This article is dedicated to Spades.
I was queueing up for a random Infernus match, still not really knowing the character but ready to do my best. I liked his kit enough and I needed a third character with 15 wins to unlock ranked, which was gonna be a hell of a grind but I had to start somewhere. Spades was an incredibly laid-back dude on my team who offered to queue up together for more games afterward. He watched me play, doctored up a custom build for my playstyle, and then queued into matches with me for over nine hours shotcalling, playing different heroes to demonstrate various lane pairings, and suggesting items for me to adapt to the evolving match. I learned more about Deadlock in one night than I have in the last half year!
Infernus may not be the poster child of the game (that would be Abrams), but he is still relatively well-known due to his allied bot being the second character you’ll meet in the hideout. And having played the hell out of him recently, I 100% recommend him if you want a flexible hero with AoEs, DoTs, self-heals, mobility boosts, zoning/map control options, and just generally an all-rounder kit that puts most of the Deadlock cast to shame.
From the top, let’s go over Valve’s latest interpretation of their oft-attempted pyromaniacal class:
0. Incendiary Remarks
Infernus’ finger gun is (in stark contrast to how I think most of us imagined our finger gun) a fully automatic SMG-style weapon that’s among the easiest to use in the game. Not only does it have nonexistent recoil and a blistering rate of fire, it will (once you’ve unlocked it) proc afterburn, making it your primary method of reapplying and maintaining your primary source of damage. Infernus is generally built as a spirit character, to get the most value out of his commendable kit, so it’s nice that his gun is hand-crafted to fulfill its function without any investments needed.
1. Napalm
Infernus throws a cocktail that coats enemies in pitch for several seconds, which slows them and causes them to take additional damage. The cone on this attack is pretty generous, you can easily hit multiple targets if they bunch up, and it is wonderful for increasing the power of your afterburn and any other damage your team is dishing their way. At higher upgrade tiers, napalm will start healing you and reducing your targets’ healing, both very appreciated additional effects. I’ve turned entire teamfights by hitting one of these grenades in the perfect spot.
2. Flame Dash
By far my favorite ability, Flame Dash makes you sprint forward for several seconds, coating the ground underneath you in flames that linger for several seconds, while also granting you slow resistance and a speed boost. The zoning possibilities are endless, I use this to initiate fights, ambush unsuspecting victims, or dissuade enemies from chasing me while I escape with my life. And with upgrades, you get two charges and a mere 14-second cooldown, meaning you’re gonna have this available practically every fight. From the very first lane wave, this ability kicks ass and I usually unlock it first.
3. Afterburn
…But, that being said, this is technically Infernus’ signature ability. Unlocking this will grant your handgun (and melee!) damage-over-time, and subsequent bullets will maintain the debuff, resulting in most of the raw damage you’ll be dealing throughout the match. The rest of your kit is designed to augment this damage by slowing, antihealing, or enhancing this damage, and the more debuffs you can stack on a single victim, the more your DoTs will inexorably tick their health down until they meet an incendiary end.
4. Concussive Combustion
Infernus’ ultimate turns him into a ticking time bomb, surrounding him in an ominous fiery ring that detonates after several seconds, damaging and stunning everyone in the blast radius. The second upgrade tier also grants +100% lifesteal to the explosion. I’m sure this ability sounds pretty swank, and it certainly is, but I confess I find myself relying far more on his other three abilities. The cooldown is so long that I really only use it for the lifesteal or to dissuade chasing enemies from continuing the pursuit (it really sends them scampering, even when it won’t hurt that much!) The delay also gives enemies plenty of time to dash-slide out of the radius, and makes you the biggest priority of every bullet/stun/debuff the other team can throw at you, so I often prefer to rely on my other abilities even in opportune moments. But I won’t pretend this isn’t a nice ace up my sleeve for when a fight needs a little nudge in my favor.
Items
Here’s the build Spades put together for me. It prioritizes Decay (to a degree that startled me, I’d never fathomed opening the game with a $3200 item!) so you can stack its effects on top of your napalm-enhanced afterburn to combo as many DoTs as possible on your hapless foe. I have found it staggeringly effective, and while I’ve tweaked it a little on my private copy, I’d rather keep this showcase intact for those who want to use it as a branching-off point. It requires some smart play in the early game (you have no healing items and will need to hold out a few waves before you can afford your opening item), but as this article has covered, Infernus’ base kit is extremely versatile. And when the boons start coming online, I’ve found myself melting anyone who even looks at me funny, and often ending the match as MVP to boot.
Conclusion
You’ve probably noticed I love versatility in heroes, and Infernus has that in spades. While heroes like Ivy can do anything depending on how you build them, Infernus kinda just gets it all in one package, albeit the primary “team support” you’ll be providing is incinerating every enemy who picks a fight with you (or doesn’t see you coming). If you’re just starting out Deadlock, or want to enjoy survivability and mobility on top of raw damage, Infernus might be the hero for you!