This casual guide is for you if you're coming from CS2, Valorant, or any other FPS and want to understand Deadlock faster than I did. I'm not going to explain what a MOBA is from scratch like Wikipedia. I'll tell you specifically what from your FPS experience works, what doesn't, and what you need to learn from zero.
What Is Deadlock and Why It's Not "Just Another Hero Shooter"
Deadlock is Valve's game combining third-person shooting with MOBA mechanics. 6v6, four lanes, soul farming (the equivalent of gold from Dota 2), an item shop, a mid boss, neutral camps, and one objective: destroy the enemy Patron in their base.
Sounds like Overwatch? Currently they share things like fighting over a point, but in Deadlock it's stationary (the only mobile moment is when someone carries the Urn). In Overwatch you fight for a point and your abilities are static. In Deadlock you develop your character throughout the entire match by buying items with souls. A match that lasts 30 minutes is a completely different game at minute 5 versus minute 25. A hero that's weak early can become unstoppable by the end if they farmed well.
This is the fundamental difference that FPS players don't understand at first. In CS2 a round lasts 2 minutes and you start from scratch. In Deadlock you build advantage throughout the entire match and one mistake at minute 20 can cost you 5 minutes of farming.
What Carries Over from CS2 and Valorant
Accuracy and Crosshair Placement
Your thousands of hours of aim training are NOT wasted. Deadlock rewards precise shooting. Headshots deal significantly more damage. Heroes like Haze, Vindicta, and Wraith are built on pure aim. If you can track a target in CS2, Fixation on Haze will be your favorite ability because every headshot stacks twice.
But there's a catch: Deadlock is in third person. Your camera is behind your character, not inside their eyes. This changes distance and angle perception. For the first 10-15 hours your aim will be worse than in CS2 because your brain needs to adjust. This is normal. Don't panic, don't change your sensitivity every hour. Give yourself a week.
Positioning and Angles
Your CS2 instincts for holding angles, prefiring, and jiggle peeking work in Deadlock. Lane fights in the first minutes look surprisingly similar to fighting for mid control on Mirage. You hold an angle, peek, shoot, hide. The difference is you're doing this while simultaneously farming souls from minions.
What Doesn't Work and What You Need to Unlearn
You Can't Ignore the Economy
This is the number one reason why FPS players get hardstuck in low Deadlock ranks. In CS2, economy is "can I afford an AWP or not." In Deadlock, economy is the foundation of the ENTIRE game.
You earn souls (and other benefits) from:
Final blow on minions (creeps in lane) – this is your main source of income.
Champion kills – gives a lot, but is risky.
Map objectives (Urn, Objectives, Mid Boss) – gives a bonus to the entire team.
Neutral objects (chests, bridge buffs) – additional farm.
Key principle: A player with 15,000 souls at minute 15 is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than a player with 10,000 souls regardless of kill/death ratio. 5 kills but 3,000 fewer souls means you're losing even though you're "winning fights."
As an FPS player you have the instinct to fight for every kill. In Deadlock farming is more important than frags in the first 15 minutes. It's like force buying every round in CS2 instead of saving: technically you can win a round, but statistically you're losing the match.
You Can't Play Solo
In CS2 one player can drop 30 frags and carry the match alone. In Deadlock that doesn't work. Even the best player in the world can't 1v6 if the opponents have more items because they farmed better as a team.
Deadlock requires:
Rotation – know when to leave your lane to help your team fight for an objective.
Communication – signal when an enemy disappears from your lane.
Resource allocation – sometimes you give farm to an ally because their hero scales better than yours.
You Can't Ignore Items
In CS2 you buy guns and grenades, simple. In Deadlock the shop has over 100 items divided into three categories (Weapon, Vitality, Spirit) and your build completely changes how your hero plays.
At the start, don't try to memorize all items. Begin with this:
Check out our tier list to see which items have the highest win rate.
Use popular community builds (the "Builds" tab in our tier list) as a starting point.
Over time, you'll start to understand why a particular item is good in a particular situation.
Three Starter Heroes for FPS Players
Haze - "If You Like Sage, Haze Is for You" (kidding, if you like fragging)
Haze is the most "FPS-like" hero in Deadlock. Her kit is built around shooting. Fixation rewards precise tracking, Sleep Dagger is a skillshot requiring prediction, and Bullet Dance (ultimate) is a pure DPS check.
Why for FPS players: Your thousands of hours of aim training translate directly into Haze's damage. You don't need to understand complex MOBA combos to be useful. You aim well = you deal damage = you win fights.
Full guide: Deadlock Haze Guide 2026
Seven – Sustained DMG
Seven has the simplest kit in the game but massive impact. Lightning Ball controls the lane, Static Charge forces enemies to scatter, and Storm Cloud (ultimate) wins team fights. Doesn't require advanced MOBA knowledge to be effective. Statistically one of the most picked heroes at every rank. Also the hero with the highest win rate in the game right now.
Why for FPS players: You don't need to think about complicated combos. You throw balls, shoot, use your ult in team fights. Simple. You can focus on learning economy and rotations instead of hero mechanics.
Infernus – DOT (Damage Over Time)
Infernus is a hero built around damage over time effects. You set enemies on fire and watch them lose HP. Flame Dash gives mobility, Catalyst amplifies damage, and Concussive Combustion is an AOE stun. Solid at every stage of the game.
Why for FPS players: Flame Dash works roughly like a dash in Valorant (Jett, Raze). Gives you mobility that other heroes lack. Setting things on fire is mechanically easy, so you can focus on positioning instead of executing combos.
Deadlock's Ranked System
Key difference: In Deadlock performance matters, not just wins/losses. If you lose a match but had the best stats and got tagged as "key player," you lose less MMR than if you were the weakest player on the team. This rewards consistent play even in lost matches. Currently, according to trackers, you can even gain positive rank points from a lost match - which is absolutely the right approach and I don't understand why every other game doesn't care that you played well xD...
5 Mistakes Every FPS Player Makes in Deadlock
1. Ignoring Lane Farm
Minions give you souls. Souls give you items. Items win matches. Don't chase kills leaving full minion waves behind. At the start your only goal is: last-hit every minion and the soul package from it.
2. Only Buying Offensive Items
FPS players instinctively buy only damage. In Deadlock, Vitality items (health-based) are equally important. Extra Health, Extra Stamina, Healing Rite are items you buy at the start of most matches depending on the hero. Surviving a fight 2 seconds longer is often worth more than 10% more damage.
3. Taking 1v1 Fights Without Information
In CS2 a 1v1 on mid is standard. In Deadlock, if you engage a 1v1 without knowing where the rest of the enemy team is, you risk getting ganked and giving away souls plus respawn time. Check the minimap. If enemies are missing from the map, play defensive.
4. Ignoring Map Objectives
The Urn (Soul Urn) and objectives give massive bonuses. Many matches in low ranks are lost because the team ignores map objectives for pointless fights. When the Urn spawns: take it. It's not optional. The problem is when the team doesn't want to fight for these objectives. It often happens that people don't understand the importance of capturing the Urn and have their own ideas about how to play the game - which creates total chaos, conflicts of interest, and toxicity between players on the same team. This is a problem Valve created with recent changes to this objective, but I suspect they'll change this system several more times before they find the solution they're looking for.
5. Not Adapting Your Build
You copy a build from the internet and buy the same items every match. Problem: opponents change. If you're playing against a hero with heavy healing, you need Toxic Bullets (reduces healing). If the enemy is stacking Spirit damage, you need Spirit Armor. A build isn't static, you adapt it to the match.
How to Accelerate Your Learning
Watch your replays. Deadlock has a built-in replay system. After every loss, watch the first 10 minutes and count how many minions you missed. I guarantee it'll be painful to watch, but educational.
Play 2-3 heroes maximum. Don't jump between 10 characters. Pick one main and one backup. Learn their builds, matchups, and power spikes. A generalist in Deadlock loses to a specialist.
Use the data. Our Deadlock's daily tier list shows every champion's win rate, updated daily from ranked match data. Don't guess what's strong, check the data.
Consider coaching. Sounds like an advertisement? Because it is. But I speak from experience: when I was transitioning from CS2 to Deadlock, understanding the economy and rotations took me weeks of self-study. With a coach who points out your mistakes live, it takes 2-3 sessions. UltimateMove offers Deadlock coaching for $15/hour. One session saves you 50+ hours of wandering. Unfortunately, rank allocation isn't perfect; people play duos/teams and climb higher ranks despite lacking skill. It often happens that even in Oracle or Phantom, someone seems to be confused about map priorities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Deadlock free?
Yes. Deadlock is free-to-play on Steam. It's currently in invite-only early access, but the open beta is expected in 2026/2027.
Do I need to know Dota to play Deadlock?
No. MOBA mechanics in Deadlock are simplified compared to Dota 2. There's no denying (killing your own minions), no couriers, and itemization is simpler. If you've played any FPS, you have solid fundamentals to start.
What PC do I need?
Deadlock runs on the Source 2 engine (the same one as CS2). If CS2 runs smoothly for you, Deadlock will too. A GTX 1660 Super will be enough for 100+ FPS on low settings. Check out our PC optimization guide, and for Maximum Performance you can sign up for PC Optimization performed remotely by us 🙂
How many hours do I need to be good?
Depends on your background. A CS2/Valorant player with good aim can be competent after 30-50 hours if they focus on learning economy and 2-3 heroes. A player with no FPS or MOBA experience needs 100-150 hours to understand the basics. Coaching cuts that time in half.
Will Deadlock surpass CS2?
I don't know and nobody does. But one thing is certain: Deadlock is being made by the most talented people at Valve. Yoshi (widely believed to be IceFrog from Dota 2) leads the project. The game has 125,000+ concurrent players despite zero marketing and a closed beta. Those numbers speak for themselves.
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