Deadlock Glossary: Every Term Explained

New to Deadlock and lost in voice chat? This glossary covers the game’s own terms plus the slang you’ll hear in matches. Terms are grouped by topic, then listed alphabetically.

Economy and progression

• Ability point (AP): Spent to upgrade an ability’s three tiers. Tier 1 costs 1 point, tier 2 costs 2 and tier 3 costs 5. You earn one at every boon level that doesn’t unlock a new ability.
• Ability unlock: The boon levels where you choose a new ability: at 600, 1,100, 2,000 and 3,800 souls. Your first three abilities can be unlocked in any order; the ultimate unlocks at 3,800.
• Boon: A hero level. Boons are earned automatically as your total souls rise, and each one gives a little more health and damage.
• Deny: Shooting an enemy’s soul orb before they can secure it. They lose those souls.
• Flex slot / extra slot: The three extra item slots (beyond the starting nine) that unlock as your team destroys enemy Walkers.
• Haunted souls: Souls from jungle camps, crates and Sinner’s Sacrifice. They slowly convert into secured souls. If you die with a large haunted bank, part of it drops as a soul bag that anyone can claim with a heavy melee.
• Net worth: The total value of everything you’ve earned. Comparing team net worth is the quickest way to tell who’s ahead.
• Secure: Shooting your own trooper’s soul orb to collect it.
• Souls: The only currency in Deadlock. Souls level your hero and pay for items. You start every match with 600.

Map and objectives

• Base Guardian: The two defensive statues in each lane inside the enemy base, after the Walker.
• District: The areas between the lanes: Theater, Chinatown, Haunted Lot and Plaza. They hold jungle camps and shortcuts.
• Guardian: The first defensive structure in each lane. It’s worth 1,375 souls and loses its damage resistance at 12:00.
• Haunt: The game’s name for a neutral jungle camp.
• Mid Boss: A powerful neutral boss in the sewers under Broadway (the middle lane). It’s worth 3,000 souls and drops the Rejuvenator.
• Patron: Each team’s final objective, inside its base. It can’t be damaged until both enemy Shrines are down, and it has two phases.
• Rejuvenator: The crystal dropped by the Mid Boss. Either team can claim it with heavy melee. It gives up to three revive credits for three minutes.
• Shrine: Two per base. Both must fall before the Patron can be attacked.
• Soul Urn: An urn that spawns at 10:00. Carry it to the delivery point for team souls and permanent stat buffs. A melee hit makes the carrier drop it.
• Sinner’s Sacrifice: A machine you melee for souls and a buff, unlocked at 8:00. It hits back for 80 damage every time you strike it.
• Troopers: The NPC soldiers that march down each lane in waves. They’re your main source of souls in the early game.
• Unstable Rift: A king-of-the-hill objective that alternates between the side lanes, first spawning around 11:00. Capture it for souls and Rift Troopers.
• Walker: The giant mech that guards each lane after the Guardian. It’s worth 3,675 souls and loses its resistances at 18:00. Destroying one unlocks an extra item slot.
• Zipline: The rail that runs the length of each lane. Ride it to get back to lane quickly.

Combat

• Bullet resist / spirit resist: Damage reduction against gun damage and ability damage respectively.
• CC (crowd control): Anything that limits movement or actions: stuns, slows, silences, sleeps and disarms.
• Debuff resist: Reduces how long CC and other debuffs last on you.
• Heavy melee: A charged melee (hold the melee key). It hits harder, lunges you forward and is needed for crates, soul bags and the Rejuvenator.
• Light melee: An instant, weaker melee (tap the melee key).
• Parry: Blocks an incoming melee. A successful parry stuns the attacker for 2.75 seconds.
• Spirit power: Makes most abilities stronger. It comes mainly from Spirit items.
• Unstoppable: A state that makes you immune to crowd control.

Items

• Active item: An item you press to use. You can carry up to four, on Z X C V by default.
• Component: A cheaper item that’s used up when you buy its upgrade. Its cost is taken off the price (for example, Extra Spirit → Improved Spirit).
• Spirit / Vitality / Weapon: The three item categories, colour-coded purple, green and orange in the shop.
• Legendary items: Special items that exist only in the Street Brawl mode.

Slang you’ll hear

• Backdoor: Hitting objectives with no enemy troopers nearby. The Patron has backdoor protection, which boosts its regeneration when no enemy troopers are around.
• Comeback: The team that is behind gets bonus souls (from kill bounties, the Urn and more), so leads can be thrown away.
• Gank: Leaving your lane to ambush an enemy in another lane.
• Rotate: Moving from one lane or objective to another as a group.
• Wave: A group of troopers spawning at the same time.

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