# Deadlock Mo & Krill Guide: Build, Abilities & Tips
> A wiki-checked Mo & Krill guide for the City Never Sleeps patch: every ability and upgrade, skill order, an early-to-late item build from an October 2026 match, laning, teamfights and counters. Numbers that changed since the May 2026 source video are corrected in-line.
- **Game:** Deadlock
- **Category:** Hero Guides
- **Author:** ItzMaze (https://guides-factory.com/authors/itzmaze)
- **Difficulty:** Intermediate
- **Reading time:** 17 min
- **Published:** 2026-10-19
- **Updated:** 2026-10-19
- **Tags:** Hero Guide, item-builds, laning, mo-krill
- **Adapted from:** [Deadlock - Idiot's Guide to Mo (and Krill)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQle2dUhoL0)
- **Canonical URL:** https://guides-factory.com/guides/deadlock-mo-krill-guide
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## 🎯 The core idea
> Mo & Krill are a tanky anti-carry: Burrow in, Scorn to heal off everyone nearby, then Combo the enemy who matters most while your team kills them. This Mo & Krill guide checks every ability number against the Deadlock wiki for the City Never Sleeps patch, updates the build and items, and names what changed since the May 2026 source video.
- free costs nothing
- cheap small cost
- setup needs preparation
- grind pays off slowly
- skip the thing to stop doing
## What Mo & Krill do in a match
Mo & Krill are an initiator and anti-carry. Their job is to walk into the middle of a fight, soak attention, and take the most dangerous enemy out of the game for a couple of seconds so your team can kill them. Panda Commanda's video puts it simply: Mo creates the opening, and it is up to your allies to use it.
The numbers back that up. The wiki lists 930 base health with 65 more per boon, but only 1 health regen, so your sustain comes from Scorn rather than from standing still. Both Mo's and Krill's heads can be headshot, though Mo's head takes 20% less headshot damage. The gun, the Yellow Canary, is a short-range spreadshot (four pellets in a triangle, 20 ammo, roughly 60 DPS at base), so you are not winning long-range trades. The video calls Mo & Krill the highest-health hero in the game; the wiki's 930 figure is high, but I didn't compare it against every hero, so treat that ranking as the video's claim.
The hero is not as brainless as the reputation suggests. If you Burrow into five people, miss Scorn and ult nobody, you die. The skill is in picking the right target and arriving at the right time.
## Scorn: the heal that keeps you alive
free Scorn deals spirit damage to every enemy within 9 m and heals you for part of the damage. On a 13-second cooldown it is the ability you press the most. Base damage is 50 with 0.75 spirit scaling.
The detail that matters is who you hit. Per the wiki, Scorn heals for 1.2× the damage dealt to enemy heroes but only 0.35× against non-heroes. The video says Scorn heals "a little bit more" than it deals; that is only true against heroes. Against a minion wave alone the heal is about a third of the damage, so do not expect wave-only Scorns to save you. One or two heroes inside the radius are what refill your bar.
How to use it:
- Scorn goes through walls and floors, so you can cast it from behind cover or from under a ledge.
- It can be cast while you are "busy": during Combo, during heavy melee, on a zipline, and while burrowed.
- Don't open a fight with it. Take a little damage first, then Scorn, so the heal isn't wasted.
- The radius is bigger than enemies expect. Players who think they are at a safe distance often still get hit.
Upgrades: T1 adds +35 damage, T2 gives −5 s cooldown and +1 m radius, and T3 applies a debuff that makes enemies take +15% damage from Mo & Krill. It lasts 16 s and has no stack limit.
## Burrow: engage, chase and escape
free Burrow sends Mo underground for 5 seconds with a big move-speed boost (+5 m/s), 60% bullet resist and 30% spirit resist. When you pop out, either at the end or early, you spin for 1.5 s, dealing 75 spirit DPS in a 5 m radius, slowing enemies and knocking them up. Cooldown is 40 s.
It does three jobs:
- **Engage:** you are much harder to see coming underground than as a giant mole man on foot. Surface in the middle of the enemy team, spin, then Scorn.
- **Chase:** the speed lets you catch wounded enemies who would outrun you on foot.
- **Escape:** if you bite off too much, dig and leave.
Limits worth knowing:
- Damage from enemy heroes reduces the speed bonus.
- You cannot climb ledges while burrowed, so plan routes around stairs and ramps.
- You can't parry while burrowed, and a stun pops you out without the spin.
- Melee hits still land on you underground. Since May 22 they no longer knock you up.
- You can slide while burrowed to keep speed on slopes, and you can cast Scorn, Sand Blast and items underground.
Since July 28, Burrow's cooldown starts the moment you cast it, not after you surface. The video predates this change, so the ability is back sooner than it shows.
Upgrades: T1 +50 spin DPS, T2 +4 s burrow time and +2 m spin radius, T3 −20 s cooldown and +4 m/s move speed.
## Tunnels, the Soul Urn and City Never Sleeps
setup Mo & Krill can enter and exit the tunnel network by pressing crouch next to a vent, either on foot or while burrowed, but not while in combat. If Burrow runs out inside a tunnel, you can still leave by crouching at an exit. The City Never Sleeps update (2026-09-29) reworked the map, renamed neutrals to Haunts and added new breakables, so relearn which vents connect where. The September 16 patch also lengthened the spawn and respawn timers of breakables in the tunnels, which is why Adam mentions skipping underground boxes on this map.
Two objective details from the wiki:
- You can carry the Soul Urn while burrowed and keep the speed and armor. You can't take it into the tunnels, though, and a melee hit still makes you drop it.
- Most abilities that hit grounded heroes still hit you underground (for example Graves' Grasping Hands or Paradox's Time Wall). Abrams' Shoulder Charge can't drag you, McGinnis' Spectral Wall doesn't block you, and most targeted item projectiles float above you until you surface. Knockback items still stun you and cancel Burrow.
## Sand Blast: disarm the gun heroes
cheap Sand Blast sprays sand in a 25 m line, dealing 40 damage and **disarming** every enemy it hits for 2.5 seconds, so they cannot shoot. Cooldown is 40 s, and you can cast it while burrowed.
The video says the disarm lasts "about 2 seconds"; the wiki lists 2.5 s, and the T3 upgrade adds another 1.5 s on top. It is the ability you skill last, but don't ignore it. Against a lane of two gun heroes, or a Haze, Wraith or other weapon carry in a fight, a 2.5-second disarm decides trades.
Upgrades: T1 +50 damage and +5 m range. With T1 the blast deals 90, enough to trigger Mystic Burst (the wiki notes this can waste the item's charge, which otherwise only Scorn would use). T2 adds a move slow and a dash-distance reduction. The wiki's ability card lists −24% slow and −26% dash distance after the September 16 patch cut slows globally, down from the −30% that the June 30 patch had set. T3 is +1.5 s duration and −25 s cooldown.
## Combo: grabbing the right target
setup Combo is the ultimate. Mo grabs one enemy within 4 m and holds them in place for 2.4 seconds. They are stunned and take 40 spirit DPS the whole time. If the target dies during Combo or within 3 seconds after it ends, Mo & Krill permanently gain max health. Cooldown is 150 s.
Set it to instant cast, as the video recommends, because the range is short and every tenth of a second matters. You can cast Scorn and, since the July 28 patch, items during the channel. The video was recorded before that change, so its "you're open to everyone else" warning is softer now: you can pop Metal Skin, Scourge or Unstoppable mid-grab.
Who to grab:
- The enemy carry or whoever is doing the most damage, not the 0-12 player.
- A grab on anyone is better than holding the ult all fight. If the priority target is out of reach, take who is in front of you.
- Ult with backup. You become as much of a target as the person you hold, so make sure your team can kill them inside the 2.4 s plus 3 s window.
Upgrades: T1 +100% lifesteal, T2 −30 s cooldown and +50% bullet resist, T3 +0.7 s duration, +40 DPS and higher spirit scaling.
## Combo bonus health changed after the video
grind In the source video, a successful Combo kill shows "+30 Bonus Health". That was the value at the time: 30 plus 1 per boon. The June 30, 2026 patch raised it to **40 plus 2 per boon**, per the wiki. The video also says the bonus scales with how many green (vitality) items you own; the wiki ties it to boons instead, and boon scaling does not apply retroactively to stacks you already earned. Early Combo kills therefore give smaller stacks than late ones, but every kill still adds up over a long game.
The same patch moved Combo's cooldown from 130 s to 150 s (part of a global ultimate cooldown change) and trimmed the T2 cooldown reduction from −35 s to −30 s. So you ult a little less often than in the video, and each kill is worth more.
## Mo & Krill skill order
setup Upgrades cost 1, 2 and 5 ability points for T1, T2 and T3. The wiki doesn't publish a skill order, so this is my recommendation based on what each upgrade does:
| Priority | Upgrade | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Unlock all four abilities | You need Combo the moment it's available |
| 2 | Scorn T1 (+35 damage) | More damage and healing, and Scorn clears Mystic Burst's 80-damage threshold at once |
| 3 | Burrow T1 (+50 spin DPS) | Better engages and wave clear |
| 4 | Combo T2 (−30 s cooldown, +50% bullet resist) | More grabs and you survive them |
| 5 | Scorn T2 (−5 s cooldown, +1 m radius) | Scorn uptime is your sustain |
| 6 | Burrow T3 (−20 s cooldown, +4 m/s) | Roaming and escape on a 20 s cooldown |
| 7 | Scorn T3 (+15% damage debuff) | Stacking amp for long fights |
| 8 | Combo T1, Combo T3, then Sand Blast | Fill the rest; take Sand Blast T1/T2 earlier against gun-heavy teams |
If the enemy team is mostly weapon heroes, move Sand Blast T3 (+1.5 s disarm, −25 s cooldown) up the list.
## Best Mo & Krill build for the current patch
cheap Because the source video predates the June 30 update and City Never Sleeps, I checked its item list against the wiki and against the build used by Adam (a top-ranked Mo & Krill player) in an October 14, 2026 match. His shop screen near the end of the game shows the items marked "owned" below. Costs are from the wiki.
| Phase | Items | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Early (800–1,600) | Mystic Burst, Extra Health, Extra Spirit, Quicksilver Reload (imbued), Trophy Collector | The default lane start. Mystic Burst adds bonus damage to abilities dealing over 80; Quicksilver reloads your gun when the imbued ability is cast |
| Early options | Healbane, Mystic Vulnerability, Debuff Reducer, Enduring Speed, Cold Front | Healbane cuts enemy healing by 35%; Mystic Vulnerability strips spirit resist from targets you Scorn |
| Mid (3,200) | Torment Pulse, Tankbuster, Duration Extender → Superior Duration, Greater Expansion, Improved Spirit, Warp Stone or Surge of Power | Torment Pulse hits the two closest enemies every 1.4 s within 9 m; Greater Expansion grows Scorn's radius; Superior Duration lengthens Burrow and Combo |
| Defensive mid | Spirit Resilience, Metal Skin, Dispel Magic | Pick by what is killing you |
| Late (6,400) | Scourge, Unstoppable, Escalating Exposure, Boundless Spirit, Plated Armor | Scourge is a 10 m damage aura with +40% spirit resist; Unstoppable makes you immune to stuns for 5.5 s |
| Late options | Spellbreaker, Arctic Blast, Cursed Relic, Phantom Strike | Situational: spirit-burst enemies, chase, or a lockdown target |
Notes on the items the video recommends:
- **Mystic Burst** only triggers on abilities dealing over 80 damage. Base Scorn deals 50 (+0.75 per spirit power), so it needs Scorn T1 or about 40 spirit power before the item does anything. Its upgrade, **Tankbuster**, needs 165-damage hits, so buy it once your spirit power is high.
- **Surge of Power** on Burrow (the video's pick) gives +1.75 m/s move speed for 8 s after casting. **Warp Stone** (an 11 m teleport with +30% bullet resist) gets you over the ledges Burrow can't climb.
- **Trophy Collector** stacks on kills and assists (up to 16) for sprint, ability range and 16 souls per minute per stack, and it persists through death. It also costs you 15% weapon damage against NPCs. Both sources like it on a roaming Mo; skip it if you are your team's carry or already far ahead.
- **Curse** from older builds is now called **Cursed Relic** on the wiki.
## Laning as Mo & Krill
free The lane plan is simple: stand in the middle of the wave and the enemy heroes, and Scorn when both enemy laners are inside 9 m. Hitting heroes heals 1.2× the damage, so a Scorn that tags both laners and the wave can undo a whole trade.
Tips for the laning phase:
- Your gun only works up close. Trade when the enemy walks into Scorn range, not across the lane.
- Mystic Burst plus Quicksilver Reload is the standard lane buy; pair it with Scorn T1 so Burst actually triggers.
- Against two gun heroes, Sand Blast is at its best: 2.5 s of no shooting wins the trade.
- Use Burrow to walk up for a kill attempt, then save the next one for escape when the enemy jungler shows.
- Once Combo comes online, look for side-lane grabs with an ally nearby. A roaming Mo with Trophy Collector stacks snowballs quickly, which is the pattern Adam plays in his match.
## Teamfights and late game
setup In the late game Mo & Krill play the front line. A typical engage: Burrow under the enemy team, surface to spin and knock up, Scorn immediately, then Combo the carry while your team focuses them. Activate Scourge just before you grab so the aura burns everyone near you, and keep Unstoppable for when the enemy tries to stun you out of Combo.
Things that win fights:
- **Scorn constantly.** Each cast heals off every hero in range, and T3 stacks +15% damage taken on them.
- **Pick the grab.** A 2.4 s stun on the enemy carry is worth more than any damage you deal.
- **Late game build** priorities: Scourge, Unstoppable and Escalating Exposure first, then Boundless Spirit or Plated Armor depending on whether you need damage or bullet defence.
- **Stay alive.** The bonus health from Combo kills grows every fight you survive. In Adam's game Mo & Krill finished above 6,300 health at level 35.
## How to counter Mo & Krill
skip Don't spread out in a way that lets Mo pick a lone carry. From the wiki's interaction notes and the video, these are the real answers:
- **Unstoppable** suppresses the Combo stun, and **Indomitable** prevents the disable. The video points out that Counterspell or Unstoppable shuts Mo down for their duration.
- **Counterspell** turns your next parry into a spell parry that blocks ability effects. The video also says a plain parry works against Combo; the wiki doesn't confirm that, so rely on Counterspell.
- **Anti-heal** (Healbane, healing reduction) cuts Scorn's healing, which the wiki confirms is affected by healing reduction.
- **Knockback and stuns** cancel Burrow on the spot (no spin), and melee still hits burrowed Mo.
- **Debuff Resist** shortens Combo's stun and Sand Blast's disarm.
- **Focus Mo while he holds someone.** Without Metal Skin or Unstoppable ready, a grabbing Mo is a stationary target.
If you are the Mo & Krill and the enemy buys these, swap targets to whoever lacks them and keep Combo for that player.
## How this guide was fact-checked
Ability values, upgrades, cooldowns, interactions and patch history come from the deadlock.wiki pages for Mo & Krill (including its update history), the patch list on the Updates page, and each item page. Corrections to Panda Commanda's May 4, 2026 video "Deadlock - Idiot's Guide to Mo (and Krill)":
- Sand Blast's disarm is 2.5 s, not "about 2 seconds".
- Scorn heals 1.2× damage against heroes but only 0.35× against minions, so it heals much less than its damage when you only hit a wave.
- Combo's bonus max health is now 40 + 2 per boon (the video shows the old +30) and scales with boons, not with green items. Combo's cooldown is now 150 s, up from 130 s.
- Items can now be used during Combo, and Burrow's cooldown starts on cast (both from the July 28 patch).
- Sand Blast T2's slow is −24% after the September 16 global slow reduction.
- "Curse" is listed as Cursed Relic.
The current build comes from Adam's October 14, 2026 match ("How the RANK 1 TANK STILL DOMINATES as Mo & Krill in Eternus"), using the items visibly marked owned on his shop screen, with costs and effects checked on the wiki. The skill order is my recommendation; the wiki doesn't publish one. The claim that Mo has the highest base health in the game, and that a plain parry stops Combo, are the video's and are not confirmed by the wiki.
## What this guide doesn't answer
- **A Mo & Krill tier ranking:** tier placements shift with every balance patch, so this guide doesn't call a tier; see a dedicated Deadlock tier list for that.
- **Every hero matchup:** the counter section covers general answers, not lane-by-lane matchups against all heroes.
- **Exact new tunnel routes after City Never Sleeps:** the map rework changed layouts, and the wiki doesn't yet document which vents Mo should use.
- **Street Brawl drafts:** the wiki has a separate Street Brawl item draft for Mo & Krill, which is a different mode from this build.
- **Exact October balance numbers for items:** item stats move in small patches; check the in-game shop tooltip if a number here looks off.
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## FAQ
### What is the best Mo & Krill build in Deadlock right now?
Start with Mystic Burst, Extra Health, Extra Spirit, an imbued Quicksilver Reload and Trophy Collector. In the mid game add Torment Pulse, Tankbuster, Superior Duration and Greater Expansion, and finish with Scourge, Unstoppable, Escalating Exposure, Boundless Spirit and Plated Armor. That matches the build a top-ranked Mo & Krill player used in an October 2026 match, after City Never Sleeps.
### What skill order should I use on Mo & Krill?
Unlock all four abilities first, then take Scorn T1 (+35 damage), Burrow T1 (+50 spin DPS), Combo T2 (-30 s cooldown and +50% bullet resist), Scorn T2, Burrow T3 and Scorn T3. Finish Combo T1 and T3 and Sand Blast afterwards, and move Sand Blast up against teams full of gun heroes.
### How does Mo & Krill's Combo bonus health work?
If the enemy you grab dies during Combo or within 3 seconds after it ends, Mo & Krill permanently gain max health. Since the June 30, 2026 patch it is 40 plus 2 per boon per kill (it used to be 30 plus 1), and it scales with boons rather than with green items. Combo's cooldown is now 150 seconds.
### Does Scorn heal more against heroes than minions?
Yes. Per the Deadlock wiki, Scorn heals for 1.2 times the damage it deals to enemy heroes but only 0.35 times the damage it deals to minions and other non-heroes. Hitting one or two heroes inside the 9 m radius is what keeps Mo & Krill alive. A Scorn that only hits a wave heals very little.
### How do you counter Mo & Krill in Deadlock?
Buy Unstoppable or Indomitable to ignore the Combo stun, or Counterspell to spell-parry it. Anti-heal such as Healbane cuts Scorn's healing, and Debuff Resist shortens Combo and the Sand Blast disarm. Knockback or stuns pop Mo out of Burrow without the spin, and a Mo who is holding someone with Combo can't move, so focus him then.