Deadlock Beginner Guide and Early-Game Roadmap#

The goal of this page is to answer one question: what steps does a new player go through from launching the game to finishing a decent match independently, and what should you focus on at each step. Everything here is based on systems and interface features confirmed in the “City Never Sleeps” update.

Step Zero: Four Things to Know Before You Queue Up#

1. This game is a hybrid of MOBA and third-person shooter — matches have lanes, defensive structures, and economy progression; it is not a pure team deathmatch
2. Souls are the core resource — they drop from killing Troopers and clearing Haunt camps, and they buy items in the shop; a soul deficit is an item deficit
3. The map is three-dimensional — the streets and buildings of the Cursed Apple have vertical structure, and how well you read the map directly determines your survival rate
4. The game is in a closed early-access playtest — systems change frequently; when a mechanic shifts, check the patch notes before assuming your memory is wrong

For a broader look at the game’s overall structure, see Game Overview and Genre Positioning.

Step One: What Happens in the Pregame Lobby#

This update substantially expanded the Pregame lobby, and as a new player you have two things to do here:

Understanding the Hero Vote#

The current patch is in the middle of rolling out six new heroes in stages: the first hero goes live on October 2, then one more every Tuesday and Friday at 14:00 Pacific Time, with the release order decided entirely by player voting. Voting happens right in the Pregame lobby; the key rules:

For a new player this means: your first match of the day carries extra voting influence, so if you want the hero you are excited about to arrive sooner, prioritize getting the daily first win. For a full breakdown of the voting system, see New Hero Releases and the Voting System.

Reading the Hero Intel#

The in-game Campaign Posters provide hero intel, and each of the six new heroes comes with keyword hints: Nurse Harrow’s keywords are harsh, terrifying, and savior; Deadman Danny’s are reckless, soaring, and explosive; Baba’s are cackling, beady-eyed, and spell-casting; Solomon’s are schemer, focused, and general; Rat King’s are tenacious, kingly, and unyielding; Violet’s are ambitious, swift, and ingenious. Take a lap around the lobby and check the posters first so you know what to expect from the heroes on the way.

Step Two: How to Play Your First Match#

No need to set the bar high for your first match. Just work through this checklist:

1. Follow the lane: pick a lane and stay with the Trooper wave; your primary income is the souls from killing lane Troopers
2. Memorize three HUD elements: your health and stamina bars, the soul counter, and the shop entry — after the HUD rework, the health bar also shows your name, spirit, stamina recovery, ultimate availability, and low-health status; details in Reading the HUD
3. Break the golden statues on sight: destroying a buff container grants a permanent buff (a choice of bullet resistance, spirit resistance, ability range, or movement speed) — value you get for free
4. Don’t die: dying means losing souls and handing a bounty to the enemy; early on, dying less matters far more than getting kills
5. Losing is fine: the real payoff of your first few matches is learning the map layout and the shop interface, not the win-loss record

Step Three: Browse the Shop, but Start with Popular Items#

The most beginner-friendly feature of the reworked shop is Popular Items — a live view of what current players are buying. You don’t need to understand build theory in your first week; buying straight off the Popular Items list is the lowest-cost way to learn.

Shop essentials:

Recommended habit for the early game: spend two minutes previewing a build before the match, then use the number keys to jump straight to the right tab and buy during lane downtime, so you never get lost inside the shop interface. For a full teardown of the shop system, see The Shop and Item System.

Step Four: Read the Map and Learn the Districts#

The map changed a lot after “City Never Sleeps.” For now, memorize this quick reference:

For a full guide to each district, see The Four Districts Explained; for where the nine Haunt camp types sit, see Haunt Camps Explained.

Step Five: Make Use of Accessibility and Support Options#

The accessibility options added in this update — subtitles, auto-fire, auto-move, and more — are worth knowing about for every new player, not just those who need them:

• Subtitles: the game now supports subtitles, and combined with more than 15,000 new or updated ping markers, battlefield communication leans on the interface rather than voice
• Auto-fire / auto-move: transition tools while your controls are still settling; turn them off once you have adapted, for precise control
• Ping system: over 15,000 pings cover a huge range of battlefield situations; building a ping habit is far faster than typing

For the full rundown of the settings, see Performance and Graphics Settings.

Step Six: Sharpen Your Feel in the Sandbox#

The sandbox added three practical tools in this update:

Practice advice for the early game: getting consistent with bullet hits and movement ability weaving matters more than memorizing item lists. Landing shots at the shooting layer is the precondition for all damage in this game.

Common Beginner Questions#

A Seven-Day Roadmap for Your First Week#

After one week, you should be able to read the map and farm souls independently, and you are ready for the deeper material in Lane Mechanics and Lane Play.