This is the written version of the Fundamentals series: eighteen mechanics every Deadlock player should know. Some numbers come from the version of the game when the video was recorded, so a few details have since changed; those are flagged.

Economy

  1. Souls. Your money and experience in one. When a trooper dies, part of its souls drop for nearby allies and the rest float up as an orb you have to shoot before the enemy denies it. The team that farms more usually wins.
  2. Melee last hits. A melee kill spawns no orb and gives 100% of the souls instantly. Use light melee, since heavy has a wind-up that's easy to mistime. Dash then crouch to slide-cancel the dash and land in melee range.
  3. Items. Three types: weapon, spirit and vitality. The more you spend in one type, the bigger the bonus, with a big jump at 4,800 souls. Sell a misbought item before leaving the shop area for a full refund; afterwards you get half. Destroying enemy Walkers unlocks up to three extra slots.
  4. Troopers. After five minutes each wave has two ranged troopers, a melee trooper and a medic. Waves spawn every 30 seconds, then every 25 after twenty minutes and every 20 after thirty-five. Shoot the vessel on the zipline to drop them early.
  5. Haunts. Jungle camps in three tiers. The eye color shows the tier and shooting it deals critical damage. They drop no orbs: everyone who damaged one gets the souls. They scale each minute.

Combat and movement

  1. Parry. Press F. For three quarters of a second any melee that hits you is parried and the attacker is stunned for 2.75 seconds. Heavy melees have a visible wind-up. You can parry Guardians and troopers.
  2. Heavy melee. Lunges you forward about half a dash with no stamina cost, and is the only way to claim powerups, the Rejuvenator and dropped soul bags. Meleeing someone climbing a ledge slows them by 80%. A missed heavy has a longer cooldown.
  3. Dash jump. Dash, then press jump when the stamina bars turn blue. It costs two stamina, three if you add a double jump.
  4. Four movement tricks. Free first wall jump, then half a bar each. One air dash per jump. Down dash with a double-tap crouch. Infinite ammo while sliding. No fall damage.
  5. Range and headshots. Guns lose damage at range, and headshots deal 1.65 times damage on heroes, troopers, Haunts and Guardians. (The video describes a colored dot on enemy health bars for range. A later update removed it.)
  6. Spirit power. Abilities that scale with spirit show a purple arrow and a star with a number. Example: 65 base damage with 0.8 scaling and 20 spirit power adds 16 for 81 total. Hold the Extra Info key over an ability to see exact scaling.
  7. Roles. Brawlers (Abrams, Warden), marksmen (Vindicta, Wraith), mystics (Seven, Dynamo) and assassins (Haze, Drifter). A mixed team is much easier than six assassins.

Objectives and winning

  1. Soul Urn. Spawns by the bridge, alternating between yellow and green lanes, first one always yellow. Carry it across the map for souls and four permanent buffs. The carrier is faster and slow-immune, but can't parry, zipline or teleport. Value decays after 45 seconds.
  2. Unstable Rift. First opens around minute eleven, then roughly every seven minutes. It only completes when one team is alone in the circle. The team that's behind captures faster and gets bonus resists.
  3. Sinner's Sacrifice. Slot machines hit only with melee (50 damage light, 100 heavy) that hit back. When all bulbs light, hit it for the jackpot. A heavy melee jackpot gives four permanent buffs; a light one gives one.
  4. Midboss and Rejuvenator. Midboss lives in a pit and has a regenerating shield. Killing it gives souls and permanent buffs. The video describes punching the Rejuvenator for revive credits; the October 30 update changed this to three crystals, so check the current patch notes.
  5. How to win. Guardian, then Walker, then Base Guardians, then two Shrines (damageable only after a pair of Base Guardians falls), then the Patron's first phase, then the weakened orb in the pit. Walkers are tanky early and weaken over the first eighteen minutes.
  6. Comebacks. The losing team earns extra souls from troopers, Haunts and objectives, the Rift and Urn pay extra to the underdog, killing a far-ahead enemy pays extra, and after ten minutes fed players respawn slower. No game is over until the Patron falls.