Valve issued an update for Deadlock, which fixes a critical exploit in the game that allowed players to boost soul collection significantly by sharing them across different lanes at once. This new patch, delivered on 17 September, addresses the problem directly by ensuring that there is a limit on the number of souls earned by players in the early game.
The issued patch is expected to eliminate the possibility of teams exploiting the mechanic to gain overwhelming advantages. The exploit, quickly discovered by players after the game’s launch, allowed them to change lanes and gain extra souls from the enemy creep waves.
In Deadlock, souls are crucial as they act as both currency and experience, enabling players to level up their heroes and gain strength. Teams that took advantage of the exploit could increase the amount of souls they gained two-fold, leading to a snowball effect that made it almost impossible for the opposing team to compete or recover, especially in the early stages of the game. This tactic was becoming more popular in both casual and competitive play, prompting Valve to intervene.
Valve blocks soul-sharing exploit with new restrictions
To counteract this increasing problem, Valve’s recent update imposes a severe restriction on how souls are acquired. That is, players will now obtain souls from four enemy trooper deaths each wave during the laning phase. This eliminates the opportunity to rotate through lanes to gather additional souls and restores balance to the earlier stages of the game.
This fix is specifically vital because the previous strategy presented an unfair upper hand to heroes with fast wave-clearing skills or quick mobility, who could easily move between lanes and pick up extra souls.
Teams working in coordination could also execute the strategy more effectively, posing a disadvantage to solo players and teams without strong communication. In addition to that, the exploit also stifled creativity and flexibility during the laning phase, making teams rely on a predictable playstyle that insisted on mechanical execution rather than a skill-based decision-making style.
Valve resolves other bugs to improve gameplay stability
In addition to the remedy for the soul-sharing exploit, Valve’s update focuses on other gameplay issues that have troubled its player base.
One of them is a bug that made troopers sometimes not die after their “death flash” state, keeping them on the battlefield longer than intended. Another fix ensures that the unstoppable state now properly blocks fire rate reduction, an issue that had previously hampered certain characters’ abilities to perform under pressure.
Camera bugs in Grey Talon’s “charge shot” and Vindicta’s “assassinate” abilities have also been fixed, enhancing visual clarity during combat. The objective of these modifications is to enhance the overall play experience so that the players will be able to experience Deadlock without any major bugs or balance issues.
