Haze is one of the many characters in Valve’s new hero-shooter Deadlock, capable of dealing heavy damage and escaping through stealth. As one of the main DPS characters in the game, Haze can be difficult to master, with a weak early game that can set back her power spike.
If you want to survive the early game and defeat your enemies from the shadows, you’ll have to level up the right abilities and equip Haze with powerful items. Here is the best DPS Haze build in Deadlock.
Haze’s Abilities in Deadlock
Like all other characters, Haze has a primary weapon, three abilities, and one ultimate that can be upgraded throughout the match by spending ability points. Here is a list of Haze’s four abilities:
- Sleep Dagger: Throw a dagger that damages and puts the target to sleep. Throwing her dagger does not break invisibility.
- Smoke Bomb: Fade out of sight and turn invisible, with a detection radius around your character.
- Fixation (Passive): Shooting a target adds stacks to that enemy. Each stack increases bullet damage.
- Bullet Dance (Ultimate): Spin around and shoot your weapons in an AOE around you, dealing massive damage.
You’ll earn ability points by destroying structures and collecting souls, but you should invest your points in a specific order. Haze’s best ability path is Fixation > Bullet Dance > Sleep Dagger > Smoke Bomb.
Fixation is Haze’s best ability, making it the perfect choice to unlock at the very start of the match and fully upgrade first. Since this ability is passive it does not need to be activated, just try and land as many shots as possible to increase your damage. Since you can not immediately unlock your ultimate, you should unlock Sleep Dagger as your second ability. This knife allows you to sleep aggressive opponents during the laning phase, which can help you survive your weak early game. Once you have unlocked Sleep Dagger, save your ability points to upgrade your ultimate.
Bullet Dance is an incredibly powerful ultimate ability, capable of changing the tide of battle and wiping entire teams. Upgrading this ultimate whenever you have the spare ability points will increase your damage even further. Finally, Smoke Bomb should receive the least amount of points, since the ability is still useful at lower levels.
Best early-game Haze build in Deadlock
Haze is a character that thrives at ganking lanes and catching her victims off guard, but she seriously struggles to survive during the early game. Due to her lackluster survivability, we recommend purchasing items like Extra Stamina and Sprint Boots to boost your movement speed. You can also purchase Extra Regen to get back some health in between fights and Ammo Scavenger to temporarily boost your magazine size when you collect Souls.
The majority of Haze’s damage comes from her SMGs and Fixation, so orange cards are the most important options to buy. Basic Magazine will increase your damage and ammo capacity, and it can be upgraded later in the game. Finally, Headshot Booster will synergize with the stacks you gain from Fixation, and Rapid Rounds will make your bullets shoot faster.
As you transition into the mid and late game, you should sell Rapid Rounds, Headshot Booster, Extra Regen, and Ammo Scavenger for better upgrades.
Best mid-game Haze build in Deadlock
Now that you can finally leave your starting lane and harass enemies, there are some better upgrades to purchase. The most important cards you can purchase during this stage are Active Reload, Bullet Lifesteal, and Quicksilver Reload. Active Reload automatically highlights a portion of the reload bar green, and pressing R during this section will instantly reload your weapon.
When you purchase Quicksilver Reload you’ll have to bind an ability to the item, and we suggest Haze’s Sleep Dagger. This item causes you to instantly reload your weapons once every 12 seconds if you cast your bound ability. Finally, Bullet Lifesteal helps you regain health whenever you deal damage.
Depending on the course of a match, you may want to purchase other items. If you find yourself struggling to survive, then purchasing Bullet or Spirit Armor will make you tankier. Alternatively, if you’re struggling to kill enemies instead, then Bullet Resist Shredder and Healbane will cut down on armor and healing.
Finally, Kinetic Dash will boost your rate of fire and ammo whenever you complete a dash-jump, and Swift Striker increases your fire rate by 22 percent. These are both great upgrades for dishing out damage, but they can be sold for extra Souls once you begin purchasing end-game items.
Best end-game Haze build in Deadlock
Once you hit the end-game, you’ll unlock flex shots for extra items. The most important late-game upgrade is Lucky Shot because it gives every bullet a 30-percent chance to deal extra damage. This can be combined with other orange items like Ricochet, Burst Fire, and Tesla Bullets.
Both Ricochet and Tesla Bullets will help you clear waves of minions, as the items cause your bullets to bounce between enemies or electrocute nearby opponents. Burst Fire increases your rate of fire by 30 percent for three seconds whenever you land a bullet on an enemy champion. While we don’t recommend purchasing all of these upgrades, just one or two will turn the tides of battle. You can also upgrade your Basic Magazine into a Titanic Magazine, which holds 100 percent more ammo and makes your bullets deal 18 percent extra damage.
If you have purchased Bullet or Spirit Armor, you can upgrade to the Improved versions if you’re still struggling to stay alive. Alternatively, upgrading to Superior Stamina will give you another charge of stamina, making it easier to dodge attacks or hunt down enemies with dashes.
Finally, if you have any leftover Souls, you can purchase Improved Reach. This will increase the range of all of your abilities, but it only applies to Haze’s ultimate Bullet Dance. With an even larger AOE, your enemies will struggle to escape your flurry of damage.
