Deadlock, a Sentinel Agent arriving in VALORANT Episode 7 Act 1, provides players with inescapable utility to secure any position necessary.
Deadlock is officially VALORANT Agent 23. She enters the game in Episode 7 Act 1 as the first-person shooter's newest Sentinel. The Norwegian operative uses cutting-edge nanowire technology to entrap and assault the opposition.
In her kit, you'll find three impressive abilities and one devastating Ultimate. They will slow, concuss, block, and destroy any enemies caught in their path. She brings a new style to the Sentinel role in terms of locking down map locations and sites.
Each Deadlock ability in VALORANT
Deadlock, like every other Agent in VALORANT, has a signature ability, purchasable abilities, and one Ultimate. These are as follows:
- GravNet (C): Equip a GravNet grenade to throw or lob. It detonates upon landing and forces enemies caught within to move slowly in a crouched state.
- Sonic Sensor (Q): Equip a Sonic Sensor to deploy. It monitors the area for enemy sound. If enemy footsteps, weapon fire, or other significant noises are detected, it concusses the area.
- Barrier Mesh (E): Equip a Barrier Mesh disc to throw forward. The disc generates barriers from the origin point that block character movement upon landing.
- Annihilation (X): Equip a Nanowire Accelerator. Fire the Ultimate to unleash a pulse of nanowires that captures the first contacted enemy. It cocoons the enemy and pulls them along a nanowire path. The enemy will die if they reach the end. They can be freed as the cocoon is destructible.
Goals and inspirations for designing Agent 23
The developers of VALORANT, who designed and brought Deadlock to the game, have shared their goals and inspirations for the Agent. When it comes to the design of Deadlock, she allows you to stand your ground and pounce when the opportunity arises:
"Our gameplay goal for Deadlock was to create an Agent for players who wanted to hold their ground actively with their utility, as opposed to needing to set up their utility in advance. Our hope is that this appeals to players that value being able to nimbly audible their plays and strategy based on information about their opponents."
In terms of inspiration, Deadlock is like a scorpion waiting to strike in VALORANT:
"When creating the gameplay for Deadlock, I was imagining her symbolically as a scorpion. Spiders might spin their web and wait for it to do the work, whereas scorpions have to hide and then spring into action, putting themselves at risk. They use their pincers (abilities) to restrain and kill prey, or to prevent their own predation. Their venomous sting (ultimate Annihilation) is best saved for a dire defensive situation."
When is VALORANT Episode 7 Act 1?
If you want to unlock Deadlock in VALORANT through the new progression system, you can do so when Episode 7 Act 1 is live. The update hits on June 27. This is when you'll gain access to the new Team Deathmatch mode, a new Battlepass, and Deadlock's contract.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and VALORANT coverage.