How Souls Work in Deadlock: Troopers, Orbs, Boons and Bounties

Souls are Deadlock’s only currency, and they do two jobs at once:

1. They level you up. Your total souls set your boon level, which raises your base health, bullet damage, melee damage and spirit power, and unlocks abilities and ability points.
2. They buy items. Every item in the shop costs souls.

Spending souls on items doesn’t lower your level, because boons are based on the total you’ve collected. Farming more is always good.

Everyone starts the match with 600 souls.

Troopers: your main early income

Troopers march down each lane in waves.

	Details
Wave size	4 troopers: 2 ranged, 1 melee, 1 medic (before 5:00: 3 ranged, 1 medic)
Wave timer	Every 30 s until 20:00, every 25 s until 35:00, then every 20 s
Value per trooper	100 + 2 per minute (120 at 10:00, 140 at 20:00, 170 at 35:00)

Securing and denying

When a trooper dies, its souls split in half:

• 50% drops on the ground and goes to you and nearby teammates. It waits for 18 seconds (40 seconds after the 10-minute mark).
• 50% floats into the air as an orb. Shoot it to secure it. If an enemy shoots it first, they deny it and you lose those souls.

Melee last hits

Killing a trooper with melee gives you 100% of its value instantly, with no orbs at all and nothing for the enemy to deny. In lane, finishing troopers with light melee is one of the best habits you can build.

Sharing

Players nearby	Each gets	Team total
1	100%	100%
2	54%	108%
3	36%	108%

Sharing adds a little extra, but three players farming one lane is a waste. Spread out across the map in the early game.

Hero kills

	Value
Base bounty	200 + 50 per minute (capped at 2,200 at 40:00)
First blood	+125 bonus
Solo kill	125% of the bounty
Two players nearby	57% each
Three players nearby	28% each

The comeback system raises bounties on players who are far ahead of the killing team. Killing the enemy carry when you’re behind can pay out much more than the base value. See comeback mechanics.

Objectives

Objective	Souls	How it’s shared
Guardian	1,375	25% to nearby heroes, 75% to the whole team
Walker	3,675	Same split as the Guardian
Base Guardian	1,000	Whole team
Shrine	2,000	Whole team
Mid Boss	3,000	Split evenly across the team
Unstable Rift	1,482 + 222/min (from 13:00)	Split evenly across the team
Soul Urn	250 + 70/min	Courier, plus whoever secures the orbs

Objectives pay the whole team, which is why taking them as a group snowballs so hard.

Other soul sources

• Jungle camps (haunts): small 41, medium 68, large 181 (growing slowly over time). See jungle farming.
• Sinner’s Sacrifice: 310 + 3.35/min, from 8:00.
• Crates: 23 + 2 per minute (60% drop chance); tough crates are worth double and always drop.
• Soul Well: from about the 2:30 mark, your base releases 10-soul orbs every 2 seconds, a small trickle for anyone at home.
• Economy items: Golden Goose Egg (400 + 80/min after purchase) and Trophy Collector (stacking income over time).
• Cockroaches in the underground tunnels are worth 1 soul each. Every bit counts!

Jungle, crate and Sacrifice souls are haunted: they secure slowly and can be dropped when you die. See haunted souls.

Boons (levels)

• Boon levels run from 0 to 35. Level 35 needs 49,200 total souls.
• Levels 0, 2, 4 and 7 unlock abilities (the ultimate at level 7 / 3,800 souls). Every other level gives an ability point, up to 32 in total.
• Each boon increases your base bullet damage, base melee damage, spirit power and base health by your hero’s own values.
• If you lose souls, you keep your current level, but lose progress towards the next one.

The golden rules of souls

1. Shoot every orb. Missed orbs are the biggest leak in most beginners’ economies.
2. Deny every enemy orb you can.
3. Finish troopers with melee when it’s safe.
4. Never leave a wave to die alone. If no one is in a lane, those souls are gone.
5. Spend your souls. A big bank does nothing in a fight.

Next: Jungle farming →