Deadlock’s latest playable vampire, Drifter, has finally arrived in the invite-only game on Steam, bringing hack-and-slash mayhem and a flanking playstyle to the hero shooter.
Drifter is one of six characters being added in Valve’s update, which brings new playable heroes to the game through a staggered launch voted on by the community. Drifter is the fifth addition, with Victor scheduled to release on August 29th.
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Drifter Abilities Explained
Crimson Claw is his primary weapon of choice, dealing a close-range, shotgun-like attack that fires spread-shot projectiles. Armed with 12 ammo, it is capable of dealing 200 damage per second, with a fall-off range of 24-27m.
His first ability is Rend, which ‘swipes at enemies in a cone ahead of you’ to deal melee damage. However, enemies in closer proximity (eight metres or less) also receive bonus spirit damage. For upgrades, you can spend one ability point for +40 bonus damage, two points for -7s cooldown, and five points for a 55% life-steal against enemies for four seconds.
Stalker’s Mark is a ranged projectile that ‘bleeds the first target hit’ to deal spirit damage over time, specifically 2% per second over a six-second duration. While bleeding, Drifter can re-activate it to instantly teleport behind them.
Upgrades include +1% bleed damage for one point, +25% fire for six seconds after teleporting for two points, and a second ability charge in exchange for five points.
Bloodscent allows Drifter to detect ‘isolated heroes’ within a 25m radius, dealing 15% amplified damage to them. Securing an elimination will permanently increase his Crimson Claw damage by 5%. For one point, you gain increased movement speed (+2m/s) when near an isolated target.
Two points grant reduced cooldown by 15 seconds for all abilities and restore three stamina. Finally, five points grant +13% amplified damage against isolated targets.
The final ability is Eternal Night, where Drifter reduces the vision of up to two enemies within a 15m radius and briefly reveals them to allies. Upon casting, Drifter gains increased sprint speed by +3m/s, and his attacks deal nine bonus spirit damage. For one point, spirit damage increased from 11 to 20.
For two points, cooldown is reduced by 30s, and you gain a further +3m/s to sprint speed. Finally, five points increase Eternal Night’s duration by an additional two seconds and can affect one additional target.
Will Drifter be Viable in Esports?
It is hard to say how Drifter will fit into the current meta. Some of the best characters in the game also excel at close-range combat, such as Wraith and Warden, who specialise in duelling and crowd control, respectively.
His Stalkers Mark ability is fairly generous in its range, especially since movement is a crucial skill to master in the game. Valve’s map rework to three lanes instead of four means there are fewer instances of targets being isolated, so using Rend’s life-steal upgrade will provide some much-needed survivability to his kit when in group fights.
He could certainly pose a threat in the right hands, but only time will tell if he will be used at the highest level of play.
Players will be able to see Drifter in action in upcoming Deadlock esports events such as the weekly Night Shift tournament series, the rebranded successor of Fight Night.
Source: https://esportsinsider.com/
