Valve keeps actively working on Deadlock, their brand new game which is currently in the closed beta. Tonight, developers launched a new big update with a new game mode and six new heroes.

Table of Content
  1. New Deadlock game mode - Hero Labs
  2. Six new Deadlock heroes
  3. Balance Changes
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New Deadlock game mode - Hero Labs

This Deadlock mode is purely experimental. Developers decided to give it a try, so players will share feedback on some hero concepts that have not been finalized. Valve states that there might be heroes with incomplete ability pool (some of the abilities just have placeholders), and developers will add new heroes, then disable them, return once again and test some ideas which are not guaranteed to be in the final version. There will also be some temporary graphics and icons.

The mode will be available only for two hours per day, so the testing sessions in Deadlock Hero Labs will be intense. To get access there, you will need to finish 50 matches, so this will be an option for at least somewhat experienced players.

Six new Deadlock heroes

six new deadlock heroesImage: x.com

As a part of Hero Labs, Valve introduced six new heroes. They have temporary names and art, but players can already refer to them by their codenames:

  • Calico
  • Fathom
  • Holliday
  • Magician
  • Viper
  • Wrecker

For example, Magician does not currently have his own ultimate, while his other abilities are quite interesting. Magician can hex enemies and swap places with his Spectral Assistant. Looks like it might be a great trickster to bring chaos to the battlefield.

Balance Changes

Deadlock developers are currently updating the game with huge batches of changes, so the whole post is quite lengthy. We will highlight two big changes in Deadlock.

First of all, the Urn has been reworked. You won't be able to stall it, as you will have 90 seconds to deliver it. Otherwise, you will rapidly lose health, and regeneration will be switched off. If you drop the Urn, you won't be able to pick it up for 12 seconds. Also, the final destination of the Urn will change depending on the net worth of the teams. If you're losing more than 8% of net worth, then the pickup location will be closer to your spawn.

Second of all, Shiv has suffered a serious nerf. His bloodletting cooldown is heavily increased, speed reduced and Killing Blow range is shortened. In total, 18 heroes were affected; you can read the whole changelog here.

The size of the latest patch is 1.1 GB.

Main image: x.com