Deadlock is Valve's team game that mixes a third person shooter with a MOBA. Two teams of six pick from 44 heroes, fight over lanes full of AI soldiers, and grow stronger over a match that usually lasts half an hour or more. It looks like a lot at first. Most of it comes down to a few ideas, and this page walks through them.
The goal
Each team has a base with a Patron at its heart. Destroy the enemy Patron and you win. Lanes lead from base to base, and each one is defended by a Guardian and then a Walker, big structures that shoot back. You can't skip them, so a match is a steady push: win your lane, take its defences, then break into the base together.
Troopers, small AI soldiers, march down every lane on both sides. They do most of the early fighting and they are your main source of souls.
Souls
Souls are Deadlock's only currency. The same souls level you up and pay for items, and spending them never costs you a level. You get them from troopers, enemy heroes, neutral creatures and objectives.
The habit that matters most is the last hit. Landing the killing blow on a trooper gives you its souls, and a glowing soul orb pops out. Shoot the orb to secure it before an enemy does. Doing this well in your lane is the difference between being a level ahead and a level behind. The souls and boons guide has the full level table.
Abilities
Every hero has four abilities, and the fourth is their ultimate. You choose one at the start, then get another unlock at levels 3, 5 and 8. By 3,200 souls you have the whole kit.
Levelling also gives ability points. Each ability has three upgrades that cost 1, 2 and 5 points. Upgrades can change an ability a lot, adding charges, cutting the cooldown or adding a new effect, so read them on your hero's page before your first game.
Items
You spend souls on items at a shop. The 156 items split into three colour-coded categories: weapon (orange), vitality (green) and spirit (purple). Each comes in four price tiers: 800, 1,600, 3,200 and 6,400 souls.
Spending in a category also earns a bonus on top of the items, and it jumps at 4,800 souls. That's covered in how items work. Early on, cheap tier 1 items that make your gun or abilities better are the best value. Each hero's build page shows what players actually buy.
Moving and melee
Every hero can sprint, dash and slide, and ride the ziplines that run along the lanes. Dashing uses stamina, which refills over time, so don't spend it all getting somewhere you could have walked.
Every hero also has a light and a heavy melee attack, which is great for finishing troopers and breaking objects. If an enemy winds up a heavy melee, you can parry it by timing your own block.
Good habits for your first games
- Last-hit troopers and claim the orbs. It's the single biggest source of souls.
- Spend your souls. Souls in your pocket do nothing. Go back to a shop when you can afford something useful.
- Don't fight under an enemy Guardian early on. It hits hard and will win most early fights for them.
- Use your abilities. They come back. An ability on cooldown is doing more than one you're saving.
- Glance at the map. If enemies disappear from your lane, they may be on their way to someone else.
Heroes to start with
The game recommends these heroes for new players. Their kits are easy to read and their guns are forgiving.
Graves 
Haze Sneaks in and sprays bullets
Infernus Lights up enemies and watches them burn
Mina 
Seven Electrocutes crowds of enemies
Venator When you're ready for more, the hero comparison lines up every hero's health, speed and gun damage, and the spirit power guide explains how ability damage grows.
Quick answers
How do you win a match of Deadlock?
Destroy the enemy team's Patron, the giant guardian at the heart of their base. To reach it you have to push through the defences in the lanes first.
What should beginners focus on in Deadlock?
Last-hitting troopers for souls, spending your souls as soon as you can, and staying alive. A hero who farms well and dies rarely will out-level almost anyone.
Which hero should I play first?
The game recommends Graves, Haze, Infernus, Mina, Seven and Venator for new players.