On January 17, Valve introduced 4 new heroes in their new MOBA shooter Deadlock on Steam. After heavy criticism on Reddit, Valve was forced to release a quick balance patch.
Who are the new heroes? Calico, Holliday, Vyper, and The Great Sinclair have moved from the time-limited test area, the hero lab, to official matchmaking. Their abilities have been adjusted or completely changed. MeinMMO has already presented the new heroes and their abilities.
Which heroes are under criticism? The new heroine Vyper has dealt nearly twice the damage per second compared to all others. With her high fire rate and unlimited ammunition while sliding, Vyper has defeated most opponents within seconds.
The additional bullet and magic resistance from her passive ability has mitigated the significant disadvantage of being a typical glass cannon and has made her one of the strongest heroes in the game so far.
The Great Sinclair has also been criticized for his high damage output and his ability to teleport to his assistant. Particularly in connection with the urn, a game mechanic to earn souls for the entire team, the teleportation was too strong, as normally one has to navigate across the entire map.
What does the community think about the new heroes? Many players criticize the state in which the heroes were released. Some users on Reddit are asking what Valve was thinking and are wondering about the implemented hero lab designed to detect these balance problems early on.
Valve quickly recognized the problems and is making adjustments
How did Valve respond? Only 2 days after the release, the first balance patch for all new heroes was released. Vyper has lost almost a third of her damage per second, as well as having reduced resistance while sliding, and The Great Sinclair can no longer teleport with the urn.
Additionally, the base damage of all weapons and damage increase from bullets at each level has been reduced by 10%. How this change will affect our Tier List remains to be seen.
What else has changed with the patch? In addition to the changes to the new heroes, some well-known characters have also received buffs and nerfs.
Buffs
- Calico
- Holliday
- Kelvin
Nerfs
- Bebop
- Shiv
- The Great Sinclair
- Vindicta
- Vyper
- Yamato
Adjusted
- Wraith
- Mirage
Is there a reason why the heroes were released in this state? Speculation is all that can be done here, but the last update on Steam was several weeks ago.
Due to the partially modified abilities compared to the versions in the hero lab, previous balancing attempts could not be used and had to be quickly remade, but as one player points out, the entire game is still in a testing phase:
- “You are all testers of a game in early development and wonder why it feels like a test,” writes jenrai (via Reddit)
With the addition of the 4 new heroes, Deadlock’s hero selection has increased to 26, bringing many new playstyles and hero combinations to shorten the wait for larger updates and innovations.
Valve’s new game on Steam, Deadlock, is currently in an early and closed testing phase, but you can already get access today. MeinMMO explains how you can participate. Deadlock Invite: How to get an invitation and invite friends
