Deadlock Patch Analysis - 2026-05-31

Superseded Urn mechanics: This analysis describes the May 28 iteration. The June 4 update restored the cross-map route to the opposite side-lane bridge and replaced heavy-melee ownership flipping with a king-of-the-hill capture point.


Patch Date	2026-05-31
Analyzed	2026-06-19
Snapshot	Client 6589, Jun 16
Changes	13
Commits	`5d377d1` → `f3531ce`


Patch Date	2026-05-31
Commits	`5d377d1` -> `f3531ce4`
Source Data	Client 6514, May 22 2026
Target Data	Client 6589, Jun 16 2026

The analyzed date is workflow metadata, not evidence that the source snapshot matched the live game on that date.

Executive Summary

This update turns the Soul Urn into a longer and more deliberate fight objective while also removing a parry cooldown exploit against troopers. The released-hero endpoint data is mostly nerf-oriented: Graves, McGinnis, Pocket, Silver, Seven, Grey Talon, and Warden all lose important damage, range, uptime, or scaling, while Apollo, Calico, Viscous, and parts of Warden receive targeted compensating buffs.

Important scope note: the supplied targetCommit is a June 16 data snapshot, not a pure May 31 snapshot. The exact numbers below use the requested sourceCommit..targetCommit diff, so some values supersede the May 31 prose notes.

Gameplay Changes

Soul Urn and Parry

The Urn changes are the most important macro changes in the patch-note scope.

System	Exact change	Gameplay impact
Urn spawn cadence	Spawn/interval changed from `10/15/20/25/etc` to `12/18/24/30/etc`.	The first Urn is delayed by 2 minutes and later Urns are spaced 6 minutes apart instead of 5, reducing forced objective frequency.
Deposit timers	Favored/neutral/unfavored timers increased from `3/5/10s` to `5/10/15s`.	Deposits are much easier to contest and require real bridge control instead of a quick tap.
Frozen Shelter	Urn timer now freezes with Kelvin’s Frozen Shelter.	Shelter can stall the deposit clock instead of letting a protected delivery finish through the dome.
Comeback aura	Behind-team `+35%` Bullet/Spirit Resist aura no longer applies while carried or dropped; it only applies during deposit.	Comeback Urn runs are less safe during transit and more focused around the deposit fight.
Behind runner	Behind-team runner now gets `+35%` Bullet/Spirit Resist for themselves only.	The carrier remains durable, but nearby teammates do not get a moving resist aura.
Runner mobility	Runner gains `+2m` Sprint, `+1` Stamina, `+10%` Dash Distance, and `+15%` Stamina Regen.	Carrying is less restrictive and more movement-oriented, but contesting the deposit still takes longer.
Held timer damage	Urn damage starts after `30s` held, down from `50s`; this timer freezes while enemies are within `40m` of the runner.	Teams cannot stall uncontested forever, but active fights around the runner stop the punish timer.
Return-home logic	The Urn stays on the ground while enemies are within `40m` of the last drop/fumble owner; otherwise it waits up to `13s` if a friendly player is within `40m`. If the held timer is over `45s`, the next drop immediately returns home when no enemies are nearby.	Fumbled Urns should create more localized fights instead of immediately resetting.
Parry vs troopers	Parrying a trooper no longer resets parry cooldown; parried troopers are stunned.	Players can no longer farm free parry resets from waves, but the defensive timing still has lane utility.

Strategically, Urn control shifts from “get a fast carrier through” toward “prepare waves, arrive first, and win the deposit zone.” Heroes with strong enclosed-area control, displacement, or melee denial gain value around the deposit point because enemies now have 5 to 15 seconds to contest with heavy melee.

Headline Released Hero Changes

These are the major released-hero changes from the source-to-target data, including the heroes named in the May 31 notes.

Hero	Exact source -> target changes	Commentary
Apollo	Flawless Advance T1 heal `30 + 0.75 spirit -> 35 + 1.0 spirit`; T2 cooldown reduction `-10s -> -12s`. Itani Lo Sahn delayed damage `190 + 2.3 spirit -> 200 + 2.6 spirit`. Disengaging Sigil endpoint data was also reshuffled: T1 changed from `+30 Damage` to `+25% Fire Rate`, `+25% Bullet Speed`, `8s`; T2 changed from the old weapon buff to `+1 Stamina` and air-limit reset; T3 now has `4s` recast time.	Apollo’s spirit burst and sustain are stronger, especially when maxing Flawless Advance. The Sigil upgrade reshuffle makes the ability less about simple early damage and more about tempo and movement recovery.
Graves	Jar of Dead damage `20 + 0.31 spirit -> 16 + 0.25 spirit`; resource cost `100 -> 120`; Deadhead kill bounty `5 + 0.25/boon -> 7 + 0.5/boon`. Grasping Hands T3 immobilize bonus `1.0s -> 0.75s`. Borrowed Decree ghoul explosion `135 + 1.5 spirit -> 115 + 1.27 spirit`; T3 current-health damage `6% -> 5%`.	This is a broad summon-pressure nerf. Graves gets fewer efficient Jar casts, enemies get more souls for clearing skulls, and both skull and ghoul damage scale worse.
McGinnis	Mini Turret DPS `30 + 0.39 spirit -> 24 + 0.42 spirit`; T3 turret fire rate `30% -> 25%`. Heavy Barrage range `50m -> 36m`; rocket damage `22.5 -> 21`; T1 dash slow `30% -> 18%`; T3 bonus damage per rocket `+18 -> +15`.	Heavy Barrage is much less oppressive at range, and turret builds lose early/mid damage. The higher turret spirit scaling does not offset the base loss until extremely high spirit values.
Pocket	Bullet damage per boon `0.2 -> 0.16`; derived DPS per boon `2.6667 -> 2.1334`. Flying Cloak T3 cooldown reduction `-14s -> -12s`. Affliction T3 bonus DPS `+18 -> +14`.	Pocket loses late weapon scaling, Cloak uptime, and Affliction pressure. Affliction remains non-lethal setup, but T3 contributes less teamfight damage.
Silver	Slam Fire current-health damage `3% -> 2.5%`; T3 current-health bonus `8% -> 7%`. Entangling Bola cooldown `20s -> 23s`; T2 cooldown reduction `-5s -> -8s`. Lycan Curse cooldown `40s -> 70s`; fire rate `65% -> 60%`.	Silver’s burst and transformation cadence are both hit. T2 Bola still restores a `15s` effective cooldown, but pre-T2 misses are punished harder.
Victor	Aura of Suffering radius `9m -> 8m`, with T3 adding `+1m`. Shocking Reanimation cooldown `230s -> 240s`; T3 cooldown reduction `-130s -> -110s`; T3 damage `150 -> 175`.	Victor’s revive is more punishing when down: effective T3 cooldown moves from `100s` to `130s`. The T3 damage buff helps the revive impact, but uptime is clearly lower.
Yamato	Power Slash full-charge spirit scaling `2.1 -> 1.85`. Flying Slash cast range `30m -> 28m`.	Spirit burst Yamato is toned down, and pre-upgrade catch range is slightly shorter. Her sustain and ultimate loop are not numerically changed in this endpoint diff.

Additional Released Hero Data Changes

The raw endpoint diff includes further released-hero changes beyond the May 31 prose list.

Hero	Exact source -> target changes	Commentary
Holliday	Powder Keg charges `1 -> 2`, cooldown between charges `3.5s -> 7s`, arm time `0.5s -> 0.1s`, barrel damage scaling `1.6 -> 1.4`; Bounce Pad radius `12m -> 9m`, T3 adds `0.7s` stomp stun.	More frequent Keg availability but lower spirit scaling; Bounce Pad is smaller but gains a stronger max-upgrade payoff.
Bebop	Exploding Uppercut T3 missing-health heal `17 -> 18`; Sticky Bomb T3 loses `+20%` fire rate, movement-speed bonus duration `5s -> 6s`, gains `25%` status resistance.	Bebop gets slightly more survivability but less direct weapon tempo from Sticky Bomb T3.
Paige	Plot Armor barrier scaling `1.3 -> 1.5`; T3 barrier scaling `0.3 -> 0.5`. Rallying Charge max amp distance `350 -> 250`; cooldown upgrade `-30s -> -50s`.	Stronger defensive scaling and more frequent upgraded Rallying Charge, but the distance-based amp reaches its cap over a shorter range.
The Doorman	Call Bell explosion scaling `1.3 -> 1.2`; T3 impact and explosion scaling `0.4 -> 0.35`.	A straightforward spirit-scaling nerf to Call Bell burst.
Seven	Bullet damage per boon `0.337 -> 0.24`; Power Surge T3 duration `12s -> 10s`.	Seven’s late weapon growth and max-upgrade surge window are weaker.
Vindicta	Assassinate low-health damage bonus scaling `1.7 -> 2.0`.	Stronger execute scaling for spirit-invested snipes.
Calico	Gloom Bombs T2 melee resist reduction `5 -> -6` and duration `5s -> 6s`; Return to Shadows damage `140 -> 150`, T2 damage `65 -> 75`, T3 heal `350 -> 450`.	Calico gains clearer melee-shred data and stronger Return to Shadows damage/sustain.
Grey Talon	Bullet damage per boon `1.001 -> 0.85`; weapon fire rate `1.7316/s -> 1.6667/s`; weapon DPS `40.71 -> 39.184`; Rain of Arrows cooldown `22s -> 23s`, upgrade cooldown reduction `-13s -> -12s`.	Grey Talon loses weapon scaling and a little Rain of Arrows cadence.
Shiv	Killing Blow now has a `30s` failed-execute cooldown penalty.	Failed executes are much more punishable.
Viscous	Puddle Punch T2 lifesteal `40% -> 60%`; T3 heavy-melee damage `45 -> 40`; Goo Ball T2 adds `10%` Bullet Resist and `10%` Spirit Resist.	Viscous gets better Puddle Punch sustain and a tougher mid-upgrade Goo Ball, partly offset by lower max-upgrade punch damage.
Warden	Weapon falloff `19.99m-57.51m -> 18m-47m`. Alchemical Flask scaling `0.731203 -> 0.63`, T2 damage `40 -> 35`, T2 weapon-power debuff `-20% -> -25%`. Willpower barrier scaling `0.5 -> 0.8`. Binding Word T3 cooldown reduction `-18s -> -14s`. Last Stand hero lifesteal `65% -> 75%`, T2 cooldown `-30s -> -35s`, T3 duration `3s -> 4s`.	Warden loses range and Flask damage, but gains stronger defensive and all-in ultimate scaling.
Wraith	Card Trick T3 HeartHeal scale type changed from `null` to `spirit`.	This looks like a scaling-data correction or buff to the T3 heal field.
Ivy	`GravityChange: -10` added.	Movement tuning/data exposure; no further numeric ability change in the endpoint diff.
Celeste	`AirControlAccelPercent: 10`, `AirControlPercent: 44`, and `GravityChange: -25` added.	Movement tuning/data exposure; treat as a live feel change if reflected in game.

Item Changes

No May 31 item balance notes were supplied, but item-data.json does contain live enabled-item endpoint changes. These should be treated as current data changes; several look like scaling fields being restored or corrected.

Item	Exact source -> target changes	Impact
Lifestrike	Flat heal `100` became `100 + 1.5 per power increase`; lifesteal heal percent `30%` became `30% + 0.5 per power increase`.	Better scaling for melee sustain builds.
Headhunter	Headshot heal `4%` became `4% + 0.06 per power increase`.	Slightly better scaling sustain for accurate weapon users.
Healing Nova	Total regen `325` became `325 + 6 per power increase`.	Team sustain scales better later.
Healing Rite	Total regen `300` became `300 + 1.1 spirit`.	Spirit investment improves the lane/sustain active again.
Opening Rounds	Spirit Power `4 -> 7`; high-health weapon damage bonus `30% -> 25%`.	More baseline spirit, less above-threshold weapon burst.
Radiant Regeneration	Healing per cast `70` became `70 + 2 per power increase`; regeneration `4` became `4 + 0.04 spirit`.	Better scaling defensive sustain.
Restorative Locket	Heal per stack `16` became `16 + 0.32 per power increase`.	More late scaling on stored heal value.
Alchemical Fire	DPS increase spirit scaling `0.4 -> 0.04`.	Major reduction or correction to spirit scaling on the ramp field. Verify practical tooltip behavior before over-indexing on spirit builds around it.
Veil Walker	Heal on veil `85` became `85 + 8 per power increase`.	Stronger late sustain for veil pathing and rotation-heavy play.

Data Cleanup

Several raw-data changes are not gameplay changes.

Disabled item entries were removed: upgrade_ablative_coat, upgrade_armor_reduction_debuff, upgrade_bullet_armor_2, upgrade_combo_breaker, upgrade_height_advantage, and upgrade_tech_defender.
Disabled or non-shop item data changed for Soul Explosion and upgrade_proc_tech_damage; these are not live shop item changes.
Unreleased ability entries such as ability_digger_mudshield and ability_digger_mudshield_trigger were removed. This is unreleased hero data cleanup, not a player-facing nerf.
Many abilities gained Modifier, Class, Subclass, or state-mask metadata. Those fields help describe implementation behavior, but by themselves they are not balance changes.
hero_werewolf_transformed is selectable in raw data, but it already existed in the source commit and represents Silver’s transformed state. It is not a new hero key and does not trigger a HERO_ADDED workflow TODO.

Conclusion

The macro direction is clear: Urn fights are slower, more contestable, and more centered on holding a deposit area. On the hero side, the endpoint data reins in sustained pressure from summons, long-range barrages, transformation uptime, and late weapon scaling, while handing selective durability or sustain compensation to Apollo, Calico, Viscous, Warden, and several healing items.

Expect teams to contest fewer but higher-stakes Urns, prioritize deposit-area control, and punish heroes whose best fight windows now have longer cooldown gaps. Graves, McGinnis, Pocket, and Silver should feel the largest practical nerfs; Apollo and Warden specialists have the most interesting new numbers to test.