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Yamato

~43.6% WR ~15.9% pick

Hard Spreadshot RelentlessAcrobaticsPursuer

Yamato uses precise strikes to decimate her rivals. However, such damaging attacks often will leave her exposed, so she needs to make every shot count.

Signature abilities4

Power Slash →

Flying Slash →

Crimson Slash →

Shadow Transformation ult at lvl 6

Ability 1

Power Slash

12s

Instant cast

Channel to increase damage over 1.4s seconds, then release a fully-charged sword strike. PressAbility 1orAttackto trigger the strike early, dealing partial damage.

1.4s

Cast delay

145↑1.85

Full Charge Damage

22m

Slash Length

1AP +0% Movement Slow for 0%s — Slow duration +3%, Slow +40%

2AP 12s Ability Cooldown — Cooldown -4s

5AP +22m Cast Range +145 Damage and Increases Spirit Power scaling — Full Charge Damage +150, Full Charge Damage +0.5, Slash Length +8m

Ability 2

Flying Slash

36s

Press

Throw a grappling hook to reel yourself towards an enemy, dealing Light Melee Damage and slowing the target when you arrive.

28m

Cast range

50%

Slow

Spirit Bonus

Buff duration

1AP Cooldown -18s

2AP Gain +0 Spirit Power for 0s — Spirit Bonus +40, Buff duration +6s

5AP Can Grapple to allies +28m Cast Range Gains 2 extra charges — Cast range +15m, Can Grapple Ally Heroes +1, Charges +3, Charge cooldown +3s

Ability 3

Crimson Slash

16s

Instant cast

Slash enemies in front of you, damaging them and slowing their fire rate. If any enemy heroes are hit, you heal.

0.3s

Cast delay

13m

Radius

55↑0.37

Damage

Heal Fixed Health

1AP On Hit : +0% Melee Damage for 0s — Buff duration +4s, Buff Melee Damage +30

2AP On Hero Hit : +0% Max Health Heal — Heal Max Health +6

5AP 16s Cooldown and increases scaling — Cooldown -10s, Damage +0.6

Ability 4

Shadow Transformation

130s

Instant cast

Become infused with Yamato's shadow soul. After an initial invincible transformation your abilities are refreshed and are 60% faster. You gain immunity to negative status effects and have greatly increased bullet and spirit resist. When you get a hero kill, you heal and the duration is extended.

1.5s

Channel time

Duration

Ability Speed Pct

Max Health Regen

1AP Weapon Damage Bonus +7

2AP +0m Move Speed and 130s Cooldown — Move speed +4m

5AP +5s Duration +30% Bullet Resist +30% Spirit Resist — Duration +3s, Bullet Resist +30%, Spirit Resist +30%

Guidehow to play

Yamato is a dive assassin and bruiser-carry who isolates the enemy's squishiest backliner, gap-closes with Flying Slash, and deletes them with a charged Power Slash plus a point-blank Spreadshot. She wins by picking off one core target a fight, surviving the counter-punch on Crimson Slash healing and resists, then using Shadow Transformation as an offensive reset to chain kills through a wipe. She's a snowball pick-off carry, not a teamfight anchor — high ceiling, complexity 3, not friendly to beginners.

Early game

Laning is Yamato's weakest phase, so play it tight. Last-hit and deny with the Spreadshot at close-to-mid range and weave a quick Mystic Shot gun burst to harass. Don't fish Power Slash into a player who's holding stamina — the wind-up is visible and good opponents just dash through it, leaving you exposed. Save Flying Slash as your only real engage/escape and only all-in when the target has no stamina and no escape. Take an early Flying Slash point and buy Healing Rite so you can sit in lane and recover after a trade. First buys lean spirit: Spirit Strike and Extra Spirit make every slash and the Crimson heal hurt more.

Mid game

This is where Yamato comes online. Flying Slash picks up charges (the T3 upgrade adds two, giving you two engages or an engage plus an escape), and your combo starts one-shotting isolated targets. Roam with your gank partner, dive the enemy carry in skirmishes, and hold Shadow Transformation to flip fights you'd otherwise lose. Layer Cold Front so the AoE slow procs the instant you arrive and locks the target in your Power Slash. Respect the −10 base-HP patch — everyone dies faster, including you, so only commit to fights you can finish.

Late game

Late, Yamato becomes a hyper-mobile, hard-to-kill assassin. Each fight your job is the same: Flying Slash onto their highest-value backliner, run the full rotation, then pop Shadow Transformation to refresh all three slashes and go unkillable — every hero kill extends the ult, so you can chain through their team. Stack spirit resist and lifesteal so you survive the peel that comes back at you. With Refresher you get a second ult-and-cooldown cycle in one fight, which is genuinely oppressive.

Combos & tricks

Pre-charge delivery: charge Power Slash behind cover, then Flying Slash onto the target so the charged strike lands the instant you arrive — they can't dash a wind-up they never saw, and the Flying Slash slow holds them in it. Full kill rotation: Flying Slash in, release the fully-charged Power Slash, Crimson Slash their return attack to heal off them and gut their fire rate, then point-blank Spreadshot to finish. Treat Crimson Slash as a sustain parry, not poke — it only heals when it hits an enemy hero, so use it mid-dive on the target, never on creeps. Ult as a reset: fire Shadow Transformation after your first rotation, not as a panic button, then re-engage. Refresher mid-ult re-arms the ult for a second unkillable window.

Buildsbuy order matters

Laning1600

Spirit early so every slash and the Crimson heal scale, plus the sustain to survive a weak lane. Mystic Shot turns Spreadshot pokes into real damage; Healing Rite lets you stay after a trade.

Mid game3200

Dive items. Cold Front procs the lockdown as you arrive, Bullet Lifesteal sustains your Spreadshot trades, and Fortitude buys back the HP the base-HP nerf took. Improved Spirit keeps Power Slash ahead of the curve.

Late game6400

Carry capstones. Diviner's Kevlar (spirit resist + barrier) and Lucky Shot are her top-WR items; Escalating Exposure snowballs repeated spirit hits; Refresher doubles the Shadow Transformation window for a second unkillable cycle.

Situational4000

Swap in vs threats: Ethereal Shift to dodge lethal burst, Debuff Reducer vs hook/curse/CC that pulls you out of your dive, Silencer to lock a key caster, Metal Skin vs gun-heavy lobbies, Knockdown to ground fliers like Vindicta or Grey Talon.

Tips & tricks

→Charge Power Slash behind cover, then Flying Slash in — the strike lands the moment you arrive and they can't dodge what they never saw.

→Crimson Slash only heals off enemy heroes, so save it for the dive target, not creeps — it tops you up and cuts their fire rate at once.

→Use Shadow Transformation to continue a fight, not flee one: dive, run the rotation, then ult to refresh and re-engage. Kills extend it.

→Never force Power Slash into someone holding stamina — they'll dash the wind-up. Bait the dash first, then commit.

→Respect Bebop hook, Warden, Curse and knockdowns — they yank or deny your all-in. Carry Debuff Reducer or Ethereal Shift into them.

→Pair the dive with Cold Front and Escalating Exposure so the arrival slow plus stacking spirit hits turn one engage into a delete.

Common questions

Weapon or spirit Yamato?

Spirit-hybrid right now. Recent patches buffed Power Slash's spirit scaling, so you stack Spirit Power for the slashes and Crimson heal, and use the gun (Mystic Shot, Spirit Strike) mainly as a proc delivery. Pure-gun Yamato is playable but off-meta.

Is Yamato good for beginners?

No. She's complexity 3 with a punishing laning phase and a high skill ceiling — expect a real grind before she clicks. The payoff once mastered is huge, but she's not a first-hero pick.

How do I play Shadow Transformation well?

As an offensive reset, not an escape. Engage, run your full rotation, then ult to refresh all three slashes, gain ability speed and resists, and re-engage. Each hero kill extends the duration, so a clean fight can snowball into a wipe.

Can Yamato be CC'd out of her ult?

The ult grants status immunity while it's active, but she's vulnerable on the wind-up and to displacement around it — Bebop hook, Curse and knockdowns still ruin her dive. Carry Debuff Reducer or Ethereal Shift and respect those heroes.

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