Deadlock: Tips & Tricks For Beginners

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades under my belt, I can confidently say that mastering movement and positioning is crucial in games like Deadlock. The characters’ special moves require stamina, so it’s essential to choose wisely when to dash-jump or slide-hop. Remember, ending most of your major movements in a slide will keep your speed up where you need it.

Deadlock isn’t an easy game to dive into due to its blend of mechanics from Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas (MOBAs) and third-person shooters, along with a variety of distinct interactions and characters that make it unique among its peers. This uniqueness presents new players with a vast amount of knowledge to grasp, which can be overwhelming at first.

If you find yourself uncertain about how to begin playing Deadlock or if you’re having trouble during your initial matches, here are some key points to focus on to boost your chances of success in this innovative blend of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) and third-person shooter by Valve.

Don’t Use Your Speed Boost At The Beginning Of The Game

Deadlock: Tips & Tricks For Beginners

At the start of each game, it might seem smart to employ your transit rail’s speed burst to get to the lane first, beating your opponents there. However, this speed boost takes about 5 minutes and 340 seconds (cooldown) to recharge. Even if you manage to reach the lane ahead of your rival, you’ll still have to wait for minions to appear.

Instead of squandering your speed boost for minimal advantage, keep it handy for when you find yourself in dire straits. The transit rail speed boost serves as an expeditious method to move in and out of your lane, allowing you to protect your Guardian, engage in ongoing team battles, or swiftly return to base and re-enter the fray. Given that the boost persists for 30 seconds, employing the transit line and speed boost to replenish health at the base before returning to your position is the most productive use of this ability. Frivolously utilizing it early in the game offers limited gains, leaving you waiting a considerable length of time for its return.

Complete The Urn Objective

At the 10-minute mark, you’ll find a Soul Urn appearing near either the Yellow or Purple pathway. This magical artifact will take 30 seconds to land. Once landed, any player can grab it and carry it to the opposite side of the map to claim it. The team that successfully claims the Urn receives bonus souls, and the player responsible gets an extra skill point plus a 25% increase in the number of souls they receive on top of their usual share.

After a while, the urn will reappear every five minutes, so don’t forget to check if it’s ready for your next opportunity.

Reaching this goal regularly gives your squad an advantage in collecting souls. If you see a teammate with the Soul Urn, provide them protection until they reach their location or exit the lane. Conversely, if an opponent is carrying the Soul Urn, take aim at them to hinder their progress. The map will also show you where the Soul Urn needs to be deposited. A red square marks the enemy team’s drop-off point, while a green square indicates your ally’s drop-off spot. In other words, when you see someone with the Soul Urn, safeguard them; if it’s an enemy, aim at them; and follow the map to find out where the Soul Urn should be dropped off.

When In Doubt, Farm

If you find yourself struggling in your lane, stay near your protector for safety and concentrate primarily on collecting resources as securely as possible. Your main goal should be to accumulate items that significantly boost your attack power (often referred to as “damage spikes” due to their substantial impact on damage). By doing so, you’ll become stronger than your opponent over time, which will enable you to counterattack effectively and regain control of the lane.

Instead, when you find yourself uncertain about your next move, consider spending time farming mobs and accumulating resources towards your next goal. Meanwhile, if you notice that waves are taking some time to arrive, feel free to venture into a neutral camp, gather the souls there, and keep progressing ahead of your competition.

Focus On Denying Your Opponent Souls

In a duel against another player, strive to prevent them from gaining experience and gold by taking credit for their minions when possible. The quickest method to obtain these resources is by landing the final blow on a minion. Once this occurs, an orb will appear from the fallen minion. If you can hit that orb before your opponent does, you’ll get the souls associated with the minion kill. Denying your opponent means they score the last hit on one of your minions, but you grab the orb first. Should you manage to deny an entire wave of minions, it essentially puts them in a similar position as if they had respawned.

Instead of focusing too much on scoring kills, remember to prioritize denying minions. This strategy can offer a significant edge over your rival in soul count, it’s relatively straightforward to execute, and the accumulated denies will eventually lead to a substantial advantage in souls.

Last Hit Minions With Melee When It’s Safe

So, how do you safely secure your own souls without your opponent interrupting you?

When you attack enemies with melee combat, it automatically earns you souls. However, it’s risky because it brings you too close to your enemy. Cunning enemies may use their ability to restrain you, keeping you at bay while dealing extra damage.

In a fight with minions, there’s a chance you might become exposed to an attack by an enemy (gank), so be mindful of any teammates who seem to be absent from their lanes while you engage in the melee.

Learn How To Move Efficiently

Outmaneuvering your rivals through skillful movements provides a significant edge in competition. Mastering the technique of abruptly stopping your charge with a slide allows you to attack and claim the final hit on an injured minion, preventing opponents from contesting the souls. On the other hand, proficiency in quickly moving out of reach using efficient dash-jumps and slides makes you a challenging target to pursue (unless those chasing you are equally adept at their movements).

Mastering the strategic use of moves such as jumping and dashing is crucial because they consume stamina. Improving your ability to select the most advantageous moves according to each situation is therefore an essential skill you should cultivate. The majority of characters in the game will possess three stamina bars, while Ivy has four and Vindicta/McGinnis have two. Performing a dash-jump requires two stamina bars, but it’s also the quickest way for you to smoothly traverse ground. You can also finish this special move with a slide-hop (where you land in a slide, then jump at the end to maintain your momentum), allowing you to cover more distance without consuming additional stamina.

Presentations serve as effective tools for both outmaneuvering chasers and swiftly advancing against opponents. Make it a point to finish the majority of your crucial maneuvers with slides, thereby conserving your pace when necessary.

Start The Midboss When The Time Is Right

In the game Deadlock, avoid activating the midboss if any of the enemy characters are still alive. The midboss is quite durable and can inflict a substantial amount of damage on its targets. It may take some time to defeat the boss, and it will also require extra effort to secure the buff for defeating the boss. Furthermore, when the boss reaches half health, the enemy team will be notified about your team’s attempt to kill the boss.

In simpler terms, if you want to lower the chance of the enemy team taking your advantage (buff) or harming your tank units during the boss fight, it’s best not to initiate the midboss battle unless you have already defeated their entire team first. Starting it before that could potentially lead to the enemy team snatching your earned buff or disrupting the boss encounter itself.

Remember, the
boss buff
goes to whoever hits the orb with a melee attack first.

Don’t Farm Minions Together After 10 Minutes

After 10 minutes, minions will stop dropping souls individually, instead their orbs that float away from them will contain all the souls they were supposed to drop. Furthermore, these soul-containing orbs will distribute the collected souls evenly among you and any teammates close by when the orb is secured. Prior to the 10-minute mark, securing a minion’s souls would grant the full amount of souls to you and your lane teammates.

As the game progresses and the first ten minutes tick by, I find myself venturing off on my own across the map, seeking out opponents to take down. Instead of sticking with my allies, I opt to “farm” independently, which means invading the enemy’s jungle or finishing off the neutral camps near my base. This strategy allows me to gather more souls without inadvertently splitting them with a teammate. However, it’s crucial that I rejoin my team when it’s time for a big team fight.

Just like top-tier shooter games, mastering efficient movement is crucial for striking a balance between gathering the most souls and protecting your team. You should move far enough away from your allies to maximize soul collection, but also position yourself close enough to assist them if they’re ambushed by several enemies.

2024-08-30 08:04