Deadlock leaks show off new Valve game’s hero roster

More footage from the upcoming third-person shooter MOBA
Valve

After a series of initial leaks detailing the gameplay of Deadlock, Valve’s upcoming hybrid of Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2, fresh footage from an ongoing closed test of the title has been published online.

It shows the previously described ziplines that run along the map’s Dota 2-like lanes in action with one character zooming along one and then quickly switching to a different one mid-air. A cooldown-based speed boost seems to be available as well.

A lingering shot of the character selection screen is included as well, showing that there are 19 Deadlock characters at the moment, though not all appear to be playable in this test with seven of them grayed out.

Their designs are reminiscent of Dota 2 or its short-lived auto-battler spin-off, Underlords, with various non-human characters being present. From what can be seen on the video, there does not seem to be any distinction by classes, which somewhat contradicts images from the initial Deadlock leak – though it could simply be an issue of the character selection screen not yet making any mention of a class system.

Here are all the Deadlock characters visible in the new leak:

  • Ivy – a flying gargoyle-like creature described as “disruptive” that can slow and stun foes as well as enter a bond with one ally, sharing heals between them and empowering both of their weapons.
  • Infernus – a demon-like character with a focus on damage-over-time effects and speed.
  • Haze – a robot specializing in stealth and ambushes.
  • Grey Talon – a demi-human armed with a bow who can use powerful long-range attacks and set traps.
  • Kelvin – a red-bearded man who seems somewhat similar to Overwatch’s Mei in that he can freeze enemies, though he also appears to have healing capabilities.
  • Lady Geist – a ghostly woman who can expend her own health to power up her attacks and gain lifesteal.
  • Seven – hard to tell what exactly this thing is, though he appears to specialize in splash damage.
  • Vindicta – a ghostly sniper character with good mobility and damage-over-time effects.
  • Warden – a bulky man who acts as a frontline character and disrupts the enemy.
  • Wraith – appears to be another assassin-type character excelling in 1 vs. 1 situations with the ability to teleport out of danger.
  • Yamato – a hard-hitting damage dealer that appears to inflict some debuffs on herself after using specific attacks.

Obviously, all of this is based on early footage of a game under development, so things are very much bound to change and stuff like art assets are unlikely to be final at this point.


Published
Marco Wutz

MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg