What players buy
The items bought most in each of Valve’s four game stages
Public matches · each item’s own count
1stMost bought
157 buys
2ndSecond most
99 buys
3rdThird most
93 buys
4thFourth most
76 buys
5thFifth most
63 buysBy GamGem ResearchLast updated 22 Sept 2026
Warlock
Ranged · Intelligence
- Win rate
- 49.4%
- Pick share
- 0.5%
- Matches
- 252,674
- Patch
- 7.41f
Draft coverage
BringsSupportInitiatorDisabler
NeedsCarryFrontlineBurstTower damageEscape
Recommendation
Pick
- The game is heading for 50 min + — that is where this hero measures best, at 50.9% over 627 matches.
- You are playing around Guardian — its strongest medal, 50.7% over 24,967 picks.
Avoid
- Keeper of the Light is on their side — this hero wins 32.2% of 87 matches against it.
- Treant Protector is on their side — this hero wins 36.0% of 114 matches against it.
- Pudge is on their side — this hero wins 38.4% of 164 matches against it.
157 buys99 buys93 buys76 buys63 buys
Skill Order
Which ability to max first, and where each point goes — what most league players on Warlock took at each level.
QFatal Bonds
Binds several visible enemy units together, causing a percentage of the damage dealt to one of them to be felt by the others.
Unit Target
WShadow Word
Warlock whispers an incantation, casting a spell on a unit that makes it deal damage to nearby enemy units and heal nearby ally units.
Unit Target · Magical damage
EUpheaval
CHANNELED - A powerful slowing and damaging current that grows stronger as it's channeled.
Point Target · Channeled · AOE · Magical damage
RChaotic Offering
Summons a Golem from the depths, stunning enemies for 0.8 seconds.
Point Target · AOEMax Order
WQE
Max W first, then Q, then E. Most took R at 6 / 13.
Level-up Order
- QFatal Bonds
- WShadow Word
- EUpheaval
- RChaotic Offering
- TTalent
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QFatal Bonds | Q | Q | Q | Q | ||||||||||||
| WShadow Word | W | W | W | W | ||||||||||||
| EUpheaval | E | E | E | E | ||||||||||||
| RChaotic Offering | R | R | ||||||||||||||
| TTalent | T | T |
Matchup map
How Warlock performs against every opponent with 30 or more counted games
114 opponents · public matches40%60%Warlock's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard
If this happens, use this
- They are running away
Something that holds them still, or closes the gap yourself. Matched on “slow”, “stun”.
- Kill them in one window
Damage that lands now rather than over a minute. Matched on “magical”.
- Clear or push the wave
Creeps, summons and anything that hits a building. Matched on “summon”.
By medal
- Herald50.5%7,068
- Guardian50.7%24,967
- Crusader50.1%42,152
- Archon49.8%56,330
- Legend49.1%54,261
- Ancient48.7%31,722
- Divine46.1%16,673
One count per medal, not one rate split across them; a medal with no counted matches is left out.
By match length
- 0–20 min47.5%2,395
- 20–30 min48.4%6,100
- 30–40 min47.8%3,725
- 40–50 min48.5%1,477
- 50 min +50.9%627
Bands under 120 matches are absent rather than shown small.
Learning Warlock
Abilities
Fatal Bonds
Unit TargetBinds several visible enemy units together, causing a percentage of the damage dealt to one of them to be felt by the others.
Shadow Word
Unit Target · Magical damageWarlock whispers an incantation, casting a spell on a unit that makes it deal damage to nearby enemy units and heal nearby ally units. Target Unit will also heal or be damaged depending on whether they are ally or enemy.
Upheaval
Point Target · Channeled · AOE · Magical damageCHANNELED - A powerful slowing and damaging current that grows stronger as it's channeled. Lasts up to 10 seconds. Enemies are slowed for 1 second after leaving the area or the spell ends.
Eldritch Summoning
Passive · Magical damageWhenever an enemy unit dies while afflicted by one or more of Warlock's abilities, a minor imp is summoned that lasts for 15 seconds and explodes on death. Imps will automatically seek out nearby units, favoring fatally bonded heroes, and will explode when reaching their prey.
Chaotic Offering
Point Target · AOESummons a Golem from the depths, stunning enemies for 0.8 seconds. The Golem lives 60 seconds, takes reduced damage from spells, has increased Slow Resistance, has Permanent Immolation and Flaming Fists on attack.
Base attributes
- Strength
- 22 +2.4
- Agility
- 10 +1.0
- Intelligence
- 25 +3.1
- Move · range
- 300 · 600
Talents
- 4Summons a Golem on deathFatal Bonds Targets
- 3Damage Resistance for Chaotic Offering GolemsUpheaval Damage
- 2Upheaval Attack Speed per second on AlliesShadow Word AoE
- 1Fatal Bonds DamageUpheaval Radius
Aghanim’s Scepter
Changes Chaotic Offering
Calls 2 Golems.
Aghanim’s Shard
Changes Eldritch Summoning
Increases the health and explosion damage of minor imps.
Sources
- Kit, talents and upgrades · mechanicalread 22 Sept 2026
Ability names, icons, behaviour, damage type and text, plus the Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard descriptions — as the game itself ships them. Nothing here was counted over matches.
- Win rate by medal · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The same hero at each of Valve’s eight medals, over 4,610,063 public matches. Each medal carries its own sample, because the eight buckets are nothing like the same size.
- Matchups and match length · counted, on a narrower windowread 16 Sept 2026
Win rate against each opponent and across five match-length bands. This channel reports far fewer games than the medal figures above: the median hero pairing is 51 matches and the largest on the whole roster is 707. Rows under 30 games are absent rather than shown small, and the ones that remain are ORDERED by a figure shrunk toward even by its own sample — the rate you see is the real one, the ranking is the careful one.
- What players build · countedread 15 Sept 2026
The five most common items in each of Valve’s four game stages, with each row’s own pick count.
- Skill order · counted, in league matchesread 3 Oct 2026
Where skill points go, read off every player's own learning order in premium and professional league matches on patches 7.41 and 7.40. Each level shows the ability most players took there and the share that did — a column only a third agree on is printed as a third, not as the rule. Heroes under 30 counted games show no path.
- Situation index · derived, and checkableread 22 Sept 2026
Each situation is a phrase match against Valve’s own ability text, and every row shows the phrases that matched. No win rate is attached, because nobody counts one per situation.
Mechanics are the ones Valve publishes for patch 7.41f. GamGem is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve Corporation.