Abrams

Strengths and weaknesses

Abilities

1

Siphon Life

42s cooldown

Drains health from every enemy within 8m for 4 seconds, dealing spirit damage over time and healing Abrams for part of the damage dealt.

Tier 1 1 point	-20s cooldown
Tier 2 2 points	+2s duration
Tier 3 5 points	+2m radius and +18 DPS, with better spirit scaling

2

Shoulder Charge

33s cooldown

Charges forward (about 17.5m), dragging enemies along. Slamming them into a wall stuns them. Abrams speeds up when he collides with heroes.

Tier 1 1 point	Applies a 32% slow for 3s
Tier 2 2 points	Wall hits stun for +0.8s longer
Tier 3 5 points	-18s cooldown; colliding with a hero gives +1.5 weapon damage for 6s

3

Infernal Resilience

Passive. Abrams regenerates 13% of the damage he takes over the next 20 seconds.

Tier 1 1 point	+200 max health
Tier 2 2 points	+18% melee lifesteal
Tier 3 5 points	+20% debuff resist and +9% damage regenerated

ULT

Seismic Impact

215s cooldown

Leaps high into the air and crashes down, dealing spirit damage and stunning enemies within 9m for 1.6 seconds.

Tier 1 1 point	-30s cooldown
Tier 2 2 points	+0.8s stun duration
Tier 3 5 points	Unstoppable for 5s on cast; +6m impact radius

Ability order

Spend points in this order. Each ability's tiers cost 1, 2 and 5 points.

1. Unlock Siphon Life
2. Unlock Shoulder Charge
3. Unlock Infernal Resilience
4. Siphon Life T1
5. Shoulder Charge T1
6. Unlock Seismic Impact
7. Siphon Life T2
8. Infernal Resilience T1
9. Shoulder Charge T2
10. Siphon Life T3
11. Infernal Resilience T2
12. Shoulder Charge T3
13. Seismic Impact T1–T3
14. Infernal Resilience T3

Item build

A starting build that works in most games. Swap pieces based on the enemy team; the notes explain what each stage is for.

Checked against 18,778 Abrams matches from October 6–7, 2026 (all ranks). It keeps the items most Abrams players buy and fills the other slots with the items that won most often. See the item tier list for how we measure that.

WeaponVitalitySpirit

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How to play

Abrams is a frontline brawler. He wants to be close to enemies, soaking up damage, draining health with Siphon Life and pinning targets against walls. You’re not the team’s main damage dealer late in the game. You’re the reason the enemy can’t reach your damage dealers.

Laning phase (0–10 min)

• Trade up close. Your shotgun and melee are strong early. When your opponent steps forward to last hit, punish them.
• Siphon Life wins trades. Pop it when the enemy hero is inside 8m and stay on them. You heal while they don’t.
• Use melee on troopers. Abrams’ melee is strong, and melee kills give the full souls without an orb.
• Watch the wall angles. Shoulder Charge only stuns if you slam your target into a wall. Lanes with walls nearby are where you look for kills.

Mid game (10–25 min)

• Look for picks with Charge → Siphon → melee. Charge an isolated enemy into a wall, turn on Siphon Life and shoot or melee during the stun.
• Take space for your team. Walk in first on objectives like the Mid Boss or the Unstable Rift. You’re the hero best built to take the first hits.
• Help with the Urn. You’re hard to kill, which makes you a good Urn carrier with your team close by.

Late game and team fights (25+ min)

• Seismic Impact is your fight starter. Land it on two or three enemies, ideally the backline, and your team follows up during the stun.
• The T3 upgrade makes you Unstoppable for 5 seconds on cast, so you can’t be stopped by CC while you jump in.
• Peel for your carries. If enemy assassins dive your damage dealers, Shoulder Charge them away instead of diving.

Combos

1. Wall pin: Shoulder Charge into a wall → Siphon Life → shotgun at point-blank range → heavy melee while they’re stunned.
2. Team fight opener: Seismic Impact onto a group → Siphon Life as you land → Shoulder Charge anyone trying to escape.
3. Lane all-in (with T2 Infernal Resilience): Siphon Life → melee chain. Melee lifesteal plus Siphon keeps you topped up.

Matchups

• Good against: close-range heroes and melee-focused heroes, who have to fight on your terms.
• Hard against: long-range poke and kiting heroes, and anyone with lots of slows. If you can’t reach them, you can’t do much, so use Shoulder Charge to close the distance rather than to escape.
• Watch for anti-heal: if the enemy buys Healbane or Toxic Bullets, add more raw health and resists instead of lifesteal.

Pro tips

• Shoulder Charge also works as movement. Use it to cross gaps and return to lane, but remember it’s also your only escape.
• Infernal Resilience heals a portion of the damage you take, so trading damage early and then disengaging works out in your favour.
• Don’t heavy melee a target that’s watching you. Parry stuns you for 2.75 seconds. Use light melee to finish, and heavy melee only on stunned targets.

Lore

Abrams is a hard-boiled New York detective with a long list of solved cases. Then a mysterious magical book appears on his desk with nothing but a cryptic warning, and now he's hunted by people willing to kill for it while he tries to learn where it came from.

Ability numbers are checked against the game and the community-run Deadlock Wiki after every patch. Builds are our own recommendations, checked against public match data. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.