Beginner's Deadlock Guide

Deadlock is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) and stepping into a new MOBA can be an overwhelming experience for your first game. From selecting your heroes, to figuring out your role on the team, there's a steep learning curve. In this guide we'll break down what you need to know that will help you play to your best.

What is a MOBA?

In a MOBA, two teams of players face off on a map, with the goal of destroying the enemy's base, while defending their own. In Deadlock, this is known as the Patron. You must protect your Patron, while breaking through the enemy defenses and destroying their Patron.

Each player takes control of a unique Hero with specific abilities. Heroes are shared between teams and there can only be unique heroes in a match at once. Players typically play in specific lanes, and there are different ideas of roles for each hero:

Damage: A hero that can deal lots of damage either in solo or team fights.
Tank: A hero that has a high health pool or lots of defensive stats.
Support: A hero that boosts the stats or abilities of teammates, or heals others.

Deadlock is somewhat different in the way heroes level up and choose their next abilities. By killing enemy NPC units, commonly referred to as Creeps, you gain Souls. When you gain a certain number of Souls your character levels up giving you the option to choose your next ability. With these Souls, you can also purchase items from the Shop. Items help increase your stats making you more powerful as the game progresses.

Success in a MOBA isn't just about how well you play your hero - it's about the strategy behind who you pick and how you adapt during the game.

Choosing the Right Hero

One of the most exciting parts of playing a MOBA is selecting your hero. But choosing the right one isn’t just about picking your favourite or the coolest looking character—it’s about picking the hero that fits the game’s situation, counters your opponents, and works well with your team. Let’s break down how to make smart decisions when it comes to choosing your hero.

Each Hero has four innate abilities. 1, 2, and 3 are your basic attacks, with 4 being your ultimate ability. The Ultimate ability is more powerful and may have a longer cooldown, so you'll need to use this wisely.

There are three types of items: Weapon, Vitality, Spirit. Each Hero has a related category that they prefer, but not entirely limited to that category. You can adapt your Hero depending on the items you buy which can change the way you play them between different matches. More on items in the next section.

When starting out, Deadlock has an indicator on the Hero's portrait to show that the Hero is a good selection for beginners. Early in your games, you may want to choose from those Heroes to get familiar with the gameplay loop.

By keeping these points in mind, you’ll improve your ability to choose the right hero for the situation. Whether you’re balancing your team, counter-picking the enemy, or sticking to a hero you know well, choosing the right hero is the first step toward success in a MOBA game. Check out the Deadlock Heroes to learn more about a hero and be sure to follow a guide so that you can learn to play them well.

Choosing the Right Items

There is strategy in choosing which items to buy and when, which is constrained by your Hero having a limited number of inventory slots available. Each Hero has four slots per category type of item, plus an additional four slots called Flex Slots, that unlock as your teem meets goals within the match. This brings the total number of items that you can hold in your inventory to 16. All items take up a single inventory slot. Items can also be upgraded to better versions, or purchased directly. When upgrading an item, it replaces the previous version of the item in the same slot.

Most items that you purchase are Passive items. These items will provide you with increase bonus stats of different categories such as Increased Weapon Damage, Bullet or Spirit Shields, Increased Health Regen, and even more Stamina Bars and Movement Speed. Certain items include an Active ability, which can be cast in addition of your 1 through 4 abilities.

Game Goals

Working backwards, the primary goal of a Deadlock match is to destroy the enemy's Patron. This is a floating entity that lives in the enemy's base. Before reaching the Patron you must destroy a number of buildings in order to deal any damage to the Patron, otherwise it remains invulnerable. Inside the enemy base there are two buildings called Shrines that are providing the Patron with a shield. These Shrines must be destroyed in order to bring the shield down. Each of the four lanes also has three Towers and a Guardian.

The Patron has two stages. The first stage is the Patron's defensive stage, where it will fly around the enemy base, target and deal damage to enemy heroes and creeps with a beam. After reducing the Patron's health to zero, the Patron will transform and start the second stage to a Weakened Patron. This transformation takes roughly 10 seconds before the Patron can receive damage again. The game is over when the Weakened Patron's health gets to zero.

Game Loop

The gameplay loop of a MOBA is quite simple. In your lane, kill creeps to gain Souls, purchase items to push back enemy Heroes, and destroy towers leading up to the enemy base. Gameplay is often broken down into three phases:

Early Game (Laning Phase)

The early game is when players focus on laning — farming, positioning, and trading in their respective lanes. During this phase, your primary goals are to:

Farm for Souls: Last-hitting is crucial during the laning phase. You earn Souls by delivering the killing blow to enemy minions, destroying the floating Souls, or neutral monsters, and experience (XP) to level up your hero. Souls are used to buy items that make your hero stronger, while experience helps you unlock and improve your abilities.
Harass and Trade: You’ll also be engaging in small skirmishes with the enemy hero in your lane. This is called trading—you deal damage to them while trying to avoid taking damage yourself. Harassing the enemy can force them to play defensively, giving you an advantage in farming.
Deny the Enemy: You can also deny your own minions' floating Souls (deliberately shooting the Soul before the enemy does) to prevent your opponent from gaining those extra Souls.
Objective Control: Early objectives like the Soul Urn, which spawns at the ten minute marker, become important. Securing these objectives gives your team an advantage.

Key Focus: During the early game, your aim is to farm efficiently, win your lane (or at least not lose it), and set yourself up for the mid-game. Securing a Soul lead during this phase is critical to how powerful your hero becomes later.

Mid Game (Roaming and Objectives)

The mid-game begins once the laning phase starts to wind down—usually when towers start falling and players begin roaming around the map more freely. Here’s what happens during the mid-game:

Roaming and Ganking: Heroes will begin to roam from their lanes to help other lanes. If you’ve won your lane, you’ll likely leave it and try to gank other lanes, helping your teammates get kills and pushing your team’s advantage.
Team Fights: As players become stronger and start roaming, small fights—called skirmishes—begin to break out across the map. Winning these fights can snowball your team into an advantageous position. These skirmishes may escalate into full-blown team fights, where all six players on each team clash in a battle for objectives or territory.
Tower Sieging: Taking down towers (or turrets) is crucial. These structures protect the enemy's base and give your team Souls and map control when destroyed. During the mid-game, your team will likely focus on grouping up to siege (attack) enemy towers.
Contesting Objectives: Key objectives start to become more critical during the mid-game. Contesting and securing the Soul Urn or the Rejuvenator buff is a huge part of the mid-game strategy.

Key Focus: In the mid-game, your goal is to control the map, secure objectives, and take down enemy towers. You want to use any lead you gained in the early game to start applying pressure and winning team fights.

Late Game (Team Fights and Sieging the Base)

The late game is when everyone is reaching their full potential in terms of items and abilities. Decisions here have a bigger impact, and a single mistake can cost you the game.

Team Fights Become Critical: At this stage, team fights often decide the outcome of the match. Full 6v6 fights break out over key objectives or to push into the enemy base. Positioning is vital—carries (heroes who deal the most damage) need to stay protected, while tanks and initiators (heroes who start fights) engage at the right moment. Winning a big team fight might allow you to destroy enemy towers or even the Patron.
Split Pushing: Some heroes excel at split pushing, where they push a lane by themselves while the rest of the team distracts the enemy in another part of the map. This forces the enemy to either fight with fewer players or send someone back to defend, giving your team an advantage.
Defending the Base: In the late game, defending your base becomes a top priority. If the enemy starts to siege your towers, you'll need to decide whether to engage in a team fight or play more defensively to protect your core structures.
Key Focus: In the late game, it’s all about positioning, decision-making, and execution in team fights. Winning a big fight gives your team the opportunity to push into the enemy base and close out the game.

Key Focus: In the late game, it’s all about positioning, decision-making, and execution in team fights. Winning a big fight gives your team the opportunity to push into the enemy base and close out the game.

The key to mastering Deadlock is learning to adapt throughout each phase. Each game will play out differently depending on the heroes picked, the plays made, and the overall flow of the match. As you gain experience, you’ll better understand how to navigate each phase and carry your team to victory.

Check out detailed hero guides and builds to enhance your skills even further, and keep experimenting in your games.