Drifter

Strengths and weaknesses

Abilities

1

Rend

16s cooldown

Slash in a cone (up to 16m) for 40 spirit damage. Enemies within 8m take bonus melee damage too.

Tier 1 1 point	+40 bonus damage
Tier 2 2 points	-8s cooldown
Tier 3 5 points	Close range now deals 55% of your heavy melee damage and silences for 2s

2

Stalker's Mark

26s cooldown

Throw a mark that makes the target bleed (2% of their health per second) for 5s. Reactivate to teleport behind the marked target.

Tier 1 1 point	Marked target has -8% bullet resist
Tier 2 2 points	-10s cooldown and +3s duration
Tier 3 5 points	+1.5% bleed and -40% incoming healing

3

Bloodscent

Passive: enemy heroes alone within 20m of no allies are isolated. Within 80m you can see their trail and hear their heartbeat, and you deal 15% more damage to them. Killing an isolated hero permanently gives you +3% weapon damage.

Tier 1 1 point	+3 m/s move speed near isolated enemies
Tier 2 2 points	On kill: heal 24% of missing health and restore 2 stamina
Tier 3 5 points	+11% more damage against isolated enemies

ULT

Eternal Night

145s cooldown

Plunge up to 2 enemies (100m range) into darkness for 6.5s. Their vision shrinks to 15m, they're briefly revealed to you, and they count as isolated. You get bonus sprint speed.

Tier 1 1 point	+10 m/s sprint speed
Tier 2 2 points	-40s cooldown
Tier 3 5 points	+2.5s duration and +1 target

Ability order

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

1. Unlock Bloodscent
2. Unlock Stalker's Mark
3. Unlock Rend
4. Rend T1
5. Stalker's Mark T1
6. Unlock Eternal Night
7. Bloodscent T1
8. Rend T2
9. Stalker's Mark T2
10. Eternal Night T1–T2
11. Bloodscent T2
12. Rend T3
13. Eternal Night T3
14. Bloodscent T3
15. Stalker's Mark 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 26,730 Drifter matches from October 6–7, 2026 (all ranks). It keeps the items most Drifter 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

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

How to play

Drifter is a stalker and ganker. His passive, Bloodscent, shows him enemies who are alone and makes him deal more damage to them. Stalker’s Mark lets him teleport behind a target, Rend slashes and silences at close range, and Eternal Night blinds enemies anywhere nearby and makes them count as isolated.

Laning phase (0–10 min)

• Trade with Rend. Close-range Rend adds melee damage on top.
• Mark and teleport. Stalker’s Mark bleeds the target; reactivate to teleport behind them when they try to escape.
• Your spreadshot hits hard up close (19.5 per pellet), but you only have 12 shots.

Mid game (10–25 min)

• Hunt isolated heroes. Bloodscent shows you who’s alone, and each isolated kill gives a permanent +3% weapon damage.
• Bloodscent T2 heals you and restores stamina on kills, letting you chain ganks.

Late game and team fights (25+ min)

• Eternal Night the carry. Isolate them, then teleport behind them with Stalker’s Mark.
• Rend T3 silences for 2 seconds at close range, so they can’t escape with abilities.

Combos

1. Gank: Stalker’s Mark → teleport behind → Rend (close range for melee damage) → shotgun.
2. Isolate: Eternal Night → Stalker’s Mark the darkened target → teleport → burst.
3. Silence lock (T3): teleport → close-range Rend (2s silence) → shoot.

Matchups

• Good against: heroes who farm alone, such as junglers and split-pushers.
• Hard against: teams that stay grouped, and tanks with bullet resist.

Pro tips

• Bloodscent kills stack permanently: +3% weapon damage for every isolated hero you kill.
• Stalker’s Mark T3 cuts healing by 40%, which is great against healers.

Lore

Drifter is an ancient vampire who scorns the traditions of vampire society. He wanders across America on his own terms, hunting anyone foolish enough to be alone and leaving wreckage wherever he feeds.

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.