Beginners guide to the six new Deadlock heroes in the October patch

Since it became available in early access, Deadlock has been constantly providing players with updates and patches to the game, but none have been bigger than a set of patch notes in October that introduced six new heroes. These heroes are still in a testing phase and will be subject to change, but here is a quick starter guide to give you the basics of playing each hero in the Hero Labs testing mode.

Calico is a stealthy and dive-ready hero who is best played with a mix of close-range combat and pre-fight setups with the wards she can place. This can take shape in a Spirit heavy build, or with a close-range melee-style build, similar to how Abrams is typically played. If you enjoy this sort of style, consider giving Calico a try.

Fathom is another close-range hero with a lot of dive potential thanks to his 4 ability, passive healing when out of combat, and close-range weapon and 1 ability. As jungling gets more and more nuanced in Deadlock, look for heroes like Fathom to become mainstays thanks to their mobility and lethality. Building Fathom with Weapon and Vitality can make you very hard to deal with.

Holliday offers a couple of different build options. The first centers around her 3 ability and scaling her weapon and headshot damage. The other way to build Holliday is a complete Spirit build, where her 1 ability, Powder Keg, can become very powerful and explosive. So, if you like a hero with some optionality, give Holliday a try.

Magician has one of the most interesting weapons in Deadlock, as he throws playing cards that have a pretty significant travel time. But, if you can learn to hit these, a Weapon build can become strong. However, we have found a lot of success in a Spirit build for Magician, where you first scale his 1 and 2 abilities. This can allow for a copy of yourself to deal lots of damage and can catch enemy players off guard when you first get it online.

If you enjoy sliding in Deadlock, you will love playing as Viper, who is all about sliding around and keeping their magazine full. As such, the mainstay builds right now for Viper are all Weapon-focused, with most abilities being for utility. Viper is one of the most unique heroes we have seen yet, and will take some getting used to. As such, if you are a beginner to Deadlock, we would not recommend this hero.

Wrecker is another hero that may not be best suited for newer players, as she takes some getting used to. As far as builds go, Wrecker has a lot of flexibility with her kit, but we have found some luck using Spirit builds and focusing on delivering devastating ultimate abilities thanks to her 4 ability's scaling. This, mixed with some close-range fighting and stun capabilities with her 1 ability can make Wrecker a fun, hybrid hero to play.

We hope you enjoy trying out these six new heroes in Deadlock. As they are fully released into the game, be on the lookout for build guides and more Deadlock content here at esports.gg!