Sinclair

Sinclair fires a bolt of magic whose damage grows the further it travels. Pressing the ability again redirects the bolt toward his crosshair mid-flight. If a Spectral Assistant is active, it fires a reduced-damage copy of the bolt as well.

What it is for: His primary poke and the highest-damage single cast in the kit. The redirect is what makes it land — he can throw it long for the damage bonus and then steer it around a dodge.

Damage

60 minimum to 120 maximum depending on distance travelled; +50% max damage and assistant damage at 5 AP. 24s cooldown with 4s between charges (mobalytics 2026, corroborated by deadlock.one's 60-120 range)

Crowd control

None at base. The 1 AP upgrade applies -25% fire rate for 5s.

Defensive

The fire-rate slow at 1 AP is a genuine defensive debuff against gun-primary divers

How to play against it

• Do not dodge early — the bolt is redirectable, so commit your strafe or your cover break at the last moment when he can no longer correct
• Close the distance. Damage scales with travel distance, so fighting Sinclair inside 15m strips most of the bolt's value
• Break line of sight with a hard object rather than strafing; a redirect cannot steer through geometry
• At 2 AP this is an ~11s cooldown with charges, so treat it as a permanent ambient threat rather than something to wait out

Interactions

• Damage scales with distance travelled, not with distance to target — a redirected bolt that loops long hits harder than a point-blank one
• The Spectral Assistant fires its own reduced-damage copy, so the two abilities are designed to be used together
• The fire-rate slow at 1 AP stacks with Rabbit Hex's damage amplification for an unusually strong single-target burst setup
• Because the bolt is steerable, standard 'strafe the skillshot' counterplay does not work in isolation

Sinclair summons an Assistant at a targeted location. The Assistant attacks whenever Sinclair fires his weapon. Pressing the ability again swaps Sinclair's position with the Assistant's and reloads his weapon.

What it is for: It is three things at once: extra damage output, a free reload, and a pre-placed escape. Placing it behind him before a fight is effectively banking a teleport.

Damage

15 damage per Assistant attack, +14 at 5 AP. 40s cooldown, 5s base duration, maximum 2 swaps (mobalytics 2026)

Mobility

The swap is a functional blink to a pre-chosen location, usable twice per cast

Defensive

His only escape tool — placing the Assistant behind cover and swapping is how he survives a gap-closer

How to play against it

• Look for where he placed the Assistant before you commit — that is where he will be standing when you dive him
• Kill the Assistant or cut off the swap destination; with the Assistant gone he has no escape at all
• Count the swaps. Two per cast, so after the second one he is a 730 HP hero with no mobility until the 40s (30s at 1 AP) cooldown returns
• Engage during the 5s base duration gap when no Assistant is placed — before the 2 AP duration upgrade, the window where he is undefended is large

Interactions

• The swap also reloads his weapon, so it doubles as a way to skip the 2.50s reload mid-fight
• Limited to 2 swaps per cast — after the second swap it is purely a damage summon
• The 2 AP upgrade extends duration by 7s (5s to 12s), which is what makes it viable as a banked escape rather than a burst tool
• Placing the Assistant on high ground gives him an angle he can swap to and back from

Sinclair hexes an area, turning every enemy inside it into a rabbit for a short time. Hexed enemies move faster but take increased damage and cannot perform most actions. The hex does not interrupt an ability that is already in progress.

What it is for: His hard CC and his burst multiplier. Turning a target into a rabbit both stops them acting and makes everything that follows hit harder, which is how a poke mage converts chip into kills.

Damage

No direct damage; applies 15% increased damage taken (+7% at 5 AP). 26s cooldown, 2s duration (+1s at 2 AP), 24m range, 6.5m radius (mobalytics 2026, corroborated by deadlock.one)

Crowd control

A hard disable — hexed targets cannot use most actions for 2s (3s at 2 AP). Notably it does NOT interrupt an ability already being channelled or executed.

Mobility

None for Sinclair. Hexed enemies move faster, which is a real drawback of the ability.

Defensive

Hexing a diver mid-approach stops them acting, though their increased move speed means they still arrive

How to play against it

• If you are already mid-ability when it lands, keep going — the hex does not interrupt abilities in progress
• Base duration is only 2s. The correct response is to keep moving toward cover (you move faster as a rabbit) rather than freezing in place inside the amplification
• Spread out: the 6.5m radius is a group punish, and one hex catching three heroes into a 15% amp is what actually kills people
• Cleanse or debuff-removal ends the transformation and the damage amplification together
• Stay outside 24m cast range in a standoff; he cannot hex what he cannot reach, and his weapon falloff goes to 61m so he is happy to poke instead

Interactions

• It does not interrupt in-progress abilities, so hexing someone mid-channel does not stop the channel — this is the single most important limitation to know
• Hexed enemies move faster, so using it on a fleeing target can actually help them escape
• The 6.5m radius (9.5m at 5 AP) makes it a multi-target disable against a grouped team, not just a single-target hex
• Hex into Vexing Bolt into a stolen ultimate from Audience Participation is his full combo

Sinclair copies an enemy hero's ultimate for a limited time. Reactivating the ability casts the copied ultimate instead of his own. The copy inherits the original's upgrade points and cooldown state.

What it is for: A flexible fight-swinger whose value is entirely determined by what the enemy team brought. Against a team with a strong teamfight ultimate it effectively doubles that ultimate for Sinclair's side.

Damage

No inherent damage — output depends entirely on the copied ultimate. 85s cooldown (reduced 40% on a successful copy), 20m range, 10s copy duration (mobalytics 2026)

Crowd control

Whatever CC the copied ultimate provides

Mobility

Whatever mobility the copied ultimate provides

Defensive

Can copy a defensive or disengage ultimate when that is what the fight needs

How to play against it

• It requires a target within 20m — staying outside that range with your ultimate-carrier denies the copy entirely
• Use your ultimate before he can copy it, or bait the copy onto a hero whose ultimate is low-value in that moment
• The copy lasts only 10s: if you force a disengage immediately after he copies, the window expires with nothing spent
• Because the 40% cooldown refund only triggers on a successful copy, denying the copy puts it on the full 85s
• Team composition is real counterplay here — a team whose ultimates are self-targeted buffs gives him very little to steal

Interactions

• The copy inherits upgrade points, so it is strongest against a late-game enemy with a 5 AP ultimate
• Cooldown is reduced 40% on a successful copy, which is what makes it repeatable within a single teamfight sequence
• The 10s copy window means he must copy and use it in the same engagement — he cannot bank it
• Each upgrade tier improves the copied ultimate by one further step
• Its value swings enormously by matchup: near-useless against self-buff ultimates, decisive against area-control or lockdown ultimates