Deadlock Patch Review: The Latest Deadlock Patch Notes

Introduction

Valve’s Deadlock has been a mainstay in competitive gaming, blending fast-paced action with tactical depth. With every update, the game’s ecosystem evolves, offering fresh challenges and opportunities for players to refine their strategies. The latest Deadlock patch, released on 21st November 2024, is no exception. This Deadlock update introduces a game-changing overhaul of the matchmaking mode, packed with features designed to enhance fairness, transparency, and enjoyment for players of all skill levels.

Beyond matchmaking, the Deadlock patch notes highlight a range of general gameplay improvements, hero adjustments, and new systems like Hero Labs in private lobbies. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran climbing the leaderboards or a casual player queueing up with friends, there’s something here to elevate your experience. Let’s dive into the official Deadlock details of this monumental patch.

Matchmaking Rework: A Game-Changing Update

Valve’s Deadlock patch review wouldn’t be complete without focusing on the new version of the matchmaker, a key highlight of the latest updates. This rework refines how matches are made, improving balance, fairness, and queue times for all players.

Unified Matchmaking Pools

Say goodbye to limited hours and fragmented matchmaking queues. This update includes a new version of the matchmaking system that consolidates normal and ranked modes into a single matchmaking pool. Players can now queue anytime, with all matches contributing to rank progression. Whether you’re practising in casual games or competing at the highest levels, this change ensures seamless and dynamic gameplay.

Real-Time Badge Updates

Rank progression is now smoother than ever. Badges will update immediately whenever you gain or lose enough MMR to change badges. No more waiting for weekly resets or grinding extra matches. This dynamic system ensures players always know where they stand. Additionally, monthly global maintenance updates will recalibrate rankings, with maintenance updates where we readjust the global curve based on population shifts, banned cheaters, and gameplay trends.

Hero-Specific MMR

Valve has introduced Hero-Specific MMR, a precision feature that refines the matchmaking process. Your Core MMR represents your overall skill, while each hero has its own MMR based on performance across your last 20 matches. This allows the matchmaker to place you in games suited to your mastery of specific heroes. This system is used in the matchmaker to ensure fairer matchups, with insights provided directly in the Hero Labs feature.

Regional Leaderboards

The update also includes leaderboards for enemy heroes, with rankings divided per region: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. To qualify:

• Players must log 50 games played within the past 30 days.
• Hero-specific leaderboards require at least 20 matches with that hero.

This regional system adds exciting competition for players who want to track their rank globally and locally.

Enhanced Party Play

• Queue Items to Sell: Party queue options have expanded, with adjustments ensuring fair gains even when party members have widely different skills.
• High-ranked players (Ascendant 1 and above) can now form teams of three instead of two.
• A solo-only queue is available for players who prefer matches without pre-made parties.

To streamline coordination, a swap lanes feature has been added, letting players adjust their roles during the pre-game phase.

General Changes: Polishing the Deadlock Experience

The latest updates also introduce a host of quality-of-life improvements across Deadlock’s MOBA gameplay.

Dashboard and Build Browser Upgrades

• Players can browse and favourite builds directly from the build browser, making it easier to prepare for matches.
• A new Change Hero button in the Sandbox mode improves flexibility for testing and refining builds.

Item Management

The item in the shop interface has been streamlined:

• Players can queue items to sell, and the system calculates future purchases based on potential sale proceeds.
• Tooltips now list exactly which items the ability affects, and items imbued with abilities are marked with similar styling to active items.

Misc Gameplay: Refinements and Meta Shifts

The Deadlock patch notes detail subtle yet impactful tweaks to gameplay dynamics, from map changes to power-up adjustments.

Map Adjustments

• Neutral camps have been relocated closer to Guardian lanes for better farming flow.
• The urn pickup location for objectives is now centralised at the top of the mid temple, with a drop-off location closer to the battle.

Combat and Mobility

• Heavy melee attacks are now resistance-based, requiring strategic planning for securing power-ups.
• Air drag when dismounting ziplines has increased from 20% to 25%, adding complexity to mobility tactics.

Heal and Anti-Heal Rebalance

Valve has bundled together a group of changes bundled together that pairs adjustments to sustain-heavy mechanics with nerfs to healing items and abilities. Key highlights include:

• Mo & Krill: Healing reduced to 1.6x vs heroes.
• Anti-healing items like Decay and Healbane adjusted to ensure effectiveness while balancing output.
• Players gaining Rejuvenator buff now shows stat improvements directly on the HUD.

Item Adjustments

Healing items and passives have been fine-tuned, aligning with the overall sustain rebalance:

• Spirit Lifesteal: Reduced from 23% to 22%.
• Active Reload: Bullet Lifesteal decreased from 20% to 18%.
• Vampiric Burst: Lifesteal reduced from 100% to 80%.
• Restorative Locket: Regeneration per stack reduced from 35 to 32.
• Superior Stamina: Now grants +75 Health, improving its utility in non-healing builds.

These adjustments aim to encourage thoughtful item choices and discourage over-reliance on healing for survivability.

Meta Implications

The Heal/Anti-Heal Rebalance introduces a notable shift in Deadlock’s meta:

• Sustain-heavy strategies will need to be more precise, as healing is less forgiving in prolonged fights.
• Anti-healing remains a strong counter but requires more deliberate use, with reduced overall impact.
• Teams must now balance their builds to account for decreased sustain and increased vulnerability to burst damage.

Item Changes: Weapon, Vitality, and Spirit Items

The 21/11/2024 Deadlock Update introduces significant adjustments to items across Weapon, Vitality, and Spirit categories. These changes aim to refine item balance, introduce new strategic opportunities, and enhance gameplay clarity.

Weapon Items

Weapon-focused items have seen adjustments to encourage diverse builds and balance damage output:

• Rapid Rounds:
  • Fire Rate increased from 10% to 11%, enhancing its utility for attack speed-focused heroes.
• Berserker:
  • Weapon Damage per stack increased from 5% to 6%, making it a stronger choice for damage-heavy builds.
• Soul Shredder Bullets:
  • Spirit Amplification reduced from 10% to 8% to tone down its scaling potential.
• Glass Cannon:
  • Now requires Slowing Bullets and grants its slow passive, adding utility to an otherwise high-risk damage item.
• Silencer:
  • Reworked to build up debuffs on enemies, silencing them for 2 seconds and reducing spirit damage output by 40% for 4 seconds. This effect cannot reapply for 12 seconds.
• New Item: Spellslinger Headshots:
  • Requires Soul Shredder Bullets.
  • Landing a headshot on enemy heroes increases Spirit Power by 3% for 12 seconds, with a cooldown of 1.5 seconds.
  • Stats: +12% Weapon Damage, +8% Spirit Amp, +18% Spirit Lifesteal, and +150 Health.

These changes enhance versatility and introduce new synergies, making weapon items more dynamic.

Vitality Items

Vitality items, which focus on survivability, have been adjusted to balance defensive utility:

• Melee Lifesteal:
  • Now grants +3% Bullet Resistance, adding a defensive edge to melee-focused builds.
• Reactive Barrier:
  • Bullet Shield health reduced from 400 to 350, slightly reducing its durability.
• Healbane:
  • Duration increased from 6 seconds to 7 seconds, extending its impact during fights.
• Debuff Remover:
  • Active buff duration increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.
  • Now heals for 10% of Max HP when purging a debuff.
• Superior Stamina:
  • Now grants +75 Health and increases wall jump count by 1, making it more versatile for mobility-focused heroes.

These tweaks encourage thoughtful item selection while reducing reliance on overly strong defensive items.

Spirit Items

Spirit items, designed to enhance ability scaling and sustain, have been adjusted to balance their offensive and utility potential:

• Decay:
  • Healing Reduction reduced from 70% to 55%, but its damage increased from 1% to 1.4%, providing better offensive trade-offs.
• Silence Glyph:
  • Reworked to release an aim-based projectile instead of a tracking one, improving its skill ceiling.
  • Cooldown reduced from 32 seconds to 24 seconds, allowing for more frequent usage.
• New Item: Spirit Snatch:
  • Requires Spirit Strike.
  • Melee attacks steal 12% Spirit Resist and 26 Spirit Power for 16 seconds (6-second cooldown).
  • Stats: +15% Melee Damage, +8% Spirit Resist, +125 Health, and +1 Sprint.
• New Item: Arcane Surge:
  • Requires Kinetic Dash.
  • After a successful Dash Jump, the next ability gains:
    • +20% Range
    • +20% Duration
    • +20 Spirit Power
  • Stats: +100 Health, +1 Stamina, and +15% Slow Resistance.

These changes encourage creative use of Spirit items, enhancing utility for ability-based heroes.

Meta Implications

These item adjustments will have a profound impact on the Deadlock meta:

• Weapon builds gain stronger offensive options with Spellslinger Headshots and buffed items like Berserker.
• Vitality items focus more on balanced survivability, with Debuff Remover and Superior Stamina offering utility beyond raw durability.
• Spirit items introduce new strategies with Spirit Snatch and Arcane Surge, rewarding skillful play and creative builds.

With these updates, Valve has ensured that itemisation remains a key component of strategic depth in Deadlock.

Heroes: Key Updates and Balancing Changes

The 21/11/2024 Deadlock Update brings significant changes to nearly every hero, addressing balance, fixing bugs, and introducing refinements to abilities. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the updates for each hero.

Abrams

• Base Regeneration: Increased from 1 to 1.5, improving Abrams’ sustainability in extended fights.
• Siphon Life:
  • Range now scales with Spirit Power (0.05).
  • Damage scaling with Spirit Power increased from 0.4 to 0.5, making ability-focused builds more rewarding.
• Seismic Impact: Drag-down collision improved for smoother interactions.

Bebop

• Exploding Uppercut (T2): Now applies its bonus damage to melee attacks, increasing versatility.
• Hook: Can now be cancelled by allies using the exit key (e.g., space bar), improving coordination.

Dynamo

• Kinetic Pulse: Adjusted to slide around geometry when it hits obstacles.
• Rejuvenating Aurora: Now allows reloading and melee attacks during its duration.
• Quantum Entanglement:
  • Pulling allies no longer interrupts their channels.
  • Visual indicator added for teleporting allies.
  • Ally range increased from 9m to 10m.
  • Cooldown increased from 15s to 16s; T3 cooldown reduction improved from -4s to -5s.

Grey Talon

• Bullet Damage: Increased from 24 to 25.
• Health Growth Per Boon: Increased from 27 to 29.
• Immobilizing Trap:
  • Now tethers enemies rather than rooting them.
  • Tether duration increased from 1.25s to 1.5s.
  • Radius increased from 6 to 6.2.
  • No longer applies a 50% slow for 1 second but instead slows by 30% immediately, lasting until 2 seconds after the tether ends.

Haze

• Smoke Bomb:
  • Cooldown reduced from 37s to 30s.
  • T1 changed to grant +6 Invis Sprint Speed.
  • T2 grants +15% Bullet Lifesteal for 8 seconds.
  • T3 phases Haze out for 0.5 seconds on cast, allowing her to avoid projectiles temporarily.
• Bullet Dance: Bonus damage adjusted to +6 Spirit Damage with 0.1 Spirit Scaling.

Infernus

• Afterburn: Buildup decay time is now 15% slower, maintaining pressure for longer durations.
• Concussive Combustion: Radius increased from 12m to 13m; T2 radius bonus reduced from +4m to +3m.

Ivy

• Bullet Damage: Increased from 5 to 5.2; growth reduced from 0.36 to 0.34.
• Stone Form: Drag-down collision improved; fixed vulnerability window after activation.
• Air Drop:
  • Flight controls refined for better responsiveness.
  • Duration reduced from 17s to 16s.
  • Cooldown increased from 85s to 90s.
  • Speed now scales with movement or sprint items when out of combat.
  • Amplifies sprint values by 1.5x.

Kelvin

• Seismic Impact, Death Slam, and Ground Strike: All now smash through Ice Path, improving synergy in icy terrains.

Lady Geist

• Essence Bomb: Self-damage Spirit scaling reduced from 2 to 1.8, making it less punishing.

Lash

• Ground Strike: Drag-down collision improved, enhancing accuracy in tight spaces.

McGinnis

• Bullet Velocity: Increased from 533 to 590, improving accuracy in ranged combat.
• Mini Turrets:
  • Base health increased from 75 to 150 but no longer scales with McGinnis’ stats.
  • Now gain +20 health per Boon.
  • Spirit Resist reduced from 70% to 30%.
  • Limited to taking at most 33% of their Max HP per second, ensuring a minimum survival time of 3 seconds.
  • Bullet velocity increased from 406 to 500.
• Fixed turrets causing McGinnis to lose sprint when destroyed.

Mirage

• Tornado: Speed reduced by 10%.
• Traveler: Cooldown increased from 130s to 145s; T2 cooldown reduction improved from -40s to -55s.

Mo & Krill

• Burrow: Now bypasses Spectral Wall, enhancing its utility.
• Combo: Health gain increased from 30 to 70, making it more rewarding.
• Sand Blast: Duration reduced from 3.5s to 3s; T3 slow reduced from 50% to 40%.

Paradox

• Kinetic Carbine: Fixed an issue where headshot effects (e.g., Headhunter) were not triggering.
• Paradoxical Swap: Min/max time increased by 0.2/0.3s to improve camera handling.
• Time Wall: Now deals 50 damage when traversed.

Seven

• Storm Cloud: Now causes slight levitation up and down in a cycle, enhancing its visual impact.
• Expand Time: Reduced from 2s to 1.5s, quickening its deployment.

Shiv

• Serrated Knives: Cooldown reduced from 19s to 16s; now capable of capturing souls.
• Slice and Dice: Base damage increased from 105 to 110; cooldown reduced from 16s to 15s.
• Killing Blow: Threshold increased from 20% to 22%; Full Rage Bonus Damage improved from 15% to 17%.

Vindicta

• Crow Familiar:
  • Now reduces Spirit Resistance by 6%.
  • T3 changed to reduce Spirit and Bullet Resistance by 12%.
• Stake: Radius increased from 8m to 9m; enemies are pulled 3m toward the centre, enhancing control.

Viscous

• Puddle Punch: Can now be parried; the puddle effect is blocked without stunning Viscous, adding counterplay.

Warden

• Fire Rate Spirit Scaling: Reduced from 0.3 to 0.25, toning down his damage output.
• Last Stand:
  • Cooldown increased from 138s to 140s.
  • Resistance during channel improved from 50% to 60%, making him sturdier in his ultimate.

Wraith

• Full Auto:
  • T2 no longer provides Spirit scaling (moved to T3).
  • T3 now adds Spirit scaling to compensate.
• Telekinesis: Causes the target to oscillate slightly, adding visual feedback.

Yamato

• Power Slash: Improved to hit enemies behind cover more reliably.
• Shadow Transformation:
  • No longer heals on cast but now restores 15% max HP on hero kills.
  • T3 duration bonus increased from +2s to +3s.

Conclusion

The 21/11/2024 Deadlock Update is a masterclass in balancing innovation and refinement. Valve has gone above and beyond to address player feedback, delivering a patch that revitalises the game’s core systems. From the sweeping matchmaking rework that ensures fairer, more engaging matches to the numerous hero tweaks that breathe new life into the meta, every detail of this update is crafted with precision.

The introduction of Hero-Specific MMR, the adjustments to sustain and anti-heal mechanics, and the fine-tuning of items create fresh opportunities for players to experiment and adapt. Meanwhile, quality-of-life changes like improved lane assignments, streamlined item management, and enhanced visuals make Deadlock more accessible and polished than ever.

For seasoned veterans, this patch offers the tools to hone strategies further, while newcomers can expect a fairer learning curve and more intuitive systems. With heroes rebalanced, items reworked, and gameplay mechanics fine-tuned, Deadlock continues to set the standard for competitive multiplayer gaming.

Jump into the action, try out the changes, and share your thoughts on this groundbreaking update. For all the latest news, strategies, and insights, stay tuned to SAVEGAME—your ultimate destination for everything Deadlock and beyond!