Drifter is a Hero in Deadlock. Something ancient has arrived in New York... a nameless horror known only as the Drifter. Relentless as time, as certain as death, once Drifter sets his eyes on a victim there's nothing they can do to stop him. They can try to run, but his Bloodscent drives him forward, leading him to isolated prey. Even if they manage to escape it doesn't matter, as Stalker's Mark allows Drifter to appear right behind his enemies before lunging in for the kill with a vicious Rend. Soon Eternal Night comes, and a faint whistling in the breeze will be joined by a chorus of screams.

Drifter
Stalker
Bloodthirsty
Cruel
Weapon Stats
Damage Per Second: 44.2
Bullet Damage: 19.5+0.49
Pellets per shot: 3
Ammo: 12
Bullets per sec: 2.27
Reload Time: 2.44s
Bullet Velocity: 508m/s
Light Melee: 51.5+1.58
Heavy Melee: 120+3.68
Crit Bonus Scale: -45%
Vitality Stats
Health: 755+41
Health Regen: 3.5
Move Speed: 6.9m/s
Sprint Speed: 1.6m/s
Dash Speed: 14.7m/s
Stamina: 3
Stamina Cooldown: 4.5s
Spirit Stats
Spirit Power: 0+1.1
Information
Pronouns:He/Him
Voice Actor:Matt Mercer[1][2]
Release Date:August 27, 2025
If I find someone on their own, God himself couldn't save 'em.

A feral vampire with ties to Louisiana, Drifter has open contempt for the rules of vampire society, leaving a trail of carnage wherever he goes.

Drifter was released on August 27, 2025 as the fifth hero of the Six New Heroes update (fourth winner of hero vote).

Weapon

Crimson Grasp
Spreadshot
Close Range
  44 Damage Per Second
Falloff Range
22m ➞ 27m
 

Crimson Grasp deals the same amount of bullet damage to a target regardless of how many pellets hit per shot. It deals no damage beyond its max range.

Abilities

Rend

 Rend


  16m






  0


  16s



Swipe at enemies in a cone ahead of you, dealing   spirit damage. If the enemy is in close range, deal bonus   melee damage.

 x1.4


  40

Bonus Damage
On Close Range

 x1.2


  61.8

Damage
On Close Range

 x0


  0

Damage
On Close Range

  0%

Bullet Lifesteal
On Close Range
  Silence
0s
Debuff Duration

  8m  Close Range 

  0s  Lifesteal Duration

40 Bonus Damage
-8s Cooldown
Deals 55% Heavy Melee Damage
Silences enemies for 2s if close range
 Benefits from melee items (e.g. Melee Lifesteal) Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist Triggers Reactive Barrier Effect can be dispelled Disable prevented by Indomitable CC effect suppressed by Unstoppable
  • T3 upgrade results in ~7% damage increase for the ability, as Drifter's Heavy Melee is roughly equivalent to 2.3x of his Light Melee.

Stalker's Mark

 Stalker's Mark





  5s



  0


  26s



Send out a mark that bleeds the first target it hits, dealing   spirit damage over time.

While the enemy is bleeding you can re-activate Stalker's Mark to instantly appear behind their back.

 x0.015


  2%/sec

Bleed Damage



  5s

Duration


0%

Healing Reduction

  0  Charges

  0%  Bullet Resist

-1s  Charge Delay

After ambushing:

  0%

Fire Rate
-8% Bullet Resist
-10s Cooldown and +3s Duration
+1.5% Bleed and -40% Healing Reduction
 Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist Effect can be dispelled  Interacts partially with Slowing Hex.
Click to reveal more info.
  • Stalker's Mark has no range limit, allowing Drifter to hit enemies across the entire map.
  • Damage is based on target's current health, not their max health.
  • Damage is divided up into 0.5s intervals, starting immediately as the projectile connects. (This works out to approximately the same overall damage per second stated in the tooltip, just dealt smoother.)
  • The projectile can hit Denizens (if they are not dormant), Troopers, and player-created Units.
    • It can hit Structures if they are not dormant, but will deal no damage to them.
    • Stalker's Mark can be applied to the Rejuvenator, allowing Drifter to teleport to it.
  • Stalker's Mark damage over time and teleport components are separate; activating the teleport does not end the bleed effect prematurely. The bleed will last the full duration either way.
    • If the duration expires during the cast time, Drifter will not teleport to the target.

  

Only the second cast (teleporting to the marked target) gets disabled.

Notes
  • Stalker's Mark has no range limit, allowing Drifter to hit enemies across the entire map.
  • Damage is based on target's current health, not their max health.
  • Damage is divided up into 0.5s intervals, starting immediately as the projectile connects. (This works out to approximately the same overall damage per second stated in the tooltip, just dealt smoother.)
  • The projectile can hit Denizens (if they are not dormant), Troopers, and player-created Units.
    • It can hit Structures if they are not dormant, but will deal no damage to them.
    • Stalker's Mark can be applied to the Rejuvenator, allowing Drifter to teleport to it.
  • Stalker's Mark damage over time and teleport components are separate; activating the teleport does not end the bleed effect prematurely. The bleed will last the full duration either way.
    • If the duration expires during the cast time, Drifter will not teleport to the target.
Interactions
  

Only the second cast (teleporting to the marked target) gets disabled.

Bloodscent

 Bloodscent


  80m






  0



Isolated heroes leave a trail as they move, and emit their heartbeat from afar.

You deal amplified damage against isolated heroes, and when isolated heroes die nearby you gain permanent   weapon damage.


  15%

Amplified Damage


  20m

Isolation Range

  0m  Move Speed

On Isolated Hero Death:

  3%

Permanent Weapon Damage
On Isolated Hero Death:

 x0


  0%

Missing Health as Healing
+3m/s Move Speed when around an isolated enemy hero
On isolated hero death: Heal 24% of your missing health and restores 2 Stamina
11% Amplified Damage
 Healing amplified by Healing Booster and affected by healing reduction Healing triggers Healing Tempo's unique effect
  • Getting an assist on an isolated enemy hero grants the same bonuses as a kill.
  • The range for the movement speed near isolated heroes is 80 meters and lingers for about 7 seconds if there is no isolated target in range. 80 meters is roughly the distance between the two opposing blue guardians.
  • The permanent Weapon Damage per stack is additive with other increases to Drifter's Weapon Damage stat and applies to both Bullet and Melee damage.

Eternal Night

 Eternal Night


  100m





  6.5s



  0


  145s



Surround nearby enemy heroes in darkness, severely limiting their vision of other units. Affected enemies are briefly revealed to you and are considered isolated for the duration.

You gain   bonus sprint speed.


  15m

Reduced Vision


  2m

Sprint Speed

2  Max Targets

+10m Sprint Speed
-40s Cooldown
+2.5s Duration and +1 Max Targets.
  • The brief reveal of affected enemies lasts 3 seconds and can be increased by Ability Duration items. Eternal Night's base duration being increased at Tier 3 does not increase the reveal duration.

Street Brawl

Ability Changes

In addition to global changes, Drifter receives the following modifications to his abilities:

  Bloodscent

  • Isolation range reduced by 50%, from 20m to 10m.

Item Draft

In Street Brawl, every hero draws items from a shared pool, but some items are weighted to appear more often for a given hero and others less often. For each tier below, that tier's items are grouped by how likely they are to be offered to Drifter: High, Average, or Low chance.

Tier 1
High chance
 
Imbue

Close Quarters

Active
 
Imbue

Rapid Rounds

Active
 
Imbue

Restorative Shot

Active
 
Imbue

Extra Health

Active
 
Imbue

Extra Stamina

Active
 
Imbue

Melee Lifesteal

Active
 
Imbue

Sprint Boots

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Strike

Active
Average chance
 
Imbue

Extended Magazine

Active
 
Imbue

Headshot Booster

Active
 
Imbue

High-Velocity Rounds

Active
 
Imbue

Monster Rounds

Active
 
Imbue

Grit

Active
 
Imbue

Healing Rite

Active
 
Imbue

Rebuttal

Active
 
Imbue

Extra Charge

Active
 
Imbue

Extra Spirit

Active
 
Imbue

Mystic Burst

Active
 
Imbue

Mystic Expansion

Active
 
Imbue

Mystic Regeneration

Active
 
Imbue

Rusted Barrel

Active
Low chance
 
Imbue

Extra Regen

Active
Tier 2
High chance
 
Imbue

Fleetfoot

Active
 
Imbue

Kinetic Dash

Active
 
Imbue

Slowing Bullets

Active
 
Imbue

Stalker

Active
 
Imbue

Swift Striker

Active
 
Imbue

Battle Vest

Active
 
Imbue

Bullet Lifesteal

Active
 
Imbue

Enduring Speed

Active
 
Imbue

Bullet Resist Shredder

Active
 
Imbue

Quicksilver Reload

Active
Average chance
 
Imbue

Active Reload

Active
 
Imbue

Intensifying Magazine

Active
 
Imbue

Long Range

Active
 
Imbue

Melee Charge

Active
 
Imbue

Mystic Shot

Active
 
Imbue

Opening Rounds

Active
 
Imbue

Recharging Rush

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Shredder Bullets

Active
 
Imbue

Split Shot

Active
 
Imbue

Titanic Magazine

Active
 
Imbue

Weakening Headshot

Active
 
Imbue

Debuff Reducer

Active
 
Imbue

Enchanter's Emblem

Active
 
Imbue

Guardian Ward

Active
 
Imbue

Healbane

Active
 
Imbue

Healing Booster

Active
 
Imbue

Reactive Barrier

Active
 
Imbue

Restorative Locket

Active
 
Imbue

Return Fire

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Lifesteal

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Shielding

Active
 
Imbue

Trophy Collector

Active
 
Imbue

Weapon Shielding

Active
 
Imbue

Arcane Surge

Active
 
Imbue

Cold Front

Active
 
Imbue

Compress Cooldown

Active
 
Imbue

Duration Extender

Active
 
Imbue

Improved Spirit

Active
 
Imbue

Mystic Slow

Active
 
Imbue

Mystic Vulnerability

Active
 
Imbue

Slowing Hex

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Sap

Active
 
Imbue

Suppressor

Active
Tier 3
High chance
 
Imbue

Burst Fire

Active
 
Imbue

Hollow Point

Active
 
Imbue

Hunter's Aura

Active
 
Imbue

Point Blank

Active
 
Imbue

Toxic Bullets

Active
 
Imbue

Counterspell

Active
 
Imbue

Fortitude

Active
 
Imbue

Lifestrike

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Resilience

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Snatch

Active
 
Imbue

Superior Duration

Active
Average chance
 
Imbue

Alchemical Fire

Active
 
Imbue

Ballistic Enchantment

Active
 
Imbue

Berserker

Active
 
Imbue

Blood Tribute

Active
 
Imbue

Cultist Sacrifice

Active
 
Imbue

Escalating Resilience

Active
 
Imbue

Express Shot

Active
 
Imbue

Headhunter

Active
 
Imbue

Heroic Aura

Active
 
Imbue

Shadow Weave

Active
 
Imbue

Sharpshooter

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Rend

Active
 
Imbue

Tesla Bullets

Active
 
Imbue

Weighted Shots

Active
 
Imbue

Bullet Resilience

Active
 
Imbue

Dispel Magic

Active
 
Imbue

Fury Trance

Active
 
Imbue

Healing Nova

Active
 
Imbue

Majestic Leap

Active
 
Imbue

Metal Skin

Active
 
Imbue

Rescue Beam

Active
 
Imbue

Stamina Mastery

Active
 
Imbue

Veil Walker

Active
 
Imbue

Warp Stone

Active
 
Imbue

Decay

Active
 
Imbue

Disarming Hex

Active
 
Imbue

Greater Expansion

Active
 
Imbue

Knockdown

Active
 
Imbue

Radiant Regeneration

Active
 
Imbue

Rapid Recharge

Active
 
Imbue

Silence Wave

Active
 
Imbue

Superior Cooldown

Active
 
Imbue

Surge of Power

Active
 
Imbue

Tankbuster

Active
 
Imbue

Torment Pulse

Active
Tier 4
High chance
 
Imbue

Crippling Headshot

Active
 
Imbue

Crushing Fists

Active
 
Imbue

Frenzy

Active
 
Imbue

Glass Cannon

Active
 
Imbue

Lucky Shot

Active
 
Imbue

Silencer

Active
 
Imbue

Inhibitor

Active
 
Imbue

Juggernaut

Active
 
Imbue

Leech

Active
 
Imbue

Siphon Bullets

Active
 
Imbue

Spellbreaker

Active
 
Imbue

Vampiric Burst

Active
Average chance
 
Imbue

Armor Piercing Rounds

Active
 
Imbue

Capacitor

Active
 
Imbue

Ricochet

Active
 
Imbue

Spellslinger

Active
 
Imbue

Spiritual Overflow

Active
 
Imbue

Cheat Death

Active
 
Imbue

Colossus

Active
 
Imbue

Divine Barrier

Active
 
Imbue

Diviner's Kevlar

Active
 
Imbue

Healing Tempo

Active
 
Imbue

Indomitable

Active
 
Imbue

Infuser

Active
 
Imbue

Phantom Strike

Active
 
Imbue

Plated Armor

Active
 
Imbue

Unstoppable

Active
 
Imbue

Witchmail

Active
 
Imbue

Arctic Blast

Active
 
Imbue

Boundless Spirit

Active
 
Imbue

Cursed Relic

Active
 
Imbue

Echo Shard

Active
 
Imbue

Escalating Exposure

Active
 
Imbue

Ethereal Shift

Active
 
Imbue

Focus Lens

Active
 
Imbue

Lightning Scroll

Active
 
Imbue

Magic Carpet

Active
 
Imbue

Mercurial Magnum

Active
 
Imbue

Mystic Reverb

Active
 
Imbue

Refresher

Active
 
Imbue

Scourge

Active
 
Imbue

Spirit Burn

Active
 
Imbue

Transcendent Cooldown

Active
 
Imbue

Vortex Web

Active
Legendary
Average chance
 
Imbue

Haunting Shot

Active
 
Imbue

Infinite Rounds

Active
 
Imbue

Celestial Blessing

Active
 
Imbue

Cloak of Opportunity

Active
 
Imbue

Electric Slippers

Active
 
Imbue

Eternal Gift

Active
 
Imbue

Nullification Burst

Active
 
Imbue

Seraphim Wings

Active
 
Imbue

Shadow Strike

Active
 
Imbue

Frostbite Charm

Active
 
Imbue

Mystic Conduit

Active
 
Imbue

Mystical Piano

Active
 
Imbue

Omnicharge Signet

Active
 
Imbue

Prism Blast

Active
 
Imbue

Unstable Concoction

Active
Low chance
 
Imbue

Runed Gauntlets

Active
 
Imbue

Shrink Ray

Active

Backstory

See Drifter/Lore for more story content.

An ancient vampire roaming across America, the nameless monstrosity known as The Drifter has been preying on the living for generations.

Unlike most vampires, Drifter doesn’t value finery or titles and has naked contempt for vampiric laws and tradition. This refusal to toe the line has made him a marked man all over the North American Baronies; but while Viscounts and Elders cry for his execution, Drifter continues to do what he pleases...

Update history

View the full update history: Drifter/Update history

Update Changes

August 12, 2026

July 28, 2026

  •   Rend spirit scaling reduced from 1.8 to 1.7.
  •   Rend T3 silence duration reduced from 2.3s to 2s.

July 13, 2026

3D model

 
Click to view
Drifter

Weapon

 
Click to view
Drifter Weapon

Trivia

  • Drifter was one of the heroes in a private build who was accidentally leaked on stream in May 2025.[3]
  • Drifter leaves claw marks when sliding on a wall.
  • Drifter's forward air dash and wall jump animation resembles the pounce animation of the Hunter, a recurring enemy in Valve's Left 4 Dead series. He also previously had other animations similar to the Hunter's attack and run.
  • "Prowling in the Hideout" is displayed as one's status in the in-game Friends List when playing as Drifter in the Hideout.
  • Players under the effect of Drifter's "Eternal Night" ability are able to hear an eerily whistled rendition of Hush, Little Baby, a lullaby typically sung by mothers to their children.[4]
  • Drifter has a variety of symbols on his right hand.
  •   Lash calls Drifter a "murder hobo",[5] a term commonly used to describe RPG players who kill NPCs indiscriminately. Drifter's voice actor Matthew Mercer is well-known as the Dungeon Master of the Dungeons & Dragons webseries Critical Role.

References

  1. 2026-01-28 - Kaori; Deadlock Discord - Link to Drifter's voice line "I’m exactly who you think I am" in response to speculation about Matt Mercer
  2. 2026-03-28 - Grip Ashford on X - Photo with Matt Mercer doing the Drifter pose
  3. 2025-05-01 - atahutahatena on Reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumors - Streamer accidentally leaks hero roster of a more "secret" private Deadlock pre-alpha playtest build
  4. 2025-08-18 - Kaori; Deadlock Discord - "[Drifter whistles] 'hush little baby'"'
  5. Lash And Drifter Conversation 1 -   "So, what are you supposed to be, some kind of murder hobo?"
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