What transfers from League and Dota#
- Lanes, waves and towers. Troopers are creeps, Guardians and Walkers are towers, the Patron is the Ancient or Nexus.
- Last-hitting and denying matter — but in Deadlock you shoot soul orbs that float up after the kill.
- Items and power spikes. A shop with weapon, vitality and spirit items, and upgrades that build from components.
- Map awareness and objectives. A neutral boss (the Midboss), timed events (the Urn and the Unstable Rift) and comeback mechanics.
What’s different#
- You aim everything. It’s a third-person shooter: your gun is your main auto-attack, and headshots matter.
- Movement is a skill. Dashes, slides, wall jumps and ziplines replace simple click-to-move.
- 6v6 on three lanes, so lanes are usually two-versus-two.
- Melee and parry are close-range mind games with no direct MOBA equivalent.
- No hero bans in normal matches.
Mechanics you’ll need to learn#
- Movement tech — dash-jumps and slides first.
- Parry — the counter to melee.
- Souls and orbs — securing and denying with your gun.
- How items work — slots, tiers and upgrades.
Heroes that feel familiar#
Ability-heavy heroes feel closest to a MOBA: spirit-leaning heroes like Seven, Lady Geist and Dynamo win with ability timing more than aim. Gun-focused heroes like Wraith and Vindicta lean on shooter skills. Browse all of them by role on heroes by role.