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Yamato is a Hero in Deadlock. She is a close-range assassin using precise strikes and sword attacks to destroy her foes. Conducting a Flying Strike with her grapple to get close, Yamato unleashes her powerful melee attacks along with Power Slash and Crimson Slash attacks to damage, slow, and disable her enemies while healing herself. Once fully engaged, she can unleash her Shadow Transformation to become infused with her brother's shadow soul, becoming unstoppable for a short time while ending the life of her opponents.

Relentless

Acrobatics

Pursuer

Weapon Stats
Damage Per Second:	63.2
Bullet Damage:	5.31+0.154
Pellets per shot:	5
Ammo:	12x0.15
Bullets per sec:	2.38
Reload Time:	2.44s
Bullet Velocity:	254m/s
Light Melee:	55+1.58
Heavy Melee:	128+3.68

Information

Pronouns:	She/Her
Release Date:	April 24, 2024

“

もはや、私の戦いを止めるものは何もない。
(At this point, there's nothing that can stop my fight.)

Kaori and her brother were crime lords of the Seventh Moon, bringing in wealth and power to the organization. However, a dispute during expansion led to the death of Kaori's brother and her escape to the United States. A miscommunication once she arrived led to Kaori adopting her brother's name, Yamato, vowing to secure her brother's dream of international presence.

Weapon

Sister's Lament

Spreadshot

Close Range

63 Damage Per Second

Falloff Range

20m ➞ 46m

Sister's Lament has an alternate fire that explodes on impact. Alt-fire stats:

Takes 3 ammo rounds per shot. Can still be shot for full damage even if Yamato doesn't have enough ammo in the clip.
Deals 50 +0.7 damage on a direct hit.
Bullets per second: 0.95.
Has a DPS value of 47.6 and sustained DPS of 39.
Fallof Range: 20m - 58m
Cannot crit.

Abilities

Power Slash

Channel to increase damage over 1.4 seconds, then release a fully-charged sword strike.
Press Ability 1 or Fire to trigger the strike early, dealing partial damage.

x1.85

145

Full Charge Damage

22m

Slash Length

60% Bullet Resist

1

+40% Movement Slow for 3s

2

-4s Ability Cooldown

5

+8m Cast Range
+150 Damage and Increases Spirit Power scaling

Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist Effect can be dispelled CC effect suppressed by Unstoppable

Starting a charge quickly slows Yamato to 1.3m/s. This slowdown can be partially mitigated by dashing before casting or ZMC.
There are 4 stages the charging goes through. Every stage change is indicated by reticle lighting up pairs of vertical marks.
- 0.0s - 0.35s: initial phase where the ability can not be casted yet.
- 0.35s - 0.85s: "short charge" phase indicated by blue flames. Finishing here results in 30% damage.
- 0.85s - 1.4s: "medium charge" phase indicated by red flames. Finishing here results in 50% damage.
- 1.4s: "max charge" where ability automatically casts for 100% damage.

Flying Slash

Throw a grappling hook to reel yourself towards an enemy, dealing Light melee damage and slowing the target when you arrive.

x1

55

Damage

-50%

Move Speed

2.5s Slow Duration

1

-18s Cooldown

2

Gain +35 Spirit Power for 6s

5

Alt-Cast to Grapple allies
+15m Cast Range
Gains 1 extra charge

Benefits from melee items (e.g. Melee Lifesteal) Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist Effect can be dispelled CC effect suppressed by Unstoppable Disabled by Slowing Hex

After grappling, Yamato can go through walls and does not break connection regardless of distance or visibility.
The target can break the connection via dispel (e.g. Dispel Magic) or invincibility (e.g. Ivy's Stone Form).
Yamato can break the connection at any time during the flight by pressing the ability button (default 2) or cancel ability button (default SPACE).
Breaking connection triggers the slash animation but does no damage.

Crimson Slash

Slash enemies in front of you, damaging them and slowing their fire rate. If any enemy heroes are hit, you heal.

x0.37

55

Damage

x1.04

55

Heal on hero hit

-30%

Fire Rate

4s Debuff Duration

1

On Hit : +30% Melee Damage for 4s

2

On Hero Hit : +6% Max Health Heal

5

-10s Cooldown and increases scaling

Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist Healing amplified by Healing Booster and affected by healing reduction Effect can be dispelled Healing triggers Healing Tempo's unique effect

Crimson Slash has a 0.3s delay between cast and the actual hit.

Shadow Transformation

Become infused with Yamato's shadow soul. After an initial invincible transformation your abilities are refreshed and are 60% faster. You gain immunity to negative status effects and have greatly increased bullet and spirit resist.
When you get a hero kill, you heal and the duration is extended.

5s

Duration

60%

Ability Speed

15%

Max Health Heal

30% Bullet Resist

30% Spirit Resist

2s Duration On Kill

1

+7 Weapon Damage

2

+4m Move Speed and -20 Cooldown

5

+3s Duration
+30% Bullet Resist
+30% Spirit Resist

Healing amplified by Healing Booster and affected by healing reduction Healing triggers Healing Tempo's unique effect

Faster ability speed results in following changes:
- Power Slash: full charge time from 1.4s to 0.56s.
- Flying Slash: due to several phases, some of which are not affected by casting speed, the effect is unstable. Generally it varies from being ~20% quicker for short range casts to ~30% quicker for long range casts.
- Crimson Slash: cast delay from 0.3s to 0.12s.
T1 bonus weapon damage applies to each pellet in a shot. Total increase is 7 (extra dmg) * 5 (pellets/shot) = +35 damage to each shot. Alt fire has only 1 pellet. This bonus is not increased further with bonus weapon damage from items or weapon investment.

Backstory

See Yamato/Lore for more story content.

“

犯罪組織のボスの家に生まれた花桜梨とその兄の大和にとって、
父の死後に「セブンスムーン」の跡目を継ぐのは自明のことでもあった。
そして何年もの間、かれらは対等の立場で組織を率いて利益と成功を
もたらし、やがてはアメリカへの進出をも目論むようになった。

思い描いていた計画は単純で、大和がアメリカに渡って花桜梨の
国際的な存在感を高め、その間花桜梨は日本に残って国内を統制する、
といったものだった。兄妹にとって不運だったのは、花桜梨が日本で
指揮をとるという計画を快く思わない部下たちがいたことだった。

そして迅速かつ暴力的な形で、反乱は発生した。大和は花桜梨を
守るために命を落とし、花桜梨と数人の忠実な部下たちは、
その大和の犠牲のおかげもあって、日本からアメリカへと
逃げ延びることに成功した。

アメリカに着いた花桜梨たちを出迎えたのは、本来であれば大和が
会う予定となっていた男であった。彼は日本人の名前になじみが
なかったため性別の区別がついておらず、花桜梨のことを
「ヤマト」と呼んだ。花桜梨は男の間違いを正そうと思ったが、
結局そのままにした。兄の記憶を残し続けるためにも、その名を名乗り、
その夢を受け継ぐことが最善の道であろうと考えたからだ。

“

Born to criminal royalty, Kaori and her brother Yamato always knew they were destined to run The 7th Moon after their father's passing. For years they ran the organization as equals; leading to profit, success, and plans for expansion to the United States.

The idea was simple. Kaori would stay in Japan and maintain things at home, while Yamato would travel to America to set up an international presence. Unfortunately for the siblings; this plan didn't sit well with some of their more insecure underlings, who bristled at the idea of being led by Kaori in Japan.

The coup was swift and violent. Yamato gave his life protecting Kaori, but in doing so ensured that she and a handful of loyalists were able to escape Japan for America.

When she arrived stateside, the contact her brother was supposed to meet greeted her and her retinue. Unfamiliar with the gender of Japanese names, the man addressed her as Yamato. She thought to correct him, but decided that the best way to keep her brother's memory alive was to take his name and live out his dream.^[1]

Update history

View the full update history: Yamato/Update history

Update	Changes
July 28, 2026	Flying Slash T2 reduced from +40 Spirit Power to +35. Flying Slash T3 charges from +2 to +1. Flying Slash T3 Charge Time increased from 4s to 5s.
July 9, 2026	Flying Slash range reduced from 28m to 26m. Flying Slash T3 Charge Delay increased from 3s to 4s. Flying Slash T3 Ally Targeting now requires alt cast input.
June 30, 2026	Shadow Transformation cooldown increased from 130s to 150s. (Global ult change) Shadow Transformation T2 reduced from -25s Cooldown to -20s. (Global ult change)

Gallery

Yamato portrait
Yamato icon
Yamato in-game render
Yamato select background
Yamato reference sheet
Yamato name typography
Yamato's typography for Russian and Ukrainian
Yamato's Simplified Chinese typography
Yamato weapon - Sister's Lament
Previous Yamato portrait
Yamato 2024 Winter skin
Temporary Yamato icon (2024-09-12 update)
Neon Prime Yamato
Neon Prime Yamato color palette
Yamato concept art - "Yokai"
Yamato concept art
Yamato concept art
Yamato concept art - "University"
Yamato concept art - "Anisha"
Leaked work-in-progress Yamato model
Gloat portrait for Yamato.
Critical health portrait for Yamato.

Trivia

Yamato's current model is inherited from her original design in Neon Prime.
- Yoshi has shared early concept art of Yamato's upcoming redesign.^[2]
- An image of Yamato's work-in-progress model redesign was leaked on October 2025.
- A work-in-progress Yamato face texture was added to the files in the Old Gods, New Blood update. This texture has a natural skin tone, normal head proportions, and a small scar on her upper lip.
A popular fan rumor is that Yamato in Neon Prime was an alien obsessed with Japanese culture. This rumor is incorrect, based on what is known about her character and faction from old voice lines and the Neon Prime Lore document.
Yamato's weapon was originally called Celestial Dynasty.
Yamato's original voice actor wasn't a native Japanese speaker. This was changed after she was recast in the 2024-10-10 Update. Developer Kaori has confirmed that her voice actor is not Alpha Takahashi.^[3]
Yamato's background was originally available in English in an earlier build, before being translated to Japanese.
"Reminiscing in the Hideout" is displayed as one's status in the in-game Friends List when playing as Yamato in the Hideout.

References

↑ Official translated backstory from May 2024 Deadlock build
↑ 2024-08-10 - Yoshi; Deadlock Discord - "Regarding yamato question, can share some of the early concepts we have, none are final or anything, just exploration level (...) early concepts for new direction i mean"
↑ 2025-08-17 - Kaori; Deadlock Discord - "it's not [Alpha]"