Quick answer: Nurse Harrow is a Deadlock support who heals with Healing Needles syringes and sustains herself through Leech Therapy stacks: each collected leech adds health regen and 5% fire rate, up to 10 (18 with T3). Her Wretched Vapors ability is Specter Rush, then Specter Crash. Counter her by looking away from Lurking Terrors, buying Healbane, and killing her to strip 25% of her stacks.
Nurse Harrow joined Deadlock on October 20, 2026. She was the last hero from the City Never Sleeps community vote, and many pages just repeat her ability list. This guide covers what they leave out: how the leech-stack economy works, which items change her healing syringes, the exact rules of Specter Rush and Specter Crash, and how to counter her ultimate, Lurking Terrors.
By Ashish Sharma · Updated November 2, 2026 · How we tested: values come from Valve’s patch notes (her October 20, 2026 release and the October 30, 2026 balance patch) and the datamined numbers on the Deadlock Wiki and unDeadlock, cross-checked against the wiki’s update history. Valve retunes heroes often, so trust the in-game tooltip if a number differs.
October 30, 2026 patch changes (current numbers below): base gun damage -10%; Healing Needles 25 → 22 heal per shot (spirit scaling 0.2 → 0.24, T2 +20 → +16); Lurking Terrors channel 7 s → 5 s, fear buildup 1.3 s → 2 s, T3 +3 s → +2 s and “immune to damage” → “50% reduced damage” while channeling, and no fear build when Harrow is more than 50° above or below a target’s view; Wretched Vapors T3 rush speed +15% → +20%; leeches left on the ground now last 120 s + 3 s per game minute instead of a fixed 180 s.
What are Nurse Harrow’s stats?
Short answer: 730 health with 0 base regen, an 11-round long-range gun, and a -40% crit bonus scale, so her sustain comes almost entirely from leeches.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Weapon | Code Blue: rapid fire, long range. Launch values were 14.9 bullet damage (+0.374 per level) and about 39 DPS; the October 30 patch cut base gun damage by 10% (about 13.4 per bullet and 35 DPS by our calculation) |
| Ammo / reload | 11 rounds, 1.9 s reload, 2.63 bullets per second |
| Falloff range | 20 m to 58 m |
| Health | 730 (+32 per level), 0 base health regen |
| Move / sprint speed | 6.8 m/s, 2.5 m/s sprint |
| Crit bonus scale | -40% (headshots are worth less on her than on most heroes) |
Her prerelease data was stronger in some places. It listed 780 health, 2 regen and 7.2 move speed, and Valve shipped her with less of each. Her 0 base regen matters: almost all of her sustain has to come from leeches.
What are Nurse Harrow’s controls?
| Action | Default key | Harrow note |
|---|---|---|
| Leech Therapy / Wretched Vapors / Healing Needles | 1 / 2 / 3 | Press 3 again to put the syringes away |
| Lurking Terrors (ultimate) | 4 | A channel. Face the enemies you want to fear |
| Alternate cast | Mouse 3 | Since City Never Sleeps, alternate cast is set per hero. Check Harrow’s setting before you try to self-cast Vapors |
| Fire / reload | Mouse 1 / R | With needles loaded, reload spends a charge for a fresh clip |
| Active items | Z X C V | – |
| Quick ability upgrade | Hold Alt + 1-4 | Or hold Tab and click the upgrade pips |
| Dash / melee / parry | Left Shift / Q / F | – |
How does Leech Therapy work?
Short answer: throw leeches on enemies, then walk over them when they crawl back. Each one heals you and adds a permanent regen and fire-rate stack.
Leech Therapy throws a jar of leeches (6.5 m radius, 30 s cooldown). They stick to enemies and deal about 23 spirit DPS (x0.19 spirit scaling). They also eat away at enemy buff durations, at 0.65 s of buff time per second. When they finish feeding, they crawl back toward you (8 m crawl range). You have to walk over them to collect them. Fed leeches left on the ground last 120 s plus 3 s per minute of game time.
Each collected leech heals you for the health it drained. It also adds a permanent stack:
- +0.6 health regen per leech (x0.13 spirit scaling)
- +5% fire rate per leech
- Up to 10 stacks (18 with the tier-3 upgrade)
- You lose 25% of your stacks when you die
Stacks also feed your other abilities. Each leech slowly restores Healing Needles charges (0.15%/s per leech) and adds 0.1 s of fear duration to Lurking Terrors. That makes Leech Therapy the skill to level and land early.
| Upgrade tier | Effect |
|---|---|
| T1 | Leeches drain stamina and give it to you on pickup |
| T2 | -10 s cooldown, +4 spirit power per leech |
| T3 | +1 m radius, +0.3 spirit scaling, +8 max leech stacks |
How to farm stacks without dying
- Throw the jar where enemies will walk through it, such as a lane choke or the path to a contested box. Then back off so you are not trading shots for the full drain.
- Watch where the leeches crawl back. Their crawl range is 8 m, so collect them from cover instead of chasing them into the enemy.
- Throw it at enemies who have a buff running. The buff-eating effect shortens it, which is a quiet reason to aim at whoever just used a self-buff.
- Play safer as your stack count rises. Losing 25% of 18 stacks costs you more than losing 25% of 4.
How do Specter Rush and Specter Crash work?
Short answer: Rush (4 s) speeds the target up and stores incoming damage as specters. Crash (4 s) slows them and deals the stored damage plus 30%, unless healing clears the specters first.
Wretched Vapors goes on yourself or an ally (13 m cast range, 4 s rush). Specter Rush gives 25% faster actions and numbs all incoming damage while it lasts. Instead of hitting right away, that damage becomes looming specters. When Rush ends, Specter Crash starts: 4 s of 20% slower actions, while the remaining specters deal their stored damage plus 30% extra.
These rules decide whether Vapors saves a teammate or kills them:
- Incoming healing removes specters first. Follow Vapors with Healing Needles on the same target so the stored damage gets erased before the Crash. Since October 22, this healing also respects healing amp and reduction, so Healbane on the target weakens the cleanup.
- Debuff resist does not shorten Specter Crash.
- Ethereal Shift does not block the Crash damage. Other invulnerability, such as Pocket’s Enchanter’s Satchel, does block it.
- Don’t put Vapors on an ally who is low on health and out of your healing range. The Crash can finish them.
| Upgrade tier | Effect |
|---|---|
| T1 | -15 s cooldown, +7 m cast range |
| T2 | +1 s duration, +20% healing effectiveness |
| T3 | +20% rush speed (was +15% before October 30), dispels non-ultimate debuffs |
Which items work with Healing Needles?
Short answer: Armor Piercer gives the full heal to every ally a syringe passes through, Ricochet bounces half heals, and Split Shot heals each ally once per shot.
Healing Needles loads Code Blue with a clip of syringes that heal allies: 22 heal per shot (x0.24 spirit scaling), with a 15% headshot heal bonus. The heal ignores falloff range, so you can heal from the back line. Dealing damage recovers charges, and so does each leech you have collected. Reloading spends a charge for a fresh clip, and unused syringes are refunded as a partial charge.
| Upgrade tier | Effect |
|---|---|
| T1 | +1 max charge |
| T2 | +16 heal per shot, shots restore 0.6 stamina |
| T3 | +0.4 spirit scaling, shots extend non-ultimate buff durations by 6% (up to their max) |
Most launch guides skip item behaviour. Tested interactions recorded on the wiki:
| Item | What it does to syringes |
|---|---|
| Split Shot | Fires several syringes. Each ally is healed only once per shot and extra syringes pass through. Hitting several allies does not give the item’s damage stack |
| Express Shot | Fires two syringes without changing their heal |
| Ricochet | Syringes bounce to nearby allies for 50% of the base heal, but never back to you |
| Armor Piercer | Syringes pierce through allies and give the full heal to every ally hit |
| Restorative Shot, Burst Fire, Escalating Resilience, Headhunter, Spiritual Overflow | Proc when you shoot allies |
| Active Reload | Recast 3 to put the needles away, then press reload to get back to your normal gun faster, with the usual Active Reload window |
Our take, not tested data: Armor Piercer looks like the strongest healing pick of the group, because each shot heals every ally in a line fully. Ricochet is weaker since bounces heal half.
How does Lurking Terrors fear work?
Short answer: a 5 s channel that damages enemies in front of Harrow. Anyone looking at her for 2 s is feared; looking away halves the damage and stops the buildup.
Lurking Terrors is a channel (5 s, 35 m, 200 s cooldown). It deals 60 spirit DPS (x0.3 spirit scaling) to enemies in front of you. Enemies looking at you build terror. While they build it, they can’t use stamina or movement abilities. After 2 s of buildup they are feared for 2.2 s, plus 0.1 s per leech you hold. Enemies facing away take only 50% damage unless they are already feared. Enemies also build no fear when Harrow is more than 50° above or below their view.
| Upgrade tier | Effect |
|---|---|
| T1 | -50 s cooldown |
| T2 | Slows enemies’ move speed and fire rate by 20%, +30 DPS |
| T3 | +2 s channel time, +0.5 spirit scaling, 50% reduced damage taken while channeling |
Using it well
- Open with it when enemies are already looking at you, for example when they dive you or peek a corner you’re holding. The fear needs them facing you.
- Get your leech stacks up before a big fight. At 10 stacks the fear lasts 3.2 s, and at 18 stacks it lasts 4.0 s.
- You take damage while channeling (only 50% less with T3), so start the ult from cover or behind a Vapors-buffed teammate, and avoid casting from far above or below targets.
How do you counter Nurse Harrow?
Short answer: look away from Lurking Terrors, buy Healbane, deny her leech pickups, and focus her down once she has stacked up.
- Turn away from Lurking Terrors. Facing away stops terror from building and halves its damage. Fight back only once the channel ends.
- Change height. Fear does not build while she is more than 50° above or below your view, so drop down or jump up a level.
- Unstoppable suppresses the fear. Debuff resist shortens it.
- Kill her to strip stacks. Each death costs her 25% of her leeches, so focus her once she has stacked up.
- Deny the pickups. Leeches have to crawl back to her, so pressure her while they are on their way.
- Anti-heal. Her team’s sustain runs through syringes and leech healing. The game’s own announcer pushes this: on a high Harrow killstreak, the enemy herald urges his team to buy Healbane.
- Punish the Crash. When an enemy’s Vapors run out, they are 20% slower and take 30% extra from stored specters. That is when to commit.
- unDeadlock’s data diff shows that the item which auto-cleanses your next stun, chain, immobilize, sleep or silence now lists Fear in its description as well. Valve’s notes don’t mention this, so test it in-game before you rely on it.
What ability order should you use on Nurse Harrow?
Our opinion based on how the kit fits together, not tested win-rate data: level Leech Therapy first for stacks and the T2 cooldown, then Healing Needles T2 for the +16 heal per shot. Take Lurking Terrors T1 when you can, because 200 s is a long cooldown. Wretched Vapors T1 adds +7 m of cast range, which makes it much easier to land in fights.
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Deadlock Nurse Harrow FAQ
What are Nurse Harrow’s abilities in Deadlock?
She has four: Leech Therapy (a jar of leeches that drains enemies and, once collected, gives permanent health regen and fire rate stacks), Wretched Vapors (Specter Rush, then Specter Crash), Healing Needles (healing syringes loaded into her gun) and her ultimate, Lurking Terrors, which fears enemies who keep looking at her.
When was Nurse Harrow released in Deadlock?
October 20, 2026, in the “Shh… This Won’t Hurt a Bit.” update. She was the final City Never Sleeps hero.
How many leech stacks can Nurse Harrow have?
10 by default and 18 with the tier-3 Leech Therapy upgrade. She loses 25% of her stacks on death.
Does Ethereal Shift block Specter Crash damage?
No. Other invulnerability, such as Pocket’s Enchanter’s Satchel, does block it.
How do you escape Lurking Terrors?
Look away from Harrow so terror stops building, which also halves the damage you take unless you are already feared. Getting more than 50° above or below her view also stops the buildup, and Unstoppable suppresses the fear.
Do Healing Needles work at long range?
Yes. The heal ignores falloff range, so syringes heal fully at any distance they reach.
Was Nurse Harrow nerfed?
Yes. The October 30, 2026 patch cut her gun damage by 10%, Healing Needles from 25 to 22 heal per shot, and Lurking Terrors from a 7 s to a 5 s channel with 2 s fear buildup. Her T3 ult now gives 50% damage reduction instead of immunity. Wretched Vapors T3 got the one buff.
What is Specter Crash in Deadlock?
The second half of Nurse Harrow’s Wretched Vapors. After the 4 s Specter Rush, the target is 20% slower for 4 s and takes the damage stored during Rush plus 30%. Healing removes stored specters first, debuff resist does not shorten it, and Ethereal Shift does not block it.
Is Spectre Crash the same as Specter Crash in Deadlock?
Yes. Spectre Crash and Specter Crash are the same ability: the second half of Nurse Harrow’s Wretched Vapors. The game and this guide use the spelling Specter Crash. After the 4 s Specter Rush, the target is 20% slower for 4 s and takes the damage stored during Rush plus 30%.
Sources: Valve’s October 20, 2026 Deadlock patch notes (“Shh… This Won’t Hurt a Bit.”, via SteamDB) and October 30, 2026 balance patch, the Deadlock Wiki update history, the Deadlock Wiki Nurse Harrow page (ability values and item interaction notes), and the unDeadlock hero page and patch diff (launch stats versus prerelease data).
