Deadlock, Valve’s new shooter-heavy MOBA, is still in its limited early access period, blending tactical complexities with fast-paced third-person hero shooter mechanics. The core currency in Deadlock is Souls, which fuel everything from item purchases to ability upgrades, and ultimately control your team's dominance on the map. Whether you’re farming lane troopers, controlling jungle camps, or battling for global objectives like the Soul Urn, understanding how to gather and spend Souls in DeadLock is key to victory.
In this DeadLock guide, we’ll break down all the best ways to farm Souls, focusing on early, mid, and late game strategies. We’ll also dive into secret timings, objective control, and advanced techniques to stay well ahead of your opposition in this competitive MOBA.
In Deadlock, Souls are the game’s most essential resource. Players farm Souls by killing troopers, clearing jungle camps, securing map objectives, and defeating enemy heroes. Unlike other MOBAs, where kills or gold alone dictate your progress, Deadlock introduces a nuanced system of secured and unsecured Souls.
This dual system forces players to constantly assess risks and rewards. Should you push forward with a pocket full of unsecured Souls, or retreat to safely secure them? The more Souls you farm and accumulate, the faster you can purchase items, upgrade abilities, and influence the course of the game. Unsecured Souls gradually convert into secured as you survive longer, but it’s a balance between risk and reward. Killing enemies is always a key part of this process, as it gives your team access to both direct Souls and unsecured Souls the enemy might be carrying.
Understanding how Souls are used in Deadlock is crucial to dominating the battlefield. Souls allow you to:
Securing and managing Souls when killed and converting unsecured Souls into secured ones is central to how players manage their overall power in the game. Smart usage of Souls can turn the tide during key fights, whether it’s to buy a powerful item or to save for a decisive ability upgrade.
The most basic and consistent method of gathering Souls in Deadlock is by farming lane troopers. These troopers march down the four lanes every 25 seconds, providing a reliable stream of Souls if you can secure the last hit. Each wave of troopers consists of three ranged troopers and one healer trooper.
After the 10-minute mark, troopers no longer give direct Souls from the kill itself but drop Soul orbs that contain 100% of the Soul value. These Soul orbs are contested between both teams, adding a layer of strategy to lane farming. 10 minutes into the game is where this mechanic becomes crucial.
In the first ten minutes, each trooper kill rewards you with 75 Souls, but only if you secure the last hit. Missing the last hit results in losing the Souls, so perfecting your timing is critical. Keep in mind that killing a trooper and timing the last hit perfectly ensures you earn Souls effectively.
In Deadlock, using melee attacks to kill lane troopers grants you the full amount of Souls instantly, without dropping a Soul orb. This prevents the enemy from denying or stealing Souls, a key advantage during the laning phase.
When lane troopers are killed with ranged attacks, they drop Soul orbs that can be contested. If the enemy collects the orb first, you lose out on those Souls. By finishing a trooper with a melee attack, you secure the 75 Souls immediately, ensuring no orbs are left for the enemy to deny or steal.
To use melee attacks effectively, you need precise timing. As troopers are constantly under fire, landing the final melee blow ensures you collect the Souls directly.
Tip: Look for low-health lane troopers and move in for the melee finish to secure Souls without leaving them vulnerable to enemy denial.
The jungle in DeadLock is filled with neutral creep camps that offer massive Soul rewards when cleared. There are three tiers of jungle camps, each offering a different amount of Souls. These camps are scattered throughout the map, and controlling them provides your team with a steady income of unsecured Souls, which can be converted to secured Souls over time. Here’s a breakdown of the jungle camp tiers:
Be mindful of other teams attempting to ambush you while farming. The jungle is often a place where ambushes occur because it holds high-risk, high-reward opportunities. Clearing these camps is a key way to gain Souls throughout the game.
Killing enemy heroes is one of the most rewarding methods of gathering Souls in DeadLock. The amount of Souls earned from a hero kill depends on the game’s timer and the enemy’s kill streak. Early in the game, killing an enemy hero typically rewards around 150 Souls, but this number increases as the game progresses.
The strategic importance of killing high-value targets can’t be overstated. If an enemy hero has accumulated a large amount of unsecured Souls, killing them allows you to collect their dropped Souls and turn the tide of battle. Additionally, high-kill-streak enemies drop a bounty of extra Souls when defeated, making them prime targets during team fights. Killing enemies is always a valuable tactic for maintaining control of the Soul economy.
Each of the four lanes in DeadLock contains map objectives that grant significant Soul rewards when destroyed. These objectives include:
Securing these objectives is vital not only for the Souls they provide but for weakening the enemy team’s defenses. Heroes with high damage per second (DPS) and strong sieging abilities are ideal for taking down these map objectives quickly.
Soul vending machines, also called slot machines, are scattered around the map, offering a risky way to earn extra Souls. Hitting these machines with abilities or basic attacks costs 50 damage to the player per hit but rewards 20 Souls. It's a fast way to gain Souls, but comes with the risk of losing too much health.
While the machines provide a quick Soul boost, overuse can leave you vulnerable to enemies. It’s best to use heroes with health regeneration or strong defense to minimize the risk.
In the mid and late game, use the slot machines strategically to deny Souls to the enemy. Contest areas where they might use these vending machines and punish them for overcommitting.
Two global objectives stand out as game-changers in DeadLock—the Soul Urn and the Mid Boss. Both of these objectives offer enormous Soul rewards and can swing the momentum of the game.
At the 10-minute mark, the Soul Urn spawns on one side of the map and must be carried to the opposite end of the map to deliver its reward. The Soul Urn takes 30 seconds to fully materialize, so teams should be prepared to fight around it when it spawns. Carrying the urn is risky because enemies can kill the carrier and steal the urn. However, if the urn is successfully delivered, the carrier receives a 25% Soul bonus, and the entire team gets a Soul boost.
Also spawning at the 10-minute mark, the Mid Boss is a powerful enemy that requires teamwork to defeat. Killing the Mid Boss rewards your team with 1,750 Souls, making it one of the most valuable objectives in the game. The Mid Boss also grants a temporary buff that can help your team win crucial fights or push key objectives.
In the early game, focus on:
Your goal in the early game is to build up a strong Soul count by consistently securing last hits on troopers and farming the jungle camps. Heroes with strong early-game poke, like Zephyr and Kratos, excel in this phase by securing orbs and pressuring the enemy out of lane.
The mid game marks a pivotal shift in the tempo of the match, where teams must balance between maintaining lane control, contesting jungle camps, and fighting over crucial global objectives like the Soul Urn and the Mid Boss.
At seven minutes into the game, Tier 2 jungle camps begin to spawn. Each Tier 2 camp provides 95 Souls per creep, making them an excellent source of Souls during the mid game. With 25 Tier 2 camps scattered across the map, controlling these areas is crucial for your team’s economy.
The Soul Urn spawns for the first time at the 10-minute mark, introducing the first major global contest. Whichever team manages to capture and deliver the Soul Urn to the opposite end of the map will gain a huge Soul advantage, boosting the entire team’s economy.
The Mid Boss also spawns at 10 minutes and provides a massive 1,750 Soul reward when killed. Teams should be prepared to contest this objective as it can make or break the outcome of the mid game. The Mid Boss’s health regenerates over time, so your team needs to carefully coordinate its attacks to ensure a kill.
The mid game is also the time to start targeting Tier 2 Walkers, which provide a massive 750 Souls per objective. These objectives become available after 10 minutes and are key to cracking open the enemy’s defenses.
In the mid game, map awareness becomes even more critical. Heroes with strong map presence and vision control should prioritize placing wards near key objectives like the Mid Boss and Soul Urn spawn points. Controlling vision in these areas allows your team to track enemy movements and coordinate attacks effectively.
In the late game, the focus shifts to high-stakes objectives and securing key jungle areas:
In the late game, it’s essential to coordinate with your team to secure these objectives while denying the enemy team access to their own jungle.
Deadlock is finally here, and mastering Soul farming in this fast-paced MOBA is the key to victory. By understanding how to maximise Soul gain in each phase of the game, from laning to securing global objectives like the Mid Boss and the Soul Urn, you’ll quickly rise to the top of the leaderboard. Whether it’s managing unsecured Souls, timing your jungle rotations, or coordinating team fights around crucial map objectives, every decision counts.
With this Deadlock guide as your roadmap, you’ll have the knowledge needed to dominate the battlefield and outpace your opponents. So, step into the arena, perfect your Soul farming, and lead your team to victory in Deadlock’s fast-paced, high-stakes battles.
