Grey Talon

Draws back a heavy shot that can be held at full charge and pierces straight through everything it hits.

What it is for: His main poke and wave-clear button — one charged arrow can hit a whole creep wave and the hero standing behind it, from outside most heroes' effective range.

Damage

about 80 at base spirit power, +54 at tier 2 (deadlock.one, metabot.gg)

How to play against it

• It is a slow projectile on a line — strafe perpendicular to him, do not walk toward or away in a straight line
• Break line of sight during the charge; the charge-up is long and visible before tier 3
• Stand off to the side of your creep wave so one arrow cannot hit both wave and you
• Bullet Armor does nothing here — Spirit Armor is what reduces it

Interactions

• Pierces, so it hits the wave and the hero behind it in one cast — the cheapest farm-plus-poke in the game
• Detonates an armed Spirit Snare from range, letting him trigger his own trap on a target who walked near it
• Charging slows his movement, so it is a commitment, not a snap shot
• Scales with Spirit Power, which is why spirit-heavy Talon builds exist alongside pure bow builds

Launches Grey Talon high into the air and lets him glide down slowly, gaining bonus weapon damage and firing multiple arrows per shot while airborne.

What it is for: Both his escape and his damage window — he goes vertical, becomes hard to reach, and rains multishot arrows on whatever is below.

Damage

no direct damage; tier 1 adds about +3 weapon damage and a 24% movement slow to the arrows

Crowd control

tier-1 upgrade adds roughly a 24% movement slow to his arrows while airborne

Mobility

high vertical displacement plus a slow controlled glide

Defensive

getting airborne removes him from most melee and gap-close threats; tier 3 adds about 30% bullet evasion

How to play against it

• Knockdown is the direct answer — it pulls him out of the air and stuns him, and he has no second escape
• While gliding he cannot dodge; any hitscan tracking hero (Haze, Infernus, Ivy, Wraith) simply out-damages him mid-air
• Step under cover or into a building — the glide gives him no ability to change angle quickly
• Bait it out: once Rain of Arrows is on cooldown he is a 0-mobility, low-health hero on the ground

Interactions

• Being airborne is his single biggest liability against Knockdown, which drops him out of the sky and stuns him
• Combines with Spirit Snare: snare someone on the ground, then go airborne and multishot them while they are slowed and silenced
• Tier 3's bullet and spirit lifesteal is his only real sustain, and it only exists during the glide
• Glide makes him a large, slow, predictable target for anyone with hitscan tracking

Throws down a trap that arms after a short delay and triggers when an enemy enters its radius, applying Curse and a movement slow. The Curse interrupts, silences, disarms and blocks item use.

What it is for: His lockdown and self-peel — a diver who steps on it cannot shoot, cast, or use an escape item for the duration, which is usually the entire fight.

Damage

minimal direct damage; the value is entirely the debuff

Crowd control

Curse (silence + disarm + item lockout + interrupt) plus a movement slow; tier 3 adds about +1s Curse duration

Defensive

the primary anti-dive tool — placed at his own feet or on the approach, it neutralizes an incoming assassin

How to play against it

• It has an arming delay and a visible model — watch the ground on approach routes and around soul orbs and simply walk around it
• Pre-cast Unstoppable BEFORE contact; once Curse lands you cannot activate items at all
• Force the trap by sending a durable body (Abrams, Kelvin, Ivy in Stone Form) through the approach first, then follow with the carry
• The trap is a single placed object — approach from an unexpected vertical angle (zipline drop, Bounce Pad, Rain of Arrows) to skip the approach lane he trapped

Interactions

• Can be detonated manually with Charged Shot, so he does not have to wait for someone to walk onto it
• Curse blocks item usage, which means Dispel Magic and Unstoppable must be used BEFORE it lands, not after
• Tier 2 adds -15% Bullet Resist for 10s, which is a large damage amp for a bow-built Talon and for his team
• Placed on an objective or a soul orb it becomes area denial rather than self-peel

After a short cast, Grey Talon takes control of a spirit owl and flies it across the map; on impact it explodes, damaging and stunning enemies. He accumulates permanent Spirit Power for each enemy hero it kills.

What it is for: Long-range execute and cross-map initiation — it finishes retreating targets, opens fights from an angle no one can see, and its stun is the setup for the rest of his team.

Damage

about 230 at base spirit power (deadlock.one)

Crowd control

area stun on detonation

Mobility

none for Grey Talon — in fact he is locked in place

Defensive

none; he is fully vulnerable while piloting

How to play against it

• Grey Talon is a stationary, silent statue for roughly 1.5s of cast plus the whole flight — that is the single best window in his kit to kill him
• The owl is a controllable but visible projectile; break line of sight around a corner or drop off a ledge as it approaches
• Never sit below about 22% health in the open once he has tier 3 — that is an unavoidable execute, not a dodgeable ability
• Ethereal Shift makes you untargetable through the detonation; Unstoppable prevents the stun chain that follows

Interactions

• About a 1.5s cast time before the owl launches, during which he is rooted and exposed
• Tier 3 outright executes enemies below roughly 22% health, turning it from a stun into a guaranteed kill
• Permanent Spirit Power per hero killed means a Talon who gets early Owl kills scales harder all game
• Best value is on someone already stunned or snared — the owl is dodgeable in the open