Every hero in Deadlock has a gun, and for many heroes it’s their main source of damage. But Deadlock guns don’t work like a normal shooter’s: damage falls off sharply with distance, bullets travel through the air, and a large part of your damage comes from items and boons.
How bullet damage is calculated
Final damage = [(Base damage × Damage multiplier) + Flat bonus] × Falloff × Resistances × Headshot multiplier
In plain English:
- Base damage grows automatically as you gain boons (levels).
- Damage multiplier comes from weapon damage percentage items such as Close Quarters.
- Flat bonuses are added after the multiplier, so percentage items don’t boost flat damage.
- Falloff reduces damage at range.
- Resistances are the target’s bullet resist, minus any bullet resist reduction you’ve applied.
- Headshot multiplier applies when you hit the head.
Damage falloff
Every hero’s gun has a falloff range. Inside it, you deal full damage. Beyond it, damage drops in a straight line from 100% down to as low as 10%.
The game tells you how bad it is. Look for the coloured dot by the enemy’s health bar:
| Dot | Damage you’re dealing |
|---|---|
| None / transparent | 75–100% |
| Yellow | 35–75% |
| Orange | 20–35% |
| Red | 10–20% |
Rule of thumb: if you see orange or red, you’re wasting ammo. Get closer or switch targets.
Short-range guns (shotguns, for example) fall off very quickly, while long-range heroes can deal full damage from much further away.
Headshots
Hitting the head deals 1.65× bullet damage. Over a fight, that’s one of the biggest damage increases you can get, with no items needed.
Exceptions:
- Graves and Paige can’t land critical headshots. Paige can still trigger headshot-based items.
- Some heroes have a reduced headshot bonus: Billy, Celeste, The Doorman, Drifter, Kelvin, Rem and Vyper.
- Some abilities can crit, such as Paradox’s Kinetic Carbine, Venator’s Ira Domini and Vindicta’s Assassinate, but with their own smaller bonuses.
Items such as Headshot Booster (800 souls), Weakening Headshot, Headhunter and Crippling Headshot reward aiming for the head even more.
Bullets are projectiles
Deadlock bullets aren’t instant. They travel through the air, which means at long range you need to aim slightly ahead of a moving target.
| Bullet speed | Heroes |
|---|---|
| Very fast | Venator (1,590 m/s), Holliday (1,160 m/s) |
| Typical | Most heroes: about 200–660 m/s |
| Very slow | Paige (43.4 m/s), Viscous alt fire (38.1 m/s) |
Items that give +60% bullet velocity: High-Velocity Rounds (800), Opening Rounds (1,600), Express Shot (3,200), Sharpshooter (3,200) and Armor Piercer (6,400). Faster bullets make long-range fights much easier.
Ammo and reloading
Magazine size varies hugely, from 7 rounds (Silver) up to 66 (Bebop and McGinnis). Some heroes fire several rounds per shot.
Final ammo = (Base ammo + Flat bonuses) × (1 + Percentage bonuses), rounded up. Percentage bonuses add together.
| Item | Cost | Ammo |
|---|---|---|
| Extended Magazine | 800 | +30% |
| Kinetic Dash | 1,600 | +6 (flat) |
| Active Reload | 1,600 | +20% |
| Intensifying Magazine | 1,600 | +20% |
| Titanic Magazine | 1,600 | +100% |
| Escalating Resilience | 3,200 | +35% |
| Vampiric Burst | 6,400 | +75% |
Reload habits that win fights:
- Reload behind cover, not in the open.
- Don’t reload with half a magazine when a fight is about to start. Count your bullets before you peek.
- Bigger magazines mean fewer reloads, which matters most on heroes whose damage ramps up the longer they shoot, such as Haze.
Weapon damage items
| Item | Cost | Weapon damage |
|---|---|---|
| Close Quarters | 800 | +20% (up close) |
| Long Range | 1,600 | +40% (at range) |
| Point Blank | 3,200 | +50% (up close) |
| Glass Cannon | 6,400 | +80% |
Match these to your hero: Close Quarters and Point Blank suit shotgun and brawler heroes such as Abrams, while Long Range suits snipers and poke heroes.
Melee and weapon damage
Your melee gets 50% of your weapon damage bonuses and triggers most weapon-damage item effects. Bullet-only effects, such as Toxic Bullets, don’t apply to melee. See melee and parry.
Gunplay checklist
- Stay inside your falloff range (no orange or red dot)
- Aim at the head
- Lead moving targets at long range
- Reload behind cover
- Pick damage items that suit your range
Next: Melee and parry →
Frequently asked questions
Is Deadlock hitscan?
No. Bullets in Deadlock are projectiles with a travel speed. Most heroes' bullets travel at roughly 200 to 660 metres per second, so at long range you need to lead moving targets slightly. Holliday and Venator have very fast bullets, while Paige's are very slow.
How much damage does a headshot do in Deadlock?
A headshot normally deals 1.65 times bullet damage. A few heroes have reduced headshot bonuses, and Graves and Paige can't land critical headshots at all.
What do the coloured dots on enemy health bars mean?
They show how much damage falloff your bullets are suffering at the current distance. No dot or a transparent dot means 75 to 100% damage, yellow means 35 to 75%, orange 20 to 35%, and red only 10 to 20%. If you see red, get closer.
Numbers on this page are checked against the game and the community-run Deadlock Wiki. Spotted something a patch changed? Tell us.