Pocket Barrage In Deadlock: Current Amp, Airborne Casts, And The March Rework

Short answer: Barrage is Pocket’s stacking damage-amp opener. Pocket channels four spirit projectiles that slow around impact, and each projectile that hits an enemy hero gives Pocket a temporary damage amp stack for the rest of the combo.

Image	Ability
	Barrage Pocket channels four spirit projectiles that slow on impact and grant stacking damage amp when they hit enemy heroes.

Current Mechanics

Deadlock.one’s current Pocket data lists Barrage with a 0.3s cast delay, 2s channel duration, 32s cooldown, 4.5m impact radius, 4 projectiles, 32 damage per projectile with 0.5 spirit scaling, a 30 percent movement slow for 1.5s, and a 15s amp duration. Each hero hit grants a 6 percent amp stack.

The two lines that define modern Barrage are mobility lines: casting while airborne causes Pocket to float, and AirDash or Flying Cloak will not cancel the channel. That is why Barrage is strongest from height, off momentum, or from an angle where the enemy cannot simply shoot a stationary Pocket out of the sky.

Upgrade Path

• 1 AP: +16 damage per projectile.
• 2 AP: -16s cooldown.
• 5 AP: +4 percent amp per stack and +3m radius.

The T2 cooldown upgrade is the practical breakpoint. If you are landing projectiles, Barrage becomes available often enough to open repeated skirmishes. T3 is the big teamfight payoff: bigger radius, stronger stacks, and more reason to hit Barrage before Affliction or a shotgun follow-up.

Key Patch Changes

Valve’s Gameplay Update – 03-06-2026 made Barrage much more playable in motion: projectile speed increased by 15 percent, Pocket can use stamina during the ability, Flying Cloak can be used during the ability, T1 damage increased to +16 per projectile, T2 cooldown increased to -16s, and T3 radius increased to +3m.

Valve’s Gameplay Update – 05-22-2026 also listed Barrage among abilities fixed for briefly taking players out of zoom when cast.

How To Use It

Use Barrage before the commit when you can. A jump, wall jump, zipline, Majestic Leap, or plain stamina movement gives you a better cone and makes the channel less punishable. The point is not just poke; the point is entering the real fight with amp already running.

feltcrowd0955’s March 16 Pocket guide treats Barrage as Pocket’s strongest non-ultimate tool, especially when used from air angles to build stacks before Affliction. VPESPORTS’ April 20 full Pocket guide makes the same practical point: landing Barrage stacks before the rest of the rotation changes how hard every follow-up hit feels.

Counterplay

Do not donate free amp stacks. Break line of sight, strafe out of the impact area, and punish grounded Barrage casts hard. If Pocket misses Barrage before a dive, their follow-up is much less frightening. If they land all four, back up before the suitcase, cloak, and ultimate arrive with paperwork.

Lore And Context

Deadlock.one frames Pocket as Arin Fairfax, the Fairfax Industries heir living under an alias after being shot and left for dead. Barrage fits the identity perfectly: it is evasive, theatrical, and meanest when Pocket is already moving somewhere nobody asked them to be.

For more evergreen Deadlock guides, see DramaLock’s best heroes tracker, matchups guide, synergies guide, and Street Brawl tier list.

Sources

Current mechanics and icon context: Deadlock.one’s Pocket page, the Barrage modal, and Mobalytics’ Pocket guide. Patch history: Valve’s March 6, 2026 gameplay update and May 22, 2026 gameplay update. Video context: feltcrowd0955, VPESPORTS, and Vegas.