Malice
Malice is Lady Geist's third ability in Deadlock (slot 3), an active ability with a 6 second cooldown. Sacrifice some of your health to launch blood shards that apply a stack of Malice. Each stack slows the victim and increases the damage they take from you. The slow effect decreases over time.
Open the most-bought Lady Geist build
The 4 items bought most in each phase of 102,184 Lady Geist matches, October 30 to November 1, 2026, measured by deadlock-api.com.
Malice in matches
Lady Geist players unlocked Malice third in 74.5% of matches (76,597 of 102,750), second in 24.5% of matches (25,209 of 102,750) and last (fourth) in 0.5% of matches (546 of 102,750), in all-rank matches from October 30 to November 1, 2026, from patch 6833's release day.
Measured from matches at all ranks from October 30 to November 1, 2026, starting on the day patch 6833 was released (October 30, 2026), by deadlock-api.com. These are match results, not numbers from the game files, and not a recommendation. Each share is the Lady Geist matches in which Malice was the first, second, third or fourth ability unlocked, out of every Lady Geist match counted; a step under 500 matches is not listed.
Match data: deadlock-api.com. deadlock-api.com is not endorsed by Valve and does not reflect the views or opinions of Valve or anyone officially involved in producing or managing Valve properties. How a share is computed: methodology.
Malice stats
Malice
- Cooldown 6s
Sacrifice some of your health to launch blood shards that apply a stack of Malice. Each stack slows the victim and increases the damage they take from you. The slow effect decreases over time.
- 3 Blood Shards
- 5 Max Stacks
Effect Per Stack:
- 9s Debuff Duration
- 4s Slow Duration
Upgrades
| Tier | Bonuses | In game |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -3s Cooldown | |
| 2 | +25.2 Damage +4 Blood Shards +22 Spread Angle Degrees | +25.2 Damage and +4 Blood Shards |
| 3 | +8% Damage Amplification | +8% Damage Amp |
Each tier is bought with ability points; how many points a tier costs is not in the game files this site reads, so it is not shown. Learning the ability takes 1 ability unlock.
Malice change history
| Patch | Change | State |
|---|---|---|
| November 5, 2026build 6860from build 6701 | No player-facing change in 43 builds (September 25 to November 5, 2026). | Unchanged |
| September 17, 2026build 6698 | Malice's Movement Slow changed from 15% to 12%. | Changed |
| August 22, 2026build 6684from build 6643 | No player-facing change in 10 builds (July 28 to August 22, 2026). | Unchanged |
| July 28, 2026build 6642 | Malice's Damage Amplification changed from +8% to +7%. Malice's tier 3 upgrade changed from +7% Damage Amplification to +8% Damage Amplification. | Changed |
| July 25, 2026build 6640 | First recorded in Deadlock. | Baseline |
Malice FAQ
What does Malice do?
Sacrifice some of your health to launch blood shards that apply a stack of Malice. Each stack slows the victim and increases the damage they take from you. The slow effect decreases over time. Its tooltip lists 23 Damage (+0.558 x Spirit), 9% Health Cost, 3 Blood Shards and 5 Max Stacks.
What is Malice's cooldown in Deadlock?
Malice has a 6 second cooldown. The tier 1 upgrade changes it by -3s.
How does Malice scale with spirit power?
Damage starts at 23 and gains 0.558 per point of Spirit, the coefficient the game file writes on the value.
What do Malice's upgrades do?
Tier 1: -3s Cooldown. Tier 2: +25.2 Damage and +4 Blood Shards. Tier 3: +8% Damage Amp.
Was Malice changed in the latest patch?
No. Malice is unchanged in the latest build of Deadlock on file (the November 5, 2026 patch, build 6860). It last changed in the September 17, 2026 patch.