Deadlock Bot Matches and Custom Matches: Setup and Settings

Not every match has to be against twelve strangers. Bot matches let you learn at your own pace, and custom matches let you set up private games with friends or your community. Both are on the Play terminal in your Hideout.

Bot matches

	Bot Match
Modes	Standard or Street Brawl
Difficulty	Easy, medium or hard
Players	Solo, or online with friends against bots
Bot heroes	Picked at random, using the game’s normal team-building rules
Rank	Not affected

Heroes bots can’t play

These heroes don’t have bot support, so they only show up if a person picks them: The Doorman, Drifter, Graves, Holliday, Lady Geist, Lash, Mina, Mirage, Pocket, Sinclair, Venator, Victor and Warden. Holliday, Lady Geist and Warden used to have bots but lost them. This list is from mid-September 2026, and heroes released since then may not have bots yet either.

What bots do differently

• Bots earn souls passively and can buy items anywhere on the map. Don’t copy their farming or their item timings.
• They don’t fake melees, bait parries or play mind games, so they’re poor practice for parry timing.
• They’re good for learning a new hero’s abilities in a real match, getting used to objectives, and warming up before you queue.

Getting the most out of bot matches

1. Start on easy while you learn the map and objectives, then move up as soon as you’re winning comfortably.
2. Play a full game with a new hero before taking them into Standard. You’ll learn their power spikes and ability ranges with no pressure.
3. Practise one habit per game, like shooting every soul orb, or checking the minimap every time you reload. Bots give you the time to build it.

Custom matches

A custom match is a private lobby that you host. Pick Custom Match on the Play terminal, create a lobby, and share your party code with the players you want.

Lobby basics

• Up to 12 players, split between two teams of six, one for each Patron: the Hidden King and the Archmother.
• Spectator slots for casters and coaches.
• The host can swap players between teams or shuffle everyone at random.
• Everyone has to ready up before the host can start.

Host settings

Setting	What it does
Bots	Fill empty spots with bots, on easy, medium or hard
Enable cheats	Allows practice commands during the match
Allow duplicate heroes	Lets both teams, or teammates, pick the same hero
Server region	Choose where the match is hosted, to keep ping fair for both teams
Visibility	Public, or private to the invited players
Lane picking	Players choose their lanes

Settings like cheats and bot difficulty default to whatever you used last time. Custom matches also get the normal post-game screen and replays.

What custom matches are good for

• Scrims and in-house games for teams and Discord communities.
• Teaching friends the game, with bots filling the empty slots.
• Testing with cheats on: items, combos and matchups without waiting for a real match.
• Mirror duels with duplicate heroes, so both players have the same tools.
• Parry and melee practice with a friend, which bots can’t give you. See our practice drills.

Looking for players? The Deadlock Handbook Discord is a good place to find people for custom games and in-houses.