The temptation is to call every hard-to-kill hero a tank and buy every percentage-health item you can find. But high health, healing, barriers and resistances are different problems, even when they look identical during a chaotic teamfight.
By Deadlock Item Builder · Practical matchup guideWhy won't this hero die?
Start with the reason the enemy survives.
- Big health pool: The enemy can take a lot of damage before going down.
- Healing or lifesteal: Their health keeps coming back as you damage them.
- Resistance or barriers: Your hits don't remove as much health as expected.
- Defensive ability: A timed ability buys them several seconds or changes the fight.
- Bad focus: Your teammates are damaging different targets while the frontline gets time to recover.
The answer is usually a combination of the right purchase and the right fight, not buying every counter at once.
Items worth comparing
Tank Buster — pressure large health poolsTank Buster charges up over time, then makes a large ability hit deal bonus damage based on the target's current health, ignoring Spirit Resist. That suits a spirit build that lands big hits on a large frontliner. It won't by itself remove a heal, break every barrier or shut down a defensive cast.
Decay — punish recovery during the focus windowDecay offers targeted healing reduction and health-based damage over time. Consider it when your team can focus one durable target and you want their recovery to be weaker while the damage lands. If their health never comes back, anti-heal may not be the missing piece.
Toxic Bullets — a weapon-user's sustained answerToxic Bullets rewards repeated weapon hits with healing reduction and a health-based bleed. It can suit a shooter who reliably keeps contact with a healing frontline. If you cannot maintain shots long enough to apply the effect, a targeted alternative may be more practical.
Armor Piercer — check the defensive layerArmor Piercer is worth comparing when the enemy's bullet protection is reducing your weapon impact. Check which defenses it bypasses and whether your own build uses weapon pressure enough to justify the investment. Resistance pressure doesn't automatically solve healing.
Scourge — for heroes that can survive up closeScourge gives you or an ally Spirit and Debuff Resist plus an aura that damages nearby enemies based on their maximum health. It suits situations where staying near the durable enemy is actually safe and useful. If walking into melee range gets you instantly controlled, it may be the wrong approach.
The counter nobody buys: better focus
A durable hero can look immortal when each teammate tries to solo them. Call a single target, wait for the defensive cooldown you care about, apply anti-heal if relevant, then overlap damage while the target is vulnerable.
Sometimes the better choice is to ignore the frontline briefly, take a better angle or remove the support keeping them alive. That's not always possible, but buying an expensive anti-tank item won't fix impossible positioning.
When should you buy an anti-tank item?
Don't wait for the scoreboard to tell you the enemy has a lot of health. If the next objective fight will revolve around a frontliner you can't push past, an earlier situational purchase may have value. But a late-game anti-tank purchase is wasteful if the real problem is an early lane loss, uncontested farm or a healing ability nobody is interrupting.
Consider what your hero contributes. A weapon carry maintaining shots may want a different item from a spirit caster who can land a targeted effect and follow up.
Common mistakes
- Confusing an enemy's healing with their maximum health.
- Buying health-based damage when resistance or shields are the actual obstacle.
- Trying to solo a frontline who is designed to soak attention.
- Spending every slot on tank counters and losing the rest of your build.
- Ignoring the enemy's defensive cooldowns and position.
