Deadlock October Update: New Heroes, Strategic Map Reworks, and Balanced Gameplay

Intro

The latest Deadlock update is packed with exciting new content, refined balance changes, and innovative features designed to elevate gameplay. From an experimental testing mode to new traversal options and reimagined hero abilities, Deadlock has something fresh to offer every type of player. Let’s dive into the full list of updates, changes, and improvements!

New Features and Enhancements

Discover Hero Labs: An Experimental Mode

The newly introduced Hero Labs invites players to engage in early hero testing with six new heroes: Holliday, Calico, Wrecker, Fathom, Viper, and Magician. These characters are in their initial phases, with many using placeholder visuals, effects, or even abilities. Hero Labs offers players the opportunity to explore these heroes and give feedback that directly influences their evolution.

• Experienced Players Only: To maintain meaningful feedback, this mode is only open to players with 50+ games under their belt.
• Priority Access System: Players who don’t get a new hero selection initially receive priority in subsequent matches, ensuring a fair chance to try them all.

Feedback forums allow players to share their thoughts, shaping the Hero Labs experience and fine-tuning each hero’s unique attributes.

Commend System for Positive Play Recognition

A commendation system has been introduced to allow players to recognise teammates who contribute positively during a match. Commends are awarded either mid-game or post-game, and they appear in player profiles, fostering a more supportive, sportsmanship-focused community.

Visual and Interface Revamp

The update adds a new shader for enhanced visibility, with lighting and sky upgrades that bring vibrant life to the game’s environments. Several interface features also improve the experience, including quick-access build selection and reordering. Together, these updates ensure smoother gameplay and easier access to favourite builds, so players can stay focused on the action.

Audio, Animation, and Effects Revisions

Expanded Sound and Audio Cues

New audio cues highlight major combat moments, such as kill streaks, adding suspense and intensity to the match. Character voices have been reworked for clarity, with specific changes to Haze’s pitch for improved audio balance. Additional sound adjustments include reduced noise from abilities like Lady Geist’s Life Drain and Infernus Afterburn, creating a more immersive soundscape with less clutter.

Refined Animation and Visual Effects

Animation updates give heroes like McGinnis and Mirage smoother, more polished movements, while abilities such as Mirage Traveler and Shiv’s Slice and Dice have updated visuals to reduce on-screen clutter. Many ability effects have been fine-tuned to be less obtrusive, offering clearer views during intense gameplay without compromising on the thrill of each ability.

Core Gameplay Changes

Shrine and Urn Mechanics Reworked

Shrine rewards are now reallocated to the Soul-based reward system, eliminating the need for AP gains from Shrines and Patrons. Urns introduce a risk mechanic with health drain upon holding for more than 90 seconds, encouraging strategic management. The health drain occurs at 1% per second, and once the Urn is dropped, it automatically returns to its spawn point. The same team must wait 12 seconds before reclaiming it, allowing for more intense and strategic Urn fights.

Enhanced Trooper Resilience and Objective Protection

Troopers now gain gradual Spirit Resistance over time, reaching their peak in the late game. Backdoor protection has been adjusted to ensure objectives remain resilient, curbing the impact of long-range eliminations against strategic positions. These changes add a layer of strategy to objective-based gameplay, making battles more engaging.

Strategic Map Overhauls and New Pathways

With updated traversal paths, players have fresh tactics and movement options. The Subway and Central Canal feature new skybridges, and redesigned areas now include bounce pads and additional zipline nodes, giving players more agility when approaching objectives. These updates allow for faster map navigation and open new angles of attack, changing how players plan their routes and respond to skirmishes.

Item Adjustments: Weapons, Vitality, and Spirit

Weapons

Weapon updates aim to fine-tune offensive capabilities and offer more defined advantages:

• Restorative Shot: Damage lowered slightly, and cooldown increased to 6s, adding a more deliberate timing element.
• Tesla Bullets: Now benefits from cooldown reduction, adding versatility for Spirit-focused builds.
• High-Velocity Mag: Enhanced Bullet Shield Health and Weapon Damage offer increased resilience and power.
• Melee Charge: Damage and health reduced, making it a slightly more tactical choice in melee-heavy builds.

Additional tweaks to Mystic Shot, Burst Fire, and Vampiric Burst allow for a more balanced and diverse range of weapon loadouts, expanding the strategic possibilities in combat.

Vitality

Vitality items have been modified to bolster defense-oriented builds:

• Extra Stamina provides an increased health bonus, supporting tankier playstyles.
• Majestic Leap introduces a new vulnerability mechanic that disables drop-down if hit mid-air, adding a risk factor.
• Fortitude: Now offers an improved health boost and reduced restore delay, catering to players who prioritise resilience.

Other tweaks, including boosted Spirit and Bullet Shields for Veil Walker and an extended Soul Rebirth cooldown, refine vitality items, allowing for better-defined roles across builds.

Spirit

Spirit items now include improved options for cooldown, range, and resistance:

• Mystic Reach: Reduced ability range, with an added bullet resist to support durability.
• Cold Front: Doubles damage against NPC units, giving players a reliable PvE choice.
• Ethereal Shift: Now grants Move Speed and Spirit Resist post-use, making it essential for mobility-centric strategies.

These changes encourage new build diversity, with enhanced items for Spirit-focused players and builds that support strategic cooldowns and damage resistances.

Hero-Specific Changes

Abrams

• Melee Attack Rate: Increased time between melee attacks by 15%, slightly reducing his close-combat efficiency.
• Gun Falloff: Damage reduction begins at a shorter distance (20m down from 22m), affecting his ranged combat effectiveness.
• Shoulder Charge: Resolved issues where the ability caused unintended rotations (180°/360° turns) or got stuck when interacting with wall surfaces.
• Seismic Impact: Fixed instances where this ability would become stuck on objects, ensuring smoother execution.

Bebop

• Bullet Damage Growth: Increased growth from 0.29 to 0.33, raising his damage potential as the match progresses.
• Spirit Resist: Gains 1% Spirit Resist per boon instead of Bullet Resist, shifting his durability toward Spirit attacks.
• Sticky Bomb: Now loses 20% of stacks upon death, adding a penalty to his high-damage ability on respawn.
• Hook: Hooked troopers return 75% faster, increasing Bebop’s ability to regroup and support team formations.

Grey Talon

• Base Regen: Improved from 2 to 2.5, enhancing his sustainability in prolonged fights.
• Gun Spirit Scaling: Increased from 0.1 to 0.13, boosting damage as Spirit Power increases.
• Movement Speed Scaling: Now scales with Spirit Power, increasing his mobility and making him harder to target.
• Rain of Arrows: Strafe speed with stamina increased by 30%, improving his positioning and evasiveness.

Infernus

• Afterburn T1: Damage amplification reduced from 30% to 25%, balancing the impact of his fire-based attacks.

Ivy

• Base Bullet Damage: Increased from 4.5 to 5, strengthening her standard attacks.
• Bullet Damage Growth: Reduced from 0.39 to 0.36, balancing her damage progression.
• Air Drop: Slow effect reduced from 35% to 30%, giving opponents a better chance to evade or counter her air attacks.

Kelvin

• Arctic Beam: Slow effect decreased from 50% to 40%, allowing slowed enemies more freedom to escape.
• Frost Grenade T2: Healing reduced from 145 to 125, slightly limiting his support potential.
• Frozen Shelter: Corrected a bug where weakened patrons were not affected by the freezing effect.

Lady Geist

• Malice:
  • Slow: Reduced from 20% to 15%, making it less challenging for opponents to move out of her range.
  • Debuff Duration: Shortened from 13s to 9s, giving enemies faster recovery.
  • Damage Amplification: Reduced from 15% to 8%, lowering her overall damage output.
  • T2 Damage Amp: Now increases damage amp by an additional 7%.
  • Un-zoom: The ability no longer causes zoom interruption, improving player control.

McGinnis

• Gun Spin: Decay rate improved from 0.65 to 0.25, sustaining his damage output.
• Mini Turrets:
  • Cooldown: Reduced from 24s to 18s, enhancing his support potential.
  • Spirit Resist: Increased from 60% to 80%, boosting turret resilience.
• Spectral Wall:
  • Slow: Reduced from 25% to 20%, balancing crowd control.
  • T1 Damage Amplification: Reduced from 25% to 15%, moderating damage.
• Heavy Barrage:
  • Minimum Range: Increased from 6m to 7m, adjusting positioning requirements.
  • Cooldown: Increased from 106s to 140s, limiting frequency of use.
  • T2 Cooldown: Reduced by an additional 3s.
  • T1 Slow: Reduced from 35% to 30%, balancing his area control.

Mirage

• Fire Scarabs T3: Max health steal increased from +70 to +80, boosting sustainability.
• Djinn's Mark T3: Cooldown between multipliers improved from -0.5s to -0.75s, enabling faster attack intervals.
• Traveler:
  • Fire Rate: Increased from 20% to 30%, improving damage output.
  • T2 Cooldown: Reduction improved from -30s to -40s.
  • T3 Unstoppable: Now grants Unstoppable status for 3s upon arrival.

Mo & Krill

• Headshot Crit Reduction: Gains a 20% reduction, improving survivability.
• Burrow Resistance: Bullet and Spirit Resist now persist while spinning out of Burrow, boosting their resilience.

Paradox

• Pulse Grenade: Now based on duration rather than a fixed pulse count, compatible with the Duration Extender item.
  • T1: Changed from +1 Pulse to +0.8s Duration.
  • T2: Cooldown reduction improved from -7.5s to -8s.
• Kinetic Carbine:
  • T2: Improved cooldown reduction from -9.5s to -10s.
  • Headshot: Can pierce breakables and gains 15% more headshot damage, increasing effectiveness in tight environments.

Seven

• Lightning Ball:
  • Cooldown: Increased from 23s to 26s, limiting frequency.
  • Radius: Reduced from 4m to 3.5m, slightly lowering area coverage.
  • T2 Slow: Reduced from 40% to 35%, balancing crowd control.
• Movement Speed: Reduced from 7.3 to 7.1, affecting his agility.
• Storm Cloud:
  • Expand Time: Reduced from 3s to 2s, increasing effectiveness.
  • Range: Extended from 25m to 30m, enhancing reach.

Shiv

• Base Speed: Reduced from 7.3 to 7.0, lowering mobility.
• Serrated Knives: Collision radius reduced by 20%, improving accuracy.
• Bloodletting:
  • Cooldown: Increased from 21s to 50s.
  • T2: Cooldown reduction improved from -4.75s to -25s.
  • Duration: Increased from 10s to 13s.
  • Incoming Damage Deferred: Reduced from 30% to 22%.
  • T1: Changed to +8% Incoming Damage Deferred.
• Killing Blow:
  • Range: Reduced from 20m to 13m.
  • Rage Buildup: Per heavy melee reduced from 3.5 to 2.75.
  • Rage Buffer Duration: Reduced from 10s to 9s.
  • Rage Buildup vs Creeps: Reduced by 50%.

Vindicta

• Gun Cycle Time: Improved from 0.26s to 0.22s, enabling faster firing.
• Bullet Damage Growth: Increased from 0.55 to 0.65 per boon.
• Fire Rate Scaling: Now scales with Spirit Power at 0.14, enhancing potential.
• Assassinate:
  • No longer splits damage to allies.
  • Flight Duration: Increased from 8s to 12s.
  • T2 Duration: Extended from +6s to +8s.
  • Bullet Radius: Increased from 3" to 4".
  • Scope Cancel: Assassinate scope is now canceled when Paradoxical Swap hits.
  • Scope Zoom: Can be cycled with right click, with the ability key to deselect.

Viscous

• Bullet Damage: Reduced from 12 to 11, slightly lowering damage output.
• Bullet Damage Growth: Increased from 0.86 to 0.9 per boon.
• The Cube: T2 moved to T3, and T2 now provides +35 HP regen.
• Splatter T2: Reduced damage bonus from +60 to +50.
• Goo Ball: Spirit Resist reduced from 70% to 60%.

Warden

• Alchemical Flask: Slow duration reduced from 6s to 3s, limiting crowd control.
• Weapon Damage Duration: Increased from 6s to 7s.
• Binding Word:
  • Escape Time: Reduced from 2.9s to 2.8s.
  • Escape Range: Extended from 18.5m to 19m.
• Last Stand T3: Now grants Unstoppable during the 2s channel.

Wraith

• Card Trick:
  • Base Damage: Reduced from 80 to 70.
  • Cooldown: Increased from 0.5s to 0.65s.
• Telekinesis:
  • Cooldown: Increased from 95s to 100s.
  • T1: Cooldown reduction improved from -28s to -30s.

Yamato

• Flying Strike: Fixed overlapping with other abilities.
• Crimson Slash: Follows crosshair direction instead of dash.
• Shadow Transformation:
  • T1: Now increases Fire Rate by +20%.
  • Cooldown: Reduced from 106s to 90s.

Impact of the October Update

1. Community Feedback in Hero Labs: Hero Labs opens direct community involvement in hero design, allowing players to help shape the development process and future gameplay.
2. Expanded Strategy Through Map Updates: New map paths and traversal options introduce fresh strategic elements to gameplay, adding tactical depth and enhancing combat flow.
3. Enhanced Variety in Hero Builds: With item updates and rebalancing, players have more freedom to experiment with hero builds and counterplay, ensuring balanced and dynamic matches.
4. Improved Visual Clarity and Audio: Updates to animations and sounds create a more immersive experience, allowing players to focus on core gameplay without unnecessary distractions.

Conclusion

The October Deadlock update brings transformative changes, blending experimental features, strategic overhauls, and balanced enhancements across the game. Whether trying out new hero builds, exploring reimagined maps, or engaging in the Hero Labs testing ground, players have countless new options to explore. Step into the latest Deadlock experience, share your insights, and continue shaping the battlefield for an even brighter future!