Getting Started with Deadlock

Deadlock is a third-person shooter where two teams of six fight across four lanes, farm souls, buy items, and destroy the enemy Patron to win. If you’ve played MOBAs or hero shooters before, some of this will feel familiar — but Deadlock has its own rhythm.

This guide covers the fundamentals you need to go from confused to competent.

The Map

The map has four parallel lanes, each with a series of objectives:

• Walkers — slow-moving units that push down the lane. Think of them as your frontline.
• Guardians — defensive structures that protect each lane. Destroy the enemy’s guardians to advance.
• Shrines — mid-map objectives that grant team-wide buffs.
• The Patron — the final objective in each base. Destroy it to win.

Between the lanes there’s a network of zip lines and underground tunnels that let you rotate quickly. Learning when to stay in lane and when to rotate is one of the most important skills in the game.

Souls — The Economy

Souls are the only currency in Deadlock. You earn them by:

• Last-hitting creeps — the most reliable and important source early on
• Killing heroes — big payouts, but risky
• Securing objectives — guardians and shrines give team-wide souls
• Passive income — a small trickle that keeps you from falling too far behind

The item shop has four categories:

Category	What it does
Weapon	Increases your gun damage and fire rate
Vitality	Gives health, shields, and sustain
Spirit	Boosts your ability damage and cooldowns
Flex	Utility items — movement, vision, crowd control

You don’t need to memorize every item right away. Start with the recommended builds for your hero and experiment from there.

The Laning Phase

The first 10 minutes of every match are spent in lane. Your goals are simple:

1. Farm souls by last-hitting creeps
2. Deny the enemy farm by pressuring them with damage
3. Don’t die — deaths in lane are punishing because you lose souls and miss farm

A common beginner mistake is focusing too much on fighting and not enough on farming. A player with great farm and zero kills will almost always be stronger than a player with a few kills but terrible farm.

Last-Hitting

Creeps have a health bar. When it gets low, shoot them to get the last hit and collect the soul orbs. If the enemy gets the last hit, they get the souls instead.

Some tips:

• Watch the creep health bars — don’t just spray into the wave
• Use your abilities to secure multiple last hits at once
• If you’re being zoned out, try to at least stay in soul range to collect passive souls

Trading

Trading means exchanging damage with your lane opponent. Good trades happen when:

• You deal more damage than you take
• The enemy is trying to last-hit (they’re distracted)
• You have a health or ability advantage

Bad trades happen when you take a fight for no reason and lose health you can’t afford to lose.

After Laning

Around the 10-minute mark, guardians start falling and the map opens up. This is when you should:

• Group with your team for objective fights
• Farm the jungle camps between fights for extra souls
• Push lanes that are unattended to create map pressure

The mid-game is chaotic. Fights happen all over the map. The key is to always be doing something productive — farming, pushing, or taking objectives. Standing around waiting for a fight is the worst thing you can do.

Hero Roles

Every hero in Deadlock can be played in different ways depending on your build, but they generally fall into a few categories:

• Carries — scale hard with items, deal massive damage late game, need farm priority
• Supports — enable their team with utility, healing, or crowd control
• Initiators — start fights with strong engagement tools
• Flex — can fill multiple roles depending on the game

Don’t worry too much about roles when you’re starting out. Pick a hero whose abilities look fun and learn the fundamentals with them.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Chasing kills across the map. If someone is running away and you have to leave your lane to chase, it’s almost never worth it. The farm you miss is worth more than the kill.

Ignoring the minimap. Glance at it every few seconds. If enemies are missing from their lanes, they might be coming for you.

Buying random items. Stick to recommended builds until you understand why specific items are good in specific situations.

Fighting without a reason. Every fight should be for an objective — a guardian, a shrine, map control. Random fights in the middle of nowhere just waste time.

Not using zip lines. Zip lines are fast and safe. Use them to rotate between lanes and get to fights quickly.

What to Focus On First

If you’re brand new, focus on these three things and ignore everything else:

1. Last-hitting — practice getting every creep kill you can
2. Not dying — play safe, back off when you’re low
3. Buying items — spend your souls as soon as you can afford upgrades

Everything else — advanced mechanics, hero matchups, team compositions — will come with time. Get the basics down and you’ll improve faster than you expect.