Mechanics

Mechanics in Deadlock are the details, particulars, and mechanisms by which a player interacts with the game. This includes the objectives, controls, timing, map, and priorities to consider while playing in order to achieve victory.

Mechanics are generally broken into three categories:

• Unit mechanics: The statistics, controls, and statuses of the units of Deadlock, including the player’s Hero, the marching Troopers, and lane Structures.
• Gameplay mechanics: The mechanics of interacting with the game, how the player gains Souls, victory/defeat conditions, damage, healing, and death.
• Map mechanics: The locations and entities of the game map and how they interact with players.

Overview

The overall objective of Deadlock is to destroy the enemy team’s Patron. This is done over the course of the game, where two teams battle across three lanes, navigating the map using Ziplines. Each lane contains both Guardians and Walkers that a team will need to destroy to ultimately reach the Patron. Teams battle AI-controlled Troopers that release Souls when killed. Souls are used to level up and buy items.

Gameplay Mechanics

Offense and Defense

• Weapon Attacks: Every Hero has a weapon, usually a gun, that allows them to engage in ranged combat to deal damage to other Heroes and units.
• Melee Attacks: Every Hero can perform a melee attack at point-blank range. Players can perform either a light or heavy melee attack; light melee attacks are faster but weaker, while heavy melee attacks take longer to execute, lunging forward with a more damaging blow. Melee abilities now correctly use conditional damage based on enemy state (close quarters, point blank, opening rounds). Heavy Melee Bonus damage from items (Melee Charge, Crushing Fists) now works with heavy melee abilities.
• Melee Item Procs: Items like Spirit Strike and Spirit Snatch proc on melee attacks against heroes. These items have light melee penalties (reduced effectiveness or longer cooldowns). Some abilities that deal melee-scaled damage (e.g., Calico’s Leaping Slash) count as light melee for item proc purposes and receive the penalty. Only melee attacks trigger these items—abilities don’t proc them unless they explicitly count as melee attacks. When Lifestrike or Melee Lifesteal hits a trooper and a hero at the same time, it prioritizes healing from the hero.
• Parry: Parries (Default key: F) are a defensive move available to every Hero to block a melee hit from an enemy player. On a successful parry against a hero, the enemy is stunned and takes 25% more damage from all sources for 2.75s, and the parry cooldown is refunded. Troopers and Guardians can also be parried. Parrying a trooper stuns the trooper, but no longer resets your parry cooldown and does not end your parry early like a hero hit does. Parrying is allowed while ground dashing (in line with air dashing). Parry anti-mash protection lasts 0.25s after the parry input is provided (irrespective of when the parry success happens), allowing faster back-to-back parries when a successful hero parry resolves later in the duration.
• Crouch: Crouching (Default key: Ctrl) can help avoid enemy fire by making the player smaller and able to hide behind objects.
• Heroes’ Abilities: Every Hero has 4 unique abilities unlocked by spending ability unlocks. Abilities are used to deal Spirit Damage, empower the player or allies, weaken enemies, or assist in traversal.

Movement

• Double Jump: Heroes can perform a double jump by jumping while in mid-air, costing 1 Stamina.
• Dash and Air Dash: Pressing the dash button (Default key: Shift) performs a quick evasive maneuver costing 1 Stamina. It can be used to evade attacks, escape, or chase. An air dash works similarly but has less slowdown at the end. Stamina bucket 3 heroes (the slowest) have a 0.72s ground dash duration and a 0.51s air dash duration.
• Dash Jump: A fast long jump performed during a dash, costing 1 Stamina (total of 2 including the dash). The timing is visualized by the crosshair turning blue while dashing.
• Slide: Heroes can slide by holding crouch while moving faster than 9.6m/s or while going down slopes, preserving momentum and giving infinite ammo for the duration. This can improve DPS by increasing the time before needing to reload.
• Down Dash: Heroes can quickly dash downwards while in mid-air by pressing the crouch button twice, spending 0.5 Stamina.
• Wall Jump: Heroes can perform a wall jump by jumping in mid-air next to a wall while inputting the direction away from the wall. The first wall jump costs 0.25 Stamina, while subsequent ones cost 0.5 Stamina.
• Wall Slide: Heroes can slide along walls while in the air, slowing their descent and limiting max falling speed to -600 u/s.
• Mantle: Heroes can climb up obstacles by holding the forward key and looking in the direction they wish to mantle.
• Mantle Glide: Holding the crouch button during a mantle adds a speed boost upon finishing.

Healing and Sustain

• Healing Zone: Located in the back of each team’s base where players spawn. While in the healing zone, players recover health and stamina rapidly. Stamina Regen in the healing zone is dramatically increased.

Death and Respawn

• Respawn Timers: When a Hero dies, they must wait for a timer to expire before respawning at their base. Respawn times increase as the game progresses:
  • 19 minutes: 30s
  • 30 minutes: 70s
• Net Worth Penalty: If a Hero dies while meaningfully richer than the enemy team’s average net worth, they receive a respawn time penalty (+6s to +22s). This scales based on being 15% to 30% higher in net worth and game time being between 10 to 25 minutes. No penalty applies if under 15% net worth lead or before 10 minutes.

Souls

Souls are the universal currency in Deadlock, used for buying items and leveling up through Boons. Players start each match with 600 Souls.

Soul Sources

Denizen and Sinner’s Sacrifice growth is percentage-based (+1.08%/min). Trooper, Hero Kill, and Crate growth is flat per minute. Soul Urn bounty varies by favored state; June 2026 patches reduced the normal bounty while leaving the trailing team’s bounty unreduced.

Soul Orb Mechanics

When a trooper or NPC dies, it drops soul orbs. Orbs start dark and become claimable once they light up (green for allies, orange for enemies). A single bullet or pellet claims an orb regardless of damage, and the bullet that hits the orb is refunded to the player’s magazine.

• Ground orbs (60% of trooper bounty): Drop on the ground near the kill. Claimable by allies within 18m. Visible for 18 seconds, scaling to 40 seconds after 10 minutes.
• Floating orbs (40% of trooper bounty): Float upward and can be confirmed by allies or denied (shot) by enemies.
• Melee kills: Award 100% of souls instantly with no floating orb — cannot be denied.

Soul Well: Each team’s base contains a well that releases orbs worth 10 Souls each. Requires confirmation (shooting) to claim.

Hero Kill Soul Distribution

When a hero dies, souls are split among participants. The killer gets 125% of base value; assists get diminishing shares:

Trooper Soul Sharing

See TROOPER.md for the trooper-specific sharing table. Nearby allies within range share souls based on player count (1p=100%, 2p=54%, 3p=36%, etc.).

Local sharing radius: Allied heroes within 45m of the orb or 30m of the killer share souls.

Structure Soul Distribution

When a Guardian, Walker, or Base Guardian is destroyed:

• 60% of the bounty is divided equally among the entire team
• 40% is given to nearby allied heroes

Unsecured Souls

Souls from Denizens, Breakables, and Sinner’s Sacrifices are unsecured. Unsecured souls convert to secured souls gradually over time.

• Securing rate: Each second, 0.5% of current unsecured souls convert, plus a base rate of 1.6 souls/second (base rate scales ~8% per minute with bounty growth)
• Death penalty: If a player has 150+ unsecured souls when they die, they drop a Soul Container that enemies can pick up. Containers persist for 3 minutes.
• Spending order: Unsecured souls are spent last when buying items. Buy items frequently to minimize risk.

Example at 10 minutes: 1,000 unsecured souls secure at ~7.9 souls/second. At 20 minutes: ~9.2 souls/second.

Comeback Mechanics

When a team is behind on souls:

• Hero Kill Scaling: Killing enemy heroes awards more souls when the team is behind.
• Kill Streak Bounties: Extra souls for ending an enemy’s kill streak.
• Soul Multiplier: Up to 30% bonus souls from troopers, denizens, sacrifices, and objectives. Peaks at 20% net worth difference; the first 3k difference is ignored.
• Soul Urn Comeback State: The Urn is carried across the map to the opposite side-lane bridge. If the carrier’s team is behind, the carrier gains +5m sprint speed, +35% Bullet Resist, and +35% Spirit Resist for themselves only. During capture, the behind team gains +35% Bullet Resist, +35% Spirit Resist, and +35% Debuff Resist inside the 20m capture radius; the aura does not apply while the Urn is carried or dropped.

Catch-Up Mechanics

After 8 minutes, the two lowest net-worth players on each team gain passive souls:

• Lowest net-worth player: 2.5% of team souls per second
• Second-lowest net-worth player: 1.5% of team souls per second

This prevents snowballing against individual players who fall behind.

Boons and Health Scaling

Heroes gain Boons (stat increases) at Soul thresholds throughout the game. Each Boon grants health, bullet damage, spirit power, melee damage, and DPS scaling. There are 35 Boons total, with the final one at 49,000 Souls.

Soul thresholds: 300, 600, 900, 1500, 2200, 3000, 3800, 4600, 5400, 6200, 7100, 8000, 9000, 10000, 11000, 12000, 13200, 15000, 17000, 19000, 21000, 23000, 25000, 27000, 29000, 31000, 33000, 35000, 37000, 39000, 41000, 43000, 45000, 47000, 49000.

Health formula: HPMax = (HP₀ + NBoons × HPBoon) × (1 + ΣHPShop) + ΣHPBonus

• HP₀ = hero’s starting base health
• HPBoon = hero-specific health gained per boon (varies from +28 to +63)
• HPShop = implicit base health percent increases from Vitality items (e.g., Colossus gives +15% base health via BonusBaseHealth)
• HPBonus = flat bonus health from items (e.g., Extra Health +210, Fortitude +375)

Why this matters: Base health alone is misleading. A hero’s effective health depends on their per-boon scaling rate. For example, Fathom has 750 base HP (median) but +54/boon, reaching ~1,830 HP by 20 boons — tankier than Abrams. Meanwhile Mina has 630 base HP with only +28/boon, staying at ~1,190 HP at 20 boons.

Health tiers at 20 boons (mid-game):

Vitality item synergy: Because HPShop multiplies the full base (start HP + boons), heroes with high per-boon scaling benefit disproportionately from percentage-based health items like Colossus.

General Strategy

• Laning: The process of fighting in the lane, collecting Souls from Troopers, and pushing the lane to the enemy Patron. There are 3 lanes: York Ave. (yellow), Broadway (blue), and Park Ave. (green).
• Ganking: Moving from one lane to another to help kill enemy Heroes who are over-extended or vulnerable.

Items

All Items give passive bonuses and some have an Active ability. Items can be purchased from The Curiosity Shop for Souls.

Map Mechanics

Structures and Units

• Troopers: The main force of each Patron, sent down lanes to attack the opposing Patron. Destroying Troopers (and their Soul orbs) is the primary way to gain Souls. Players can “Deny” enemy teams by stealing Souls from killed troopers. Troopers gain 7 HP regen when out of combat. Medic Troopers DPS grows by 3% per minute. Starting at 35 minutes, trooper wave interval is every 20s. Silver’s Slam Fire deals 100% bonus damage to NPCs (troopers and neutrals, not objectives).
• Guardian: The first objective of the lane. Has a laser attack, a melee attack, and a slam attack (AoE). Worth 1,000 Souls (60% team-wide, 40% to nearby heroes).
• Walker: The second objective of the lane. Has a laser attack, a Volcano Salvo, and a slam. Destroying a Walker grants an Extra Slot. Worth 4,000 Souls (60% team-wide, 40% to nearby heroes). Walkers Health: 6000/9000/12000 (HP updates as other Walkers are destroyed). Armor decay: +65% → -65% over 18 minutes. Walkers and the healing-area base turrets delay treating enemies dragged by Doorman’s Luggage Cart as valid stomp or attack targets until shortly after they are dropped.
• Base Guardians: Two Guardians outside the enemy base. When both fall in a lane, the zipline for allies in that lane becomes significantly faster and a zipline-boosted trooper wave spawns to reinforce the push. Each worth 750 Souls (60% team-wide, 40% to nearby heroes).
• Shrine: Two shrines inside the base (HP: 5,000 for the first, 10,000 for the second — HP updates after the first one dies, like Walkers). Both must be destroyed to weaken the Patron. Shrine attacks no longer hit heroes standing under the shrine. Each Shrine is worth 2,000 Souls. When a shrine is destroyed, allied troopers in that lane get stronger (+60% bonus DPS) but super troopers have 15% less bounty. Middle lane troopers now upgrade when either shrine dies (not just when both die).
• Patron: The final objective. It has two modes: normal and weakened. It becomes vulnerable only after both Shrines are destroyed. Once brought to 0HP, it transforms and moves into a Pit for a second phase. If not under attack, the weakened Patron regenerates health. When it becomes weakened, defenders’ death timers are shortened by up to 20s (minimum 10s).
• Denizen: Located in the “Jungle” (cyan triangle icons). Difficulty is indicated by lines (0: easy, 1: medium, 2: hard). They provide Souls and respawn soon after death. Respawn times, HP, and Soul bounties are reduced by 30% (Sinner’s Sacrifice is unaffected). New neutral camps (2 Normal, 3 Weak) have been added at Hidden King Park Walker and Archmother York Walker.
• Mid-Boss: Located in the center of the map. Has 13,000 base HP, 35% Debuff Resistance, and a 3,000 Soul bounty. A global announcement plays when the Mid-Boss reaches 50% HP. Drops the Rejuvenator when defeated, which must be collected with a charged melee. Securing it grants the Rejuvenation Credit buff to the team and their Troopers.

Interactive Objects

• Soul Urn: Appears at 12 minutes, then every 6 minutes (12/18/24/30/etc.). The Urn is picked up with light or heavy melee and carried across the map to the bridge on the opposite side lane. Depositing starts a 20m king-of-the-hill capture point. Both teams can build progress at the same time, but the Urn is claimed only while one team remains in the circle; additional allies do not increase the fixed progress rate. Capture timers are 6s/12s/18s for favored/neutral/unfavored urn states, and Kelvin’s Frozen Shelter freezes the Urn timer. The carrier gains +2 m/s move speed, 0 m/s sprint speed, +1 stamina, +10% dash distance, +25% stamina regen, 100% slow resistance, and is revealed on the minimap. Urn announcements play every 6s, and their sound carries farther. If the carrier’s team is behind, the carrier also gains +5m sprint speed, +35% Bullet Resist, and +35% Spirit Resist for themselves only. During capture, the behind team gains +35% Bullet Resist, +35% Spirit Resist, and +35% Debuff Resist inside the capture radius; the aura does not apply while carried or dropped. After a team has held the Urn for 40s, the carrier starts taking damage; this team-held timer freezes while enemies are within 40m of the runner, and each pickup adds at least 2s even if instantly dropped. The old 12s pickup prevention after the previous 50s long-hold timer no longer applies. When dropped or fumbled, the Urn stays grounded while enemies of the last carrier are within 40m; if no enemies are nearby, it waits up to 13s when a friendly player is within 40m, and if the held timer is over 45s the next drop immediately returns home when no enemies are nearby. If capture remains unresolved for 60s, the Urn throws its Souls into the air as contestable orbs. See SOUL_URN.md for full details.
• Breakables: Crates or golden statues found around the map. Provide minor permanent power-ups or Souls.
• Sinner’s Sacrifice: Vending machines in the center of the map that spawn at minute 8. Players punch them to receive Souls in exchange for health. Each melee hit deals 80 damage to the player (4 heavy melees or 8 light melees to complete, ~400+ total damage). Base reward is 155 Souls (+1.08%/min scaling, ~168 at 8 minutes). Respawns 5 minutes after completion. Neutral camp changes (30% reduced respawn/HP/bounty) do NOT affect Sinner’s Sacrifice. Souls from Sinner’s Sacrifice are unsecured.
• Ziplines: Primary long-distance transportation. Availability depends on how far Troopers have pushed the lane. Ziplines can now be captured a little bit more forward towards the enemy base. The minimum always captured zipline distance in your base is now reduced a little bit inwards.
• Teleporter: Unlocks after 8 minutes; used for horizontal map traversal.
• Ropes: Used to quickly ascend to mid-levels or rooftops.

Temporary Buffs

Buffs spawn on bridges overlooking Soul Urn locations starting at 5 minutes (and every 5 minutes after). They last 160 seconds and are collected with a Heavy Melee Attack. Their strength increases over time.

• Casting Buff: Grants temporary cooldown reduction and spirit power.
  • Starts: +15 Spirit Power, +12% Cooldown Reduction
  • Ends: +40 Spirit Power, +25% Cooldown Reduction
• Gun Buff: Grants temporary magazine size and fire rate.
  • Starts: +12% Fire Rate, +20% Ammo
  • Ends: +35% Fire Rate, +60% Ammo
• Movement Buff: Grants temporary extra stamina, sprint speed, stamina regen, and zipline boost.
  • Starts: +1 Stamina, +1.5m/s Sprint Speed, +20% Stamina Regen, +40% Zipline Boost
  • Ends: +4 Stamina, +4m/s Sprint Speed, +50% Stamina Regen, +80% Zipline Boost
• Survival Buff: Grants temporary health and health regen.
  • Starts: +200 Bonus Health, +0.5% Max Health Regen
  • Ends: +700 Bonus Health, +1.5% Max Health Regen