Everything you need to know before playing Deadlock for the first time

Deadlock is gaining more popularity and attracting more new players. Therefore, many beginners, especially those who were not previously familiar with the MOBA genre, may have questions about how everything works and what they need to know before starting the game.

What is Deadlock?

Deadlock is a cooperative tactical third-person MOBA shooter where players have to oppose the opposing team, level up their hero, purchase items, and gain levels to destroy the main enemy structure at the base.

Each team consists of 6 players who need to kill creeps and enemy heroes on the four lanes to become stronger and achieve the main objective. On average, one match lasts 20–30 minutes, with longer games extending to 45–50 minutes.

How to Play Deadlock

Deadlock is in an active development stage but is still rough. Currently, the game is in a conditionally closed access. To play it, you need to receive a direct invitation to test Deadlock from Steam (Valve Corporation) or from other players who already have access to the game.

Where to Start with Deadlock

Even though we will acquaint you with various intricacies and mechanics of Deadlock, you will first need to play the training by clicking the "How to Play" button. The game will offer you a tutorial to familiarize yourself with the basics and conceptual foundations.

List of Deadlock Heroes

Unlike other MOBA games, all heroes in Deadlock are ranged characters with the ability to deliver some melee strikes, which is more of a mechanical feature than a core element. Therefore, all skirmishes on the battlefield are carried out using magical abilities and firearms. Currently, there are 21 heroes in the game.

Most heroes have unique abilities and gameplay styles, and they vary in difficulty levels. Some are easy to master, while others are more complex. You can try them out in the game sandbox to get acquainted with their abilities and get used to them.

• Abrams: A sturdy fighter designed for prolonged battles and high survivability.

• Bebop: A marksman hero with a deadly hook and precise laser shot.

• Dynamo: A tank equipped with support abilities.

• Grey Talon: A long-range hero with a bow that deals deadly damage.

• Haze: A melee assassin who rewards precision with consistent damage output.

• Infernus: A high DPS hero who deals devastating area damage and damage over time.

• Ivy: A swift disruptor, perfect for capturing objectives thanks to high mobility.

• Kelvin: A disruptor fighter specializing in strong slows and crowd control.

• Lady Geist: A powerful DPS hero whose strong abilities cost her health.

• Lash: A hero who skillfully closes distances and deals explosive damage.

• McGinnis: A machine gun specialist who can also deploy defensive turrets.

• Mo & Krill: A frontline fighter with high survivability, the ability to close distances, and destructive abilities.

• Paradox: A zone control expert capable of swapping places with the enemy.

• Pocket: A fast DPS with a shotgun, dealing powerful damage at close range.

• Seven: A mid-range hero with striking area damage abilities.

• Shiv: An extremely mobile assassin with burst damage.

• Vindicta: A sniper with excellent mobility and long-range accuracy.

• Viscous: A highly mobile tank that disrupts enemies and has powerful support abilities.

• Warden: A mid-range fighter with strong crowd control and the ability to create no-go zones.

• Wraith: A DPS hero with a weapon that uses teleportation for tactical advantage.

• Yamato: A melee fighter armed with deadly sword techniques.

Movement Mechanics

Each hero has universal movement mechanics that make the game more dynamic and allow you to move faster across the map, dodge enemy attacks, and more. These abilities include dash, double jump, dash jump, and sprint. Here are some movement tips in Deadlock:

• After a dash, the agility indicator briefly lights up blue. At this moment, you can perform a long accelerated dash by pressing jump.

• While riding on rails, the hero can shoot. If an enemy hero knocks you off, your hero will fall off the rails and be briefly stunned.

• Standing close to a wall, the character will start peeking out from behind it, using it as cover. Use this to make it harder for enemies to hit you.

• You can accelerate on the rails. Acceleration duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 310 seconds (a little over 5 minutes).

• Jumping onto a wall and pressing the combination SPACE + S, you can bounce off the wall, particularly to climb onto high ledges.

Creeps on the Lane

Creeps are units sent from both allied and enemy bases to help heroes destroy enemy structures and the Patron. By killing creeps, you receive the main currency and experience needed to buy new items and level up.

• Creeps spawn every 25 seconds.

• You can restore health on the lane thanks to a special creep with a banner. He restores 40 health points to nearby heroes and towers every 6 seconds.

• Finishing off creeps on the lane causes souls to fly out of them, which you should shoot to get more currency.

• By killing a creep using a melee attack, you immediately receive all the souls for it.

• Until the tenth minute of the game, the hero receives souls for the creep and the spheres that fly out of it. After 10 minutes, each hero receives souls only for the spheres, which are shared among all players on the lane.

• You can destroy the spheres from allied creeps so that enemies don't earn additional souls.

Souls in Deadlock

Souls are the main currency needed to purchase items in the game. They can be obtained by killing creeps, enemy heroes, and found in chests. Unprotected souls are those that drop upon death, after which another player can pick them up. To avoid losing them, it's better to buy the needed items as soon as possible or survive until they become protected.

Level and Ability System

To unlock abilities, you need to earn souls. Upon reaching a certain threshold (regardless of whether you've spent souls or not), you'll unlock an ability point. By pressing ALT and hovering the mouse over the flask in the lower-left corner of the health bar, you'll see information about the number of souls collected and the bonuses of the next level.

Forest Creeps

Forest creeps are neutral units hostile to both sides, mainly reacting to heroes if they initiate an attack or come too close. Killing them can grant additional experience and souls.

Tier-1 Creeps:

• Spawn time: 2 minutes

• Souls per creep: 45

• Respawn time: 4 minutes

• Depicted on the map as a triangle

Tier-2 Creeps:

• Spawn time: 7 minutes

• Souls per creep: 95

• Respawn time: 6 minutes

• Depicted on the map as a triangle with a stripe

Tier-3 Creeps:

• Spawn time: 7 minutes

• Souls per creep: 240

• Respawn time: 8 minutes

• Depicted on the map as a triangle with two stripes

Souls that a player obtains from neutral creeps have an unprotected status. This means they drop upon death but become protected over time.

Boss on the Map

There's a Mid Boss on the map (players refer to him in the style of Dota 2—as Roshan). He appears at the 10th minute of the game, and after death, respawns after 7 minutes.

After killing the boss, a Rejuvenator appears in his place, which you need to hit with a charged melee attack to receive its effect.

Bonuses from Rejuvenator:

• Reduces hero's respawn time after death by 50%

• Allied creeps gain 50% more health for the duration of the effect

• Increased firing rate for allied heroes

Crates and Statues

Various crates and statues are scattered across the game map, which can contain different buffs that give a permanent increase to certain attributes. The respawn time for crates is 3 minutes.

Types of Effects:

• +3% to weapon damage

• +1.5% to firing rate

• Additional souls

• +2 to spirit

• +15 to maximum health

• +4% to ammo

• -0.75% to ability cooldown

Urn and Runes

You can find an urn with souls on the map, which you need to pick up and carry to the opposite side of the map to receive rewards. Picking up the urn triggers a notification heard by all players (both enemies and allies).

It appears at the 10th minute of the game. Respawn time is 5 minutes. Delivering the urn to the required point grants the team 3,500 souls (shared among all team members), an additional 25% souls, and one ability point for the player who delivers the urn.

Weapon Rune:

• +40% to weapon magazine capacity

• +20% to fire rate

Movement Rune:

• +2 to stamina

• +30 to stamina regeneration

• +3 to running speed

• +50% to rail riding speed

Survival Rune:

• +400 health points

• +1% to health regeneration

Spirit Rune:

• -20% to cooldown of active items and abilities

• +25 to spiritual power

Towers and Structures

Towers are the main structures on your path that you need to destroy to progress further and unlock access to destroy the next towers and buildings.

• Tier-1 Tower: A knight who defends his zone using a laser and can also attack in melee.

• Tier-2 Tower: A gigantic robot that can attack with long-range missiles and foot stomps, knocking heroes up and dealing periodic damage.

• Tier-3 Towers: Two guardians similar to the first tower but stronger and tougher. They protect the passage to the zone with barracks and the main structure.

• On your way, there will be two barracks that protect the Patron.

Patron is the game's main objective, which your team needs to destroy to achieve victory. He needs to be weakened so that he descends to the ground and becomes vulnerable to attacks.

Game Map

There are various interactive objects placed on the map that can be useful during skirmishes or leveling up.

• Arcade Machines: They appear at the 10th minute. Hitting them with a melee attack grants 370 souls. After the 20th minute, they give 420 souls. As soon as a player starts hitting these machines, they will lose some health, and the nearest neutral creep camp will begin to attack the hero.

• Veils: Special gray barriers that block visibility in both directions or one of them. Mainly used for cover and escape to disorient and confuse the enemy.

• Teleports: Located throughout the game, a hero can move from one part of the map to a corresponding linked point on the other side. They become available from the 10th minute and are marked with an arrow on the map.

• Shops: There are 8 shops on the map, access to which opens as the team progresses. Usually located near towers. If the enemy destroys the tower, the shop will close. One shop is always available at the base. Two secret shops are always in the same location.

• Rope: Allows you to climb up to certain places.

• Trampoline: Propels the hero upward, allowing them to reach higher surfaces.

Hero's Slots

At the beginning of the game, each hero has 4 slots available for items of three categories: Weapon, Vitality, and Spirit. There is also a locked category — FLEX.

Items for the slots can be purchased in shops under the corresponding sections. You can decide yourself which item to buy, or use other players' suggestions by adopting their builds to purchase the right item for your hero.

Each hero can obtain an additional slot for items (FLEX) by performing the following actions:

• Destroy any enemy Tier-2 tower

• Destroy all enemy Tier-2 towers

• Destroy the enemy Tier-3 tower

• Destroy the enemy barracks

Conclusion

Thanks to this guide, it will be easy for you to master the basics of the game, understand its intricacies, and learn some nuances that you can use in your very first game. This will also lower the entry threshold, as you won't have to figure out on your own how everything works in the game.