Yamato is a high-risk, high-reward assassin in Deadlock, excelling at delivering precise, powerful strikes and overwhelming enemies with her mobility and burst damage. Her abilities make her an ideal duelist, skirmisher, and split-pusher, allowing her to dominate isolated targets or small fights. However, her success depends on proper timing and positioning, as she is vulnerable in the early game and relies on scaling into the late game.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Yamato
Strengths:
- Burst Damage: Yamato’s Power Slash and Flying Strike allow her to quickly eliminate opponents, especially when fully charged.
- Mobility: Flying Strike gives her the ability to close gaps or escape dangerous situations quickly, making her highly versatile.
- Strong in Duels: Thanks to her kit, which includes healing from Crimson Slash and invulnerability from Shadow Transformation, Yamato is exceptional in one-on-one scenarios.
- Late Game Scaling: Once Yamato acquires the necessary items, she becomes a significant threat in team fights, capable of turning the tide of battle with well-timed engagements.
Weaknesses:
- Fragile in Early Game: Yamato has low durability and can be easily targeted before she builds up her key items, making early skirmishes dangerous.
- Reliance on Abilities: Without her ultimate or key abilities off cooldown, Yamato is much less effective and vulnerable to counterattacks.
- Positioning Dependent: Yamato requires precise positioning to maximize her damage and avoid getting caught out by stronger enemies.
Yamato’s Abilities
| Ability | Description | Cooldown | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Slash | Charges up a sword strike for up to 1.5 seconds, releasing a devastating blow when fully charged. It can be released early for partial damage. | 10.5 seconds | 160 damage |
| Flying Strike | Throws a grappling hook that pulls Yamato towards the target, dealing damage and slowing them on arrival. | 21 seconds | 70 damage, 30% slow |
| Crimson Slash | Slashes enemies in a cone, reducing their fire rate and healing Yamato based on how many heroes are hit. | 11.5 seconds | 60 damage, 70 healing |
| Shadow Transformation | Turns Yamato invincible for a short duration, refreshing her abilities and increasing their speed by 60%. Also grants resistance to bullet and spirit damage. | 106 seconds | — |
Weapon Characteristics and Durability
Yamato excels at close-range engagements with a focus on both weapon and spirit-based attacks. Her low durability makes her reliant on mobility and healing abilities to survive in extended fights.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Health | 500 |
| Health Regen | 2 HP/sec |
| Bullet Resistance | 0% |
| Spirit Resistance | 0% |
| Movement Speed | 8 m/s |
How to Play Yamato Effectively
- Early Game:
- Yamato is vulnerable early, so focus on farming and avoiding direct confrontations. Use Power Slash to poke enemies from a distance and farm souls to build up resources.
- Build items like Sprint Boots for mobility and Headshot Booster to enhance damage output.
- Mid Game:
- Once Yamato unlocks Flying Strike and Crimson Slash, she becomes a significant threat in skirmishes and duels. Use Flying Strike to engage or escape from enemies and follow up with Crimson Slash to slow enemies and heal in the middle of fights.
- Invest in items like Kinetic Dash and Torment Pulse to increase your mobility and damage in mid-game skirmishes.
- Late Game:
- Shadow Transformation allows Yamato to dominate team fights. Use it to engage key targets while being invincible. This ability also refreshes her other abilities, allowing for multiple combos in quick succession.
- Build Superior Duration and Refresher to maximize her ability uptime and stay in fights longer, utilizing her burst potential to overwhelm enemies.
Optimal Build for Yamato
| Game Phase | Item | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Early Game | Headshot Booster | Enhances headshot damage, improving Yamato’s lane dominance. |
| Sprint Boots | Increases movement speed, essential for early game positioning. | |
| Mid Game | Kinetic Dash | Enhances mobility and ability to reposition during fights. |
| Torment Pulse | Boosts damage output, critical for mid-game skirmishes. | |
| Late Game | Superior Duration | Extends the duration of Shadow Transformation, allowing for prolonged invincibility. |
| Refresher | Resets ability cooldowns, giving Yamato another round of deadly abilities. |
Yamato’s Key Stats (Table)
| Attribute | Rating |
|---|---|
| Damage | ***** |
| Durability | ** |
| Mobility | ***** |
| Crowd Control | *** |
| Critical Hits | **** |