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In Deadlock your soul total is your level: at set soul counts you unlock your four abilities (at 0, 500, 1,400 and 3,200 souls above the start) or earn an Ability Point, 32 in all by 48,600, exactly enough for every upgrade at 1, 2 and 5 points each.

Deadlock has three matchmaking modes on Oct 26, 2026 (Standard, Ranked and the 4v4 Street Brawl) plus bot matches, Custom Matches, Explore NYC, the Sandbox and the Hideout for practice. Hero Labs, an experimental mode for unfinished heroes, has been paused since Aug 2025.

Deadlock's map is one occult New York with three lanes since Feb 25, 2025: York (yellow), Broadway (blue, the middle) and Greenwich (green), with four Districts between them since City Never Sleeps (Theater, Chinatown, Haunted Lot and Plaza) and a base at each end.

Deadlock's Mid-Boss sits in the Pit at the center of the map from the first second of a match, with 13,000 base health; the team that kills it gets 3,000 souls, 2 permanent buffs each and a Rejuvenator crystal whose buff lasts 3 minutes, and it respawns 7 minutes later.

Deadlock heroes move with stamina-based dashes and air jumps, free slides, wall jumps, mantles and out-of-combat sprint, and fight with guns, abilities, light and heavy melee and a parry that stuns an attacking meleer. Most heroes have 3 stamina, a ground dash covers 10 meters and a dash jump 19, and headshots deal 1.65 times damage (Valve's notes and the game files, as of Oct 26, 2026).

Deadlock's jungle is the neutral camps between the lanes, called Haunts since City Never Sleeps (Sep 29, 2026): weak camps first spawn at 2:00, medium at 5:00 and strong at 8:00, alongside crates, Buff Containers and Sinner's Sacrifice soul vaults.

You win a Deadlock match by destroying the enemy Patron in its base. To reach it, a team breaks a lane's Guardian, Walker and pair of Base Guardians, then two Shrines, and each enemy Walker it kills unlocks a Flex Slot for every player.

Deadlock's Ranked Mode, added on Jul 30, 2026, has 11 ranks from Initiate to Eternus (plus the uncalibrated Obscurus), each with six subranks. To queue you need 60 Standard wins and at least 3 heroes with 15 Standard wins each; Season 1 ends Nov 5, 2026.

Deadlock's Soul Urn spawns at 10 minutes and every 5 minutes after at one end of the map; a hero picks it up with a melee hit and carries it to the drop-off at the opposite end for 250 souls plus 70 per minute of match time and 4 permanent buffs (rules since Jun 30, 2026).

Souls are Deadlock's only currency and its experience: they buy items and level your hero. Most come from lane troopers and their orbs, then hero kills, Haunts, objectives and breakables, and a losing team earns up to 25% more.

Street Brawl is Deadlock's 4v4 best-of-five mode, added on Jan 22, 2026: one lane, rounds of a few minutes, no farming, and three items drafted from a random set each round. The first team to win three rounds wins the match.

To play Deadlock well from your first match, farm souls from trooper waves and orbs, deny the enemy's orbs, parry heavy melee, follow the shop's builds, spend Ability Points on your main damage ability, and turn every won fight into an objective. Deadlock is Valve's invite-only playtest, and these rules are as of Valve's Oct 14, 2026 patch.

Seven is the Deadlock hero outlets most often recommend to new players, with Victor, Ivy, McGinnis, Abrams and Infernus also named; Seven and Victor also win about 54% to 55% of matches in deadlock-api's Oct 2026 data, low ranks included. Outlets say to leave Celeste, The Doorman, Lash, Yamato, Paradox and Viscous until later.

A Deadlock build is the order of items a hero buys with souls: gun builds stack Weapon items, spirit builds stack Spirit items, and every hero adds Vitality. Investment bonuses jump once 4,800 souls are spent in a category, and builds change to counter the enemy team.

Deadlock's counter items answer specific threats: Healbane, Toxic Bullets, Decay, Inhibitor, Crippling Headshot and Spirit Burn cut enemy healing; Dispel Magic, Divine Barrier, Unstoppable and Indomitable answer stuns and debuffs; Knockdown, Silencer, Cursed Relic and Disarming Hex shut heroes down.

In Deadlock's October 2026 meta, Graves and Rat King have the highest measured win rates (about 55% in Ranked, deadlock-api, Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026), while outlet tier lists disagree: Dexerto's top tier (Oct 9) includes Abrams, Haze, Yamato, Victor, Billy, Graves and Celeste, and Mobalytics' expert list (Oct 22) puts Baba, Celeste, Rem and Nurse Harrow on top.

In Deadlock's lane phase, two heroes share each of three lanes, farm trooper waves that come every 25 seconds, shoot the soul orb that flies up from each dying trooper to secure it (or your own trooper's orb, to deny it), and pick up the ground orb that holds the other half. Trade with abilities, stay away from the enemy Guardian early, and leave lane to farm camps once the wave is pushed, usually around 5 to 10 minutes.

Deadlock's mid game is won by turning every won fight into an objective, keeping your lanes pushed before you rotate, farming camps between waves, and timing the shared objectives: the Unstable Rift about every 7 minutes, the Soul Urn at 10 minutes and every 5 after, and the Mid-Boss, which deadlock-api's Oct 2026 data shows first falling at about 28 minutes.

Abrams is Deadlock's shotgun brawler and tank: he charges into close combat with Shoulder Charge, heals off enemies with Siphon Life and stuns whole groups with his Seismic Impact ultimate. He is one of the original heroes and rated the easiest of Valve's three complexity tiers.

Apollo is Deadlock's fencer, an assassin who lunges in with Flawless Advance, deflects attacks with Riposte and finishes a target with his slow-motion Itani Lo Sahn ultimate. Valve added him on Feb 12, 2026, the last hero of the Old Gods, New Blood update.

Baba is Deadlock's pigeon lady, a mystic who steals enemies' Spirit Power with Threadsap, rides her park bench with Granny Long Legs, throws a tea that shields, silences or burns, and turns enemies into pigeons with her Feed The Birds ultimate. Valve added her on Oct 6, 2026 in the City Never Sleeps update.

Bebop is Deadlock's scrap robot brawler, built around one combo: hook an enemy with Grapple Arm, stick a bomb on them and uppercut them away or into your team, then sweep fights with his Hyper Beam ultimate. He is one of the original heroes, complexity 2 of 3.

Billy is Deadlock's goat-headed punk brawler, a front-liner who rams into enemies with Rising Ram, slams them down with Bashdown and chains a whole group to himself with his Chain Gang ultimate. Players voted him in, and Valve released him on Aug 20, 2025.

Calico is Deadlock's shadow assassin, who roams as her sphinx cat Ava, jumps on targets with Leaping Slash, bursts them with Gloom Bombs and turns untargetable with her Return to Shadows ultimate. She joined regular matchmaking from Hero Labs on Jan 17, 2025.

Celeste is a Deadlock spirit hero, a Coney Island performer who blasts enemies with Light Eater, shields with Dazzling Trick, drops Radiant Daggers and ends fights with the bouncing Shining Wonder. Valve added her on Feb 9, 2026 in the Old Gods, New Blood update.

Deadman Danny is a Deadlock marksman, an undying Fairfax Industries test pilot with a rocket launcher and the Chimera Mk1 jetpack, added on Oct 13, 2026 in the City Never Sleeps update. Valve buffed him on Oct 14, 2026, and he is the most picked hero in Deadlock.

Drifter is a Deadlock assassin, an ancient vampire who hunts isolated enemies with Bloodscent, teleports behind them with Stalker's Mark, tears them apart with Rend and blinds them with Eternal Night. Valve added him on Aug 27, 2025.

Dynamo is a Deadlock spirit hero and team fight initiator who knocks enemies up with Kinetic Pulse, teleports with Quantum Entanglement, heals his team with Rejuvenating Aurora and pulls the enemy team together with Singularity. He is one of the original heroes of the playtest.

Graves is a Deadlock spirit hero, a necromancer whose tether gun steals enemies' power and who summons Deadheads with Jar of Dead, a wall of Grasping Hands and Ghouls with Borrowed Decree. Added on Jan 29, 2026, she had the best measured win rate of all 44 heroes from Oct 15 to 26, 2026.

Grey Talon is a long-range marksman in Deadlock who pokes with a bow, Charged Shot and Spirit Snare traps, and whose Guided Owl ultimate gives him permanent Spirit Power for every hero it kills. He is one of the original heroes, in the playtest before Valve revealed Deadlock on Aug 23, 2024.

Haze is a stealthy assassin in Deadlock who puts targets to sleep with Sleep Dagger, slips in invisible with Smoke Bomb and shreds them with stacking Fixation damage and her Bullet Dance ultimate. She is one of the original heroes and one of the most picked, in 43.8% of normal matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026.

Deadlock has 44 playable heroes on Oct 26, 2026: 22 from the 2024 playtest, four from Hero Labs in Jan 2025, and three sets of six added by player vote in Aug 2025, Jan to Feb 2026 and Oct 2026. Nurse Harrow, on Oct 20, 2026, is the newest.

Holliday is a revolver-wielding marksman in Deadlock who bounces around on Bounce Pads, throws explosive Powder Kegs, deals bonus damage on headshots with Crackshot and pulls and stuns enemies with her Spirit Lasso ultimate. She joined regular matchmaking on Jan 17, 2025, after starting in Hero Labs on Oct 24, 2024.

Infernus is a fire marksman in Deadlock who burns enemies with Napalm, Flame Dash and his Afterburn passive, then turns himself into a living bomb with the Concussive Combustion ultimate, a 3.25s wind-up that stuns everyone nearby. He is one of the original heroes, rated the easiest complexity (1 of 3) in the game files.

Ivy is a gargoyle support marksman in Deadlock who tethers to an ally with Kudzu Connection to share fire rate, lifesteal and healing, controls fights with Entangling Thorns and Stone Form, and carries an ally across the map with her Air Drop ultimate. She is one of the original heroes and won 52.87% of normal matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026, as deadlock-api measured.

Kelvin is an ice brawler and healer in Deadlock who heals allies and slows enemies with Frost Grenade, moves his team on a floating Ice Path, slows with Arctic Beam and shields allies in his Frozen Shelter dome. He is one of the original heroes and won 54.37% of normal matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026, as deadlock-api measured.

Lady Geist is a Deadlock spirit hero who spends her own health on Essence Bomb and Malice, drains it back with Life Drain, and swaps health percentages with an enemy using her ultimate, Soul Exchange. She has played in the playtest since 2024.

Lash is a Deadlock initiator who grapples onto enemies, slams down from the air with Ground Strike for damage that grows with the height of his fall, whips with Flog, and lifts and throws whole groups with his ultimate, Death Slam. He has been in the playtest since 2024.

McGinnis is a Deadlock support and zone-control hero who places Mini Turrets, heals allies with Medicinal Specter, blocks paths with Spectral Wall and rains homing rockets with her ultimate, Heavy Barrage. She has been in the playtest since 2024.

Mina is a Deadlock vampire hero, a glass cannon whose passive Love Bites adds spirit damage to her pistol shots; she executes with Rake, escapes as bats with Sanguine Retreat and silences with her ultimate, Nox Nostra. Valve added her on Aug 18, 2025.

Mirage is a Deadlock hero, a Djinn's bodyguard who drains enemies with Fire Scarabs, lifts them with the whirlwind Dust Devil, stacks Djinn's Mark with his shots and teleports anywhere on the minimap with his ultimate, Traveler. Valve added him on Sep 26, 2024.

Mo & Krill is a Deadlock tank and initiator, two heroes in one, who burrow under enemies with Burrow, heal with Scorn, disarm with Sand Blast, and hold one target with their ultimate, Combo, gaining max health for every kill it secures. They have been in the playtest since 2024.

Nurse Harrow is a Deadlock support hero who heals allies by shooting them with Healing Needles, drains enemies with jars of leeches and fears them with her ultimate, Lurking Terrors. Valve released her on Oct 20, 2026 as the sixth and last City Never Sleeps hero.

Paige is a Deadlock support hero who brings books to life: Bookwyrm dragons, the immobilizing Captivating Read, Plot Armor barriers for allies and a city-wide cavalry charge, Rallying Charge. Valve released her on Aug 25, 2025 in the Six New Heroes update.

Paradox is a Deadlock hero who manipulates space and time: Pulse Grenade, Time Wall and Kinetic Carbine set up her ultimate, Paradoxical Swap, which trades places with an enemy hero. She is one of the original heroes, in the game before Valve announced it on Aug 23, 2024.

Pocket is a Deadlock assassin who infiltrates the back line with a shotgun, a teleporting Flying Cloak and an Enchanter's Satchel to hide in, then bursts groups with Barrage and the ultimate Affliction. Pocket is one of the original heroes, in the game before Valve announced it on Aug 23, 2024.

Rat King is a tanky Deadlock brawler who strips bullet resist with Rat Swarm, bounces a Scrap Grenade, shrugs off damage with Royal Pestments and rallies his team with the banner ultimate Rule, Ratannia! Valve released him on Oct 2, 2026 as the first City Never Sleeps hero.

Rem is a Deadlock support hero, a tiny dream creature who knocks enemies back with Pillow Toss, naps on allies to heal them with Tag Along, sends Lil Helpers across the map and puts enemies to sleep with his ultimate, Naptime. Valve released him on Jan 26, 2026 as the first Old Gods, New Blood hero.

Seven is a Deadlock spirit hero who electrocutes groups of enemies with Lightning Ball, Static Charge, Power Surge and his Storm Cloud ultimate. He is one of the original 2024 playtest heroes and the hero most outlets recommend to new players.

Shiv is a Deadlock brawler who bleeds enemies with Serrated Knives, dashes through them with Slice and Dice, defers damage with Bloodletting and executes low-health heroes with his Killing Blow ultimate. He is one of the original 2024 playtest heroes.

Silver is a Deadlock werewolf bounty hunter who catches heroes with Entangling Bola, kicks them with Boot Kick, bursts them with Slam Fire and transforms with her Lycan Curse ultimate. Valve added her on Feb 2, 2026, the third hero of the Old Gods, New Blood update.

Sinclair (The Magnificent Sinclair) is a Deadlock stage-magician hero who hexes enemies into rabbits, fights beside a Spectral Assistant and copies an enemy's ultimate with Audience Participation. Valve added him on Jan 17, 2025, and he is the least played hero in measured matches of Oct 2026.

Solomon is a Deadlock chess-master hero who places and slides a Bishop, shields allies with Kingside Knight, stops enemies with Rook Battery and stuns them with his Develop Queen ultimate. Valve added him on Oct 9, 2026, the third hero of the City Never Sleeps update.

The Doorman is a Deadlock spirit hero, the bellhop of the Baroness Hotel, who slows with Call Bell, drags enemies with Luggage Cart, links two places with Doorway and sends a hero away with Hotel Guest. Valve added him on Aug 22, 2025.

Venator is a Deadlock monster-hunting priest with a crossbow whose abilities scale with weapon damage: Consecrating Grenade, Gutshot, Hex-Lined Snap Trap and the executing stakes of his Ira Domini ultimate. Valve added him on Feb 5, 2026, the fourth hero of the Old Gods, New Blood update.

Victor is a Deadlock brawler who turns the damage he takes into power and revives once after a lethal hit with his ultimate, Shocking Reanimation. Valve added him on Aug 29, 2025, and from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026 he had the fourth highest measured win rate of the 44 heroes.

Vindicta is a Deadlock marksman who flies above fights with Flight and finishes wounded enemies from any distance with her scoped ultimate, Assassinate. She is one of the 21 heroes of the 2024 playtest and won 48.72% of measured matches from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

Violet is a Deadlock painter and spirit caster who steers empowered bullets with Living Ink, stuns heroes she sketches with Still Life and silences anyone who leaves her ultimate's ink. Valve added her on Oct 16, 2026, the day Deadlock reached its all-time peak of 303,347 players on Steam.

Viscous is a Deadlock goo hero who slows with Splatter, punches from range with Puddle Punch, saves allies inside The Cube and rolls through fights as a stunning Goo Ball. He is one of the 21 heroes of the 2024 playtest and won 45.98% of measured matches from Oct 15 to Oct 25, 2026.

Vyper is a fast Deadlock assassin with a rapid-fire gun that has infinite ammo while she slides, poison daggers, a delayed execute and a petrifying ultimate. Valve added her to matchmaking on Jan 17, 2025.

Warden is a Deadlock brawler who weakens enemies with an Alchemical Flask, traps them with Binding Word and drains a whole fight with his Last Stand ultimate. He has been in the game since before Valve revealed it in Aug 2024.

Wraith is a Deadlock marksman who builds homing cards from her gunfire, teleports with Project Mind and lifts and throws a hero with her Telekinesis ultimate. She won 54.58% of high-rank matches from Oct 15 to 25, 2026, second of 44 heroes.

Yamato is a Deadlock assassin who fights with charged katana slashes, a grappling Flying Slash and a Shadow Transformation ultimate that refreshes her abilities. Outlets rate her among the strongest and hardest heroes to learn.

Deadlock sells 156 items in its shop in three categories (Weapon, Vitality, Spirit) and four tiers costing 800, 1,600, 3,200 and 6,400 souls. Each hero has 9 item slots plus 3 Flex Slots, one unlocked for each enemy Walker the team destroys.

Deadlock has 49 Spirit items as of Oct 26, 2026: 8 at Tier 1 (800 souls), 12 at Tier 2 (1,600), 13 at Tier 3 (3,200) and 16 at Tier 4 (6,400). Extra Spirit is the most bought item in the game, in 52.6% of hero-matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026.

Deadlock has 54 Vitality items as of Oct 26, 2026: 8 at Tier 1 (800 souls), 15 at Tier 2 (1,600), 14 at Tier 3 (3,200) and 17 at Tier 4 (6,400). Extra Regen is the most bought, in 36.1% of hero-matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026.

Deadlock has 53 Weapon items as of Oct 26, 2026: 7 at Tier 1 (800 souls), 16 at Tier 2 (1,600), 19 at Tier 3 (3,200) and 11 at Tier 4 (6,400). High-Velocity Rounds is the most bought, in 27.7% of hero-matches from Oct 15 to Oct 26, 2026.

Deadlock is Valve's six-versus-six third-person hero shooter and MOBA set in an occult New York, in an invite-only playtest on Steam since 2024 with no release date. It has 44 heroes as of Oct 26, 2026, and reached an all-time peak of 303,347 Steam players on Oct 16, 2026, even though you can only join through a friend's invite.

Deadlock grew out of Valve projects reported under the codenames Citadel and Neon Prime, leaked in May 2024 during a closed playtest, and was revealed by Valve on Aug 23, 2024. Since then Valve has rebuilt its map, shop, Patrons and matchmaking in public, added 23 heroes, and said on Sep 29, 2026 that progression and customization are still to come before full release.

To play Deadlock you need an invite from a Steam friend who already has it: they click "Invite your friends" in the game's start menu and pick you, and Valve says invites typically arrive within one to two days as a Steam notification. Deadlock cannot be bought, has no waitlist and does not appear in Steam search.

Deadlock is set in the Cursed Apple, Valve's occult, alternate-history New York, where every match is a ritual in which two Patrons, the Hidden King and the Archmother, compete to be summoned. Valve tells its story in short hero texts and update pages rather than a campaign, and has given no year for the setting.

Deadlock has no release date: as of Oct 26, 2026 its Steam page says "Planned Release Date: To be announced", and the game is an invite-only playtest in early development with temporary art and experimental gameplay. Valve's Sep 29, 2026 post lists progression and hero and Hideout customization as work still to do before full release.

Deadlock's all-time peak is 303,347 concurrent Steam players on Oct 16, 2026, the day Violet was released, as SteamDB measured. On Oct 26, 2026 it was 9th on Steam with a 24-hour peak of 267,268, although it is still an invite-only playtest.

Deadlock plays on WASD with Space to jump, Left Shift to dash, Left Ctrl to crouch or slide, 1 to 4 for abilities, Z, X and C for active items, Q to melee and F to parry. Controllers work through Steam Input with official Standard, Gyro and FlickStick schemes.

Deadlock mods are unofficial, client-side files, mostly hero skins, sounds and HUD changes, shared on GameBanana and installed as .vpk files in an addons folder or with a mod manager. Valve offers no mod support and has made no public statement on mods.

Deadlock has no published system requirements: on Oct 26, 2026 Steam lists them as "TBD" apart from a 64-bit Windows PC. Dexerto's competitive settings are Borderless Window, Direct3D 11, NVIDIA Reflex on, VSync off and most quality options low or off.

City Never Sleeps is Deadlock's Sep 29, 2026 update: a new look for the whole map, neutral camps turned into Haunts, four Districts, a new HUD and accessibility options, and six heroes released by player vote from Oct 2 to Oct 20, 2026.

Deadlock's hero voting lets players choose the order in which a big update's new heroes unlock. Valve has run three votes (Aug 2025, Jan to Feb 2026, Oct 2026); the latest, for City Never Sleeps, drew over 110 million votes and ended with Nurse Harrow on Oct 20, 2026.

Old Gods, New Blood is Deadlock's Jan 22, 2026 update: new Patrons and bases, the 4v4 mode Street Brawl, a revamped postgame with an MVP screen, and six heroes (Rem, Graves, Silver, Venator, Celeste and Apollo) released by player vote from Jan 26 to Feb 12, 2026.

Deadlock's latest big update is City Never Sleeps (Sep 29, 2026), and its latest patch is the Oct 14, 2026 minor update that nerfed Baba and buffed Deadman Danny. Valve ships a named major update every few months and small balance patches every week or two in between.