Deadlock for beginners: your first 20 matches
What the game actually is, how you win, and the five habits that matter more than aim.
Updated · Patch Nov 4, 2026
On this page
What Deadlock is
Deadlock is a 6v6 third-person hero shooter built on top of a MOBA. Each team pushes AI troopers down three lanes — York (yellow), Broadway (blue) and Greenwich (green) — through a chain of defensive structures until one side destroys the other’s Patron.
You shoot, but you also farm. Everything you kill drops souls, and souls are the single resource that buys items and levels up your abilities. The team with more souls usually wins the fight, so the early game is an economic race, not a deathmatch.
How a match flows
Laning (roughly the first 8–10 minutes): two heroes per lane fight over trooper souls. Mid game: Guardians fall, players rotate between lanes, take jungle camps and contest the Soul Urn and Mid-Boss. Late game: teams group, push Walkers, Base Guardians and Shrines, and one decisive fight opens the Patron.
- Guardian → Walker → Base Guardians → Shrines → Patron is the fixed kill order.
- You can’t damage a structure out of order — check the minimap for what is exposed.
Souls and levels
Souls do two jobs. Spend them in the shop on Weapon, Vitality and Spirit items, and simply earning them raises your soul total, which unlocks abilities and grants Ability Points at fixed thresholds. You never “spend” souls to level — you only spend Ability Points.
Upgrading an ability costs 1, 2 and then 5 Ability Points for its three tiers. Most heroes max one core ability first; every hero page lists the upgrade paths.
Five habits that win games
- Shoot the soul orb after every last-hit to get the full value, and shoot the enemy’s orbs to deny them.
- Buy as soon as you can afford a useful item; 800-soul items are the best value in the shop.
- Ride ziplines to rotate, but never ride into an enemy you can’t see.
- Stop chasing after the Guardian shoots you. It hits far harder than any hero early.
- After a team wipe, take an objective. Kills alone don’t win Deadlock.
Which hero to start with
Start with a hero rated complexity 1 in our hero filter. Simple kits let you learn the map instead of your buttons. Abrams, Haze, Infernus, McGinnis and Seven are all rated Easy.
