At a glance#
Role (our classification)
- Controller — Shapes where fights happen with zones, walls, traps and disables.
Damage
- Spirit-leaning kit
Weapon
- Alekhine's Gun
Released
- 9 Oct 2026
Solomon treats the battlefield like a chessboard, manoeuvring his pieces before finishing fights with a decisive queen strike.
Solomon’s abilities explained#
Solomon has three regular abilities and an ultimate. Ability names and behaviour below were checked on 27 Oct 2026; numbers are left out on purpose because they change with almost every patch — the in-game tooltip shows the current values.
Ability 1
Setup Bishop
Creates a bishop that stays put until recalled. Moving it damages and slows enemies it passes, then lights diagonal squares that deal extra spirit damage.
Ability 2
Kingside Knight
Promotes an ally to a knight with bonus stamina and a temporary barrier. Self-cast makes Solomon a king with a larger barrier instead.
Ability 3
Rook Battery
Releases two rooks that travel forward, damaging and immobilizing enemies. They bounce off walls, and reactivating splits them sideways.
Ultimate
Develop Queen
Summons a queen that crashes down to damage and stun an area, then releases lines of damage and stuns. It can be moved or recalled early.
How to play Solomon#
Use your tools before the fight, not after it starts: block the escape route, zone the objective, then let the enemy walk into it. Timing and placement matter more than raw damage.
Tips from the current kit
- Plant bishops ahead and slide them across streets to control space.
- Use Kingside Knight to shield allies and retreat.
- Use Rook Battery to hold enemies in place.
- Save Develop Queen to finish low-health heroes.
Build framework#
A starting framework, not a tested build
This section explains what kind of items Solomon’s kit rewards, built from how the abilities work. It isn’t a win-rate-tested build. For community builds with current stats, open the in-game Build Browser and filter by hero, then check our items explainer to understand why each item is there.
Spirit lean. Most of the kit's damage is spirit damage from abilities, so spirit power, cooldown reduction and duration usually do the most for it.
| Stage | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Laning | Cheap 800-soul items that help you trade and sustain in lane, plus one that boosts your main damage source. |
| Mid game | Your first 3,200-soul item is usually the biggest single jump in power — buy toward the one that makes your best ability or your gun stronger. |
| Late game | Fill slots with 6,400-soul items, and swap cheap starters for upgrades. Leave room for an answer to what the enemy is doing. |
| Defence | Match the enemy’s damage: shields and resistance against whichever type is hurting you most. |
Items that fit a spirit kit
Defensive options
Items opponents commonly use against Solomon — expect to see them, and plan around them:
Ability points#
Ability unlocks come from levelling up; ability points then buy upgrade tiers. A sensible default for Solomon:
- Unlock the ability that helps you farm or trade in lane first — for most players that’s Setup Bishop or the ability you can hit most reliably.
- Unlock all three regular abilities early so you have every tool in the first fights.
- Unlock Develop Queen as soon as it’s available.
- Put upgrade points into the ability you use most, then into whichever upgrade tier changes how an ability works (tier 3 upgrades often do).
General guidance; upgrade tiers and costs are shown in game.
Playing against Solomon#
- Slowing Hex disables Kingside Knight.
- Unstoppable suppresses Rook Battery and Develop Queen crowd control.
- Indomitable prevents their disables.
- Dispel Magic removes Setup Bishop effects.
The full breakdown — abilities to play around, counter items with reasons and mistakes to avoid — is in how to counter Solomon.
Recent changes#
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 30 Oct 2026 | Gun nerfed (bullet damage 30 → 25, headshot damage −20%); Setup Bishop scaling and slow up; Rook Battery scaling 1.3 → 0.9; Develop Queen cooldown 210s → 240s with higher scaling and a checkmate on low-health heroes; Move Piece range 50m → 65m. |
| 21 Oct 2026 | Bug fixes. |
Every update that touches heroes is summarised in patch notes explained and the patch impact tracker.