Yamato

Strengths and weaknesses

Abilities

1

Power Slash

12s cooldown

Channel to build up damage for up to 1.4s, then release a powerful sword strike.

Tier 1 1 point	Applies a 32% move slow for 3s
Tier 2 2 points	-4s cooldown
Tier 3 5 points	+8m cast range, +150 damage and better spirit scaling

2

Flying Slash

36s cooldown

Fire a grappling hook that reels you to an enemy, dealing melee damage and slowing them.

Tier 1 1 point	-18s cooldown
Tier 2 2 points	+35 spirit power for 6s
Tier 3 5 points	Alt-cast to grapple allies; +15m cast range and +1 charge

3

Crimson Slash

16s cooldown

Slash enemies in front of you, damaging them and reducing their fire rate. Heals you when you hit a hero.

Tier 1 1 point	On hit: +30% melee damage for 4s
Tier 2 2 points	On hero hit: heal 6% of your max health
Tier 3 5 points	-10s cooldown and better scaling

ULT

Shadow Transformation

150s cooldown

After a brief invincible transformation, your abilities are refreshed and work 60% faster for 5s (faster charging, casting and cooldowns). You're also immune to negative status effects.

Tier 1 1 point	+7 weapon damage
Tier 2 2 points	+4 m/s move speed and -20s cooldown
Tier 3 5 points	+3s duration and +30% bullet and spirit resist

Ability order

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

1. Unlock Power Slash
2. Unlock Crimson Slash
3. Unlock Flying Slash
4. Power Slash T1
5. Crimson Slash T1
6. Unlock Shadow Transformation
7. Flying Slash T1
8. Crimson Slash T2
9. Power Slash T2
10. Shadow Transformation T1–T2
11. Crimson Slash T3
12. Power Slash T3
13. Shadow Transformation T3
14. Flying Slash T2–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 17,655 Yamato matches from October 6–7, 2026 (all ranks). It keeps the items most Yamato 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

Yamato is a melee assassin. Flying Slash grapples her onto targets, Power Slash is a charged sword strike, Crimson Slash damages and heals her, and Shadow Transformation refreshes her abilities, speeds them up by 60% and makes her immune to crowd control.

Laning phase (0–10 min)

• Power Slash on a short cooldown is your main trading tool. Charge it while the enemy is distracted.
• Crimson Slash to heal in trades. It heals you when you hit a hero (with T2).
• Use your spreadshot for last hits and orbs.

Mid game (10–25 min)

• Flying Slash onto isolated targets. Grapple in → Power Slash → Crimson Slash.
• Get Flying Slash T1 to halve its cooldown.
• Cooldown items make every ability come back faster.

Late game and team fights (25+ min)

• Shadow Transformation to dive. It refreshes your abilities and makes you immune to crowd control, so jump onto their carry and chain abilities. Power Slash charges in just 0.56s.
• Time your exit. When the transformation ends, you’re squishy. Have an escape ready.
• T3 adds 3 seconds and +30% resists, which is a huge upgrade.

Combos

1. All-in: Flying Slash → Power Slash → Crimson Slash → spreadshot.
2. Ultimate dive: Shadow Transformation (abilities refreshed) → Flying Slash onto the carry → spam fast Power Slashes and Crimson Slashes.
3. Ally escape (T3): alt-cast Flying Slash to grapple to an ally and escape.

Matchups

• Good against: squishy backline heroes who can’t escape her grapple.
• Hard against: tanky heroes who survive her burst, and long-range kiters with lots of slows.

Pro tips

• Flying Slash T3 lets you grapple to allies, a surprise escape tool.
• Power Slash T3 adds 8m range, so you don’t need to be as close.
• Save Shadow Transformation for when the enemy has crowd control ready, so their stuns are wasted on you.

Lore

Yamato's real name is Kaori. She and her brother Yamato were born into organised-crime royalty, but she fled Japan after a violent coup killed him. Arriving in America under his name, she's now chasing his dream of expanding the family empire overseas.

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.