Dash, air dash & air jump
Your dash, air dash and double jump each burn one stamina charge — and you only get about three, so spend them to dodge, not to travel.
A dash is a quick burst-step in any direction; you can fire one off the ground, fire one in mid-air, and tap an extra air jump to reset your trajectory. Each move costs a stamina charge, so the player who keeps one in reserve for the dodge is the one who wins the fight.
The three burst-moves
A dash is a short, fast burst in whatever direction you're holding — fire it on the ground or mid-air (an air dash), and after a jump you can also tap an extra air jump (double jump). All three are charge moves: each one spends a single stamina charge from your small pool. Most heroes carry 3 charges; a handful start with fewer (Vindicta and McGinnis at 2) or more (Ivy at 4). Dash is on Shift by default and sends you in your current movement direction. Out of one jump you get exactly one air dash and one air jump for free — the Vitality item Stamina Mastery raises both to two per jump. You can also double-tap crouch to dash straight down, a fast-fall that drops you to the floor or ducks you under high shots. While airborne you keep some air control to curve your path, though Deadlock's air-strafing is far weaker than other Source games: release forward, hold a strafe key and smoothly turn the camera the same way. (Chaining a dash into a jump to fling farther is its own tech — see dash-jump.)
How to play it
Treat your charges as dodges, not as a way to travel — the player who still has a dash when the enemy throws a skillshot is the one who walks away. Dash sideways or backward through telegraphed abilities (a Bebop hook, Seven stun, Haze sleep) instead of burning stamina to chase a kill. In a duel, stack the moves: jump, air dash to one side, then air jump to reset your arc so both their aim and their skillshot whiff — you're hardest to hit while you're changing direction in the air. Use the downward fast-fall to drop onto a low target or fall out of a sky-line of fire. Always keep at least one charge in reserve when you over-extend; running dry mid-fight is how you get caught out of position. Current-patch note: the Urn carrier gains +1 stamina, +10% dash distance and +15% stamina regen, so the runner is noticeably slipperier than a normal hero — account for that when you try to catch them.
Interactions & gotchas
Air dashing briefly cuts your gun: you can't fire again until your weapon finishes its current shot cycle, so slow-firing heroes (Abrams, Vindicta) lose more uptime than fast shooters like Wraith — release the trigger, dash, then resume firing. Since the 04-10-2026 update you can parry while ground-dashing, bringing it in line with air dashing, so a dash no longer locks you out of the counter. Items shift the math: Stamina Mastery grants a second air dash and second air jump per jump; Kinetic Dash rewards each dash with a weapon buff, turning a dodge into a damage window; Extra Stamina adds a charge and Majestic Leap gives a huge directional super-jump. Hard crowd control still beats all of it — stun, root and knockdown stop a dash before it can start, so the dodge only saves you if you read the threat early.
Raw dataidentity & API
identity
- id
- mechanic_dashes
- slug
- dashes
- category
- movement
- flowStage
- fighting
- aliases
- dash, air dash, dodge, air dodge, burst movement, double jump, air jump, air strafe, air control, fast fall, downward dash, рывок, эйрдеш, двойной прыжок
- sourcePath
- manual:mechanics/dashes
- updatedAt
- 2026-06-06T00:00:00.000Z