On Friday evening, Valve released a new update for the MOBA shooter Deadlock on Steam. The first major update of the year 2025 introduces 4 new heroes. MyMMO presents them all and explains why the new hero Vyper is so strong.
Who are the new heroes? After the release of the last new hero Mirage several months ago, Calico, Holliday, Vyper, and The Great Sinclair have finally been released. All 4 were already known from the limited-time test area, the Hero Lab. On January 17, Valve sent them into official matchmaking with partially new abilities.
Calico – Creates Chaos from Afar
Calico uses the shadows to her advantage and switches from one fight to another to hunt her enemies individually.
All abilities of Calico:
- Dusk Bomb: Calico throws some bombs that detonate after a delay and deal magic damage.
- Claw Dash: Calico dashes forward, hitting all foes in the vicinity with her claw, dealing light melee damage.
- Ava: Calico merges with the shadows and takes possession of Ava (Calico’s cat). She gains additional movement speed and becomes hidden on the minimap but cannot attack or use abilities.
- Shadow Escape: Calico immediately merges with the shadows. She can no longer be targeted, gains additional movement speed, and deals magic damage to enemies. After 3 seconds, Calico emerges from the shadows and deals magic damage to enemies again.
Holliday – Jumps Through the Air and Delivers Trick Shots
Holliday relies on her skills as a sharpshooter and shoots at things she has hurled into the air. If she hits her target precisely, she deals significant damage. With her mobility, she can isolate her enemies or make a quick retreat.
All abilities of Holliday:
- Powder Keg: Holliday rolls an explosive barrel that becomes active after a short delay. Once the barrel is active, it can be detonated with a shot, a melee attack, the impact after being launched from a jump pad, or by colliding with another barrel, dealing magic damage.
- Jump Pad: Holliday places a jump pad that will make any hero fly through the air. Holliday triggers an explosion upon landing that deals magic damage to all enemies in the area of effect.
- Trick Shot: Headshots deal additional bullet damage and slow the target.
- Soul Lasso: Holliday throws her lasso, which captures the first enemy hit and deals magic damage to them. Hit enemies are stunned and pulled behind Holliday.
Vyper – Slithers into Battle and Kills Her Enemies
With her powerful weapons (including a deadly dose of poison), Vyper slithers behind enemy lines and takes out high-profile targets with a deadly hail of bullets.
All abilities of Vyper:
- Slowdown Dagger: Vyper throws a dagger that deals magic damage and slows the movement of affected targets.
- Deadly Poison: Vyper injects a target with deadly poison. After a delay, the poison takes effect and deals magic damage. The damage increases when the target’s health falls below a certain threshold.
- Sliding: Vyper benefits from increased slide distance, can also slide up ramps, and rotates faster while sliding.
- Petrifying Bola: Vyper throws an explosive bola. When it explodes, the bola slows all enemies in the area and deals magic damage to them. Enemies hit directly take additional magic damage and are instead petrified.
The Great Sinclair – Misleads and Bewitches Enemies
With hexes, rapidly flying cards, and the help of an equally reluctant and dangerous assistant, The Great Sinclair confuses his enemies.
All abilities of Sinclair:
- Magic Bolt: Sinclair fires a magic bolt that deals magic damage and slows the fire rate of enemies. If the assistant has been summoned, she also uses Magic Bolt with reduced damage.
- Spectral Assistant: Sinclair summons an assistant at the target location. The assistant attacks when Sinclair fires his weapon and deals magic damage. Pressing the ability again allows Sinclair to swap places with the assistant.
- Rabbit Curse: Sinclair curses a target, transforming it into a rabbit for a limited time. Rabbits are small and move at increased speed, but take increased damage and cannot perform most actions.
- Audience Participation: Sinclair copies the ultimate ability of an opposing hero for a limited time. Pressing the button again allows the great Sinclair to use the copied ultimate ability.
What position the new heroes will occupy in the Tier List will be decided in the coming days.
Why is Vyper Dealing So Much Damage?
Vyper’s weapon has the fastest rate of fire in the game and good bullet damage. Her playstyle is based on the sliding mechanic, which provides unlimited ammunition, allowing her to negate the disadvantage of her small magazine size and additionally gain 30% bullet and magic resistance with the Sliding ability.
Vyper’s damage per second is listed as 150 in Deadlock.
For comparison: McGinnis has 89 damage per second, placing him in second place.
The current meta, dominated by a lot of weapon damage and high rates of fire, contributes to many players complaining about Vyper and the overall balancing of the new heroes on Reddit.
- “Do you know what this character needs while sliding over the lane at the speed of light? … 30% bullet AND magic resistance…”, writes rental99 (via Reddit).
- “Why the hell are they in the game – they were tested and were known to be so overpowered for about 2 months? And Valve changes nothing???”, writes LootKraiyt (via Reddit).
A simple reason was found by skuaskuaa, who replied, “Obviously for fun” (via Reddit)
Calico, Holliday, Vyper, and The Great Sinclair each bring a unique playstyle and will be a good addition to the current selection of 22 heroes. The next major update for balancing and general improvements should be announced in the coming weeks.
