unexpected direction, while Sleeping Dagger puts the target to sleep and sets up an attack. When playing as Haze, it’s best to engage the Rat King after he’s used up his abilities. In a direct exchange against active Royal Pestments, her bullet damage can backfire.

Regardless of which hero you choose, you should conserve stamina to knock back rats in bursts. Whenever possible, move the fight outside the banner’s range. This makes it harder for the Rat King to cast Rat Swarm and the team buffs Rule and Ratannia.