Best Baba Build in Deadlock: Abilities, Skill Order and Items

Baba, known as Busya in the Russian version of Deadlock, steals Spirit, serves magical tea, and turns enemies into pigeons. This guide covers a Spirit-focused build with enough survivability to stay active in team fights: which items to buy, how to level her abilities, and how to execute her main combos. We also explain how to use Granny Long Legs without turning every fight into a one-way bench ride into the enemy team.

Which Baba build should you use?

We recommend starting with a build focused on Spirit Power, mobility, and protection against crowd control. Baba can close distance quickly, weaken enemies, and keep them in positions where teammates can capitalize. You still need to shoot, though. Threadsap gives Baba bonus Spirit damage on every bullet while she holds stolen Spirit, so a playstyle built around pressing abilities and then waiting for cooldowns leaves a large part of her damage unused.Baba became playable on October 6, 2026, so the final meta is still developing. The item route below is our recommended starting build rather than a promise that it beats every team composition. It is designed around fighting near allies, creating a vulnerable target for the team, surviving the counterattack, and continuing to deal damage. If you are returning after a break, the broader map and system changes from the major Deadlock update are worth keeping in mind as well.

Baba abilities: what they do and how to use them

Baba's abilities are Threadsap, Granny Long Legs, Baba's Brew, and Feed The Birds. The exact upgrade values below match the current post-release version of the hero. Her kit mixes Spirit damage, debuffs, mobility, melee utility, and a long-channel ultimate, so the abilities work best when you chain them together rather than treating each one as an isolated button.

1. Threadsap

Baba weaves a thread that follows her crosshair and then bursts along its path. Enemies caught in the burst take Spirit damage and lose Spirit, with the stolen Spirit being more effective for Baba than the amount removed from the target. While Baba holds stolen Spirit, every bullet she fires deals additional Spirit damage. Start trades by landing Threadsap, then keep shooting to use both halves of the ability.The first upgrade adds +8 Spirit Damage Per Bullet. The second gives -12s Cooldown and +8s Debuff Duration. The final upgrade adds another charge and pulls enemies 7 meters on hit. Taking the first two upgrades early makes lane trades more frequent and much more rewarding, while the pull becomes especially valuable in team fights where keeping one enemy near your allies is more important than raw poke.Do not fire Threadsap and immediately disengage every time. The ability is strongest when the stolen Spirit is converted into actual bullet damage. If the target is safe to pressure, keep your crosshair on them and continue firing. Against an enemy who can punish extended trades, take the Spirit advantage and reset instead of forcing a bad fight.

2. Granny Long Legs

Granny Long Legs extends the legs of Baba's bench, giving her bonus movement speed, higher jumps, Debuff Resistance, and Melee Resistance. Light Melee becomes a kick that knocks enemies away. Heavy Melee turns into a ground pound that deals Spirit damage, knocks enemies up, and slows them. Hold Crouch to charge a high jump, then release it to leap.Use Granny Long Legs to rotate between lanes, escape dangerous positions, or close distance before a Heavy Melee. The first upgrade adds +2.5 m/s Move Speed, while the second reduces the cooldown by 7 seconds. The final upgrade adds more resistances and 50% Melee Lifesteal. The ability makes Baba much harder to pin down, but it does not make her invulnerable. Jumping into five enemies without your team usually ends the tea party very quickly.The Heavy Melee is also an important part of your combo. Use the knockup and slow to make Feed The Birds harder to escape or to keep a target inside allied damage. The Light Melee kick is more situational. It is excellent for peeling an enemy away from a wounded teammate, but knocking someone out of allied crowd control is much less helpful.

3. Baba's Brew

Baba brews a pot of tea whose effect cycles between three different states. The thrown pot affects an area, and Alt-Fire lets you pause or resume the brewing cycle so you can hold the version you want before a fight instead of trying to catch it under pressure. Decide what the team needs before you commit:

• Soothing Brew - grants a Combat Barrier that helps Baba and allies absorb incoming damage.
• Silencing Brew - applies Silence, temporarily preventing affected enemies from casting abilities. Use it to start on heroes who normally escape or counter-engage with a spell.
• Scalding Brew - deals Spirit damage over time and reduces enemy Spirit Resist. Use it when your team is ready to continue dealing Spirit damage.

The first upgrade adds +3m Radius. The second reduces the cooldown by 12 seconds. The final upgrade increases Brew Effectiveness by roughly one third. The first two tiers are especially comfortable while learning Baba because the larger area makes the correct effect easier to land and the lower cooldown gives you more opportunities to use it.Do not confuse Soothing Brew's Barrier with healing. It absorbs future damage but does not restore health that has already been lost. That distinction matters when deciding whether to keep fighting. A fresh Barrier can make an engage safer, but it does not erase the damage your team already took.

4. Feed The Birds

Feed The Birds is a channeled ultimate that covers targets in front of Baba with stacking bread and an increasing slow. When the channel ends, pigeons bombard the target, dealing Spirit damage and hexing it into a pigeon. Both the final damage and the transformation duration increase with the amount of bread applied.Maximum bread stacks are reached after 3.5 seconds, even though Baba can continue channeling for longer. The first upgrade increases cast range and the maximum slow. The second reduces the base cooldown from 150 to 95 seconds. The final upgrade adds maximum damage, Spirit scaling, and additional pigeon duration.We recommend using Feed The Birds after allied control or after your own slow and knockup have already limited the target's movement. The ultimate becomes much less impressive if the enemy simply walks behind cover while Baba is channeling. In a coordinated fight, however, transforming an important enemy at the right moment can decide the entire engagement.

Best Baba skill order

For a straightforward start, unlock abilities in the order 1 -> 3 -> 2 -> 4. Threadsap gives you reliable lane trading first, Baba's Brew adds utility and pressure, Granny Long Legs adds mobility, and Feed The Birds comes online when the ultimate becomes available. If the lane is dangerous and you constantly need an escape tool, unlock ability 2 before ability 3.Unlocking abilities and purchasing their upgrades are separate parts of progression. A useful baseline upgrade route is:

• Early: take ability 1 to Tier 2. This strengthens your follow-up shooting after Threadsap and dramatically lowers the cooldown for repeated trades.
• Then: take ability 3 to Tier 2. Baba's Brew covers a larger area and becomes available much more often for both defense and offense.
• Next: take ability 2 to Tier 3. This improves rotations, durability, and Baba's ability to stay active in extended close-range fights.
• Then: take ability 4 to Tier 3. Improve the target control first, then cut the long cooldown and finally strengthen the finishing damage and hex duration.
• Finish with ability 1 Tier 3, then ability 3 Tier 3. Add the Threadsap pull and maximize the effectiveness of Baba's Brew.

Treat this as a flexible default rather than a fixed script. If your teammates are constantly starting fights and Feed The Birds would decide them, taking the ultimate's second upgrade earlier can be more valuable than fully finishing Granny Long Legs first. If the match is spread across the map with fewer large fights, mobility may help you farm and rotate more efficiently.Do not sit on Ability Points for too long just because you are saving toward a later upgrade. A cheaper upgrade that immediately solves the problem you are having in the current match can be worth more than an idealized endgame order.

Best Baba items and buy order

The build below is a progression route rather than a list of items you are supposed to own simultaneously. Higher-tier upgrades replace or build from earlier components, while situational purchases take the place of whatever matters less in that specific match. Baba wants enough Spirit Power to scale her damage and utility, but she also needs mobility and defensive tools because her strongest plays often happen close enough for enemies to hit back.

Early game: Spirit Power, mobility, and basic survivability

Start with inexpensive items that make the lane more forgiving. Our default opening looks like this:

• Extra Spirit - the first damage-focused purchase for this build. Upgrade it into Improved Spirit and eventually Boundless Spirit.
• Extra Stamina - gives you more room to dodge, chase, and reposition. It is also the component for Stamina Mastery.
• Grit - an early Vitality item that gives Baba a temporary Barrier and later builds into Reactive Barrier.
• Mystic Expansion - imbue Granny Long Legs to increase its range and effect radius, making the Heavy Melee impact easier to connect.

If the lane is constantly pushing you out, add Extra Regen before Mystic Expansion. If the lane is comfortable, skip the recovery purchase and accelerate the core build instead. Do not turn the first minutes into an endless hero chase. Secure troopers, confirm Souls, and use Threadsap when you can actually follow the hit with bullets. One good trade is not worth missing several waves.

Mid game: mobility and protection in team fights

After the opening items, build toward Stamina Mastery -> Reactive Barrier -> Suppressor -> Superior Duration. Upgrade Extra Spirit into Improved Spirit when you can do so without delaying protection you urgently need. If crowd control is already the main reason you die, move Reactive Barrier earlier.

• Stamina Mastery - adds Stamina, improves Air Jump and Air Dash distance, and allows an additional Air Jump or Air Dash before landing. This fits naturally with the mobility Granny Long Legs already provides.
• Reactive Barrier - automatically grants a Barrier when Baba is affected by qualifying crowd control such as Stun, Chain, Immobilize, Sleep, or Silence. It helps absorb the follow-up damage, but it does not remove the disable itself.
• Suppressor - Spirit damage reduces the Fire Rate of affected enemies. It is especially useful when a dangerous opponent relies heavily on weapon damage.
• Superior Duration - extends the duration of abilities and items. In this build, the extra time on Granny Long Legs is particularly useful because it gives Baba longer to reposition and remain active in a fight.

By this stage, try to play near teammates who can capitalize on your control. After clearing a lane, take nearby resources or rotate toward the team instead of standing under an enemy objective without a safe continuation. Baba has mobility and defensive tools, but the build does not erase a Soul deficit. Spend before important fights because unspent Souls do not reduce incoming damage.

Late game: stronger Spirit scaling and fewer interrupted plays

Once your survivability is comfortable, Boundless Spirit becomes one of the major damage upgrades. It provides a large amount of Spirit Power and helps scale Threadsap, Scalding Brew, Feed The Birds, and other Spirit-dependent effects. Because it upgrades from Improved Spirit, it follows naturally from the early Spirit investment.After that, upgrade Reactive Barrier into Indomitable if enemy crowd control is stopping your important abilities. Indomitable automatically removes the next qualifying player-applied Stun, Chain, Immobilize, Sleep, or Silence when its passive is ready. It also grants a Barrier and reduces your remaining ability cooldowns, but the passive itself then goes on cooldown.For additional damage, consider Spirit Burn. It activates after you deal enough Spirit damage to one target within a short window, adding an explosion and burn while reducing the target's healing. Baba can trigger it through a sustained combo using several Spirit damage sources. One weak poke is not enough to guarantee the proc. If you die before you can execute the combo, buy more defense first and damage second.

Situational items against specific enemies

Keep the core idea of the build, but change purchases based on what is actually causing lost fights:

• Healbane - a cheaper anti-heal option when enemy sustain is already becoming a problem and Spirit Burn is still too expensive.
• Metal Skin - active protection against bullets when a dangerous weapon-damage hero is the main threat. Use it during their damage window. It is not your answer to heavy Spirit damage.
• Warp Stone - adds another movement tool when Granny Long Legs alone is not enough to escape a bad position or attack from a better angle.
• Unstoppable - active protection against many crowd-control effects when you need Feed The Birds to channel without being immediately stopped. Activate it before the disable lands because you cannot press it while already Stunned or Slept.

Unstoppable only lasts for a limited window, so it does not give permanent control immunity throughout an entire fight. Indomitable also only clears a qualifying disable when its passive is ready. Even with expensive defensive items, track enemy cooldowns and avoid starting Feed The Birds from a position where the other team can interrupt or burst you immediately.

How to play Baba: combos and target selection

For a single-target engage, start by landing Threadsap, then throw Scalding Brew if you are ready to continue dealing Spirit damage. Close the gap with Granny Long Legs and use the Heavy Melee ground pound to knock the target up and slow them. Follow with Feed The Birds when your teammates are close enough to continue the attack. Between abilities, keep shooting to take advantage of Threadsap's bonus Spirit damage per bullet.Against a hero with a strong escape ability, replace Scalding Brew with Silencing Brew. If your team has already taken heavy damage, the correct play may instead be Soothing Brew for the Barrier. Forcing the offensive combo every time is less valuable than keeping an ally alive long enough to win the fight.Use the Light Melee kick with intention. Knocking an enemy away from a wounded teammate is excellent. Kicking the same enemy out of a teammate's stun or damage zone is not. Baba's kit gives you several forms of displacement and control, which means positioning the target correctly matters almost as much as dealing damage.In larger team fights, approach from an angle near your frontline rather than walking straight into the center. From there, it is easier to hit multiple enemies with Baba's Brew and Threadsap without absorbing all enemy fire at once. Prioritize an opponent your team can actually reach and kill. One well-timed Feed The Birds on the correct target is more useful than trying to feed bread to the entire neighborhood.If the engage fails, disengage, wait for the important cooldowns, and look for another angle. Granny Long Legs is just as valuable for the trip out as it is for the trip in.