Deadlock Update Notes 26/09/2024: A Breakdown of Major Hero and Gameplay Changes

Intro

Valve’s Deadlock is an ever-evolving MOBA, with regular updates and patches bringing both gameplay balance and new content. The latest patch, dropped on 26th September 2024, delivers a substantial number of adjustments to heroes, items, maps, and gameplay. This guide is here to break down the patch in an easy-to-understand format, covering the big hero updates, item shop tweaks, map alterations, and general gameplay changes.

Anti-Cheat System: A New Step Towards Fair Play

One of the more entertaining and innovative features introduced in this Deadlock patch is the initial Anti-Cheat detection system. Valve is taking steps to address cheating in the game by implementing this system, though it is currently set to conservative detection levels. The current version is a work-in-progress, with a more extensive v2 Anti-Cheat system on the horizon.

How It Works

When a player is detected as cheating during a match, the system provides the opposing team with two choices:

1. Immediate Ban and End Match: The opponents can choose to ban the suspected cheater immediately, which will end the match. If the match is terminated this way, the results will not count for the other players, ensuring that the match does not affect rankings, statistics, or rewards.
2. Turn the Cheater Into a Frog: Alternatively, for a more humorous approach, the opposing team can decide to transform the cheating player into a frog for the remainder of the game. The cheater will be severely limited in their abilities while their team continues the match. After the game, the cheater will be banned, allowing the game to finish normally without interference from cheating.

This feature brings a level of fun and control to players dealing with cheaters, ensuring that the situation doesn’t spoil the entire match. It also gives a temporary solution while Valve continues to refine their anti-cheat detection.

Conservative Detection Levels

At this stage, the anti-cheat system is operating at conservative detection levels, meaning it is cautious in flagging suspicious activity to avoid false positives. Valve has stated that they will turn on the immediate banning of users a couple of days after the update rolls out, giving them time to monitor the system and ensure it functions as intended.

Future Improvements with v2 Anti-Cheat

Valve is working on an extensive v2 Anti-Cheat system, which will provide better detection and enforcement. This version will likely address more complex forms of cheating and improve the overall integrity of competitive matches. The current system is a step in the right direction, adding an engaging element of choice for opponents when dealing with cheaters, but it will be expanded upon in future updates.

Hero Changes: Buffs, Nerfs, and Reworks

Several heroes have undergone changes in this patch, with some getting much-needed buffs and others receiving nerfs to bring their power levels back in check. Below are the detailed changes to key heroes.

Abrams

Abrams, the tanky bruiser, received some balance tweaks to keep his durability in check while boosting his scaling abilities.

• Infernal Resilience: Reduced from 16% to 15%.
• Infernal Resilience T3: Reduced from 9% to 8%.
• Siphon Life: Spirit scaling increased from 0.2 to 0.3, allowing for better damage scaling.
• Shoulder Charge: Fixed cases where Abrams was unexpectedly 'slamming' into walls and stairs.

Bebop

Bebop, a hero known for his high utility and burst damage, saw changes aimed at reducing his hook range and scaling with his ultimate.

• Hook: Range reduced from 30m to 25m, making it harder to initiate from long distances.
• Hyper Beam: Duration spirit scaling reduced from 0.08 to 0.06.

Dynamo

Dynamo’s ability to control space with Singularity has been slightly reduced to curb his dominance in team fights.

• Singularity: Radius reduced from 8m to 7m.

Grey Talon

Grey Talon, a long-range sniper, saw several quality-of-life improvements and balance tweaks to his abilities.

• Arrow Cycle Time: Increased from 0.4s to 0.45s (overall DPS unchanged).
• Rain of Arrows: Can now be alternate-casted to remain near the ground for better control during skirmishes.
• Air Dash: Fixed an issue where dash distance was halved during Rain of Arrows.
• Guided Owl: Bonus spirit on death now has a 3-second buffer window, slight turn rate improvements, and radius increased from 12m to 13m.

Haze

Haze received a series of nerfs and bug fixes to make her roaming abilities and damage output more manageable in competitive play.

• Sleep Dagger: Hitbox reduced by 10%.
• Smoke Bomb: Fixed an issue where the refresher wasn’t working properly.
• Item Fixes: Tesla Bullets, Lucky Shot, and Mystic Shot now correctly proc on Haze.
• Bullet Dance:
  • Fixed visual issues, including line-of-sight accuracy.
  • Evasion reduced from 50% to 25%.
  • Fire rate reduced from 25% to 15%.
  • Bullets now interact properly with Time Wall.

Ivy

Ivy’s abilities have been enhanced to better deal with airborne threats and provide improved scaling on her Kudzu Bomb.

• Stone Form: Now works against airborne targets, giving her more versatility in team fights.
• Kudzu Bomb T3: Now grants +2m radius.
• Kudzu Bomb: Spirit power scaling increased from 0.6 to 0.7.
• Flight Animation: Fixed a bug where Ivy could circumvent vulnerability during the Take Flight animation.

Kelvin

Kelvin, known for his crowd control abilities, has seen reductions to his damage output and movement debuffs.

• Headshot Bonus Damage: Reduced by 20%.
• Bullet Damage Growth: Reduced from 1.2 to 0.9.
• Arctic Beam: Movement slow reduced from 70% to 50%.
• Ice Path: Now destroys breakable objects when moving through them.

Lady Geist

Lady Geist has received cooldown reductions across several key abilities, making her more consistent in fights.

• Life Drain: Cooldown reduced from 42s to 30s.
• Malice: Cooldown reduced from 6.25s to 6s, with T1 cooldown improvement from -2.75s to -3s.
• Sprint Speed: Increased from 1 to 1.5.
• Life Drain: Fixed an issue where it didn’t properly heal with amplifications like Soul Shredder and Malice stacks.

McGinnis

McGinnis received bug fixes to ensure smoother interactions with his Wall, Barrage, and parry mechanics.

• Wall and Barrage: Fixed a bug where looking up circumvented the minimum range.
• Parry: Can now be cast to cancel your ultimate.
• Spectral Wall: Fixed various issues with wall segments spawning incorrectly indoors.

Mo & Krill

Mo & Krill received a mix of buffs and nerfs, with slight reductions to crowd control durations and a boost to damage scaling.

• Combo:
  • Duration reduced from 2.75s to 2.5s.
  • Spirit scaling increased from 0.8 to 1.1.
  • Kill trigger now has a 3-second buffer window to gain credit.
• Sand Blast T1: Reduced from +1.5s to +1s.
• Sand Blast Range: Increased from 30m to 35m.
• Burrow:
  • Base speed increased from 3 to 4.
  • T3 speed reduced from +3 to +2.

Paradox

Paradox saw a minor adjustment to her Pulse Grenade, along with a fix for Time Wall interactions.

• Pulse Grenade T3: Now also grants +2% damage amplification.
• Time Wall: Fixed an issue where multiple walls weren’t dealing damage properly.

Pocket

Pocket’s Affliction ability was adjusted to respect line-of-sight rules, along with a slight reduction to Barrage scaling.

• Affliction: No longer goes through walls and now respects line-of-sight.
• Barrage T3: Reduced from +5% to +4%.

Seven

Seven received several adjustments to Static Charge, reducing its power and improving usability.

• Static Charge:
  • Stun duration reduced from 1.1s to 0.9s.
  • T3 stun duration reduced from 1.1s to 0.9s.
  • Radius reduced from 6m to 5m.
  • Can now be alternate-casted on self (without stunning the user).
  • Now respects line-of-sight.
• Lightning Ball T3: Now grants +1m radius.

Shiv

Shiv’s abilities were tweaked to reduce his overall burst potential, particularly with his Killing Blow mechanic.

• Slice and Dice T2: Reduced from +85 damage to +75.
• Killing Blow:
  • Rage buildup per spirit damage reduced from 0.02 to 0.013.
  • Rage drain rate increased from 0.3 to 0.35.
  • Full Rage Bonus Damage reduced from 20% to 15%.
  • Killing Blow T2 increased from 5% to 10%.

Vindicta

Vindicta received changes to her gun cycle time, making her attacks slower but keeping her overall DPS unchanged.

• Gun Cycle Time: Increased from 0.19s to 0.22s.
• Stake: Distance enemies can move increased from 6m to 8m.
• Max Falloff: Reduced from 58m to 45m.
• Flight: Fixed a bug where flight ended prematurely when touching the ground.
• Assassinate:
  • Base damage reduced from 160 to 140.
  • Zoom level slightly reduced.
• Flight Duration: Spirit scaling reduced from 0.2 to 0.15.

Viscous

Viscous saw tweaks to his Puddle Punch and Splatter, improving responsiveness and mobility.

• The Cube: Cleanse is now part of T2.
• Puddle Punch: Enemy warning time increased from 0.35s to 0.45s.
• Bullet Damage: Reduced from 13 to 12.
• Goo Ball: Can now use down dash during the ability.
• Phantom Strike: Fixed issues with positioning when used with Goo Ball.
• Splatter: Post-cast delay reduced from 0.5s to 0.2s.

Warden

Warden’s crowd control abilities have been improved, with better escape mechanics and scaling on Last Stand.

• Binding Word: Escape range and escape time increased by 15%.
• Last Stand: Spirit scaling increased from 0.9 to 1.2.

Yamato

Yamato’s scaling and sustain have been reduced, making her less dominant in extended fights.

• Bullet Damage Growth: Reduced from 0.5 to 0.45.
• Crimson Slash: Fire rate slow reduced from 30% to 20%.
• Flying Strike: Fixed various issues with pathing.
• Shadow Transformation:
  • Duration reduced from 5s to 4.5s.
  • T3 duration increased from +1.5s to +2s.
  • No longer provides unlimited ammo.

Mirage: A Crowd Control and Debuff Specialist?

Mirage is expected to be a crowd control and debuff-oriented Deadlock hero. His abilities, which include AOE disruption and bullet evasion, could make her a valuable support hero or utility pick, capable of disrupting enemy formations.

Abilities

• Tornado: Creates a whirlwind that knocks up enemies nearby, displacing their positioning and causing confusion.
• Fire Beetles: Releases beetles that deal lifesteal damage over time to enemy heroes.
• Wind Rush: Increases movement speed and grants bullet evasion, allowing Mirage to escape or reposition quickly.
• Ultimate (Tether): Links multiple enemy heroes together, sharing the damage dealt to one target among the group.

Potential Strengths

Mirage may be a nightmare for tightly grouped enemy teams. His AOE abilities, like Tornado and Fire Beetles, could make his particularly effective against heroes such as Ivy, who rely on mobility and quick attacks. Wind Rush may allow her to dodge heavy projectiles from heroes like Warden or Grey Talon, making her hard to pin down.

Potential Weaknesses

Mirage may struggle in 1v1 duels against high-burst heroes like Yamato or Haze, who could close the gap before she has a chance to cast her debuffs. Without a significant heal or sustain mechanic, he might be vulnerable if he's isolated from his team.

Impact on the Arena

With Mirage’s release, teams may prioritize AOE and crowd control tactics to maximize her disruptive abilities. His Tether could be game-changing in team fights, potentially turning the tide by forcing enemy teams to spread out and play more cautiously.

Item Shop Changes

Weapon Items

Buffed Items:

• Hollow Point Ward:
  • Before: +85 Spirit Shield Health.
  • Now: +95 Spirit Shield Health.
  • Impact: This buff increases the survivability of heroes who rely on both weapon damage and spirit shield health.
• Berserker:
  • Before: Damage required per stack was 110.
  • Now: Reduced to 100.
  • Impact: This makes it easier to build up stacks, allowing faster damage boosts during combat.
• Mystic Shot:
  • Before: Damage spirit scaling was 0.6.
  • Now: Increased to 0.8.
  • Impact: Heroes that rely on spirit scaling for additional damage now benefit from increased power, making this item a stronger choice for hybrid builds.
• Titanic Magazine:
  • Before: +100% Ammo.
  • Now: Increased to +120% Ammo.
  • Impact: This allows heroes to carry more ammunition, making it a better option for long-range fighters who need to sustain their damage output.
• Pristine Emblem:
  • Before: No bullet velocity bonus.
  • Now: Grants +35% Bullet Velocity.
  • Impact: The addition of bullet velocity improves hit accuracy at range, making this a stronger pick for snipers.

Nerfed Items:

• Monster Rounds:
  • Before: +35% Bullet Resist vs. NPCs.
  • Now: Reduced to +30%.
  • Impact: Slightly reduces its effectiveness against NPCs but remains a solid pick for PvE situations.
• High-Velocity Mag:
  • Before: +30% Bullet Velocity.
  • Now: Reduced to +25%.
  • Impact: This nerf reduces the speed at which bullets travel, slightly impacting accuracy and effectiveness over long distances.
• Headshot Booster:
  • Before: +5% Fire Rate.
  • Now: Reduced to +4% Fire Rate.
  • Impact: Reduces overall attack speed, making headshot-focused builds a bit less effective in fast engagements.
• Kinetic Dash:
  • Before: +25% Fire Rate.
  • Now: Reduced to +20% Fire Rate.
  • Max Duration: Reduced from 8 seconds to 7 seconds.
  • Impact: Kinetic Dash's fire rate has been reduced, along with the duration, making it a weaker option for sustained engagements.
• Intensifying Magazine:
  • Before: +75% Max Weapon Damage.
  • Now: Reduced to +60%.
  • Impact: This significant reduction limits the damage spikes heroes can achieve when building up their weapon damage, encouraging more balanced loadouts.
• Ricochet:
  • Before: +12% Fire Rate.
  • Now: Reduced to +10% Fire Rate.
  • Impact: This nerf reduces the item’s ability to boost attack speed, particularly impacting heroes who depend on fast-firing builds.

Vitality Items

Buffed Items:

• Bullet Armor:
  • Before: +20% Bullet Resist.
  • Now: Increased to +25%.
  • Impact: This buff makes Bullet Armor a stronger pick for heroes facing high projectile damage, offering better survivability in firefights.
• Combat Barrier:
  • Before: +300 Bullet Shield.
  • Now: Increased to +325 Bullet Shield.
  • Impact: The extra shield offers more protection, making it harder for enemies to break through defenses when the shield is active.
• Fortitude:
  • Before: +275 Bonus Health.
  • Now: Increased to +300 Bonus Health.
  • Impact: This health increase provides additional survivability, making it a stronger pick for tanky heroes who need to soak up damage.
• Return Fire:
  • Before: +7 Spirit Power, +25% Bullet Resistance.
  • Now: +9 Spirit Power, +25% Bullet Resistance.
  • Impact: The increase in spirit power makes this item more versatile for heroes who rely on abilities and defense, although the bullet damage return was reduced slightly.

Nerfed Items:

• Melee Lifesteal:
  • Before: +13% Melee Damage.
  • Now: Reduced to +12%.
  • Impact: This minor reduction in melee damage slightly lowers the overall damage output of heroes relying on this item in close combat.
• Combat Barrier:
  • Before: +8% Fire Rate while shielded.
  • Now: Reduced to +6%.
  • Weapon Damage: Reduced from +28% to +25%.
  • Impact: Both the fire rate and weapon damage boosts while shielded have been reduced, making this item less effective in terms of offensive capabilities while shielded.
• Veil Walker:
  • Before: Granted +20% Fire Rate.
  • Now: This bonus has been removed entirely.
  • Impact: Heroes using Veil Walker will lose the fire rate benefit, making this item less attractive for offensive builds.
• Siphon Bullets:
  • Before: +28% Weapon Damage.
  • Now: No longer grants weapon damage but instead grants +18% Bullet Resistance.
  • Impact: This item has been shifted to provide defensive benefits instead of offensive ones, now fitting better within vitality-focused builds.

Spirit Items

Buffed Items:

• Mystic Reach:
  • Before: +16% Ability Range.
  • Now: Increased to +18% Ability Range.
  • Bullet Resist: Now provides +6% Bullet Resist instead of Spirit Resist.
  • Impact: The additional range improves ability casting, while the shift from spirit resist to bullet resist makes this item more useful against projectile-heavy enemies.
• Withering Whip:
  • Before: +4 Spirit Power.
  • Now: Increased to +6 Spirit Power, along with additional movement benefits.
  • Impact: This item provides more offensive power, and the increased cast range makes it a stronger option for ability-focused heroes.
• Torment Pulse:
  • Before: +140 Health Bonus.
  • Now: Increased to +160 Health Bonus.
  • Spirit Power Damage Scaling: Increased from 0.25 to 0.33.
  • Impact: The extra health and higher scaling make Torment Pulse a more attractive option for spirit-based damage dealers.

Nerfed Items:

• Ammo Scavenger:
  • Before: +15% Ammo, +60 Bonus Health.
  • Now: Reduced to +10% Ammo and +40 Bonus Health.
  • Impact: This nerf reduces both ammo and health, making it a less powerful option for heroes who rely on ammo-heavy builds.
• Spirit Strike:
  • Before: Granted +0.8 Health Regen.
  • Now: Health Regen has been removed.
  • Impact: The removal of health regen reduces the overall sustain of heroes using this item in fights.
• Decay:
  • Before: Cooldown was 32 seconds.
  • Now: Increased to 45 seconds.
  • Cast Range Scaling: Reduced from 0.2 to 0.16.
  • Impact: This nerf significantly increases the cooldown, making it less spammable, while also reducing its range, limiting its effectiveness.

Map Changes

The Deadlock map underwent several important adjustments to improve balance and the overall flow of team fights and lane management. These tweaks affect lane positioning, objective contesting, and guardian dynamics.

Side Lane Adjustments

• Side Lanes are Now Further Apart from Middle Lanes: This change increases the distance between the side lanes and the middle lane, offering more space for players to move between lanes and engage in skirmishes. The increased separation may encourage more isolated 1v1 or 2v2 engagements, as well as creating opportunities for surprise rotations.

Lane Guardians

• Guardian Damage Against Troopers: Guardian damage against troopers has been increased by reducing the Trooper Damage Reduction from 35% to 28%, making it easier for Guardians to clear out waves and forcing teams to better manage their minion waves.
• Trooper Share Radius: The share radius for troopers has been reduced, decreasing the amount of souls gained when allies are far from the orb. The radius from Allied Hero to Allied Hero has been reduced from 50m to 40m, and the Orb to Allied Hero share radius has dropped from 40m to 35m. This requires players to position more strategically to maximize soul gain.
• Troopers and Base Guardians: Troopers no longer give half-bounty when the base guardians for that lane are destroyed. This change pushes players to put more effort into earning bounty from troopers, as there will be no bonus advantage when base guardians are taken down.
• Mid-Boss Buff: The mid-boss now provides an additional team-wide buff, increasing movement speed by 15% for 2 minutes after being defeated. This bonus encourages more aggressive engagements around the mid-boss spawn, as it can now significantly affect map control and rotations.

Teleporter Adjustment

• Teleporter Delay Reduced: Teleporter delay has been reduced from 5 seconds to 4 seconds, allowing faster repositioning across the map. This change encourages more frequent use of teleporters during engagements, especially during crucial moments where time-sensitive rotations can swing the outcome of a team fight.

Guardian Damage Buff

• Guardians Deal 10% More Damage to Players: This change makes contesting guardians riskier, encouraging teams to plan their attacks more carefully and reducing the tendency to dive for objectives without strategic consideration.

Gameplay Changes

The Deadlock patch also brings several gameplay improvements designed to balance resource collection, team coordination, and overall game pacing. Below are the key changes affecting general gameplay:

First Blood Bounty

• First Blood Bonus: A new First Blood bonus bounty has been added, granting an extra 150 souls to the first kill each player secures. This bonus increases the reward for early-game aggression and incentivizes players to play more aggressively at the start to earn an early item advantage.

Soul Generator

• Respawn Area Soul Generator: A Soul Generator has been added to the respawn area, beginning to spawn orbs at 3 minutes into the game. Each orb is worth 10 souls when shot. This generator is meant to help players make those final soul purchases when they are close to affording an important item, providing a more reliable income when behind or respawning.

Revised Lane Setup

• Lane Setup is Now 1-2-2-1: The standardized lane setup with one hero in the top lane, two in the mid lane, two in the bottom lane, and one jungler has been reintroduced. This setup should lead to more predictable and balanced laning phases, allowing teams to plan better hero assignments for each lane.

Trooper and Guardian Changes

• Trooper Damage Sharing Radius: The trooper’s sharing radius has been reduced, making it harder to earn souls from a distance. This encourages more active positioning and teamwork to secure trooper souls.
• Trooper Damage Reduction from Guardians: Trooper damage reduction from guardians has been reduced, meaning troopers die faster to guardians, allowing the guardians to clear minions more effectively and influencing lane pressure.

Gameplay Pacing Adjustments

• Midgame Respawn Time Increased: Respawn time has been extended for the midgame phase, now reaching 50 seconds at the 20-minute mark, up from 40 seconds. This change makes deaths in the midgame more punishing, putting more emphasis on team coordination and survival.
• Killer-to-Assist Bounty Ratio Reduced: The ratio between kills and assists has been tweaked to reward assists more, reducing the Killer to Assist Bounty Ratio from 2.0 to 1.7. This makes teamwork and contributing to kills more rewarding.

Zipline Boost Cooldown

• Zipline Boost Starts on Cooldown Again: This change prevents players from immediately using the zipline boost after respawn, requiring more strategic planning around its usage.

Fire Rate Slow Stacking

• Fire Rate Slows Stack Diminishingly: Fire rate slows now stack diminishingly, meaning the more fire rate reductions a player applies, the less effective each subsequent reduction becomes. This adjustment brings more balance to builds that rely heavily on slowing fire rates.

Orbs and Creep Sharing

• Creep Sharing and Denying Changes: The patch reverts a previous change regarding creep sharing duplication, going back to an earlier mechanic where creeps are shared normally. Additionally, orbs are now slightly smaller for the enemy trying to deny them, making denial more skill-based.
• Rejuv Bonus Creep HP: Increased from 50% to 70%, allowing rejuv-enchanted creeps to survive longer, offering better lane pushing potential.

Rejuv Bonus for Dead Players

• Rejuv Bonus on Respawn: The rejuv bonus is no longer consumed for dead players, meaning they will carry the bonus into their next life. This helps players continue to push after respawning without losing momentum.

Sinner's Sacrifice

• Sinner's Sacrifice Bonus: The death of a Sinner's Sacrifice now grants a permanent golden statue bonus when killed. Additionally, the sacrifice now properly shares the bounty with nearby allies, providing a more team-focused reward for completing the objective.

Latency Fixes

• Improved Latency-Related Calculations: Certain calculations related to latency have been improved, making orb denies and interactions more balanced for both parties in high-latency situations. The enemy trying to deny an orb now sees the orb as slightly smaller, increasing the skill required to deny effectively.

Sandbox and Miscellaneous Changes

The sandbox mode received several adjustments and new features to improve the testing and training experience for players.

Sandbox Mode Additions

• Rejuv Drop in Sandbox Mode: A new rejuv drop has been added to the sandbox mode, allowing players to experiment with rejuv effects in a loop to better understand how it affects gameplay.
• Infinite Ammo Option: An option to enable No Reload mode in the sandbox has been added, giving players infinite ammo to practice without interruptions caused by reloading.
• Added HUD Indicator for Passive Cooldowns: A HUD indicator now tracks when passive cooldown items (such as Headshot Booster, Medic Bullets, etc.) are 1 second away from being ready, allowing players to plan their abilities and items more effectively.

Conclusion

The Deadlock patch from 26th September 2024 brings a host of changes aimed at balancing the game’s heroes, improving map flow, and adjusting gameplay mechanics. With significant updates to heroes like Abrams, Bebop, Dynamo, Haze, and the complete rework of Mirage, players will need to adapt their strategies to stay competitive. Stay tuned for future patches as Valve continues to refine the Deadlock experience!