Deadlock Rat King: abilities, build and matchups after the patch

Deadlock Rat King is the first hero from the City Never Sleeps vote and the strongest character in the rankings: a 57.1% win rate in the ranked queue and first place among 41 heroes in our tier list (as of 12 October 2026). Valve released him on 2 October and nerfed his ultimate as early as 5 October.

He is Louis, ruler of the New York sewers, who wants to found his own state, Ratannia. I broke down his abilities with post-patch numbers, what players buy and his matchups. I play Deadlock and coach it, so at the end I add how to use him in fights.

Base stats and weapon

• Health: 800 (+50 per Boon), regeneration 2.
• Move speed 6.8 m/s, dash 13.9 m/s, 3 stamina points.
• Sovereign’s Decree weapon: 60 DPS, 2 pellets per shot, one of which always flies to the centre of the crosshair. 24 rounds, 5 shots per second, 2.8 s reload.
• Damage falls off between 20 and 50 metres.
• Passive: out of combat he enters vent tunnels by crouching, and his double jump goes higher than other heroes'.

Rat King abilities

Scrap Grenade

The grenade explodes three times for 70 damage each in an 8 m radius and slows by 20% for 4 s. It bounces towards enemies, and an opponent can knock it away with a melee hit. 26 s cooldown. Upgrades: -8 s cooldown, +70 damage, and at tier three an extra, bigger final explosion.

Rat Swarm

Up to five rats latch onto the target. Each bite deals 8 spirit damage and removes 1% bullet resist for 4 s. The rats hold on for 6 s, and the enemy shakes them off with a dash. 24 s cooldown and 50 m range. Upgrades: a second charge, a bigger swarm with a longer debuff, more damage and stronger resist shred.

Royal Pestments

A barrier equal to 15% of max health for 6 s and a 15% chance that a bullet bounces back at the shooter. The barrier ignores resists. 22 s cooldown. At tier three no single hit can deal more than 250 damage to you.

Ult: Rule, Ratannia!

Rat King plants a banner. Allies within 20 m get +3 m/s move speed, slow immunity and 15% damage reduction for 10 s. The banner slam deals 200 damage, knocks enemies up and slows them by 40%. 160 s cooldown.

What the 5 October patch changed

• Scrap Grenade: 70 damage instead of 65, bounce targeting fixed.
• Rat Swarm: 24 s cooldown instead of 28 s.
• Ult: 160 s cooldown instead of 130 s, 15% damage reduction instead of 20%, 20 m radius instead of 24 m, 10 s instead of 12 s.

So Valve buffed his steady damage and weakened the part that won teamfights. After the patch Rat King still leads ranked.

Rat King build: what players buy

Items from our tier list: what players buy on Rat King in the ranked queue over the last 7 days, with the win rate and tier of each item. The table refreshes daily together with the tier list.

The most popular ability order in the ranked queue over the last 7 days starts with Scrap Grenade, Scrap Grenade, Rat Swarm. 33% of players go this way, and another 21% take Scrap Grenade, Scrap Grenade, Royal Pestments.

Matchups: who Rat King beats most often

In our tier list Rat King wins more than half of his matches against every hero. His highest win rates come against Warden (65.1%), Mirage (65%), The Doorman (64.2%) and Paradox (63.8%). The closest matchups are Paige (51.1%), Victor (53.1%) and Ivy (53.7%). This is ranked queue data as of 10 October 2026. You will find the full breakdown in the Matchups tab of the Deadlock tier list.

How to play Rat King

Rat King wins teamfights, not duels. On his first night after release he averaged 5.4 kills and 15.3 assists per match, against 6.7 and 12.8 for the other heroes (deadlock-tracker.com). That gives you a simple game plan:

• Throw Rat Swarm on the target your whole team is shooting. Every bite lowers its bullet resist, so all your gunners profit.
• Plant the banner before the fight, not during it. +3 m/s and 15% damage reduction give your team the engage, and save the banner slam for the moment enemies stand together.
• Turn on Royal Pestments when several opponents shoot you at once. Reflected bullets and a barrier that ignores resists buy you time.

You can check Rat King's current position in our daily Deadlock tier list. You can analyse your matches with him for free in the Deadlock Replay Analyzer, and if you want to go through them with me, book 1-on-1 Deadlock coaching.

Rat King became the strongest hero in the rankings despite the ultimate nerf on 5 October. He gives his team speed, damage reduction and bullet resist shred, so he adds the most where four people fight together. You will find the other heroes with their Valve tags on the list of all Deadlock characters.

Frequently asked questions

When did Rat King come to Deadlock?

On Friday 2 October 2026 at 23:00 Polish time. He won the first new hero vote of City Never Sleeps.

Is Rat King too strong?

For now he wins the most: 57.1% in the ranked queue and first place in our tier list (as of 12 October 2026). Valve answered with an ultimate nerf on 5 October, while buffing Scrap Grenade and Rat Swarm at the same time.

What build should I play on Rat King?

Most players start with High-Velocity Rounds, Opening Rounds and Extra Health, buy Fortitude and Enduring Speed in the mid game, and Berserker later. You will find the current percentages from our tier list in the build section.

How does Rat King's ult work?

Rule, Ratannia! plants a banner that gives allies within 20 m +3 m/s, slow immunity and 15% damage reduction for 10 s. The banner slam deals 200 damage and knocks enemies up. The cooldown is 160 s.

Who voices Rat King?

Valve has not said, and as of 8 October 2026 deadlock.wiki does not list a voice actor either.

How does Rat King use the tunnels?

Out of combat he crouches at a vent tunnel entrance and goes inside. The passive does not work in combat.