The Deadlock numbers paperVestigo News

Issue No. 5 · Price: 1 soul

Friday, October 30, 2026

Read the official notes ↗

Halloween 2026 + Gameplay Update · Official notes

Trickor nerf

10 heroes nerfed, 19 buffed and 4 with mixed changes. 8 items trimmed and 26 improved.

10Nerfs

19Buffs

4Mixed

1Fixes

173hero changes

61item changes

26system changes

▼ Hit hardest

Rat King▼ 13 cuts

Violet▼ 11 cuts

Nurse Harrow▼ 8 cuts

Baba▼ 7 cuts

▲ Riding high

Solomon▲ 11 boosts

Mirage▲ 5 boosts

Apollo▲ 4 boosts

Warden▲ 4 boosts

Systems

What changes for everyone

Mid-Boss: Adjusted the terrain layout where the midboss is, the area is a little bigger now and has more cover
Mid-Boss: Health increased by 20%
Mid-Boss: Health gained per minute increased by 20%
Mid-Boss: Resistance reductions are now only 50% as effective against the Mid-Boss
Mid-Boss: Roar now happens at 25% HP instead of 50%
Mid-Boss: Bounty reduced from 3000 (+50/min) to 1500 (+25/min)
Mid-Boss: The Rejuvenator now drops as 3 crystals placed evenly around the Mid-Boss pit (random positions), instead of 1 crystal in the center
Mid-Boss: Each Rejuvenator crystal breaks in 1 heavy melee and grants the team 1 Rejuvenator (total per Mid-Boss kill unchanged at 3)
Mid-Boss: The full heal for breaking a Rejuvenator now applies to each crystal (previously only on the first hit)
Mid-Boss: Rejuvenator crystals now give a bounty to the player that breaks them (500 +9/min)
Mid-Boss: Rejuvenator crystal drop time increased from 6s to 7.5s
Breakables growth values reduced by 10%
Fixed some boxes taking longer to respawn if another box's or powerup's pickup was left on the ground
Haunts base bounty and growth increased by 10%
Haunts HP and Damage output increased by 10%
Haunted Souls secure rate is now 25% slower
Haunted Souls secure rate is now up to 50% faster than baseline based on how far behind you are in Net Worth compared to the enemy team's average (max rate at a 20% Net Worth gap)
Comeback gold from non-hero sources increased from a max of 26% to 30% (when behind by ~20% Net Worth)
The bonus NPC souls multiplier when behind now also increases tick souls for the 2 poorest players
Healing Snacks heal increased from 10% Max HP to 14%
Steam Vents now increase stamina regeneration by 150%
Move slow to air drag ratio increased from 0.35 to 0.5
Move speed in tunnels reduced from +70% to +50%
Haunts - Past Dues: Now channels their special attack, creating a build-up aura on the ground that applies sleep slowly to Heroes standing within it over time. Killing the channeling creature destroys the aura.
Fixed some bugs with Walker stomp logic
Latest 6 heroes are no longer categorized as "new" anymore. This means they have normal hero unlocking requirements for ranked and can now be banned.

Heroes

34 heroes · 173 changes

Rat King

▼ Nerf▲ 2▼ 13

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Base bullet damage: −5%
Bullet damage growth: −20%

Scrap Grenade

Damage: 70 → 60
Upgrade 2 · damage: +70 → +60
Upgrade 3 · damage: 300 → 275
Fuse timers increased by 0.1s (first bounce: 0.8s → 0.9s, later bounces from 0.7s to 0.8s, T3 final explosion from 1.5s to 1.6s)
Meleeing the grenade now gives it at least 0.4s before it explodes (if less than 0.4s was left on its fuse, the fuse is extended to 0.4s)
Radius: 8m → 6m
Large explosion radius: 14m → 10m

Rule, Ratannia!

Knockup duration: −50%
Cooldown: 160s → 180s
Now goes on cooldown when stunned/slept before placing it. In that case, the flag is placed in that position but without any of the initial impact effects (damage/knockup)
Radius: 20m → 16m
Upgrade 2 · Radius: +8m → +6m
Duration: 12s → 9s

Violet

▼ Nerf▲ 2▼ 11

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Some moderate performance improvements (still more to do here)

Still Life

Stun duration: 1.0s → 0.9s
Line of sight is now required when the channel ends, even during the grace period
Now shows a text bar to the victim
Sketches now grant +2% healing amp from Nurse Harrow, Kelvin, Ivy, Dynamo, Paige, and Rem instead
Sketches changed to give Spirit Power instead of Weapon Damage for Grey Talon, Infernus and Mina
Upgrade 1 · health regen is now only granted while drawing (still refreshes for 4s on pickup)
Upgrade 1 · health regen scaling: 0.25 → 0.15
Upgrade 3 · stun duration: +0.35s → +0.45s

Abstract Landscape

Cooldown: 165s → 180s
Duration spirit scaling: 0.04 → 0.01
Now ends early if Violet dies
Cooldown between times you can be affected by it: 0.5s → 0.75s
Upgrade 3 · no longer has "Ink is no longer destroyed"
Duration: 6s → 5s
Upgrade 3: +4s → +3s

Nurse Harrow

▼ Nerf▲ 3▼ 8

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Base gun damage: −10%

Leech Therapy

Fixed enemies being unable to see the glow on the hunting leeches
Fixed leeches attaching to targets while the game is paused
Fed leeches duration on the ground changed: a fixed 180s → 120s + 3s/min
Leeches on the ground are now removed on round reset

Wretched Vapors

Upgrade 3: +15% Rush Speed → +20%

Healing Needles

Heal Per Shot: 25 → 22
Upgrade 2 · Heal Per Shot: +20 → +16
Spirit scaling: 0.2 → 0.24

Lurking Terrors

Fear buildup time: 1.3s → 2s
Enemies no longer build fear when Nurse is more than 50 degrees above or below their view
Upgrade 3 · changed: Immune → damage while channeling" to "Takes 50% Reduced Damage while channeling
Duration: 7s → 5s
Upgrade 3: +3s Duration → +2s

Baba

▼ Nerf▲ 3▼ 7

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Spirit Resist scaling: 0.1 → 0.07

Threadsap

Spirit Steal duration: 22s → 16s
When a victim cleanses the Threadsap debuff, the matching spirit Baba gained is also removed

Granny Long Legs

Light Melee knockback distance: 10m → 8m
Heavy Melee cooldown: 1.4s → 1.2s (default is 1.0s)
Heavy Melee slow duration: 4s → 2s
Heavy melee stomp now only hits the closest Rejuvenator in range

Baba's Brew

No longer has an initial brew time
Brew order is now random each time she casts it
Cycle time between each type of brew: 1s → 1.5s
UI indicator color now matches the current brew
Silence duration: 3s → 2.75s

Graves

▼ Nerf▲ 2▼ 4

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Move speed: 7 → 6.7
Bullet damage per boon: −4%

Grasping Hands

Can now be more easily double jumped over
Deploy time: 0.6s → 0.8s

Borrowed Decree

Upgrade 2 · no longer has -0.3s Time To Spawn
Upgrade 3 · now also provides -0.3s Time To Spawn

Deadman Danny

▼ Nerf▲ 1▼ 4

Chimera Mk1

Jetpack can no longer be used while cursed
Fixed bug causing it to not deal damage when held through a Close The Deal
Items and abilities that pull to the ground now work more reliably against Danny
Slows now reduce the jetpack's in-air impulse more effectively, and even more if movement abilities are silenced
Cooldown reduction per boon: -0.4s → -0.25s
Cooldown refund on hit: T3 reduced from 50% → 30%

Close The Deal

Fixed some incorrect behavior when used at the top of the belltower

Mo & Krill

▼ Nerf▲ 1▼ 2

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Spirit per boon: 1.1 → 0.6
Spirit damage on all abilities: −10% (base values and growth/upgrades)
Bullet damage per boon: +4%

Paige

▼ Nerf▲ 1▼ 2

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Base bullet damage: 35 → 32
Bullet damage growth per boon: 0.52 → 0.61

Bookwyrm

Upgrade 2 · Trail Duration: +2s → +1s

Wraith

▼ Nerf▼ 3

Card Trick

Heal: 60 → 45

Project Mind

Cooldown: 46s → 50s
Initial cast time for projectile: 0.75s → 1s

Celeste

▼ Nerf▼ 1

Shining Wonder

Damage: 140 → 125

Yamato

◆ Mixed▲ 2▼ 3

Power Slash

Spirit scaling: +6% (base and T3)

Flying Slash

Cast Range: 26m → 23m
Enemy targets are now marked with an overhead symbol as soon as the grapple is cast, instead of only when the hook lands
Upgrade 3 · Cast Range: +15m → +8m

Shadow Transformation

Cooldown: 150s → 160s (moved to T2)

Kelvin

◆ Mixed▲ 2▼ 2

Frozen Shelter

Cooldown: 185s → 190s
Upgrade 1: -20s Cooldown → -30s
Upgrade 2 · now also reduces enemy fire rate by -20%
Upgrade 3 · regen: +65 → +75

Shiv

◆ Mixed▲ 2▼ 2

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Alt Fire damage per boon: −5%
Fixed the Alt Fire last-shot sound only playing when you had 1 bullet left

Serrated Knives

Rage damage: 3.5% Current Health → 4%
Upgrade 3 · now also increases rage damage spirit scaling by +0.01

Bloodletting

Fixed damage ticks playing audio

Killing Blow

Recast duration: 16s → 12s

Venator

◆ Mixed▲ 1▼ 1

Ira Domini

Blessed stake damage: 115 → 95
Blessed stake damage boon scaling: 3 → 3.6

Solomon

▲ Buff▲ 11▼ 5

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Gun now deals -20% headshot damage
Base bullet damage: 30 → 25
Polished slide animations, added new ability and item aim poses, and adjusted run-to-stop timing
Move Piece - Range to grab pieces: 50m → 65m
Move Piece - Improved placement: pieces no longer fall through geometry or end up under the map, land closer to where you aim, and can now be placed closer to walls and in hallways

Setup Bishop

Square height: 4m → 1m
On Square spirit scaling: 0.64 → 0.85
Upgrade 1: +15% slow → +25%
Upgrade 3 · Spirit Resist reduction is now applied on impact instead of by squares
Upgrade 3: -2.5% → -5% Spirit Resist per stack (max reduction unchanged)

Rook Battery

Damage scaling: 1.3 → 0.9
Upgrade 3: -12s cooldown → -10s

Develop Queen

Cooldown: 210s → 240s
Damage scaling: 1.4 → 1.6
Delay for stun tiles: 1s → 1.2s
Improved warning effects on the stun tiles to make it clear its just those tiles rather than the full area
Fixed hitting things outside of the intended square volumes
Base ability now has the checkmate behavior for heroes under 100 Health (scales +5/boon)
Upgrade 2 · now increases checkmate threshold by 150

Mirage

▲ Buff▲ 5▼ 2

Traveler

Channel time: 2s → 3s
Onterrupt/cancel cooldown: 4s → 5s
Now gets interrupted if you are Stunned/Immobilized/Slept or have slowing hex on you
Now grants the old T2 barrier in the base ability (with no scaling)
The minimap now moves to the center of the screen and is enlarged while targeting
Added a targeting reticle under your cursor on the minimap that your allies can see, so they can tell where you're thinking of going before you click
Your destination is now marked on your and your allies' minimaps until you arrive, and stays there briefly after landing
Upgrade 2 · changed: 400 Barrier that scales with spirit → -65s Cooldown
Upgrade 3 · changed: -90s Cooldown → Cannot be interrupted by damage
Upgrade 3 · now also adds barrier spirit scaling (0.8)

Apollo

▲ Buff▲ 4▼ 1

Riposte

Pommel Hit changed: a stun → an immobilize and parry disable
Pommel Hit disable duration: 0.8s → 1.5s
Upgrade 2 · disable duration: +0.4s → +0.6s
Fixed the counterattack dash sometimes missing its target or launching Apollo away when the target moves, rounds a corner, or is displaced
Fixed the counterattack dash missing when Apollo is right on top of the target

Flawless Advance

Being stunned or put to sleep during the ability now refunds that stab and keeps your remaining recasts instead of putting it on cooldown

Itani Lo Sahn

No longer interrupted by Sleep

Warden

▲ Buff▲ 4▼ 1

Alchemical Flask

Now travels 40% faster (overall cast range unchanged)
Weapon Damage reduction: -25% → -30%

Willpower

Speed bonus: +15% → +20%

Last Stand

Upgrade 2: +40.5 DPS → +50
Upgrade 2 · cooldown reduction: -30s → -40s

Grey Talon

▲ Buff▲ 3▼ 1

Charged Shot

Upgrade 2 · now also has -2s Charge Delay
Upgrade 3 · no longer has -3s Charge Delay
Upgrade 3 · now also lets the shot bounce once off a wall (can't hit a target more than once)

Guided Owl

Now launches in the exact direction you're aiming, including steep downward angles (previously always launched at least 45° upward)

Drifter

▲ Buff▲ 3

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Base gun damage: +3%

Bloodscent

Upgrade 3: +11% Amplified Damage → +12%

Eternal Night

Upgrade 3: +2.5s Duration → +2.75s

Abrams

▲ Buff▲ 2

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Base gun damage: +5%

Siphon Life

Upgrade 3: +18 DPS → +22

Shoulder Charge

Fixed enemies being held in place longer if you don't hit a wall

Billy

▲ Buff▲ 2

Rising Ram

Upgrade 3: +10% Max Health for 16s → +15% for 20s

Blasted

Cooldown: 27s → 25s

Calico

▲ Buff▲ 2

Leaping Slash

Upgrade 3: +60 Damage → +90

Ava

Upgrade 3: 6s duration → 8s

The Doorman

▲ Buff▲ 2

Luggage Cart

Upgrade 2: +75 Damage on Wall Impact → +90
Upgrade 3: -15s Cooldown → -18s

Infernus

▲ Buff▲ 2

Napalm

Upgrade 2 · lifesteal: 15% → 20%

Concussive Combustion

Upgrade 3 · now increases spirit scaling by 0.4

McGinnis

▲ Buff▲ 2

Mini Turret

Damage vs troopers: 50% → 65%
Health per boon: 9 → 10

Silver

▲ Buff▲ 2

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Base health regen: 2.5 → 3
Go For The Throat - Now counts weapon damage from Point Blank and Opening Rounds

Entangling Bola

Fixed Unstoppable flying targets being made to fall
Fixed not grounding Grey Talon during his Rain of Arrows

Viscous

▲ Buff▲ 2

Hero baseHealth, gun and movement

Alt fire damage growth per boon: +5%

Splatter

Upgrade 1: +36 Damage → +45 Damage

Goo Ball

Fixed being able to heavy melee or activate Ethereal Shift during the cast delay
Fixed the direction indicator not appearing

Lady Geist

▲ Buff▲ 1

Essence Bomb

Spirit scaling: 1.22 → 1.35

Lash

▲ Buff▲ 1

Grapple

Upgrade 3 · now also increases Jump Velocity by +4m

Death Slam

Targeting indicator changed: a cone → a cylinder to more accurately match the ability's range (visual change only)

Paradox

▲ Buff▲ 1

Paradoxical Swap

Cooldown: 110s → 95s

Seven

▲ Buff▲ 1

Static Charge

Upgrade 3 · stun duration: 0.9s → 1.1s

Victor

▲ Buff▲ 1

Aura of Suffering

Upgrade 3: +15% Damage → +16%

Haze

✚ Fix

Smoke Bomb

Fixed T3 dispelling debuffs that can't be dispelled (like the Specter Crash from Nurse's Wretched Vapors)

Items

38 items · 61 changes

Radiant Regeneration

▼ Nerf

Regen on Spirit Damage scaling: 0.35 → 0.25
Heal on Ability Cast now only triggers when you are in combat (like Spellslinger)
Heal on Ability Cast: 65 → 40
Heal on Ability Cast boon scaling: 1.7 → 1.4

Spirit Sap

▼ Nerf

Cooldown: 18s → 22s
Cast range: 40m → 35m

High-Velocity Rounds

▼ Nerf

Bullet Velocity: 60% → 45% (upgrades unaffected)

Express Shot

▼ Nerf

Secondary Fire Weapon Damage and growth: −5%

Hunter's Aura

▼ Nerf

No longer affects or counts enemies outside of line of sight or through walls

Spirit Shielding

▼ Nerf

Spirit Resist: 18% → 15%

Spellbreaker

▼ Nerf

When the item procs, it continues to reduce any other spirit damage that happens as a result in that damage stack (for example, getting hit by charged shot that procs tankbuster now both get reduced)

Divine Barrier

▼ Nerf

Cooldown: 45s → 55s

Shadow Weave

◆ Mixed

No longer has Ambush Fire Rate or Melee Damage
Now has +50% Ambush Weapon Damage
Ambush bonuses now build up over 6s of being stealthed before reaching full power (invis progress UI pulses when it is charged up)
Abilities used to break stealth now benefit from the Ambush bonus on their own damage (previously the bonus was applied after the ability had already gone off)