McGinnis’s main threat#
McGinnis is a controller: shapes where fights happen with zones, walls, traps and disables.
The kit is hybrid-leaning, so a mix of bullet and spirit defence do the most to blunt it.
Abilities to play around#
Ability 1
Mini Turret
Deploys a turret that shoots enemies for spirit damage over time. It expires after a while and deals reduced damage to troopers and objectives.
Play around it Respect its range and cooldown; fight when it’s been used.
Ability 2
Medicinal Specter
Deploys a spirit that heals nearby allies. Overlapping Specters do not stack their healing.
Play around it Healing or sustain — buy healing reduction (Healbane, Toxic Bullets or Decay) so it’s worth less, and focus burst damage rather than chip damage.
Ability 3
Spectral Wall
Casts a wall that slows enemies passing through it and can be erupted early to split the terrain and damage nearby enemies. Players can melee it apart.
Play around it Slows — Enduring Speed and Debuff Reducer help you walk out of it.
Ultimate
Heavy Barrage
Launches a volley of homing rockets at a targeted location. McGinnis is slowed while it's active but can still use stamina.
Play around it Disable or displacement — this is what starts kills. Track its cooldown and punish the window after it’s used; Debuff Reducer shortens it, and Unstoppable or Indomitable answer the biggest ones.
Play around it Slows — Enduring Speed and Debuff Reducer help you walk out of it.
Counter items, with reasons#
Specific answers to this kit
Enduring Speed
Vitality · 1,600 souls
Slow-resist items such as Enduring Speed reduce Heavy Barrage's slow.
General answers
General answers are our editorial reading of the kit. Counter items only help if you’re the one being hit — buy for the threat you actually face.
How to beat McGinnis#
- Melee the Spectral Wall to destroy its segments.
- Turrets take full weapon damage at any distance — focus them down.
- Slow-resist items such as Enduring Speed reduce Heavy Barrage's slow.
Mistakes to avoid
- Fighting inside their zones and walls.
- Chasing into areas they prepared before the fight.
Want to see the hero from the other side? Read the McGinnis guide, or open the counter-pick helper to plan against a whole enemy team.