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Simlocks
Explainer · Items
Deadlock Items Explained
How the whole item system fits together — categories, price tiers, slots, upgrades, refunds and investment bonuses — in plain English, with what to buy first.
Checked26 Oct 2026By the Simlocks editorsUpdated 5 min readSome details pending verification
The shop sells 156 items across three categories: Weapon, Vitality and Spirit.
Every item belongs to one of four price tiers: 800, 1,600, 3,200 or 6,400 souls.
You have 9 item slots, plus 3 extra unlocked by destroying enemy Walkers.
Some items upgrade from components: the component is consumed and its cost is deducted from the upgrade.
Selling returns half an item’s value — or the full value if you sell before leaving the shop area.
§02The three categories: Weapon, Vitality, Spirit#
Weapon
Makes your gun better — more bullet damage, fire rate, ammo or effects on hit. The core of gun-focused heroes.
Vitality
Keeps you alive — health, healing, resistances and movement. Every hero buys some.
Spirit
Powers your abilities — spirit damage, cooldowns and ability effects. The core of ability-focused heroes.
Most heroes lean on either Weapon or Spirit for damage and buy Vitality to survive. Which way a hero leans is explained in each hero guide. A few of the cheapest items in each category:
You can hold 9 items at the start of a match. When your team destroys enemy Walkers, you unlock 3 extra slots, for 12 in total. Late in a match, the slot limit — not souls — becomes the constraint, which is why players sell cheap early items to make room.
The exact in-game wording of how the extra slots unlock (per Walker or all at once) is being confirmed. Pending in-game verification
Some higher-tier items are built from a lower-tier component. When you buy the upgrade, the component is consumed and its price is deducted from the cost, so nothing you spent is wasted.
How component pricing works (tier prices only)
Step
Souls
Buy a Tier 1 component
800
Upgrade to a Tier 2 item built from it
1,600 − 800 = 800
Total spent for the Tier 2 item
1,600
A named worked example (such as a Tier 1 spirit item upgrading into its Tier 2 version) will be added once the current item names and build paths are verified. Pending in-game verification
Selling an item gives back half of what you paid. If you change your mind and sell it before leaving the shop area, you get the full price back — so a mis-click in the shop costs nothing as long as you fix it on the spot.
Spending souls inside a category also builds up investment bonuses for that category. Players talk about a “4.8k spike”: a jump in power they notice at around 4,800 souls invested in one category, which they attribute to one of these bonus thresholds.
Threshold values not yet verified
The exact thresholds and what each category grants at each step couldn’t be read from a reliable source during our research. We’ll publish the full table only after checking it in game and against patch notes, rather than repeat numbers that may be out of date.
Most items are passive: their stats and effects apply automatically. Active items have an effect you trigger yourself, bound to their own keys, and usually go on cooldown after use.
The default keybinds and how many actives you can bind are being verified. Pending in-game verification
You can buy items at your base and at Curiosity Shops around the map. Our research found 10 Curiosity Shops in total, including two neutral “secret” shops — locations are being confirmed on the reworked City Never Sleeps map. Pending in-game verification
Street Brawl uses an item draft instead of the normal shop, and includes 17 extra Legendary items that exist only in that mode. A dedicated Street Brawl guide is planned.
City Never Sleeps (29 Sep 2026) added a Cursed Item Shop, plus the Broker with limited-time corrupted items, a “Popular Items” section, item filters and an updated build browser. Whether the Broker is still in the game is being checked. Pending in-game verification See cursed items and the Broker (both planned).
You spend souls on items from three categories — Weapon, Vitality and Spirit — in four price tiers (800 to 6,400 souls). You can hold 9, plus 3 more after destroying enemy Walkers.
What is the 4.8k spike?
A jump in power players notice at around 4,800 souls invested in one category, attributed to that category’s investment bonus. We’ll publish the exact bonus values after verifying them.
How do you unlock more item slots?
Destroy enemy Walkers. That unlocks 3 extra slots on top of the starting 9.
Do you get souls back when selling items?
Half the price normally, or the full price if you sell before leaving the shop area.
What should I buy first?
Damage in the category your hero scales with, then one survival item. See the table above.
What are active items?
Items with an effect you trigger yourself on a key, usually followed by a cooldown.
