In-game build
I love cat[girl]s! Skelly's Spirit Assassin BuildI love cat[girl]s! Skelly's Spirit Assassin Build
by player 203574572 · updated 2026-10-26
GradeA
Win rate49.8%
vs Calico avg+1.5
Games19k
266497- In Deadlock, open Calico in the Heroes menu, then Builds.
- Search for the build ID (or the name), then favourite it.
- In a match, pick it from the build list in the shop.
Author's notes
Fully annotated! This is a spirit build! Check out my melee bruiser Calico build (not updated as frequently): 209974
Items in buying order
Melee Lifesteal 800sell order 99Very common buy. Great healing in lane from punching minions. And we can optionally upgrade this into Lifestrike for more sustain.
Stalker 1,600Great damage and stats in lane and gives you move speed for chasing. The foostep sound reduction is also nice. And this gives you wallhacks from the DoT. This is also for the weapon investment bonus.
Spirit Strike 800We upgrade this to Spirit Snatch later. Adds to our burst and trades with our 2.
Sprint Boots 800Must buy for rotating around the map and ganking other lanes. Builds into Enduring Speed or Trophy Hunter. If not going Trophy Collector, get it after Spirit Snatch.
Trophy Collector 1,600I think this is still mostly good. You can get Enduring Speed instead of this after Spirit Snatch if you prefer.
Cold Front 1,600Adds to your burst damage, and the slow is great. We also can upgrade this into Arctic Blast.
Spirit Snatch 3,200Hits your 4.8k spirit investment spike. Spirit resist and power steal is amazing. Plus even more melee damage and it procs on your 2.
Close Quarters 800Nice for melee resist. If you want to kill minions and objectives, its as good as Monster Rounds. If you are planning to go more into gun, this builds into Point Blank for that.
Extra Regen 800sell order 97Good item. Get if you need healing in lane. Typically better than Healing Rite for that.
Grit 800You could get this much earlier in lane instead. We're mainly getting it here to hit our 4.8k spike. If you went Dispel Magic earlier, you can skip this.
Rebuttal 800sell order 97Great against Viscous in lane since it works against Viscous Puddle Punches. Also a very good item against people building melee (Abrams and Billy). Only buy if you can actually parry consistently.
Enduring Speed 1,600Great for move speed in fights and the slow resist. Lets you easily hit the second ult damage burst. You can get this instead of Trophy Collector, if so, buy it after Spirit Snatch.
Lifestrike 3,200Buffed! So much fun. Use off CD with heavy melee in lane for a 80+ health heal on a 4 sec CD. Lets you permafight/push in lane. Slow is super good as well.
Dispel Magic 3,200Hits your 4.8k green investment. Must buy against Slowing Hex. Really great against a ton of characters.
Hunter's Aura 3,200Great for 1v1s. Gets you your 4.8k weapon investment. You could also go Mystic Shot + Spirit Shredder Bullets here instead.
Torment Pulse 3,200Great damage over the course of a game/fight. Good for tankiness and farming. You could get this earlier instead of Spirit Snatch if you prefer.
Arctic Blast 6,400Really great item, great for catching people and for clearing waves in cat form.
Improved Spirit 1,600Good for damage, and builds into Boundless Spirit.
Boundless Spirit 6,400Gives you some much needed damage in the late game with your ult and gloom bombs. Great if you are trying to oneshot their carries.
Scourge 6,400Can swap for other things, not as strong as it used to be. Makes you really tanky and can do a lot of damage if you get into the middle of their team. Boundless is a good alternative here.
Superior Cooldown 3,200Cooldown reduction is really useful.
Counterspell 3,200Great against certain characters and abilities. Especially Lash.
Spirit Resilience 3,200If you need anti-spirit. Very common buy although not absolutely necessary since we build many items that have spirit resist already. Always good.
Bullet Resilience 3,200Usually just go Metal Skin instead. In worst case scenario you could get this. But something like Plated Armor or maybe Disarming Hex will likely just be better.
Metal Skin 3,200This since it got buffed is actually kinda really good against some characters, especially Haze and Drifter. I'd get this as an alternative to Bullet Resilience or Plated Armor. Good with trans CD
Fortitude 3,200The health is great for survivability, the move speed is great for rotating, and the heal lets you stay on the map longer. I prefer this over VW cause it works in the tunnels.
Veil Walker 3,200Nice for rotating around the map, ganking, escaping/survivability, and the heal is great. At the moment I don't like this too much since it doesn't work in the tunnels.
Enchanter's Emblem 1,600Great for more spirit resist early. Cooldown reduction is really rare so this is a great item since it gives you some.
Reactive Barrier 1,600Great item against hard CC. Scales well into the late game as well. You could get in lane even against some heroes.
Spirit Shielding 1,600Great against spirit damage. You can get in some lanes.
Weapon Shielding 1,600It's nice, usually the other shields are better though in most games.
Healbane 1,600Easy to proc anti-heal (good against Abrams, Victor, etc.). The heal on kill is also really great during midgame fights.
Restorative Locket 1,6008% spirit resist for 1.6k and the health and the stamina is really nice. I don't think you build this most games anymore with the nerf to it.
Debuff Reducer 1,600Good if you need debuff reduction and are going to build Spellbreaker later (good if they have heavy spirit burst such as Grey Talon or Lash).
Silence Wave 3,200Good item. Very common buy. Silence is very good against many characters.
Suppressor 1,600Great at stopping gun carries. Easy to proc and can proc on many people.
Slowing Hex 1,600Good against Mina, and other movement focused people.
Mystic Shot 1,600Pretty good. If you're getting 3 1.6k gun items to get your 4.8k spike then this would be one of them usually.
Spirit Shredder 1,600Pretty good. If you're getting 3 1.6k gun items to get your 4.8k spike then this would be one of them usually.
Transcendent Cooldown 6,400Great item once you have 2 actives. It also makes Torment Pulse tick faster!
Spirit Burn 6,400Anti-heal + more burst damage. If you need to burst carries or need anti-heal this is really useful.
Indomitable 6,400Very nice, I usually always get if I bought a barrier item earlier in the game.
Ethereal Shift 6,400Good, especially with Trans CD. Very good for surviving in fights and for countering certain ultimates.
Colossus 6,400Melee damadge and tankiness. Pick between this and Ethereal Shift for your last active slot.
Mystic Vulnerability 1,600Upgrades into Escalating Exposure. Spirit shred is extremely useful.
Escalating Exposure 6,400This with Scourge is good. You run into the middle of the enemy team with Scourge and this does work. Also has shred and gives you even more spirit resist so you're even tankier.
Crippling Headshot 6,400Best item in the game for damage as it shreds resists so your entire team will do more damage. And anti-heal is so good.
Tankbuster 3,200Still good.
Unstoppable 6,400Really great in late teamfights. Especially good if you are really struggling against CC. Or for midboss.
Spellbreaker 6,400Incredible against Lash, Grey Talon, and any other spirit burst characters.
Juggernaut 6,400Great against gun carries and is good to pick up if you have no free slots.
Plated Armor 6,400Great but usually only buy once you already have bullet resist. Great against Haze.
Witchmail 6,400Kind of a meme item. Very situational. Only get against lots of incremental spirit damage (McGinnis turrets, Infernus, Warden Ult) and have Spirit Resilience already.
Siphon Bullets 6,400Might be quite nice against tanks if you've gone into more gun late game.
Cheat Death 6,400If you are actually like the only player on your team doing anything and you have like 65k souls you could get this.
Stamina Mastery 3,200fun item, good value, mmm mmmmovement. You could buy this in the mid game some time rather than getting resists perhaps.
Warp Stone 3,200Good for movement and the bullet resist is nice.
Magic Carpet 6,400Fun and silly! Also good escape tool. Just worse to get than other 6ks though. Meme item.
Mercurial Magnum 6,400imbue → Gloom BombsCan't combo as well with Spiritual Overflow anymore.
Cursed Relic 6,400If you really need to screw over someone in particular. Terrible for your damage though. I've only ever bought it against hackers.
Disarming Hex 3,200Against a gun carry who is running the game.
Radiant Regeneration 3,200Kind of fun, but not very good. Adds up to a decent amount of heal in longer fights since Torment Pulse and Scourge easily procs it.
Knockdown 3,200If no one else on your team is going to buy this and you really need to stop a Vindicta/GT or Seven ult.
Decay 3,200I don't think this is really all that worth it compared to just getting Healbane. Since any person incredibly reliant on healing will just get Debuff Remover. But maybe get against Mo or Abrams.
Compress Cooldown 1,600imbue → Return to ShadowsMore uptime on your 4.
Mystic Slow 1,600Just feels really nice, makes it super easy to hit your ults second/end damage burst.
Spirit Sap 1,600Builds into Focus Lens, easy to use and great for 1v1s. Makes your burst stronger.
Mystic Burst 800Bad early since not much procs it anymore.
Phantom Strike 6,400Good for shutting down fliers and gun carries. And for getting on top of the people you need to target in team fights.
Battle Vest 1,600The bullet resist and regen is great in lane. Later though you should just get Bullet Resilience. Also good for farming denizens.
Return Fire 1,600Good against Graves and gun carries.
Extra Health 800You can build this into Fortitude or Colossus. You can buy this during laning to help with survivability potentially.
Healing Rite 800sell order 96No point getting this because of T2 catform.
Focus Lens 6,400It's fine, good with your burst and the silence is nice.
Spiritual Overflow 6,400Nerfed into the ground.
Lucky Shot 6,400Great for damage and ammo, replaces Stalker.
Spirit Rend 3,200Good late game upgrade for Spirit Shredder Bullets.
Cultist Sacrifice 3,200Possible item for your 4.8k Weapon Investment, but imo it's not that necessary on Calico.
Shadow Weave 3,200I think the stats from this can be good. The invisibility is bugged with cat form I think though, so just be wary of that. Other items are usually better.
Point Blank 3,200Feels pretty good. It is now fixed for your 2! Difficult on slots though. Good for melee resist if you need that.
Fleetfoot 1,600Not as good since the speed stacking nerf. I still like it though. Good for movespeed in ult and catform. Combine with a 3.2k weapon item to get your 4.8k investment spike.Ability order
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloom BombsAbility 1 | I | II | III | |||||||||||||
 Leaping SlashAbility 2 | I | II | III | |||||||||||||
 AvaAbility 3 | I | II | III | |||||||||||||
| Return to ShadowsUltimate | I | II | III |
unlock I II III upgrade tiers
Build from Deadlock's in-game build browser; win rate from matches played with it this patch (all ranks). All Calico builds →