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Heroes

Ivy Deadlock Guide: Abilities, Build, Ability Order and Matchups

Ivy is the most consistent hero in Deadlock right now: she wins about 53.5% of ranked games at every rank, and since October 6 she has the highest win rate in the game, just ahead of Kelvin. This guide covers her kit, then uses about 10,700 ranked games at Oracle and above since City Never Sleeps to show how strong Ivy players build and level her.

Written byMax CalderDeadlock journalist

Published5 min read

Two hero cards of Ivy, Deadlock's gargoyle support marksman

Who is Ivy?

Ivy is a gargoyle filed as a marksman and rated Hard in the game files, tagged Team-up, Disruptor and Rock Solid. She plays like a hybrid: a fast-firing gun of her own, a link that makes one ally much stronger, and a flight that drops that ally on top of the enemy team.

Base stats

Ivy's base stats
Health
755
Damage per second
~60
4.45 per bullet, 13.6 a second
Ammo
33
2.4 s reload
Falloff range
20-58 m
Move speed
7.2 m/s
Stamina charges
4

Abilities and upgrades

Abilities and upgrades (tiers cost 1, 2 and 5 points)
  • Entangling Thorns32 s cooldownA 6 m patch of thorns for 4 s that deals 40 damage per second and slows enemies by 28%.
    1. +1 charge
    2. +2 m radius, more spirit scaling
    3. Enemies caught for 2 s are immobilized for 1.6 s
  • Kudzu Connection37 s cooldownLink to an ally for 12 s: +10% fire rate, 15% bullet lifesteal and 35% of healing shared. Needs line of sight; half the bonus with no link.
    1. +2 m/s move speed
    2. +8% fire rate, +8% bullet lifesteal
    3. Always active
  • Stone Form40 s cooldownTurn into impervious stone and smash down: 75 damage and a 0.75 s stun around you, plus a heal of 6% of max health.
    1. +6% max health heal
    2. 25 s shorter cooldown
    3. +0.75 s stun, more damage scaling
  • Air Drop100 s cooldownFly with an ally and drop them for a 115 damage explosion. You both deal +20% damage for 8 s after. 30% shorter cooldown when used on an ally.
    1. 300 barrier for both on landing
    2. Explosion slows by 32% for 3 s
    3. Explosion silences for 3 s, more scaling

Which ability to level first

First upgrade point for Ivy players at Oracle and above
First upgradeShare of gamesWin rate
Stone Form85%55.3%
Entangling Thorns13%60.9%

Most Ivy players put their first point into Stone Form for the bigger heal. The 13% who start with the second Thorns charge win almost six points more often. That is 555 games, small enough to be a hint rather than proof, but two patches of thorns in lane is a lot of slow and damage early.

For the first ability to max, high-rank players split three ways: Kudzu Connection in 60% of games, Stone Form in 25% and Air Drop in 14%, all winning between 55 and 56.5%. There is no wrong answer here, so max the one that matches your partner: Kudzu for a gun hero, Stone Form if you are the one being focused.

What high-rank Ivy players build

Most bought items on Ivy at Oracle and above, in buying order

Share of Oracle-and-above games where the item was bought, and the minute it is usually bought.

Ivy's build is the least settled of the heroes we analyzed: no item reaches three games in four. Most players start with magazine size and for her fast gun, then split. One path adds and stays gun-heavy; the other adds and , which make Thorns and Stone Form cover more ground. Both show up in winning games, so follow what your team needs.

How to play Ivy

  1. Link to the ally who shoots the most. Kudzu gives them fire rate and lifesteal, and 35% of your healing is shared with them.
  2. Keep line of sight. The link needs it, and at Tier 3 Kudzu is always active, so positioning is the whole skill.
  3. Use Stone Form as your panic button. You are impervious while stone, stun everyone around you and heal on landing.
  4. Drop Thorns under a fight that is already happening. At Tier 3, anyone who stays in them for 2 s is immobilized.
  5. Air Drop your best diver onto the enemy backline. The explosion hits, both of you get +20% damage, and the cooldown is shorter when you carry an ally.

Matchups

Ivy's win rate against each enemy hero, ranked games since City Never Sleeps

Hardest

  • Rat King2,967 games, mostly before his nerf45.8%
  • Paige3,633 games49.1%
  • Seven2,225 games49.7%
  • Victor1,907 games50.4%
  • Vyper1,029 games50.7%

Easiest

  • Baba815 games62.3%
  • Warden534 games61.4%
  • Mirage772 games59.2%
  • Silver1,111 games58.9%
  • Shiv1,759 games58.4%

Ivy is above 49% against almost everyone, which is what an A-tier hero looks like. Adjusted for overall strength, her real problem matchups are McGinnis, Viscous and Paradox, where she wins three to five points less than expected. McGinnis and Paradox both put walls into fights, and a wall between Ivy and her partner breaks the line of sight Kudzu Connection needs.

Is Ivy good right now?

Ivy's ranked win rate by rank bracket
Average rank in the matchWin rate
Initiate to Mystic53.8%
Ritualist to Oracle53.5%
Phantom to Eternus53.5%

Yes. She wins 53.6% of ranked games since City Never Sleeps, A tier on our tier list, and she barely moves between Initiate and Eternus. Since the October 5 update she is at 55.6%, narrowly the best of any hero. If you want one hero that climbs at every rank, she is the safest pick in the game.

FAQ

Yes. She wins 53.6% of ranked games since City Never Sleeps at every rank, and 55.6% since October 6, the highest of any hero by a hair over Kelvin.

High-rank players most often max Kudzu Connection first, with Stone Form second. For the first upgrade point, Stone Form is standard, but the Thorns-first start won more in our sample.

Partly. The game files list her as a marksman, but Kudzu Connection and Air Drop exist to make an ally stronger, so she plays as a damage hero and a support at once.

Adjusted for hero strength, McGinnis, Viscous and Paradox hurt her most. Walls that split Ivy from her linked ally break Kudzu Connection.

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