Who is Billy in Deadlock?
Deadlock has plenty of brawlers, but Billy stands apart. A furious punk with a spiked bat and a horned goat skull, Billy mixes gunplay and melee in a way no other hero does: his melee hits literally reload his weapon. Released on August 20, 2025, he won his hero vote slot with a 30% lead and has been a fixture in close-range fights ever since. As of the October 9, 2026 patch, he sits at a 47.1% win rate across 50,532 Standard games, which puts him in D tier at all ranks but climbs to B tier at Oracle and above.
Billy's hero select portrait
What makes Billy's kit work?
Billy's kit is built around one core loop: hit things in melee, reload your gun for free, then shoot. His innate passive makes light melees recover faster and slow his movement less than other heroes, so you can weave them into shooting without interrupting your reload. That alone sets up everything else.
Blasted (3)
Blasted is Billy's engine. The passive side means every melee hit refills ammo: 100% on a heavy melee, 35% on a light one. The active side (27s cooldown, 8s duration) marks enemies as Wrecked for 7 seconds and amplifies your bullets against them by 10%. Each melee hit while Blasted is active also adds max health and extends the duration. At T3, that bonus health per hit jumps to +50.
One thing most players miss: Blasted's melee effects proc on Denizens and structures, not just players. Farming jungle camps with Blasted active heals you and extends the buff at the same time.
Bashdown (1)
Bashdown (35s cooldown, 1 charge) slams the bat into the ground, pulling nearby enemies down and dealing melee damage, then sends out a shockwave for 35 spirit damage with a knockup. At T2 you get a second charge, which is where Bashdown really opens up. At T3 the slam deals 50% of your heavy melee damage, which also enables Melee Charge and Spirit Snatch interactions on the slam hit.
The shockwave position shifts based on where you're looking. Looking straight down spawns it close to Billy; looking horizontally pushes it further out. Worth practicing in the Deadlock Sandbox to get the feel before a real match.
Rising Ram (2)
Rising Ram (32s cooldown) charges Billy headfirst into an enemy and launches both of them into the air. Hitting a target cuts the cooldown in half, so a successful Ram resets to roughly 16 seconds. T1 grants +25% weapon damage for 5 seconds on impact, which is what makes Ram-into-melee-chain so punishing. T3 gives +10% max health for 16 seconds per hero hit, making every successful dive tankier.
Chain Gang (Ultimate)
Chain Gang (175s cooldown) chains every enemy within 12m. Chained enemies lose movement abilities and get heavily slowed if they pull against the chain. After 2.8 seconds, all tethered enemies are yanked to Billy and take 120 spirit damage. The chain breaks if enemies break line of sight for about 1 second.
T1 gives +40% bullet and spirit resist during the chain, which is huge since you're standing still waiting for the pull. T2 cuts 40 seconds off the cooldown. T3 extends range by 5m and grants 1.3 seconds of Unstoppable per hero pulled, so a 3-hero pull means nearly 4 seconds of Unstoppable while your team cleans up.
Chain Gang pulls the whole team
What's the best ability order for Billy?
Spend your points in this sequence:
- Unlock Blasted
- Unlock Bashdown
- Unlock Rising Ram
- Blasted T1
- Bashdown T1
- Unlock Chain Gang
- Bashdown T2
- Rising Ram T1
- Chain Gang T1 and T2
- Blasted T2
- Bashdown T3
- Chain Gang T3
- Rising Ram T3
- Blasted T3
- Rising Ram T2
Blasted unlocks first because the passive ammo refill is active from the moment you buy it. Bashdown T2 is a priority because the second charge transforms your CC output. Chain Gang T1 is worth grabbing early since the resist during the ult keeps you alive long enough to land the pull.
What's the best Billy build?
Here's the short answer: start with melee and weapon items that feed your close-range loop, build into ability cooldown and survivability in the mid game, then cap off with late-game items that let you survive diving into five enemies.
Laning phase (800-soul items)
These four items appear on almost every Billy build across thousands of matches:
- Close Quarters (800 souls) — boosts close-range damage, which is every fight Billy has
- Melee Lifesteal (800 souls) — sustain on every melee hit, picked in over 93% of matches
- Monster Rounds (800 souls) — extra damage against non-player units, great for farming
- Spirit Strike (800 souls) — adds spirit damage to melee hits, synergizes directly with Blasted
Mid-game core (1,600-3,200 souls)
| Item | Why you buy it |
|---|---|
| Stalker (1,600) | Bonus damage from behind, great for Ram-into-back engage |
| Melee Charge (1,600) | Amplifies heavy melee hits, procs on Bashdown T3 |
| Lifestrike (3,200) | Sustain in extended brawls |
| Spirit Snatch (3,200) | Steals spirit power on heavy melee, scales with Bashdown T3 |
| Rapid Recharge (3,200) | More Bashdown charges faster |
| Berserker (3,200) | Attack speed ramps as you take damage, exactly the situation Billy is in |
Late game (6,400 souls)
- Crushing Fists (6,400) — the standard melee damage finisher, 53.4% win rate at 55% pick rate
- Colossus (6,400) — active that makes you tanky enough to survive diving the backline
- Juggernaut (6,400) — pairs with Colossus for sustained dive survivability
Situational picks
- Greater Expansion — best-performing optional item when you need ability range
- Debuff Reducer — against heavy crowd control comps
- Hunter's Aura — when you're fighting in the enemy backline
- Scourge — drawn-out brawls where the fight goes long
- Spirit Resilience — against spirit-heavy enemy teams
- Plated Armor — against gun-heavy comps
Core Billy item loadout
How do Billy's combos work?
Billy's damage comes from chaining abilities into melee into shooting. Three core sequences:
Ram and bash:
- Rising Ram into an enemy
- Land, immediately Bashdown
- Chain light melees to refill ammo
- Empty the magazine into the knocked-up target
Team pull:
- Flank to get within 12m of a cluster of enemies
- Chain Gang
- Bashdown when they arrive
- Activate Blasted and brawl
Blasted brawl:
- Activate Blasted
- Heavy melee (full ammo reload)
- Empty the magazine
- Heavy melee again to reload
- Repeat until the enemy is dead or you are
Common mistakes Billy players make
The mistake most players make with Chain Gang is treating it like a channel and stopping everything else. You can shoot, melee, and use abilities during the 2.8-second window. Use Blasted before you cast it, and have Bashdown ready for when the enemies arrive.
The second common mistake is ignoring line of sight during Chain Gang. If one enemy ducks behind a wall for a second, their chain breaks. Position so there's open ground between you and your targets. A good grasp of Deadlock's map geometry makes a real difference here.
The third: not using Blasted on jungle camps. Since melee hits on Denizens proc the health boost and duration extension, you can come out of a jungle clear with more health than you entered with.
Who does Billy beat, and who beats him?
Billy performs better than expected against Wraith (+1.7 points over expected), Rat King (+1.5), and Infernus (+1.4) based on match data from October 6-9, 2026. His best teammate pairings are Rat King (56.3% win rate together, +3.1 over expected) and Paige (56.2%, +1.8 over expected).
He struggles against long-range kiters who can stay outside melee range and heroes who can break line of sight easily during Chain Gang. His headshot bonus is reduced by 20% compared to most heroes, so fights where you can't get close punish him hard.
| Matchup type | Billy's approach |
|---|---|
| Close-range fighters | Win the melee exchange with Blasted active |
| Squishy backliners | Chain Gang from a flank, they can't escape |
| Long-range kiters | Rising Ram to close the gap, then don't let them reset |
| Heavy CC comps | Buy Debuff Reducer, use Chain Gang T1 resist |
Pro tips for Billy
- Billy's light melees recover faster than other heroes. Chain them freely between shots without worrying about the movement penalty.
- Bashdown can be held to rise higher before slamming. The longer you hold, the higher you go (up to about 164 units), which can be useful for dodging or repositioning mid-ability.
- The shockwave direction is controlled by your camera angle. Looking down spawns it close; looking forward sends it further. Use this to hit enemies behind you after a Ram.
- Blasted works on McGinnis turrets and other player-summoned units. Smashing them counts for the duration extension and health boost.
- Rising Ram T3's +10% max health scales your base health value, not just a flat addition. It keeps your health percentage the same before and after the boost.
- For deeper strategy on staying ahead in resources, check the Deadlock soul farming guide to make sure you're hitting your item timings.
Frequently asked questions
How does Billy's melee reload actually work? Blasted's passive activates once you unlock the ability. Heavy melee gives a full 100% reload; light melee restores 35% of ammo (or reduces reload time by 35% if the magazine is empty). His light melees also don't interrupt the reload animation, so you can weave them in without pausing your shooting.
How do I stop Chain Gang from breaking? Position in open areas with no walls between you and your targets. The chain snaps after about 1 second of broken line of sight. Avoid casting it near pillars, corners, or any terrain enemies can duck behind. If an enemy briefly loses line of sight but re-enters the area while the cast is still active, they get re-tethered.
What items should I never build on Billy? Metal Skin has a 35.9% win rate on Billy, the worst of any item. Knockdown (38.2%), Healbane (38.5%), Titanic Magazine (39.8%), and Rapid Rounds (40.2%) are all statistically bad choices. These items either don't interact with Billy's kit or actively work against how he wants to fight.
Is Billy good for new players? His core loop is simple enough to understand, but landing Chain Gang from a flank and maintaining Blasted stacks without hitting the duration cap takes practice. He's rated medium to learn. If you're still getting your bearings in the game, check the Deadlock beginner guide before committing to a complex brawler. For more hero guides and build resources, the full Deadlock guides collection covers the rest of the roster.
