Neutral Camps and Jungle

20:24 Deadlock's jungle is everything between the lanes that pays souls without a fight: neutral camps, which Valve replaced with new creatures called Haunts in the City Never Sleeps Update of Sep 29, 2026, plus breakable crates, Buff Containers and the melee-only soul vaults called Sinner's Sacrifice. In the game files as of Oct 26, 2026, deadlock-api's copy has weak camps first spawn at 2:00, medium camps at 5:00 and strong camps and Sinner's Sacrifice at 8:00. Neutrals brought the average player 4,152 souls a match, breakables 2,867 and Sinner's Sacrifice 1,847, in deadlock-api's measurement of Oct 12 to Oct 26, 2026. Deadlock is an invite-only playtest, and these timers change with patches.

Quick facts

Sources: deadlock-api (game files), read Oct 26, 2026; Mobalytics, Oct 14, 2026.

Haunts

2:37 Haunts are Deadlock's neutral creatures since Sep 29, 2026. Valve's City Never Sleeps page says the update replaced the old neutrals with "a variety of creatures with new behaviors", and Dot Esports (Sep 30, 2026) counted nine new camp types. Each District of the map has its own:

Sources: Valve, Sep 29, 2026; Mobalytics, Sep 30, 2026. Valve's page does not say which lane Past Dues, Gutter Ghouls and Barrel Mimics belong to.

29:10 The game files name ten Haunts, each in grades I, II and III. deadlock-api's copy (Oct 26, 2026) lists Gutter Ghoul, Overseer, Underhand, Crabbage Pot, Festival Spirit, Specimen, Stage Hand, Past Dues, Slum Shroom and Barrel Mimic. The new health bars show each Haunt's soul value and difficulty, part of City Never Sleeps' HUD.

Camps by tier

Camps come in three sizes, and the bigger ones pay much more. The game files call them weak, normal and strong (guides say small, medium and large):

Source: deadlock-api (game files): misc entities and NPC units, read Oct 26, 2026. Souls are per neutral and grow 1.08% a minute.

Neutrals get tougher as the match goes on. Their health grows 2.1% a minute since Valve's Dec 16, 2025 patch (it was 0.5%), and Mobalytics (Aug 28, 2026) adds 0.5% damage a minute. Small neutrals have 45% Spirit Resist since Mar 6, 2026, so spirit damage does less to them.

The timers have moved many times. Small camps respawned every 180 seconds after the Map Rework and every 120 after Nov 21, 2025; Valve's Jan 20, 2026 patch cut neutral respawn times, health and bounty by 30%; and the May 22, 2026 update moved the medium camps' first spawn from 6:00 to 5:00. On Mar 6, 2026 Valve added a camp of 2 normal and 3 weak neutrals at the Hidden King Park Walker and at the Archmother York Walker.

Neutral souls are unsecured at first. They drain into your secured total over time, and part of them drops if you die before they do (Souls and Economy).

Camp counts and where they are

Mobalytics' interactive map (Oct 14, 2026) counts 4 small, 25 medium and 11 large Haunt camps and 11 Sinner's Sacrifice spots on the City Never Sleeps map. Finding them got easier in 2026: since Old Gods, New Blood (Jan 22, 2026) camps glow through walls when you are close, per Valve, and since City Never Sleeps an in-world timer shows when a nearby camp or the Mid-Boss will respawn.

Breakables and box routes

0:25 Breakables are the crates and containers scattered through the jungle, and a "box route" is a path through them you run between waves. They respawn on a fixed clock, so a player who knows the route can collect them every few minutes. In the game files as of Oct 26, 2026 (deadlock-api):

Sources: deadlock-api (game files), read Oct 26, 2026; Valve, Sep 16, 2026.

1:45 Buff Containers are the revamped golden statues. Since City Never Sleeps they can also give Spirit Resist, Bullet Resist, Ability Range and Move Speed, Valve says. A permanent buff grows with the match: in the game files, Spirit Power +2, +3 or +4 and Bonus Health +15 (+30 from 30 minutes), along with smaller Fire Rate, ammo, cooldown, Weapon Damage and resist buffs. Mobalytics reports that Tough Crates also have a 50% chance to drop a permanent buff, and counted 226 Crates, 74 Tough Crates and 166 Buff Containers on its map.

Valve moved the crates' first spawn back and forth. It was 2 minutes from the Shop Rework of May 8, 2025 and 3 minutes again since May 22, 2026; the permanent health from breakables was cut from 15/25/35 to 15/20/30 on Jun 11, 2026.

Sinner's Sacrifice

22:48 Sinner's Sacrifice is a soul machine you beat with melee only. It has 500 health and a base bounty of 155 souls (game files, Oct 26, 2026) and hits back for 80 damage per hit since Nov 21, 2025. Mobalytics (Aug 28, 2026) says it pays 5% of its value per light hit, 10% per heavy hit and 60% on the last hit.

0:24 The jackpot rewards a well-timed Heavy Melee. Since the Map Rework of Feb 25, 2025, killing it with a Heavy Melee in its looping timing window (there are visual and audio cues) gives 3 Golden Statue buffs, and a Light Melee last hit gives 1; Mobalytics' Aug 28, 2026 guide says 4 for the heavy jackpot. City Never Sleeps gave the machines "variable timings to get the bonus".

When to farm

13:27 The lane comes first. Esports.gg calls the first 5 to 10 minutes the laning phase, and Mobalytics (Aug 28, 2026) says to push your lane, then clear camps in the downtime before the next wave arrives, because "Lane creeps give more Souls than anything else in the game." Trooper waves come every 25 seconds (every 20 from minute 35, since Mar 6, 2026), so a camp near your lane fits between them (Laning Guide).

Mobalytics gives a schedule by camp size. Its Aug 28, 2026 guide, written before City Never Sleeps, suggests small camps from about 3:00, medium from about 6:00, a Sinner's Sacrifice at 8:00 and large camps from 10:00, after which small camps are no longer worth the walk.

Clear your own camps fully and leave the enemy's half done. Mobalytics notes that a camp respawns only after all three of its neutrals die, so leaving one alive in an enemy camp delays their next spawn. Neutrals also keep you in combat for 2.5 seconds after you hit them before sprint and out-of-combat regeneration return, a Nov 21, 2025 change.

Farming has a cost. Every minute in the jungle is a minute away from fights and Objectives, and unsecured jungle souls drop when you die, so guides pair farming with map awareness; the Macro and Rotations page covers when a team should split up to farm and when to group.

Frequently asked questions

What are Haunts in Deadlock? Haunts are Deadlock's neutral camps since the City Never Sleeps Update of Sep 29, 2026, which replaced the old neutrals with "a variety of creatures with new behaviors" in Valve's words, each District and lane with its own.

When do jungle camps spawn in Deadlock? In Deadlock, weak camps first spawn at 2:00, medium camps at 5:00 and strong camps and Sinner's Sacrifice at 8:00, in the game files as of Oct 26, 2026.

How long do Deadlock camps take to respawn? Deadlock's weak camps respawn 85 seconds after being cleared, medium camps 290 seconds and strong camps 335 seconds, in the game files as of Oct 26, 2026; a camp respawns only once all its neutrals are dead, per Mobalytics.

How does Sinner's Sacrifice work in Deadlock? Sinner's Sacrifice is a Deadlock soul vault that takes only melee damage; killing it with a Heavy Melee in its timing window gives 3 Golden Statue buffs under Valve's Feb 25, 2025 rules, and a Light Melee last hit gives 1.

What is a box route in Deadlock? A box route is a path through Deadlock's breakable crates and Buff Containers that a player runs between waves; crates respawn every 3 minutes in the game files and can drop souls or permanent buffs.

Should you farm the jungle in Deadlock? Deadlock guides say yes, between waves: Mobalytics advises pushing your lane, then clearing camps before the next wave, since lane troopers still pay the most.

Sources

• Deadlock - City Never Sleeps, Valve, Sep 29, 2026
• Deadlock - Old Gods, New Blood, Valve, Jan 22, 2026
• Map Rework Update, Valve, Feb 25, 2025
• Shop Rework Update, Valve, May 8, 2025
• 11-21-2025 Update, Valve, Nov 21, 2025
• Gameplay Update - 03-06-2026, Valve, Mar 6, 2026
• Gameplay Update - 05-22-2026, Valve, May 22, 2026
• Minor Update - 06-11-2026, Valve, Jun 12, 2026
• Minor Update - 09-16-2026, Valve, Sep 16, 2026
• 12-16-2025 Update, Valve (Yoshi) on the Deadlock forums, Dec 16, 2025
• 12-29-2025 Update, Valve (Yoshi) on the Deadlock forums, Dec 29, 2025 and Jan 20, 2026
• Misc entities and NPC units, deadlock-api (game files), read Oct 26, 2026
• Game stats, matches since Oct 12, 2026, deadlock-api (measured), read Oct 26, 2026
• Deadlock Neutrals and Jungle Explained, Mobalytics (dxvis), Aug 28, 2026
• Interactive Map and All Locations Explained, Mobalytics (dxvis), Oct 14, 2026
• City Never Sleeps Update Summary, Mobalytics, Sep 30, 2026
• Deadlock's City Never Sleeps update adds 6 new heroes and overhauls the map, Dot Esports (Elizbar Ramazashvili), Sep 30, 2026
• Deadlock basic strategy: Early, mid, and late game guide, Esports.gg (Connor Knudsen), Aug 31, 2024
• The Only Beginner’s Guide You Need for Deadlock (Updated), Metro Deadlock, Oct 1, 2026 (video)
• The REAL Way To Get Ahead In Deadlock (New Macro Guide), Metro Deadlock, Sep 30, 2026 (video)
• Deadlock MAJOR Update: "City Never Sleeps", Dead Air, Oct 2, 2026 (video)
• Just Give Me 33 Minutes, You'll Out Farm Everyone | Deadlock Farming Guide, Shotty, Sep 7, 2026 (video)
• The Only Lane Guide You'll Ever Need | Deadlock Laning Guide, Shotty, Oct 7, 2026 (video)