Infernus is Deadlock's ramping damage-over-time bruiser — he doesn't burst you down, he sets you on fire and out-sustains you while you melt. His SMG isn't the damage, it's the lighter: every hit stacks Afterburn, Napalm coats targets in flame, and the kit all scales with Spirit, so souls go mostly into spirit with a small weapon line just to spread the burn. Complexity 1 and flagged new-player friendly, he's a great first hero — light them up, dash in and out, and let the DoT do the work.
Early game
You win lane on consistency, not burst, because Afterburn takes a few bullets to fully ramp. Hold steady fire on one target instead of tapping — the burn keeps ticking after they break line of sight, so even a brief window pays off. Use Napalm to secure last hits, contest denies, and refresh your burn between mags. Flame Dash is your safety valve: dash out of a dive, or through a creep wave and let the flaming trail chip them. Put an early point in Afterburn — its 1-AP upgrade roughly triples burn damage around 1,000 souls, the moment Infernus actually turns on. Buy a couple of cheap spirit items and a little HP/regen so you don't die; you're squishy before lifesteal, so respect early dive from burst heroes and don't over-extend chasing a kill.
Mid game
This is where Infernus comes alive. Rush Toxic Bullets — its %-max-HP bleed and healing cut, stacked on top of Afterburn, is unbearable for tanks and healers and shreds them in any extended trade. Add Spirit Lifesteal so the DoT brawl actually heals you, and imbue Napalm with Quicksilver Reload so you never run dry mid-fight. Now rotate hard: your AoE ult is excellent for clearing or contesting a packed circle, so Flame Dash into Concussive Combustion lets you jump on the Urn king-of-the-hill point, steal a neutral camp, or contest a Guardian. Pick off isolated targets, light them, and back off — the fire finishes the job after you disengage.
Late game
Late, you're a full teamfight DoT engine. The job is simple: walk into a clump, drop Napalm and ult to light everyone, then kite at full move speed while they cook. Stack spirit shred — Spirit Rend plus Escalating Exposure — so your burns punch straight through enemy Spirit Resilience instead of plateauing, and add Ricochet so Afterburn and Toxic spread off one target onto the whole group. Pile raw spirit with Boundless Spirit to scale every tick. Because you have to walk in to apply the fire, hold a Divine Barrier or Ethereal Shift to survive your own commit, and buy Inhibitor when the team needs the lockdown on a fleeing carry.
Combos & tricks
Napalm into Concussive Combustion: cast Napalm first so the slow glues them in place, then ult — it can't be interrupted once it's out, so nobody walks out of the bomb radius. Flame Dash into Concussive is your go-to engage and the cleanest way to drop onto a contested point. Remember every ability cast refreshes your base burn, so weave Napalm between mags to keep Afterburn at full uptime even when you stop shooting. Quicksilver Reload imbued on Napalm hands you a free reload plus fire rate the instant you cast, fixing the 'out of ammo mid-fight' problem. Spirit Rend, Escalating Exposure and Mystic Vulnerability together make every burn tick ramp instead of flattening. And Echo Shard lets you double-cast Concussive Combustion for a second detonation in a stacked fight.
Flame Dash
Afterburn
Concussive Combustion
