Start Here

1. Get Into the Game

Deadlock is currently in invite-only playtest on Steam. If you don't have access yet, ask a friend who plays — existing players can invite others. Once you're in, install it and run through the tutorial match. It's short and teaches the absolute basics: moving, shooting, and buying items.

2. Settings to Change First

• Turn on quick-cast if it's not default. You want abilities firing the instant you press the key, not waiting for a second click.
• Lower your mouse sensitivity if you're overshooting targets. Most new players run it too high. Start around 800 DPI with moderate in-game sensitivity and adjust from there.
• Enable the minimap ping sounds. Audio cues for pings and objectives will save your life.
• Set up your item shop hotkeys. You'll be buying mid-match while moving — fumbling through menus gets you killed. Learn the shop open key and the quick-buy slots.

3. Pick a Beginner Hero

Don't random. For your first games, pick someone forgiving:

• Abrams — tanky brawler, hard to kill, simple gameplan: run at people.
• Dynamo — great support, high win rate, Singularity wins fights almost by itself.
• Seven — strong carry, consistent damage, straightforward abilities.
• Wraith — solid all-rounder with an escape, good for learning positioning.

Browse all heroes → · See the current tier list →

Go to Your Lane

You'll spawn at your base and the game will auto-assign you to a lane — York (left), Broadway (middle), or Greenwich (right). Head to your assigned lane. If you'd rather be elsewhere, click the lane swap icon at the top of the screen to offer your lane to a teammate — if they accept, you'll swap positions. Most games run 2 heroes per lane. Don't wander the jungle yet.

Last-Hit Troopers, Collect Soul Orbs

Waves of troopers march down each lane and fight each other. When one dies, it drops a soul orb — that's your money. Shoot your own green orbs as often as possible, especially early in the game. If an enemy shoots your green orb before you collect it, those souls are denied — you lose them for good. And it works both ways: shoot their orange orbs to deny their souls too. Orb control wins lanes.

Pro tip: killing a trooper with a melee attack auto-secures its souls — no orb to contest. Melee the low-health ones.

Stay behind your troopers. They tank the Guardian's laser — you don't want to.

Spend Your Souls

Once you have 800+ souls, head to the shop right by your Guardian — there's one near each lane's starting area, so you don't have to go far. Buy your first items there. Don't sit on unspent souls — souls in your pocket do nothing. Only head back to your home base to buy if you're really hurt and need to heal anyway.

Safe first buys: a cheap Weapon item for damage, a Vitality item for health, and Extra Stamina for mobility. Check the item database for what each tier offers.

Poke the Enemy, Poke the Guardian

Start trading damage with enemy laners when they go for orbs. When your trooper wave is pushed up to their Guardian, help damage it — but let troopers go first so they eat the laser.

At 8:00 the teleporters unlock. You can now cross the map fast — use them to help teammates, not to wander.

Group Up for Walkers

Around now, teams start grouping for Walker fights. If your team pings a Walker, go help — don't keep farming alone. Walkers need the team, and killing one gives everyone an Extra Item Slot.

1. Keep one stamina pip banked. Always. That's your dodge, your escape, your life. Arriving at a fight with zero stamina is how you die.
2. Don't chase kills into the fog. If you can't see what's behind them, don't follow. It's a trap more often than it's a kill.
3. Look at the minimap every few seconds. It's showing you where everyone is. Glance at it like you'd glance at your mirrors while driving.
4. Buy items constantly. Every time you pass a shop with 800+ souls, stop and spend. A small item now beats a perfect item later.
5. It's okay to back off. Low health? No stamina? Enemy missing? Walk away. Dying sets you back minutes; retreating costs you seconds.