DEADLORE
How to start in Deadlock: lanes, souls, items, movement and first heroes. A clear beginner guide with tips for your first matches.
Deadlock is Valve's competitive shooter that blends MOBA mechanics with third-person gunplay. Two teams of six fight across four lanes: the team that destroys the enemy base Patron wins.
Unlike classic MOBAs, aim and movement matter just as much as itemization: dashes, slides, zipline rides and jumps decide fights as often as item builds do.
Souls are the core resource. They come from creeps, players and objectives. In lane, secure creep last hits and shoot the soul orbs they release — enemies can deny them with a well-timed shot.
Do not stand in the open: use cover and poke from behind crates. If you are being pushed in, fall back to your Guardian — it deals heavy damage to divers.
Spend souls on items at the base or at vending machines around the map. The shop has three branches: Weapon boosts your gunfire, Vitality adds health and defenses, Spirit scales your abilities.
As a beginner, keep it balanced: a couple of weapon items, some vitality, and spirit items that fit your hero. Ready-made builds for every hero live in our builds section — both stat-based and top community builds.
Play with your team: after the laning phase, do not roam alone — dying feeds the enemy a lot of souls.
Learn movement tech: dash-jumps, slides and ziplines save seconds, and seconds in Deadlock are lives.
Watch the minimap and listen: missed ganks are the most common beginner death.
Stick to 2–3 heroes until you feel confident. Our live tier list will tell you who is strong right now.