This Deadlock Holliday build features some explosive barrels.

Holliday is among the six heroes added to Deadlock in October 2024 and one that has a lot of versatility in how you build throughout the game. In this Holliday build, we are seeking to get the most value out of her lethal Crackshot in the early game, but the main thrust of the build is in scaling her Powder Keg barrels through Spirit.

Holliday build (Image via esports.gg)
Holliday build (Image via esports.gg)

Best Holliday build for Explosive Powder Keg damage

Build name to search: Barrel Blaster Holliday - esports.gg

Holliday has the luxury of having both a very powerful weapon with boosted headshot damage and a strong AoE Spirit explosion in her Powder Keg ability. These two things can make for a balanced one-two punch throughout a game and are the main features of this build.

Early game

Crackshot is your best friend in the early game, so start with some Wespon items.

Item Type
Item
Weapon
Headshot Booster
Weapon
Hollow Point Ward
Vitality
Extra Stamina
Vitality
Extra Regen
Spirit
Extra Charge
Spirit
Extra Spirit

Mid game

In the mid game, we focus on initial Spirit scaling and suvivability

Item Type
Item
Spirit
Mystic Burst
Spirit
Improved Cooldown
Spirit
Bullet Resist Shredder
Vitality
Spirit Lifesteal
Spirit
Mystic Reach
Weapon
Headhunter

Late game

Look for luxury Weapon items and even more Powder Keg scaling.

Item Type
Item
Spirit
Rapid Recharge
Spirit
Improved Burst
Spirit
Improved Reach
Spirit
Improved Spirit
Vitality
Improved Spirit Armor
Vitality
Improved Bullet Armor

Uber late game

Scale as you need to in this phase as your ultimate starts to become deadly.

Item Type
Item
Weapon
Crippling Headshot
Weapon
Spiritual Overflow
Vitality
Leech
Spirit
Boundless Spirit
Weapon
Shadow Weave

Hollidayabilities and upgrades

The Holliday build scales early with Crackshot and late with Powder Keg. We have not found her ultimate to be overly strong, so we don't upgrade it until the late game.

  • Powder Keg: Place a barrel that explodes when shot, or on landing after launched via melee attack or bounce pad. Has a minimum arm time before it can explode.
  • Bounce Pad: Drop a bounce pad in the world that sends you and other heroes flying. You will stomp down on landing, dealing damage to any nearby enemies.
  • Crackshot: Headshots deal bonus Weapon damage and applies a Fading Slow. This effect can only occur when off cooldown. Crackshot ignores range damage fall-off.
  • Spirit Lasso: Grab an enemy with your lasso and drag them along behind you. The enemy is stunned and Astro is slowed slightly during the lasso. Lasso duration is paused for 2s during the first usage of a bounce pad.
Ability upgrade order (Image via esports.gg)
Ability upgrade order (Image via esports.gg)

Strengths and weaknesses of this Holliday build in Deadlock

As fun as this build is to play, it isn't perfect and you will run into some counter play. Here are the main strengths and weaknesses that we have encountered with this build.

Strengths
Weaknesses
Strong single target damage with headshots
Requires headshots
Good AoE explosion damage
Weak when Powder Keg is on cooldown
Strong mobility with Bounce Pad
Can be squishy

Be sure to check out our other Deadlock content at esports.gg!