Best Billy Build & Guide (2026) — Deadlock

Billy is Deadlock's most disruptive melee hero. Armed with a bat and an arsenal of crowd control, his kit rewards players who dive into the chaos, lock down priority targets, and refuse to let enemies escape. Whether you're picking him up for the first time or looking to optimize your ranked build, this guide covers everything you need to dominate with Billy in 2026.

Billy Overview

Billy excels as a close-range CC brawler who dictates the pace of team fights. His melee-focused kit gives him incredible sustain through Blasted, multiple displacement tools to peel or engage, and an ultimate that chains entire teams together. He's strongest when he's in the thick of the action, punishing clumped enemies and locking down high-value targets.

Strengths

• Overwhelming crowd control with knockup, charge, and chain abilities
• Built-in sustain through Blasted's melee lifesteal and max health stacking
• Excellent team fight disruption with Chain Gang pulling entire teams
• Strong dueling against other melee heroes thanks to CC layering

Weaknesses

• Short range makes him vulnerable to kiting from ranged carries
• Cooldown dependent — weak between ability rotations
• Punished by silence effects that disable his CC chain
• Requires team coordination to capitalize on Chain Gang engages

Recommended Item Build

Based on data from over 11,000 ranked Billy matches tracked on dodge.gg, here's the highest winrate build path.

Early Game (0–10 min)

• Melee Lifesteal — Doubles down on Billy's sustain identity for aggressive lane trades
• Extra Health — Makes you tankier in early brawls and harder to burst down
• Sprint Boots — Essential for closing the gap on ranged opponents before your CC comes online
• Melee Charge — Empowers your melee attacks with bonus damage for stronger all-ins

Early Game (0–10 min)

Melee Lifesteal800I

Extra Health800I

Sprint Boots800I

Melee Charge800I

Mid Game (10–20 min)

• Close Quarters — Massive damage boost at melee range where Billy lives
• Enduring Speed — Permanent move speed keeps you on top of targets between ability casts
• Heroic Aura — Buffs nearby teammates during engages, amplifying your team fight impact
• Metal Skin — Activatable armor that lets you survive focus fire after diving in

Mid Game (10–20 min)

Close Quarters1,600II

Enduring Speed1,600II

Heroic Aura1,600II

Metal Skin3,200III

Late Game (20+ min)

• Leech — Your best-in-slot sustain item; nearly unkillable when swinging in melee range
• Unstoppable — Prevents CC from interrupting your Chain Gang setup
• Colossus — Massive health pool and damage resistance for front-to-back team fights
• Escalating Exposure — Stacking spirit amp on chained targets makes your team's follow-up devastating

Late Game (20+ min)

Leech6,400IV

Unstoppable6,400IV

Colossus6,400IV

Escalating Exposure6,400IV

Ability Priority

1. Blasted — Max this first. The active weapon empowerment is Billy's bread and butter. Each rank increases the max health bonus from melee hits and the damage amplification against Wrecked targets, making your sustained fights unwinnable for enemies.
2. Bashdown — Max second. The bat slam knockup is your primary engage and peel tool. Higher ranks increase the damage, radius, and pull strength, making it harder for enemies to escape your follow-up.
3. Rising Ram — Max third. The charge is great utility for picks and vertical escapes, but the scaling is less impactful than your other abilities per rank.
4. Chain Gang (Ultimate) — Level whenever available. Billy's ultimate is a game-changing team fight tool that chains enemies together, prevents movement abilities, and yanks them all toward you.

Playstyle Tips

Laning Phase

Billy is a melee lane bully who punishes anyone who steps too close. Use your melee attacks to last-hit and trade simultaneously — Blasted's passive ammo restoration means you rarely run out of bullets between melee swings. When the enemy overextends, hit them with Rising Ram into Bashdown for a quick burst combo that wins most trades.

Against ranged heroes, play patiently and use cover to close distance. Sprint Boots are essential early — once you're in melee range, most ranged heroes can't out-trade your sustain. Against other melee heroes, you generally win thanks to your CC advantage.

Mid Game

Billy comes alive in mid-game skirmishes. With Close Quarters and Heroic Aura online, your team fight presence becomes enormous. Look for fights around objectives where enemies are forced to group — this plays directly into Chain Gang's strength. Your combo is: Rising Ram into the backline, Bashdown to knockup priority targets, then Chain Gang to lock everyone down for your team.

Late Game

Late-game Billy is a team fight commander. With Unstoppable preventing CC from stopping your engage and Colossus making you nearly impossible to burst, your job is to dive the enemy backline and create chaos. A well-placed Chain Gang on 3+ enemies wins fights outright. Use Leech to sustain through the damage you take while chained enemies try to escape. In the late game, your decision-making matters more than your mechanics — knowing when to Chain Gang and who to target separates good Billy players from great ones.

Matchups

Favorable

• Pocket — His fragile frame can't survive your CC chain, and he lacks the tools to peel you off once you're in melee range
• Seven — Your Rising Ram and Bashdown interrupt his channeled abilities, and you out-sustain his damage in extended fights
• Ivy — She can't peel you effectively; your gap closers and CC overwhelm her healing and crowd control

Even

• Abrams — A mirror-style brawl between two melee tanks; comes down to cooldown management and who commits at the right moment
• Mo & Krill — Similar engage patterns but your CC layering gives you a slight edge in extended trades
• Kelvin — His ice armor absorbs your burst, but you win if you force extended fights where your sustain outpaces his

Unfavorable

• Haze — Her mobility and burst damage let her kite you endlessly; she melts you before you can close the gap
• McGinnis — Turret zone control keeps you at range and punishes your melee-focused kit
• Wraith — She outranges you and scales harder into late game; you need to end games before she hits full build

Track Your Billy Stats

Search your profile on dodge.gg to see your Billy-specific stats including winrate, average KDA, most-built items, and how you compare to other Billy players at your rank.

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