
How to play VioletHow to play
51.1% win rate · #13 of 44 · Ambitious · Nimble · Creative
Updated 2026-11-01 18:39 UTC · n = 4,232,956 matches
How to play Violet
1Still Life
2Living InkYour combo: Sketch a target with Still Life (it damages them while you keep looking at them, and stuns if you finish), then steer Living Ink’s 3 empowered shots into them.
Don’t waste: Still Life only stuns if you finish the sketch while watching them; they break it by breaking line of sight, or by diving you while you’re locked on.
Edge: Living Ink hits on heroes reduce all your cooldowns, and enemies caught in Abstract Landscape are silenced and slowed when they leave it.
From community hero guides, Oct 2026 patches, checked against deadlock.wiki. The same combo from the other side is on how to counter Violet.
Your kit


Drag a brush that continues to travel forward, leaving a trail that grants bonus slide distance for allies and a fading slow and spirit damage to enemies it passes through, increased the further it travels. Re-activate the ability to flick the brush forward, ending the ability early but dealing spirit damage in a larger area.

Choose a hero to be your subject, dealing spirit damage over time as long as you are looking at them. If the sketch is completed they take additional spirit damage, suffer from stun, and drop a sketch that can be picked up. For each collected sketch, you permanently gain stats based on the hero.

Create a circular display of ink that blocks vision and grants allies Spirit.Enemies inside are revealed, and leaving causes them to take spirit damage and suffer from Silence and slow, destroying the ink in the process.
Skill order
Max first:
Living Ink›
Still Life›
Abstract Landscape›
Flow State
From the most common upgrade order (1.9k matches): the order abilities reach their last tier.
| 10m | 21m | 32m | 43m | 53m | 65m | 76m | 810m | 912m | 1016m | 1117m | 1218m | 1320m | 1428m | 1532m | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Living InkAbility 1 | I | II | III | ||||||||||||
Flow StateAbility 2 | I | II | |||||||||||||
Still LifeAbility 3 | I | II | III | ||||||||||||
Abstract LandscapeUltimate | I | II | III |
unlock I II III upgrade tiers · column labels are the average minute of each step
Build path with timings
Extra Regen~3:50 · 45%
sold ~28:04
Extra Spirit~5:20 · 93%
→ Improved Spirit
Mystic Regeneration~6:12 · 76%
→ Radiant Regeneration
Extra Charge~6:37 · 98%
→ Rapid Recharge
Radiant Regeneration~14:14 · 72%
Improved Spirit~15:35 · 86%
→ Boundless Spirit
Rapid Recharge~17:22 · 94%
Tankbuster~24:43 · 71%
Superior Cooldown~26:14 · 65%
sold ~32:12
Boundless Spirit~29:02 · 68%
Items that win most on Violet
+10.9 pp · 6% buy it
+9.1 pp · 2% buy it
+8.5 pp · 28% buy it
+8.3 pp · 29% buy it
+7.6 pp · 3% buy it
+7.1 pp · 1% buy it
Lanes you win
The Doorman+5.6 pp
Mirage+5.6 pp
Rem+5.2 pp
Pocket+5.0 pp
Mina+4.9 pp
Lanes to play safe
When they counter you
−7.0 ppGravesBuy against Graves:
Armor Piercer+2.9 pp
Plated Armor+2.7 pp
Cursed Relic+2.4 pp
−6.5 ppRat KingBuy against Rat King:
Ethereal Shift+3.2 pp
Juggernaut+2.9 pp
Refresher+2.8 pp
−5.1 ppPaigeBuy against Paige:
Magic Carpet+1.7 pp
Armor Piercer+1.6 pp
Cheat Death+1.6 pp
Best teammates
58.7% together
56.8% together
56.4% together
55.7% together
55.5% together
55.0% together
Notes from the best builds
WIP
#Citadel_HeroBuilds_LateGame: Buy What You Need At This Point
Situational: Metal Skin Almost Always
51.4% over 257 games · open build →shoutout the shmuck meta for keeping it real. discord:https://discord.gg/KVHpb94rUJ
49.3% over 1.1k games · open build →