Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia is Rat King’s banner ultimate and the ability that turns his close-range disruption into teamwide control. After charging, Rat King plants the banner and creates an area that strengthens nearby allies. The October 30 update shortened its knock-up and increased its cooldown, so it’s worth timing the cast carefully.
The best Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia casts happen where your team can immediately use the zone. Objectives, narrow approaches and committed teamfights are much better than empty ground because the banner’s value comes from forcing opponents to fight through its buffs and crowd control.
Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia October 30 nerfs
Valve has halved the knock-up duration caused by the banner slam and increased its base cooldown from 160 to 180 seconds. The ability still provides an area for allies to fight in, but its initial crowd control now gives opponents less time in the air.
If Rat King is stunned or put to sleep before placing the banner, Rule, Ratannia! now goes on cooldown anyway. The flag is placed where the interruption happens, but without the initial impact damage or knock-up. Enemy crowd control can therefore prevent a successful slam while still forcing Rat King to wait for the next cast.
Those changes make timing more important. Try to avoid starting the channel directly in front of enemies who have a stun or sleep ready, and coordinate the landing with your teammates rather than expecting the shorter knock-up to hold opponents alone. The same update reduces Scrap Grenade damage and lengthens its fuse.
Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia: what happens when the banner lands
The banner slam deals Bullet Damage, knocks enemies up and slows them. Rats then rush out and apply Rat Swarm to targets they reach.
This combines burst control with a debuff setup. The knock-up helps teammates connect abilities, while the attached rats begin dealing Spirit damage and reducing Bullet Resist.
What buffs do allies get?
Allies near Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia gain movement and defensive benefits while the banner remains active. The banner grants increased movement speed, immunity to slows and 15% damage reduction to allies in its 20-metre radius. It also removes the usual movement-speed penalty for firing while you stay near it. The October 5 update reduced that protection from its original 20%.
Use the banner where teammates can keep shooting from cover without immediately leaving its protective zone. The banner lasts 12 seconds in standard matches.
Can enemies remove the rats?
Yes. Rats applied by the ultimate follow the normal Rat Swarm rule. A ground or air dash can shake off an attached rat early.
That makes stamina pressure important. Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia becomes much nastier after Scrap Grenade or another threat has already forced enemies to spend dashes.
What does T1 do?
T1 adds 2 metres per second to the banner’s movement speed bonus. It no longer reduces the cooldown, following Valve’s October 5 update. The base cooldown is now 180 seconds after October 30.
The extra movement also helps allies stay inside the useful zone while chasing or repositioning around cover.
What does T2 do?
T2 adds five seconds to the flag’s duration and eight metres to its radius. It no longer adds eight seconds to the charge. The standard base charge duration is 10 seconds.
Place Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia where the other team cannot simply step backward and ignore it. Corners, roofs, lane junctions and objective spaces are better than wide open neutral ground.
What does T3 do?
T3 adds 150 slam damage and 10 percentage points of damage reduction, bringing the banner’s damage reduction to 25% in standard matches. It’s a strong upgrade, but the longer cooldown means timing still matters.
Your team still needs to occupy the area. Planting the banner while allies are too far away throws away most of the defensive value.
Best Rule Ratannia combo
Use Scrap Grenade or Rat Swarm first, force enemy stamina, then commit Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia once escape options are limited. Royal Pestments can protect Rat King during the commitment if the other team tries to burst him.
After the slam, shoot the targets with reduced Bullet Resist instead of chasing someone far outside the banner and abandoning your strongest zone.
Standard matches and Street Brawl
The 30 October patch also reduced the banner’s radius from 20 to 16 metres, its Tier 2 radius bonus from eight to six metres, and its flag duration from 12 to nine seconds in Street Brawl only. Those are mode-specific changes. In standard matches, the updated knock-up and 180-second cooldown apply, while the normal aura retains its 20-metre radius.
The Deadlock Rat King Rule Ratannia is best used where your team can fight within the banner, not just where its slam might catch one enemy. For the full set of changes, see our Deadlock October 30 patch notes.
Related Guides
Official source: Valve, October 30 Gameplay Update.
