Grey Talon has received a ton of buffs in recent patches, making him among one of the most-picked heroes in high-ranked lobbies. Although he is a very strong damage dealer, the skill requirement for playing Grey Talon is also high compared to many other heroes. But once mastered and with the proper build, Grey Talon can make opponents weep in agony as he picks them off from afar. Here is the best Deadlock Grey Talon build to perfectly balance his damage and survivability so that you can continue hunting without taking any breaks.
Best Grey Talon Build Items in Deadlock
Note: This build is available in the Public Builds section of Deadlock. You can get it by searching ‘Beebom Grey Talon Build‘ (build id: 166514). The build can be used directly or can be copied and edited as per your need from the game’s Browse Build section.
Best Laning/Early Game Items
Grey Talon is arguably the strongest laning hero after Mirage, and he can deal a serious amount of damage from the get-go. First, you need to get the Headshot Booster and Hollow Point Ward to increase your early bullet damage and get a good amount of Bullet and Spirit Shields.
Next, get Mystic Burst, Extra Spirit, and Extra Charge, the early core items for Grey Talon. Follow it up with Extra Stamina so that you can maneuver better in the air while using his second ability.
After that, get Enchanters Barrier, which will give 300 additional Spirit Shields while also giving extra Spirit power when Grey Talon has Spirit Shield. This item greatly increases the Charged shot damage in the early game. Now, follow up with Sprint Boots to increase mobility.
Get Healing Rite if you constantly find yourself low on health in the early laning phase. Grey Talon doesn’t have lifesteal this early on, so it’s best to use Healing Rite instead and sell it later.
Best Core/Mid-game Items
The mid-game items are the core damage increase for Grey Talon, making your Charged shots really count in fights. First, get Mystic Shot, which will give a good damage spike to your bullet shots. Next, save up for Surge of Power and imbue it to the Charged Shot to increase your mobility, spirit damage, and fire rate in one go.
After that, you need to take Burst Fire, which is an amazing item on Grey Talon. Grey Talon’s slow fire rate is a major issue early in the game, which is fixed by Burst Fire. This will become another noticeable power spike for your hero.
Next, upgrade to Enduring Speed for more mobility. Then, get Soul Shredder Bullets by selling Hollow Point Ward, keeping your flex slot open. Follow up with Combat Barrier to get another 300 Bullet Shield while also increasing your Bullet damage. Now, upgrade to Improved Burst and Improved Spirit to increase your base Spirit damage and mobility.
Get Veil Walker in your first Flex Slot, heavily increasing your survivability in team fights. With this item, always keep the veil locations in your mind and use them to refill your shields once they are broken.
Best Luxury/Late Game Items
Now, for the late-game items for Grey Talon’s build in Deadlock, you need to start maximizing your damage output.
Get Mystic Vulnerability in your second Flex slot. This will let you apply a 12% Spirit Resist reduction on enemies hit by your spirit damage. If you don’t have slots, then move to the next item instead.
Next, upgrade to Rapid Recharge and Boundless Spirit to complete your core Spirit damage items. These two upgrades will give you a massive spike in spirit damage, allowing you to burst down enemies with your charged shots.
After that, upgrade to Spellslinger Headshots and Headhunter to increase your survivability and also increase that Headshot damage proc. Follow up with Superior Stamina to get more maneuverability in the late game.
For the third flex slot, take Spiritual Overflow, which will increase your gun damage and fire rate and give increased spirit power. Sell Mystic Vulnerability if you don’t have the third flex slot yet. Finally, get Crippling Headshot in your final Flex Slot to destroy enemies while airborne.
If you still have spare souls, then you can upgrade to Escalating Exposure, but this is mainly a Luxury item for Grey Talon.
Grey Talon Situational Items
Grey Talon is a good hero but he has a ton of counters. To stay at the top of your game, you will need to know how to counter these counters. This is where the Situational items come in.
First, get Fleetfoot early in the game over Soul Shredder bullets or Burst Fire if you are constantly getting targeted by enemies and failing to run. Reactive Barrier is another great item early on against crowd control enemies like Beebop, Wraith, Dynamo, and Infernus.
Next, Healbane and Spirit Lifesteal are good mid-game items if you are facing unkillable enemies or constantly running out of health in team fights. Spirit Lifesteal will help you sustain a bit with your Charged shot, while Healbane will help you take down the unkillable enemies. Take either item over the Combat Barrier. Siphon Bullets is another good option against tanky enemies in the late game.
Mystic Slow is a great replacement for Mystic Vulnerability if your opponents haven’t built much Spirit Resist and you are ahead of them in Soul count.
Finally, you can get Improved Spirit Armor, Improved Bullet Armor, or Ethereal Shift, depending on the damage type of your opponents, to survive better.
Deadlock Grey Talon Build: Abilities and Unlock Order
Grey Talon’s main focus is hitting enemies with his charged shots. He does a ton of damage, but hitting enemies with his abilities is also quite challenging. Here is an overview of all of Grey Talon’s abilities and in which Ability Point Order you must unlock them to dominate the game:
All Grey Talon Build Abilities
- Charged Shot: Charge up a powerful shot that pierces through enemies.
- Level 1: +1 Charges
- Level 2: +65 Damage
- Level 3: Improved damage scaling and -3s Charge Delay
- Rain of Arrows: Launches you high in the air, allowing you to glide slowly. While airborne, you gain Weapon Damage and multishot on your weapon. Alt-cast for reduced jump height.
- Level 1: -15s Cooldown
- Level 2: While airborne, +5 Weapon Damage and weapon damage applies 40% movement slow for 1.5s
- Level 3: While airborne, +40% Bullet Lifesteal and +40% Spirit Lifesteal
- Immobilizing Trap: Throw out a trap that begins to arm itself. Once armed, the trap will trigger when an enemy enters its radius, restricting their movement and slowing them.
- Level 1: -20s Cooldown
- Level 2: +1s Tether Duration and 1s Slow Duration
- Level 3: Grey Talon deals +30% more Bullet Damage to enemies hit by Immobilizing Trap for 10s
- Guided Owl: After 1.5s cast time, launch a spirit owl that you control and which explodes on impact, damaging and stunning enemies. Hold [LMB] to accelerate the owl. Gain permanent Spirit Power for each enemy hero killed with Guided Owl.
- Level 1: +100 Damage
- Level 2: -47s Cooldown
- Level 3: After hit, kills enemies that are below 22% Health
Best Grey Talon Ability Point Order
Grey Talon’s main role is to get kills and deal a ton of damage on enemies in team fights. He is really strong when you are in a team fight but equally weak in 1v1 situations. The main ability of Grey Talon is his Charged Shot, which hits like a mini nuke for the entirety of the game with correct items.
First, unlock Charged Shot and upgrade it to max level on priority. Unlock Rain of Arrows as the second ability and max it after Charged shot. Once these two skills are maxed, your main damage output would be very high, allowing you to dominate in most team fights.
Next, upgrade the Immobilizing Trap to level 1 and then max the Guiding Owl ability of Grey Talon. You must use the Guiding Owl ability as much as you can, especially to secure kills, as it grants additional Spirit power per hero killed. Finally, max the Immobilizing Trap and keep throwing them at the enemies every time their cooldown resets.
So, that’s it. This is our Deadlock Grey Talon build with his best items and correct ability order. Grey Talon is a comparatively high-skill requirement hero, not beginner-friendly, as you need to make all your shots count in fights.
Try our Grey Talon build and tell us in the comments how it worked for you while also suggesting any changes you may have in mind.