Complete guide to Deadlock’s October 24 update with six new heroes, balance changes, and strategic insights
Major Update Overview
Deadlock’s latest October 24 patch represents one of the most substantial updates since the game entered alpha testing, introducing transformative changes that will reshape player strategies and gameplay dynamics. This comprehensive patch delivers six experimental heroes alongside a specialized testing environment called Hero Labs, providing players with early access to characters still in active development.
Valve continues their aggressive update schedule for Deadlock, following the precedent set by October 10 and September 26 patches that similarly introduced sweeping modifications. The development team maintains rapid iteration cycles as the game progresses toward its official release, demonstrating their commitment to refining core mechanics based on player feedback and internal testing data.
Hero Labs serves as the exclusive access point for the six new characters, functioning as both a matchmaking mode and testing ground where players can experiment with heroes in their earliest development phases. This innovative approach allows Valve to gather valuable gameplay data while providing dedicated players with exclusive early access to upcoming content.
Strategic Insight: Players should approach Hero Labs with flexibility, as these experimental heroes may undergo significant changes between testing sessions. Focus on understanding core mechanics rather than mastering specific combinations, since abilities and even hero names remain temporary during this development phase.
Hero Labs targets characters in early development cycles with frequent adjustments expected
Testing hours will initially be limited to ensure optimal queue times and match quality
Access requires 50 completed games, ensuring testers have fundamental game knowledge
Priority system guarantees players who miss new hero selection get preference in subsequent matches
Hero Balance Changes
The October 24 update implements extensive hero balancing across multiple character archetypes, addressing performance outliers and refining ability interactions. These changes demonstrate Valve’s data-driven approach to game balance, with adjustments targeting both statistical performance and gameplay feel.
Common Pitfall: Many players overlook how base stat changes interact with scaling mechanics. A reduction in base damage combined with improved scaling can completely alter a hero’s power curve, requiring adaptation in itemization and playstyle timing.
Melee attack rate reduced by 15% (time between attacks)
Gun falloff damage starts at 20m instead of 22m
Fixed some cases where Shoulder Charge would do a 180/360 on spell cast
Fixed Shoulder Charge sliding against wall surfaces incorrectly
Fixed Seismic Impact sometimes getting stuck on objects
Bullet damage growth increased from 0.29 to 0.33
No longer gains 1% Bullet Resist per boon
Now gains 1% Spirit Resist per boon
Sticky Bomb now loses 20% of your stacks on death (rounds up)
Hook now returns troopers 75% faster than normal
Base regen increased from 2 to 2.5
Gun spirit scaling increased from 0.1 to 0.13
Movespeed now scales with Spirit Power again
Rain of Arrows strafe speed with stamina increased by 30%
Afterburn T1 reduced from 30% to 25%
Base bullet damage increased from 4.5 to 5
Bullet damage growth reduced from 0.39 to 0.36
Air Drop slow reduced from 35% to 30%
Arctic Beam slow reduced from 50% to 40%
Frost Grenade T2 heal reduced from 145 to 125
Fixed Frozen Shelter not freezing weakened patron
Malice slow reduced from 20% to 15%
Malice debuff duration reduced from 13s to 9s
Malice Damage Amp reduced from 15% to 8%
Malice T2 now also increases damage amp by 7%
Malice no longer causes you to un-zoom on cast
Gun spin decay rate improved from 0.65 to 0.25
Mini Turrets cooldown reduced from 24s to 18s
Mini Turrets spirit resist increased from 60% to 80%
Spectral Wall slow reduced from 25% to 20%
Spectral Wall T1 damage amp reduced from 25% to 15%
Heavy Barrage minimum range increased from 6m to 7m
Heavy Barrage cooldown increased from 106s to 140s
Heavy Barrage T2 cooldown improved from -47s to -50s
Heavy Barrage T1 slow reduced from 35% to 30%
Fire Scarabs T3 max health steal increased from +70 to +80
Djinn’s Mark T3 cooldown between multipliers improved from -0.5s to -0.75s
Traveler Fire Rate increased from 20% to 30%
Traveler T2 cooldown reduction improved from -30s to -40s
Traveler T3 now grants Unstoppable for 3s on arrival
Now has 20% Headshot Crit reduction
Burrow bullet and spirit resist now persist while spinning out of the burrow
Pulse Grenade pulses are now expressed as a duration rather than a fixed pulse count (works with Duration Extender)
Pulse Grenade T1 changed from +1 Pulse to +0.8s Duration
Pulse Grenade T2 improved from -7.5s to -8s
Kinetic Carbine T2 improved from -9.5s Cooldown to -10s
Kinetic Carbine shots cannot miss due to evasion
Kinetic Carbine can now pierce breakables
Kinetic Carbine now does 15% more damage on a headshot
Kinetic Carbine sound level reduced a little bit
Lightning Ball cooldown increased from 23s to 26s
Lightning Ball radius reduced from 4m to 3.5m
Lightning Ball T2 slow reduced from 40% to 35%
Movespeed reduced from 7.3 to 7.1
Storm Cloud expand time reduced from 3s to 2s
Storm Cloud range increased from 25m to 30m
Base speed reduced from 7.3 to 7.0
Serrated Knives collision radius reduced by 20%
Bloodletting cooldown increased from 21s to 50s
Bloodletting T2 cd increased from -4.75s to -25s (final cd changed from 16.25s to 25s)
Bloodletting duration increased from 10s to 13s
Bloodletting Incoming Damage Deferred reduced from 30% to 22%
Bloodletting T1 changed to +8% Incoming Damage Deferred (was +5s duration)
Killing Blow range reduced from 20m to 13m
Killing Blow Rage buildup per heavy melee reduced from 3.5 to 2.75
Killing Blow Rage buffer duration reduced from 10s to 9s
Killing Blow Rage buildup vs creeps reduced by 50%
Gun cycle time improved from 0.26s to 0.22s
Bullet damage growth per boon increased from 0.55 to 0.65
Fire rate now scales with Spirit Power (0.14)
Assassinate no longer splits to allies
Flight duration increased from 8s to 12s
Flight T2 duration increased from +6s to +8s
Assassinate bullet radius increased from 3″ to 4″
Assassinate scope is now automatically canceled when Paradoxical Swap hits you
Assassinate scope zoom level can now be cycled with right click. Use Ability key to unselect.
Bullet damage reduced from 12 to 11
Bullet damage growth per boon increased from 0.86 to 0.9 (total from 24.04 to 23.6)
The Cube T2 moved to T3
The Cube T2 is now +35 HP regen
Splatter T2 reduced from +60 Damage to +50
Goo Ball Spirit Resist reduced from 70% to 60%
Alchemical Flask slow duration reduced from 6s to 3s
Alchemical Flask weapon damage duration increased from 6s to 7s
Binding Word escape time reduced from 2.9s to 2.8s
Binding Word escape range increased from 18.5m to 19m
Last Stand T3 now also grants you unstoppable during the 2s channel
Card Trick base damage reduced from 80 to 70
Card Trick cooldown increased from 0.5s to 0.65s
Telekinesis cooldown increased from 95s to 100s
Telekinesis T1 cooldown improved from -28s to -30s
Fixed being able to cast an ability while casting Flying Strike
Fixed Crimson Slash following in the direction of dash instead of cross hair
Shadow Transformation T1 changed to +20% Fire Rate
Shadow Transformation Cooldown reduced from 106s to 90s
Item System Updates
The item system receives substantial revisions in this patch, with numerous adjustments to stats, mechanics, and upgrade paths. These changes reflect Valve’s ongoing effort to refine the itemization ecosystem and create more meaningful build choices for different hero archetypes and playstyles.
Optimization Tip: Pay close attention to the shift from Bullet Resist to Spirit Resist mechanics on several items. This significantly impacts which heroes benefit most from certain items and may require revising your standard build paths, particularly for hybrid damage dealers.
Weapon Damage reduced from 7% to 6%
Cooldown increased from 5.5s to 6s
Fire Rate increased from 9% to 10%
Resist vs NPCs reduced from 30% to 25%
Bullet Velocity reduced from 25% to 20%
Bullet Shield Health increased from 50 to 65
Weapon damage increased from 12% to 13%
Weapon Damage reduced from 15% to 12%
Health reduced from 100 to 75
No longer grants +25% Ammo
Now has -20% Reload Time
No longer grants -20% Reload Time
Proc cannot miss due to evasion
Cooldown increased from 5.25 to 5.75
Now grants +20% Slow Resistance
No longer grants +20% Ammo
Now has -20% Reload Time
Proc cooldown can now be reduced by cooldown reduction
Now grants +12% Spirit Resist
No longer grants +18% Bullet Resist
Now grants +25% Melee Damage Resistance
Proc now pierces evasion
Health increased from 150 to 175
No longer grants +25 Health
Bonus Health increased from +25 to +35
Now upgrades into Fortitude
Slow Resist reduced from 35% to 30%
Ammo increased from 15% to 20%
Cooldown increased from 26s to 45s
Getting shot while in the air disables the drop-down ability
Pull speed reduced by 20%
Sprint reduced from +2 to +1
Now upgrades from Extra Health
Health increased from 325 to 365
Restore delay reduced from 11s to 10s
Weapon Damage increased from 25% to 27%
Bullet Shield increased from 200 to 250
Spirit Shield increased from 200 to 250
Spirit Power increased from 8 to 12
No longer grants +15% Cooldown Reduction
Cooldown increased from 212s to 240s
Max HP Steal Per Bullet increased from 50 to 55
Now has 12% Cooldown Reduction
No longer grants Spirit Power
No longer grants 15% Bullet Resist
Now grants +15% Spirit Resist
No longer grants +15% Spirit Resist
Now grants +15% Bullet Resist
No longer grants 1 Move Speed
Slow reduced from 35% to 30%
Slow radius reduced from 14m to 12m
Ability Range reduced from 18% to 15%
Bullet Resist increased from 6% to 7%
Duration increased from 30s to 35s
Slow reduced from 25% to 20%
Now grants +75 Spirit Shield
Projectile speed increased by 30%
Cold Front now does double damage to NPC units
Ability Duration reduced from 16% to 14%
Now grants +8% Weapon Damage
Bullet Resist Shredder:
No longer grants +5% Bullet Resist
Now grants +15% Melee damage resistance
When the passive procs, you no longer get slowed when shooting (similar to Fleetfoot)
Movespeed reduced from +3 to +2
Non-Imbued Ability Range increased from 25% to 26%
Bullet Resist increased from 12% to 13%
Slow reduced from 30% to 25%
Health bonus increased from 100 to 140
Max HP Damage increased from 7% to 9%
Threshold damage increased from 125 to 200
Spirit Shield increased from 100 to 150
Non-Imbued duration increased from 26% to 27%
Imbued duration increased from 32% to 33%
Active no longer grants 14 spirit power or reloads
Active now grants +3 Movespeed for 5 seconds after returning
Active now grants +40% Spirit Resist for 5 seconds after returning
Now grants +6 Spirit Power
Spirit Power increased from 28 to 30
Spirit Power increased from 60 to 65
Weapon Power increased from 25% to 30%
Spirit Amp Per Stack reduced from 5% to 4%
Slow now only affects the primary target
Spirit Lifesteal, Spirit Resist, and Ability Range reduced from 15% to 14%
Quality of Life Improvements
This patch introduces numerous quality of life enhancements that improve the overall player experience, from social features to audio-visual refinements. These changes demonstrate Valve’s attention to detail and commitment to creating a polished gameplay environment.
Practical Strategy: The new commendation system provides valuable feedback about your performance with specific heroes. Monitor which heroes receive the most commends to identify your most effective characters and playstyles according to community perception.
Added Commends. You can commend players you’ve enjoyed playing with during the game or in the post-game scoreboard (same places you would report). The number of commends you’ve received on each hero will be displayed in your profile.
Added new character shader to improve player visibility in all areas of the map and experiment with more stylized rendering of character models
Updated environment lighting and sky
Added sequential kill streak music cues
Added keybinds for “Fly Up” and “Fly Down”. Used for flying abilities like Ivy’s Air Drop and Vindicta’s Flight
Fixed being unable to report/mute disconnected players
You can now drag and drop build categories to move them around
Added quick-selection for favorite builds. Clicking on the name of your currently active build in the shop will bring up a dropdown that lets you switch between favorited builds for that hero without opening the build browser.
Added indication of game mode within match history
Added Rank badge to matches on the Watch page
Added Rank History tab to profile, currently only visible for yourself. You can click on previous ranks to view the Rank Report summary for that interval
Flash Windows Taskbar icon if the game window isn’t in focus and you have 3 seconds until you respawn
Fixed issue in several languages where team net worth number shrunk to an unreadable size
Fixed Urns sometimes appearing to stay in the world after being picked up
Fixed jittering from Lash’s gun firing while running and aiming (this should reduce screen noise significantly in this case)
Lash melee animation updates
Added Melee Resistance to Vitality stat screen
Lowered pitch of Haze voice processing
Added teleporter channel and appear sounds
Added Healing Rite end sound
Added Mystic Shot proc sound
Added Magic Carpet cast, cast delay, loop, and end sounds
Updated Slowing Hex projectile loop, hit, and debuff sounds
Yamato’s Flying Strike now stops tracking targets that teleport
Shiv’s Killing Blow now stops tracking targets that teleport
McGinnis melee animation updates
Fixing hitting ESC to close to intro movie also closing the ranked summary popup
Fixed pregame countdown drawing over the shop UI
Pocket climb animation adjustments
Mirage Traveler now previews Mirage’s model at destination to show facing direction
Lady Geist Life Drain revisions to show start of effect better but reduce noise afterwards
Silenced debuff revisions to reduce obstructed vision of player
Infernus Afterburn: debuff vfx reduced opacity after start to reduce noise
Mirage Djinn’s Mark: damage vfx revision to reduce visual noise, debuff moved to overhead UI
Mirage gun revisions to tracer, muzzle flash, and impacts
Shiv Dagger: reduced size of stuck dagger in victim
Unstoppable vfx has a more obvious start
Lady Geist Malice: revisions to reduce vfx noise and obstructions
Lady Geist Malice: reduced brightness of vfx for players close to it
Shiv Slice and Dice: reduced vfx noise for players close to it
Infernus: reduced darkness of players affected by Catalyst debuff
Infernus: reduced brightness and lingering of Concussive Combustion effects
Infernus: reduced visual noise of tracers and firerate increases
Ivy Kudzu Bomb effects properly display visuals when above ground
Lash Flog: new effects
Viscous: cleaner effect for viscous alt-fire
Rescue Beam: fixed some visual bugs on the effects
Knockdown: updated effect animation to alert when it will stun
Ammo Scavenger: proc sound only plays when applying a stack
Play a sound when a debuff is applied to player but is purged due to some invulnerability
Fixed instances where mix ducking occurs too early in a sound event’s lifetime
Fixed audio occlusion filtering artifacts during high rates of change
Enabled certain music cues like ‘respawn’ to interrupt base attack music
Denied orb sound will no longer play beyond 2500 game units from the player
Reduced visual noise of Wraith’s tracers when close up or when Wraith has a high fire rate
Increased intelligibility of team-specific hero death sound
Abandoning Co-op bot matches with more than one party now brings up the Abandon Match confirmation warning instead of leaving immediately
Added looping telegraph for Seven Static Charge ability
Added victim-specific sound for Static Charge the moment it is applied
Bots are better at coming together to defend and push lanes
Bots will prioritize assisting human allies on offense
Reduced visual noise of Seven’s tracers, especially when close up or when Seven has a high fire rate
Added a “Mouse Sensitivity: Vertical Scaling” setting
Added a “Reset Camera” bind (available in Steam Input)
Fixed Steam Input “Melee” Action not resetting the camera vertically
Added new Steam Input Analog Action: “Aim”. This uses Angle-based sensitivity options in Steam Input (work-in-progress feature).
Fixed Steam Input aiming no longer being affected by Mouse Sensitivity options (including Invert Y)
Fixed a bug where the last controller plugged in would block actions from other controllers. Now multiple controllers can be combined.
Gameplay System Changes
Fundamental gameplay systems receive significant adjustments in this patch, with changes to map layout, objective mechanics, and core gameplay rules. These modifications aim to improve game flow, balance comeback mechanics, and create more dynamic matches.
Common Mistake: Many players underestimate how the Urn mechanic changes affect comeback potential. The new 8% net worth threshold for Urn drop-off location changes means teams need to maintain tighter gold control to deny comeback opportunities.
AP is no longer granted for Walkers
Shrine/Patron no longer have Soul/AP bounties
Shrine Flex Slot moved to “All Shrines”
Missing AP from above is redistributed along souls reward line at similar soul levels that the objectives previously died on average
Trooper Soul Orbs now have a 90ms buffer to allow the server to do better calculations on who shot the orb first, to minimize latency advantages for denying
Trooper soul changed from 50/50% in the kill/orb to 60/40%
Breakables spawn time increased from 2 minutes to 3 minutes
Breakables Souls reduced from 35 + 3/min to 30 + 2.5/min
Urn comeback properties now require an 8% net worth lead to kick in
Urn pickup locations are the same as before, however now the drop-off locations will be variable based on which team is leading. If there isn’t a lead over 8% net worth, then the drop-off location is the same as before. If there is, then the drop-off location will be closer to the losing team’s side. The minimap will show where the drop-off location is as usual, as well as an indicator in the world that helps show you where it is.
If the Urn hasn’t been delivered within 90 seconds of pickup time, it now drains your health for 1% of Max HP per second (the timer is per team). Your regen is disabled during this.
Whenever the Urn is dropped after 90 seconds of pickup time, it starts moving back to its spawn point immediately and cannot be picked up by the same team for 12 seconds.
Increased speed Urn walks back
Guardian attack range requirement changed from 20m to requiring you are above the ramp on high ground
Guardian resist vs troopers changed from starting at 70% and ending at -30% at 10 min to starting at 60% and ending at -35% at 8 minutes
Guardians now have resist vs players starting at 40% and ending at -35% at 8 minutes
Walkers now have resist vs troopers starting at 60% and ending at -30% at 14 minutes
Walkers now have resist vs players starting at 60% and ending at -30% at 14 minutes
Troopers now gain +40% Spirit Resist gradually over 25 minutes, goes to 70% at 50 minutes
Backdoor protection detection range for troopers increased (harder to kill troopers approaching the objectives with long range spells to stall making the game think you are backdooring when you aren’t)
Backdoor protection removal now has a 20s buffer (so it doesn’t go into protection mode immediately once creeps die)
Mid Boss respawn timer decreases with subsequent boss kills, from 7 to 7/6/5 minutes
The 70s respawn time now happens at 30 min instead of 35 min
There is now a respawn curve that goes from 70s to 75s over 30->40 minutes
Base Guardians and Shrines no longer have out-of-combat regen
Parry active window increased from 0.7 to 0.75
Parry cooldown reduced from 5s to 4.5s
Medic Trooper heal now has 2 charges; time between casts is 6s [does not consume a charge when healing other troopers, mainly affects waves pushing on their own]
Medic Trooper heal cooldown increased from 6s to 35s
Sinner’s Sacrifice now shares souls of subsequent hits with everyone that hit it recently (rather than the bigger value from last hit only going to one player)
Redesigned stairs from central canal to the outer lanes (near Urn spawn)
Added a skybridge with interior from the Subway Entrance buildings into the Port Authority and Speakeasy buildings
Connection hallways behind the Chapel and Firehouse now has an option to continue inside to the Walker arenas
Added a Bounce Pad from these connection hallways to the front of the overpass
Neutral camps beside Amber Purple and Sapphire Yellow Walker arenas moved from the ground floor to the upper floor
Redesigned traversal from ground floor to upper floor of the Garage and Night Club to get to the Sinner’s Sacrifice neutrals
Replaced fire escape stairs with ropes on the exterior of the Garage and Night Club
Added more zipline nodes to outer lanes
Deadlock October 10 patch notes: Ranked mode added, hundreds of hero & item changes, more
Deadlock September 12 patch notes: Massive Kelvin nerfs, map changes, 24/7 playtest & more
Deadlock August 29 patch notes: Huge map update, hundreds of balance changes, wall jumping & more
No reproduction without permission：Games Guides Website » Deadlock October 24 patch notes: 6 new heroes & matchmaking mode added, more Complete guide to Deadlock's October 24 update with six new heroes, balance changes, and strategic insights
