Paradox

Strengths and weaknesses

Abilities

1

Pulse Grenade

32s cooldown

Throw a grenade that pulses, dealing spirit damage, slowing time for enemies, and building stacking damage amplification.

Tier 1 1 point	-12s cooldown
Tier 2 2 points	+20 pulse damage and better spirit scaling
Tier 3 5 points	+4% damage amp and +1.6s duration

2

Time Wall

25s cooldown

Create a time-warping wall. Enemy bullets and projectiles that touch it are stopped in time, enemies who touch it are briefly slowed, and friendly bullets passing through get faster and stronger.

Tier 1 1 point	+3.5s duration, +3m width and +1m height
Tier 2 2 points	Silences enemies for 2.3s; +35% weapon damage for friendly bullets
Tier 3 5 points	+2 charges

3

Kinetic Carbine

28s cooldown

Charge up a shot of time energy that deals spirit damage and applies a time-stop to enemies hit. Its damage grows with your weapon damage, and you move faster once it's fully charged.

Tier 1 1 point	+0.4s maximum time-stop
Tier 2 2 points	-12s cooldown and better scaling
Tier 3 5 points	Hold the charge 2s longer; +55% damage scaling

ULT

Paradoxical Swap

110s cooldown

Fire a projectile that swaps your position with the enemy it hits.

Tier 1 1 point	200 barrier for 8s (scales with spirit power)
Tier 2 2 points	-30s cooldown and +13m cast range
Tier 3 5 points	Swaps every enemy within 7m of the target too; +10% max health damage

Ability order

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

1. Unlock Pulse Grenade
2. Unlock Kinetic Carbine
3. Unlock Time Wall
4. Pulse Grenade T1
5. Kinetic Carbine T1
6. Unlock Paradoxical Swap
7. Paradoxical Swap T1–T2
8. Pulse Grenade T2
9. Kinetic Carbine T2
10. Time Wall T1
11. Pulse Grenade T3
12. Time Wall T2
13. Paradoxical Swap T3
14. Kinetic Carbine T3
15. Time Wall 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

Paradox is a disruptor who controls space and time. Pulse Grenade slows time and amplifies damage, Time Wall blocks enemy projectiles, Kinetic Carbine freezes a target in place, and Paradoxical Swap trades places with an enemy, pulling them into your team.

Laning phase (0–10 min)

• Pulse Grenade the enemy hero to slow them and build damage amp.
• Kinetic Carbine for kills. Charge it fully when the enemy is low or stuck in Pulse Grenade.
• Time Wall blocks projectiles. Use it to stop poke and skillshots.

Mid game (10–25 min)

• Set up picks with Swap. Swap with an enemy at the back of their team; now they’re in yours.
• Get Paradoxical Swap T1 early: the barrier helps you survive landing where the enemy was.
• Cooldown items let you set up more often.

Late game and team fights (25+ min)

• Time Wall T2 adds a silence. Wall off the enemy’s path to split the fight, and shoot through it for +35% weapon damage.
• Swap T3 swaps a whole group. Hit the middle of their team to drag several enemies into yours.
• Pulse Grenade before your team’s burst. The damage amp helps everyone.

Combos

1. Pick: Paradoxical Swap → Pulse Grenade on the target → Kinetic Carbine to freeze them → team bursts them.
2. Wall split: Time Wall between their frontline and backline → focus the cut-off group.
3. Lane kill: Pulse Grenade → charged Kinetic Carbine → shoot.

Matchups

• Good against: squishy backline heroes, since you can swap them into your team.
• Hard against: divers who reach her after she swaps, and burst heroes who can kill her through her barrier.

Pro tips

• Kinetic Carbine can crit (14% crit bonus on headshots).
• Time Wall blocks enemy projectiles, so place it to stop skillshots and bullets.
• Swap T1 gives a 200 barrier that scales with spirit power, so you survive arriving in danger.

Lore

Paradox belongs to an elite guild of thieves that pulls off high-stakes heists against the most powerful people around. The guild shows off its loot in pop-up museums, just to prove nobody is out of its reach.

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.