Baba

Early guide. Baba was released on October 6, 2026, so this is an early guide. Her abilities and numbers are current for the October 6 update, but builds, skill order and matchups will be refined as players learn her. Check back after the next patch.

Strengths and weaknesses

Abilities

1

Threadsap

26s cooldown

Fire a spool of thread along your crosshair (35m). It bursts along its path for 50 spirit damage and steals 10 spirit power per hit, up to 45. Baba gets 175% value from what she steals, and while she holds stolen spirit, every bullet deals 8 bonus spirit damage. The steal lasts 22s.

Tier 1 1 point	+8 spirit damage per bullet
Tier 2 2 points	-12s cooldown and +8s steal duration
Tier 3 5 points	+1 charge, and hits pull enemies 7m

2

Granny Long Legs

30s cooldown

Her bench sprouts legs for 10s, giving +5 m/s move speed, higher jumps, 30% debuff resist and 30% melee resist. Light melee becomes a kick that knocks enemies back 10m; heavy melee becomes a ground pound (8m) that knocks up, deals 75 spirit damage and slows by 50% for 4s. Hold crouch to charge a high jump.

Tier 1 1 point	+2.5 m/s move speed
Tier 2 2 points	-7s cooldown
Tier 3 5 points	+15% resists and +50% melee lifesteal

3

Baba's Brew

25s cooldown

Channel for 1s and splash a 6m area up to 12m away. The brew cycles on its own between three effects. Soothing gives allies a 100 barrier for 8s, Silencing silences enemies for 3s, and Scalding burns enemies for 12 spirit damage per second over 8s and lowers their spirit resist. Alt-fire pauses the cycle so you can hold the brew you want.

Tier 1 1 point	+3m radius
Tier 2 2 points	-12s cooldown
Tier 3 5 points	+33% brew effectiveness

ULT

Feed The Birds

150s cooldown

Channel for up to 6.5s, throwing bread at enemies in front of you (18m). Bread stacks a slow of up to 32%, reaching full stacks after 3.5s. When the channel ends, pigeons mob every breaded target for up to 450 spirit damage and hex them into a pigeon for up to 2.75s. More stacks mean more damage and a longer hex.

Tier 1 1 point	+4m cast range and +32% max slow
Tier 2 2 points	-55s cooldown
Tier 3 5 points	+125 max damage, much higher spirit scaling and +0.5s hex

Ability order

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

1. Unlock Threadsap
2. Unlock Baba's Brew
3. Unlock Granny Long Legs
4. Threadsap T1
5. Baba's Brew T1
6. Unlock Feed The Birds
7. Threadsap T2
8. Baba's Brew T2
9. Feed The Birds T1–T2
10. Granny Long Legs T1–T2
11. Threadsap T3
12. Feed The Birds T3
13. Baba's Brew T3
14. Granny Long Legs 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.

WeaponVitalitySpirit

Rate this build in the build rater → See its grade, and the heroes it does well and badly against.

How to play

Baba is a hexing disruptor who wins fights by draining the enemy and controlling space. Threadsap steals spirit power and powers up her gun, Baba’s Brew shields allies or silences and burns enemies, Granny Long Legs turns her bench into a fast, kicking mount, and her ultimate Feed The Birds turns a whole team into pigeons.

Her unique mechanics

• The brew cycle. Baba’s Brew rotates between Soothing, Silencing and Scalding by itself. Watch the indicator and press alt-fire to pause on the one you need before you cast.
• Stolen spirit is a buff and a debuff. Every Threadsap hit takes spirit power off the enemy and gives Baba even more, and while she holds it her bullets deal bonus spirit damage.
• The bench changes your melee. While Granny Long Legs is up, light melee kicks enemies away and heavy melee slams the ground to knock up and slow.

Laning phase (0–10 min)

• Threadsap first, then shoot. Your gun is weak until you’ve stolen spirit, so open every trade with Threadsap and follow with bullets.
• Line up the thread. It hits everything along its path, so aim it through the enemy laner and their minions.
• Hold Silencing Brew for their all-in. A 3-second silence stops most lane bursts.

Mid game (10–25 min)

• Pick fights when Feed The Birds is up. It’s your biggest threat, and enemies will learn to scatter when they see you.
• Use Granny Long Legs to rotate and engage. The speed and resists get you into range, and the ground pound slows anyone trying to run.
• Soothing Brew before objectives. A barrier on the whole team at the Urn or the Mid-Boss wins the first exchange.

Late game and team fights (25+ min)

• Channel the ultimate from safety. Start Feed The Birds from cover or behind your frontline, where nobody can stun you out of it.
• Hit as many targets as you can, as long as you can. Full stacks (3.5s) means maximum damage and the longest hex.
• Follow the hex with Scalding Brew. It lowers spirit resist, so your team’s abilities land harder on the pigeons.

Combos

1. Team-fight wipe: Silencing Brew on their casters → Feed The Birds on the group → Scalding Brew on the pigeons as the hex ends.
2. Lane trade: Threadsap through the enemy → shoot with the bonus spirit damage → Silencing Brew if they try to fight back.
3. Bench pick: Granny Long Legs → run in → heavy melee ground pound to knock up and slow → Threadsap and shoot.

Matchups (early read)

• Likely good against: spirit casters, since Threadsap steals their spirit power and the brew silences them.
• Likely hard against: heroes with fast stuns or silences that break her ultimate, and long-range gunners who punish her weak base gun.
• Unstoppable is valuable on her. It protects the 6.5-second Feed The Birds channel from crowd control.

Pro tips

• Threadsap T3 adds a pull. Each hit drags enemies 7 metres, perfect for pulling a target into your team or your ultimate.
• Feed The Birds T2 takes 55 seconds off the cooldown (150s down to 95s), which is a big reason to rush it once you have points.
• Don’t let the brew cycle choose for you. Pausing on Soothing before a fight and switching to Silencing mid-fight is the main skill gap on Baba.

Lore

Baba is a fixture of Central Park, the old woman on the bench who feeds the spirit pigeons. Locals treat her as an institution, and many suspect she leads the Soho Coven. She wants the interdimensional war kept out of Manhattan, and she uses spirit magic and her walking bench to make sure of it.

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