Macro is the big picture: where your team should be, and what it should be doing, at every moment. Teams with good macro win games without winning more fights, by always being in the right place a few seconds early.
Waves: the engine of the game
Trooper waves come every 30 seconds (every 25 after 20:00, every 20 after 35:00). How you handle them decides where fights happen.
- Pushing a wave means killing the enemy troopers fast so yours march towards their Guardian. A pushed wave forces the enemy to deal with it, or lose souls and objectives.
- Holding a wave near your side keeps you safe from ganks while you farm.
- A pushed wave buys you time. Push your lane hard, then go to the Urn, the Rift or a gank. You don’t lose souls while your troopers are busy.
Never leave a lane with your wave about to crash into your own Guardian. Clear it first.
Rift Troopers and Super Troopers (from a destroyed Shrine) make waves much stronger. Use them to push. See objectives.
Map awareness
- Glance at the minimap every few seconds. Count enemies: how many can you see, and where?
- If enemies are missing, assume they’re coming for you or taking the Mid Boss.
- Everyone in the Rift zone shows on the minimap. Use that to count.
- Listen for the Mid Boss roar. Both teams hear it at 50% health.
- Listen for the Bell Tower bell. The whole map hears it when anyone hits a Sacrifice machine or breakable at the top. See districts and camps.
Timers to track
| What | When | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Soul Urn | 10:00, then every 5:00 | Big souls + 4 permanent buffs |
| Unstable Rift | ~11:00, then ~every 7:00 | Big souls + Rift Troopers |
| Guardians | Resist gone at 12:00 | First objectives fall |
| Walkers | Extra resist gone at 18:00 | Item slots for your team |
| Mid Boss | Respawns 7, then 6, then 5 minutes after each kill | Souls, buffs and revive credits |
| Power-ups | On bridges from 5:00, every 5:00 | Free buffs for whoever’s nearby |
Arriving 30 seconds before an objective spawns is how you win the fight for it.
Objective trades
You won’t win every objective. When the enemy takes one you can’t stop, take one of theirs.
- They’re on your Walker with five players? Take their Guardian or the Rift on the other side.
- They’re at the Mid Boss? Push a lane hard, or wait to steal the crystal.
- They’re running the Urn? Take the Rift or a Walker, or send just two players to melee the carrier.
A fair trade keeps the game even. A bad fight loses it.
Splitting up
You don’t always have to move as six.
- Early and mid game: spread out to farm. Three players on one wave wastes souls (it only adds about 8% to the team’s total).
- Before objectives: group up a little early.
- Late game: move as a group, and split only when you have a clear trade, like a fast player pushing a side lane while the team holds mid.
The rule: never split so far that the enemy can catch someone alone.
Rotations
The map has fast routes between lanes: ziplines, teleporters, tunnels, vents and jump pads. Knowing them lets you arrive first. See rotations and shortcuts, which has the interactive map.
Macro checklist
- Is my wave pushed before I leave?
- How many enemies can I see?
- What spawns next, and when?
- If they take an objective, what do we take back?
- Am I too far from my team?
Frequently asked questions
What is macro in Deadlock?
Macro is everything about where your team is and what it's doing across the whole map, as opposed to aiming and abilities in a single fight. It covers pushing waves, taking objectives at the right time, rotating, and trading objectives with the enemy.
What is an objective trade in Deadlock?
When the enemy takes an objective you can't stop, you take one of theirs somewhere else at the same time. If their Walker would cost you a losing fight, taking their Guardian or the Mid Boss instead keeps the game even.
What timers should I track in Deadlock?
The Soul Urn (10:00, then every 5 minutes), the Unstable Rift (about 11:00, then about every 7 minutes), the Mid Boss after its first kill (respawns after 7, then 6, then 5 minutes), and big jungle camps. Knowing when these come up lets your team arrive first.
Numbers on this page are checked against the game and the community-run Deadlock Wiki. Spotted something a patch changed? Tell us.