Staying alive is half of Deadlock. This guide covers your health pool, every way to heal, shields, anti-heal, and what happens when you die.
Health pools
Each hero has a base health value that grows with every boon:
Max health = (Base health + Boons × Health per boon) × (1 + Vitality bonuses) + Bonus health
Starting health varies a lot between heroes:
| Example | Starting health | Per boon |
|---|---|---|
| Mo & Krill (highest) | 930 | — |
| Kelvin | 880 | +60 |
| McGinnis | 780 | +52 |
| Abrams | 800 | +49 |
| Haze | 730 | +33 |
| Mina (lowest) | 660 | — |
Low-health heroes need to think more about positioning; tanks can afford to take a few hits.
Regeneration
- Passive regen: everyone regenerates slowly at all times, typically about 2 health per second. Items such as Extra Regen and Fortitude increase it.
- Out-of-combat regen: some items (Superior Cooldown, for example) give regen that only works while you’re not fighting.
- Your base: standing in your spawn area heals you at 6% of your max health plus 60 health per second, so a trip home gets you back to full very quickly.
Healing
- Abilities: for example McGinnis’s Medicinal Specter heals every ally nearby.
- Lifesteal: heals you for part of the damage you deal. There are three kinds: bullet, spirit and melee lifesteal. Lifesteal is usually much weaker against NPCs. For example, Melee Lifesteal heals 100 on a melee hit, but only 30% of that against NPCs.
- Healing amplification: increases all healing you give and receive. Healing Booster gives +20% and Healing Tempo +25%.
Shields
Small bars above your health bar are shields, and they absorb damage before your health:
- Yellow = bullet shield (blocks weapon damage)
- Blue = spirit shield (blocks spirit damage)
Weapon Shielding and Spirit Shielding are the classic shield items.
Anti-heal (healing reduction)
Anti-heal cuts how much healing a target receives. It’s how you beat lifesteal builds and teams with healers.
| Source | Healing reduction |
|---|---|
| Healbane (item) | 35% |
| Toxic Bullets (item) | 35% |
| Crippling Headshot (item) | 35% |
| Inhibitor (item) | 40% |
| Decay (item) | 50% |
| Cheat Death (item) | 60% |
| Spirit Burn (item) | 70% |
| Pocket (hero ability) | 100% |
Stacking: different sources stack multiplicatively. Two 40% reductions give 64% total, not 80%. Hits from the same source don’t stack; only the first counts until it wears off.
Final healing = Healing × (1 − Total reduction) × (1 + Healing amp)
Example: a 200 HP heal, with 64% anti-heal on the target and 25% healing amp, heals 200 × 0.36 × 1.25 = 90 HP.
When to buy anti-heal: when the enemy has a dedicated healer, a heavy lifesteal build, or a self-healing tank like Abrams.
Death and respawning
Respawn timer
Respawn time grows as the match goes on, up to a 90-second cap:
| Match time | Respawn time |
|---|---|
| 5 min | 8 s |
| 20 min | 38 s |
| 30 min | 70 s |
| 40 min | 85 s |
Lines connect the published values; respawn time never goes above 90 seconds.
View as a table
| Match time | Respawn time |
|---|---|
| 5 min | 8s |
| 20 min | 38s |
| 30 min | 70s |
| 40 min | 85s |
That’s why late-game deaths are so costly: a single team-fight loss can leave your base open for over a minute.
What changes it
- Dying to NPCs (troopers, Guardians, camps) with no enemy hero involved: +10 seconds.
- Comeback penalty: after 10 minutes, if you’re well ahead in net worth (15%+ above the killing team’s average) and you die, your respawn gets 6 to 22 seconds longer, depending on how far ahead you are and the match time.
- Last stand: when your Patron’s first phase is destroyed, dead teammates come back sooner. Long timers drop by 20 seconds, and shorter timers drop to 10 seconds.
- Rejuvenator: with a Rejuvenator credit, you get back up on the spot at full health 3 seconds after dying. The enemy gets no souls and no kill.
What you lose
When you die, you drop your unsecured (haunted) souls above a small threshold as a soul bag, which enemies can claim with a heavy melee. Secured souls and items are never lost.
While dead, you can shop, watch your teammates, ping and chat. Use the time to plan your next purchase.
Next: Crowd control →
Frequently asked questions
How long are respawn timers in Deadlock?
They grow with match time, up to a 90-second cap. Roughly 8 seconds at 5 minutes, 38 seconds at 20 minutes, 70 seconds at 30 minutes and 85 seconds at 40 minutes. Dying to NPCs without an enemy hero involved adds 10 seconds.
Does anti-heal stack in Deadlock?
Different anti-heal sources stack multiplicatively, so two 40% reductions make 64%, not 80%. Repeated hits from the same source don't stack; only the first application counts until it expires.
How do I heal in Deadlock?
You regenerate slowly at all times, and returning to your base heals you very fast. Beyond that, healing comes from items (Extra Regen, Healing Rite, lifesteal items) and from hero abilities such as McGinnis's Medicinal Specter.
Numbers on this page are checked against the game and the community-run Deadlock Wiki. Spotted something a patch changed? Tell us.