Deadlock Roles Guide 2026 – Every Position Explained

Deadlock has no official roles. There is no "support queue" or "carry queue." Lanes are randomized. You pick three heroes, get assigned a lane and a partner, and figure it out.

So why talk about roles at all?

Because the team that understands farm priority wins. In every MOBA ever made (Dota 2, League of Legends, Smite) teams that consciously distribute resources beat teams where six players all try to be the hero. Deadlock is no exception. Souls are finite. Jungle camps respawn on timers. Waves can only be farmed by one player at a time. If everyone plays for themselves, nobody scales properly and you lose to any team with even basic coordination.

The position system is not a set of rules you must follow. It is a framework that helps your team answer one question: "Who gets the souls, and who creates the space for that to happen?"

Key concept: A "position number" means farm priority, not hero strength. Position 1 gets the most resources. Position 6 gets the least. Lower number = more souls funneled your way. This does not mean the Pos 6 player is less important, or that they will end up with less money in the end. They are often the one making the entire system work.

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Table of Contents

1. The 6-Position System - Overview
2. Position 1 - Hard Carry
3. Position 2 - Soft Carry
4. Position 3 - Offlaner / Frontliner
5. Position 4 - Roamer / Flex
6. Position 5 - Soft Support
7. Position 6 - Hard Support
8. Why Flexibility Matters More Than Labels
9. Building a Balanced Team
10. FAQ

1. The 6-Position System - Overview

Deadlock is a 6v6 game, so the community has settled on six positions. The system draws from Dota 2's position system (1-5), extended for the sixth player.

One critical thing to understand: in Deadlock, the farm gap between positions is much smaller than in Dota 2. Item costs are standardized, jungle camps are accessible to everyone, and soul income from waves is relatively even. Do not flame your Paige for farming a Tier 1 camp - her Cursed Relic costs exactly as much as your Infernus' Ricochet.

2. Position 1 - Hard Carry

Highest farm priority | The team's default win condition

This is the role you play when you want to scale. The hard carry starts the game either weaker than average or just treading water, but given enough time and souls they become unstoppable. Your job is simple in concept and brutal in execution: outfarm the enemy hard carry.

Farm approach: Max wave farm, sidelane priority, jungle stacking. Every soul counts. Avoid dying at all costs.

Playstyle: Selfish and greedy. This is the role where you PvE for 15 minutes and then become a monster. Boring but safe - and effective.

Common mistake: Taking unnecessary fights before your item spikes. If you die 3 times in laning, your scaling is gone.

When it works: When your team creates space and you convert that time into a soul lead the enemy cannot recover from.

Heroes: Haze, Seven, Victor, Wraith, Grey Talon

Carry mindset: The hard carry's macro game is a mirror match against the enemy HC, even if you never meet in lane. If they have 15k souls and you have 12k, your team is at a disadvantage regardless of how well everyone else played. Track your networth relative to theirs.

3. Position 2 - Soft Carry

High farm priority | Aggressive tempo | Mid-game spike

The soft carry is what happens when you want damage output but also aggression. Unlike the Pos 1 who PvEs until they become a problem, the Pos 2 hits their power spike earlier and starts forcing fights, ganks and pressure. This is the "playmaker carry." You are expected to get kills and create advantages while the Pos 1 scales behind you.

Farm approach: Lane farm, early ability maxing, look for kills after your first item spike. Balance between farm and aggression.

Playstyle: Aggressive. You are the hero making plays at the 8-15 minute mark. If you are sitting there AFK farming, you are doing the Pos 1's job.

Common mistake: Over-committing to kills and falling behind in farm. You still need souls - you are just getting them from kills AND waves.

When it works: When you snowball the mid-game so hard that the enemy Pos 1 never gets to scale.

Heroes: Infernus, Yamato, Mirage, Lady Geist, Vindicta

4. Position 3 - Offlaner / Frontliner

Medium farm priority | Space creation | Initiation

The offlaner is the team's frontline. You go in first, soak damage, and bring the crowd control that opens the fight. This role is not about being the most powerful. It is about being the most disruptive. You create chaos so your carries can do their job. When the enemy team is forced to focus you, that is success.

Farm approach: Lane farm, transition to split pushing and contesting objectives. Fight for map control, not for kills.

Playstyle: Tanky, disruptive, initiating. You go in first. If the enemy ignores you, you wreak havoc. If they focus you, your carries clean up.

Common mistake: Playing too passively. If you are not creating space and pressuring structures, you are - to put it bluntly - useless.

When it works: When the enemy is constantly forced to react to you, and while they do, your carries take the rest of the map and deal damage freely.

Heroes: Abrams, Mo & Krill, Drifter, Billy, Shiv

Watch out: Many players pick Abrams and just run into the enemy team every fight. Being tanky does not mean being mindless. The best offlaners choose their engages. They know the difference between "I will soak 4 abilities and my team follows up" and "I will die in 3 seconds because nobody is close enough to help."

5. Position 4 - Roamer / Flex

Low farm priority | Map control | Ganking | Assassination

The roamer is the wildcard. This position floats between lanes, does not commit to farming a specific area, and instead looks for ganks, picks and information. The roamer's value is not in souls. It is in pressure. When you are not showing on the map, every enemy lane has to respect the possibility that you are about to appear behind them.

Farm approach: Opportunistic. Grab camps between ganks. Take uncontested waves. Your farm comes from kills, assists and efficient box pathing.

Playstyle: Assassin, disruptor, information gatherer. You play the map, not the lane. You are reactive - you go where you are needed.

Common mistake: Sitting in one lane doing nothing. If you are not moving, you are not a roamer. You are a second Pos 1 with no space creation and no map control for the team.

When it works: When the enemy never feels safe in any lane because they know you are somewhere on the map, ready to punish bots.

Heroes: Lash, Pocket, Silver, Calico, Holliday

6. Position 5 - Soft Support

Low farm priority | Utility damage | Debuffs | Semi-selfless play

The soft support still deals meaningful damage in teamfights, but their primary job shifts toward enabling. This is the position that carries utility items like Knockdown and Cursed Relic. Items that do not increase your DPS but completely shut down an enemy carry for 3 seconds. The Pos 5 often does the dirty work that does not show up on the scoreboard.

Farm approach: Leftovers. Take what your carries do not. Your item timings are slower and that is OK. Your abilities do the heavy lifting.

Playstyle: Semi-selfless. You deal damage, but you also build items for the team. Cursed Relic, Knockdown, debuffs, CDR, sometimes Refresher. You are the enabler.

Common mistake: Building full carry and ignoring team items. If nobody on your team has a Cursed Relic, that is YOUR job.

When it works: When the enemy carry is constantly debuffed, locked down or silenced in every fight and does not understand why they keep losing.

Heroes: Dynamo, Bebop, Warden, Viscous

7. Position 6 - Hard Support

Lowest farm priority | Heals | Saves | Keeping carries alive

The hard support is the most selfless role in Deadlock. You are not here to get kills. You are not here to farm. You are here to make sure the people who do those things survive long enough to do them. This is the position where one well-timed ability (a heal, a shield, a save) can swing an entire teamfight.

Anyone who has ever played a Deadlock match where one team had supports and the other did not knows how massive the difference is. It is not subtle. It is game-deciding.

Farm approach: Minimal. You take the scraps. Your value comes from abilities, from game impact, from item choices like Trophy Collector or the classic Golden Egg. A Paige with 8k souls and good positioning is worth more than a Paige with 15k souls and bad positioning.

Playstyle: Purely defensive. Heal, shield, rescue, peel. Build team utility items. Stay alive. Your death is often worse than a carry's death because nobody is keeping the team alive anymore.

Common mistake: Trying to be the hero. Your ult is incredible, but if you use it to chase a kill and die, your team just lost their lifeline.

When it works: When your carries can take fights they should not win, because you are standing behind them, keeping them alive through the chaos.

Heroes: Ivy, Kelvin, Paige, McGinnis (*each of these heroes can also be built as a carry, especially in the current meta)

Underrated impact: Support is the least played and most undervalued role in Deadlock pubs. In ranked, teams with a dedicated support consistently outperform teams made up of six "carries." If you want to climb and nobody on your team is playing support, you just found the easiest way to raise your win rate.

8. Why Flexibility Matters More Than Labels

Here is the thing that separates Deadlock from traditional MOBAs: these positions are guidelines, not rules. Deadlock's itemization system lets almost any hero shift roles mid-game. Ivy can be a hard support or a DPS carry. Kelvin can be a healer or a split-pusher. Pocket can be a spirit caster or a gun carry ("Glocket" is a real thing people run at high ranks).

The game state should dictate your role, not the hero select screen. If your Pos 1 is struggling and you as the Pos 3 have a huge lead, you are the carry now. If your support disconnected and you are the Pos 4, start buying team items. Adaptation is the skill that separates good Deadlock players from great ones.

Meta Insight - May 2026: Since the 04-30-2026 patch, Vitality investment bonuses increased significantly while weapon investment scaling was reduced. This means tanky heroes and sustain builds are stronger right now (you can see it with Victor for example), which shifts the meta toward longer teamfights where support value is amplified. If you are playing ranked this patch, having a Pos 5 or 6 on your team is more valuable than ever.

9. Building a Balanced Team

In a perfect world your 6-player team covers all the bases. In ranked reality you often end up with 4 people who want to carry and 2 confused players. Here is the minimum for a functional composition:

At least one hard carry - someone who scales and can close out the late game. Without a Pos 1 you are on a timer: if the game goes past 25 minutes, you often lose.

At least one frontliner - someone who can initiate fights and soak abilities. Without a tank your carries get jumped first and die before they deal damage.

At least one support - someone building team utility items and keeping people alive. This is the role most often missing in pubs, and the one that makes the biggest difference when added.

The other three slots are flexible. Two soft carries and a roamer works. A soft carry, a second offlaner and a second support works. The key is that someone is farming, someone is tanking, and someone is keeping the team alive.

10. FAQ

Does Deadlock have official roles? No. Deadlock does not assign roles or positions. Lanes are randomized. However, the community has developed a 6-position system based on farm priority and team function, similar to Dota 2.

What is Position 1 in Deadlock? Position 1 is the Hard Carry - the hero with the highest farm priority who scales into the late game as the team's primary win condition. Heroes like Haze, Seven and Victor naturally fit this role.

How many roles are there in Deadlock? The community recognizes 6 positions: Hard Carry (Pos 1), Soft Carry (Pos 2), Offlaner (Pos 3), Roamer/Flex (Pos 4), Soft Support (Pos 5) and Hard Support (Pos 6).

Can any hero play any role? Deadlock's itemization system allows significant flexibility. Many heroes can shift roles depending on builds - Ivy can be a support or a DPS carry, Pocket can go spirit or gun. However, each hero's kit naturally fits certain positions better than others.

What role has the biggest impact for climbing ranked? Support is the least played role, and adding one to a team of five "carries" has the single highest win rate impact. If nobody on your team is playing support, that is your opportunity.

Is the position system different from hero archetypes (gun carry, spirit carry, etc.)? Yes. Archetypes describe HOW a hero deals damage (gun vs spirit vs melee). Positions describe the hero's ROLE within the team economy - who gets the farm, who creates space, who supports. A gun carry and a spirit carry can both be Position 1; the difference is their damage source, not their team function.

Czy ten guide bazuje na grze kompetytywnej czy rankedzie? Na obu. System pozycji wywodzi się z analizy community na najwyższym poziomie (w tym najwyżej rankowanych graczy NA/EU) i jest stosowalny na wszystkich poziomach. Im wyżej się wspinasz, tym ważniejsza staje się jasność ról, ale nawet w unrankedzie drużyny ze zdefiniowanymi rolami po prostu wygrywają częściej.

This article is based on community knowledge, meta analysis from May 2026, and tested concepts from high-level play. If you want to see the roles in live action, join the stream. If you want to analyze your game 1:1, schedule a coaching session. If you want to talk builds, join us on Discord