Movement

In Deadlock, there are a variety of methods for traversing the map.

Overview

Movement is a concept that encompasses traversing the map. In a broad sense, it is important for positioning, map rotations, ganking, and pushing, while from a mechanical point of view, it is the specific actions to escape, chase, initiate fights, or otherwise catch enemies out of position.

Several heroes and items have specific movement tech that cannot be executed otherwise.

Distances and speeds are displayed in-game by meters (m) and meters per second (m/s). As the game built on the Source 2 Engine, internal measurements are calculated by hammer units (hu), where 1 hammer unit can be approximated to 1 inch. Therefore, 1 hu is roughly equal to and represents .0254 m.

There is no fall damage in Deadlock.

Basic Movement

Controls

Note: Keys listed below assume QWERTY layout on an ANSI keyboard.

The character is controlled using movement keys, typically W, A, S, and D. Pressing the jump key (default: Space) makes the character jump, and holding it near a ledge allows the character to mantle. The crouch key (default: Ctrl) causes the character to crouch or slide if they have enough speed (8.9 m/s) or are on an inclined surface, such as stairs. Additionally, the dash key (default: Shift) enables the character to perform a dash. Heroes have different dash speeds.

Main articles: Move Speed, Movement Slow

Heroes have differing base moving and sprinting speeds. Sprinting will activate on its own, which occurs after a hero is out of combat for five seconds and persists until entering combat or zooming in. Zooming in while sprinting resets the player's speed back to base move speed. Most heroes can obtain sprint through items, but several start with it initially.

Air Jump

Jumping while midair functions like a double jump, allowing the player to reach rooftops or get over tall walls. This consumes one stamina. Against some walls, air jumping against the surface that is just too tall for a single jump will refund the stamina for the air jump.

• At the start of each game, you are only permitted one Air Jump per jump. This can be expanded to two with the Vitality Item Stamina Mastery.

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Air jumping

Wall Jump

Pressing Space next to a wall will cause the character to perform a Wall Jump, which does not consume stamina. You can Wall Jump multiple times per jump, but each Wall Jump incurs a fatigue that reduces the height of successive Wall Jumps. This fatigue recovers non-linearly over the course of 1.25 seconds and recovers completely upon landing. Using a light or heavy melee while airborne will also incur fatigue.

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Wall Jumping

Air Dash

Dashing midair can be done similarly to a grounded dash. This consumes one stamina. You can Air Dash only once per jump. This can be expanded to two with the Vitality Item Stamina Mastery.

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Air Dashing

Dash Jump

A Dash jump is a fast long jump, which can be performed during a dash and costs 1 Stamina, for a total of 2 including the Stamina spent dashing. The timing of a dash jump is visualized by the crosshair turning blue while dashing. While the crosshair is blue, the player can press jump to dash jump.

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Dash Jumping

Down Dash

Pressing crouch midair performs a down dash, allowing the player to return to the ground quickly. This consumes one stamina. You can Down Dash only once per jump. This can be expanded to two with the Vitality Item Stamina Mastery.

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Down dashing

Mantle

Mantling is the act of jumping towards a ledge and climbing it. If a player holds the crouch key (default: Ctrl) while mantling, they will slide after climbing up.

If the player is hit by a melee attack while mantling, they will get an 80% Movement Slow, which will taper down to 20% over 2s.

Stamina

Main article: Stamina

Stamina management is an important aspect of player movement.

Map features

There are multiple elements on the map that let players move uniquely.

Launch Pads

Launch Pads are small vents that push heroes through the air after standing on them.

Ropes

Main article: Ropes

Ropes dangle from the roofs of buildings or inside buildings, allowing heroes to access rooftops or additional floors, and facilitate vertical traversal.

Teleporter

Main article: Teleporter

There are multiple pairs of teleporters throughout the map that can be entered to quickly traverse left and right across the map.

Ziplines

Main article: Ziplines

Ziplines are the most prominent method of traversal, as the heroes spawn riding the lines. They connect the opposing bases together and facilitate fights.

Advanced Movement

As a physics based game, several principles in the real world are also modeled in-game. However, quirks with the game engine allow unique movement options that are not readily apparent.

Melee Jump

Melee jumping is the technique of using a heavy melee timed with a Wall Jump to go up without double jumping, thus saving a Stamina bar.

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Melee Jumping and then Mantling

Corner Boost

Corner boosting is a technique that exploits the game's wall jump mechanics to achieve greater vertical velocity than a standard wall jump. The effect is believed to occur due to the following implementation behavior:

• Velocity Reset on Wall Jump Initiation – When a wall jump is performed, the game first sets the character's velocity to a fixed absolute value.
• Collision Normal Calculation – The game determines the direction of the jump by using the normal vector of the character's collision capsule at the nearest point of contact with the wall.
• Upward-Angled Normals on Corners – Because the collision capsule is rounded, the normal vector near a corner can point diagonally upward or downward rather than purely sideways. When the normal is angled upward, the resulting velocity is applied at a steeper angle, leading to increased upward momentum.

Visual Comparison

• Normal Wall Jump – Final velocity is directed primarily sideways, following a standard wall jump.
• Corner Boost – Final velocity is angled higher due to the upward-tilting normal, resulting in a stronger ascent.

Corner Boost Normal Wall Jump

Key ■ Light Blue: Collision capsule ■ Red: Absolute velocity ■ Green: Sideways velocity ■ Orange: Wall push ■ Purple: Final velocity

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Corner Boosting

Dropdown Corner Boost

Same as Corner Boost, Dropdown Corner Boost can be done on any edge in the game. To perform it, drop down from an edge and wall jump to gain extra height without using stamina.

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Dropdown Corner Boosting

Friction

“Alright buddy, give 'em hell!”

This page is under construction. To avoid edit conflicts, please consult the edit history and the talk page.

Dash Jump Cancel

A dash jump cancel is a technique that allows the user to immediately jump after a dash without using additional stamina by casting an ability. A Dash Jump Cancel gives you less velocity than a reqular Dash Jump, and does not proc item effects.

A dash jump cancel is performed by casting an ability in the middle of a dash jump. Due to differences in heroes move speeds, some Dash Jump Cancels are significantly harder, or cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.

Abilities that can be used to dash jump cancel

Hero	Ability	Notes
Billy	Blasted
	Chain Gang
Calico	Gloom Bombs
Dynamo	Rejuvenating Aurora	Requires Rejuvenating Aurora to be upgraded to T3.
Grey Talon	Spirit Snare	Requires the ability to be fully cast.
Haze	Sleep Dagger
	Smoke Bomb
Holliday	Powder Keg
	Bounce Pad	Provides a significant increase in velocity.
Infernus	Napalm
Ivy	Kudzu Bomb
	Watcher's Covenant
Kelvin	Frost Grenade
	Frozen Shelter	It is possible to cancel the Frozen Shelter before hitting the wall.
Lady Geist	Essence Bomb
	Malice	Casting Malice requires the caster to wait before they can jump, which makes the Dash Jump Cancel significantly harder. Malice Dash Jump Cancel cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.
Lash	Flog
McGinnis	Mini Turret
	Medicinal Specter
	Spectral Wall
	Heavy Barrage	Due to the slow Heavy Barrage Dash Jump Cancel cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.
Mina	Rake
Mirage	Fire Scarabs	Each separate cast can be Dash Jump Canceled.
	Djinn's Mark
Mo & Krill	Scorn
	Sand Blast
Paradox	Pulse Grenade
	Kinetic Carbine
	Paradoxical Swap
Pocket	Flying Cloak
Seven	Lightning Ball
	Static Charge
	Power Surge
Shiv	Serrated Knives	Casting Serrated Knives requires the caster to wait before they can jump, which makes the Dash Jump Cancel significantly harder. Serrated Knives Dash Jump Cancel cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.
	Bloodletting
Sinclair	Vexing Bolt	Casting Vexing Bolt requires the caster to wait before they can jump, which makes the Dash Jump Cancel significantly harder. Vexing Bolt Dash Jump Cancel cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.
	Spectral Assistant
	Rabbit Hex
Vindicta	Stake
	Crow Familiar	Crow Familiar Dash Jump Cancel cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.
	Assassinate	Requires the ability to be fully cast and unscoped before jumping to be able to be followed up with a slide.
Viscous	Splatter	Splatter Dash Jump Cancel cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.
	Puddle Punch
Vyper	Screwjab Dagger
	Lethal Venom
	Petrifying Bola
Warden	Alchemical Flask
	Willpower	Willpower Dash Jump Cancel cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.
	Binding Word
Wraith	Card Trick	Card Trick Dash Jump Cancel cannot be followed up with a slide without items that increase move speed.
	Full Auto
	Telekinesis

Movement abilities

Hero	Ability	Description
Abrams	Shoulder Charge	Charge forward, pulling enemies you hit. Pushing a hero into a wall applies stun. If you collide with a hero you move faster during your charge.
	Seismic Impact	Leap high into the air and choose a ground location to crash into. When you hit the ground, all enemies in the radius are damaged and stunned.
Calico	Leaping Slash	Dash forward before slashing all enemies in a circle, dealing Light Melee Damage.
	Ava	Turn to shadows and possess Ava. You gain Movement Speed and become Hidden on the Minimap, but cannot attack or cast abilities.
	Return to Shadows	Instantly turn to shadows, becoming Untargetable, gaining Movement Speed, and dealing Damage.
Dynamo	Quantum Entanglement	Dynamo briefly disappears into the void and then reappears a short distance away. On reappearing, your weapon is reloaded and has a fire rate bonus for the next clip (Max 8s).
Grey Talon	Rain of Arrows	Launches you high in the air, allowing you to glide slowly. While airborne, you gain Weapon Damage and multishot on your weapon. Alt-Cast for reduced jump height. Press Space to cancel the glide.
Haze	Smoke Bomb	Fade out of sight, becoming invisible and gaining sprint speed. Attacking removes invisibility. Close enemies can see through your invisibility.
Holliday	Bounce Pad	Drop a bounce pad in the world that launches any hero.
Infernus	Flame Dash	Move forward at high speed and leave a flame trail that burns enemies. Infernus gains 50% slow resistance for the duration.
Ivy	Air Drop	Take flight with an ally or a bomb. Drop your ally or bomb to cause a large explosion that causes movement slow. Ivy and ally gain a bullet shield when flying ends. While lifted, your ally gains bullet resist but cannot attack and deals -50% damage. Air Drop has faster cast time when targeting an ally.
Kelvin	Ice Path	Kelvin creates a floating trail of ice and snow that gives movement bonuses to him and his allies. Kelvin gains 60% slow resistance for the duration. Enemies can also walk on the floating trail. Press Shift / Ctrl to travel up or down while in Ice Path.
Lash	Grapple	Pull yourself through the air toward a target. Using Grapple also resets your limit of air jumps and dashes.
Mirage	Tornado	Transform yourself into a tornado that travels forward, damaging enemies and lifting them up in the air. After emerging from the tornado you gain bullet evasion.
	Traveler	Channeled. Target an ally or visible enemy hero on the minimap, then teleport to where they were when your channel started. After teleporting, you gain movement speed as well as fire rate until your next reload.
Mo & Krill	Burrow	Burrow underground, moving faster, and gaining spirit and bullet armor. Damage from enemy heroes will reduce the speed bonus. When you jump out, knock enemies into the air and perform a spin attack that damages and slows. Cooldown starts when Burrow ends.
Paradox	Paradoxical Swap	Fire a projectile that swaps your position with the target enemy hero. While the effect occurs, you gain spirit lifesteal and the enemy takes damage over time.
Pocket	Flying Cloak	Launch a sentient cloak that travels forward and damages enemies. You can press 2 to teleport to its location.
Shiv	Slice and Dice	Perform a dash forward, damaging enemies along the path. Ultimate Unlock: While rage is full an echo of Shiv retraces the dash path after a short delay, damaging enemies again.
Sinclair	Spectral Assistant	While the Assistant is out, you can press [2] to swap positions with your Assistant.
Vindicta	Flight	Leap into the air and fly. While in flight your weapon deals bonus spirit damage.
Viscous	Goo Ball	Morph into a large goo ball that deals damage and stuns enemies on impact. The ball grants large amounts of Bullet and Spirit resist, bounces off walls and can double jump.
Vyper	Slither	You have increased Slide Distance, can Slide up hills, and can turn faster while Sliding.
Warden	Willpower	Gain a spirit shield and bonus movement speed.
Wraith	Project Mind	Teleport to the targeted location.
Yamato	Flying Strike	Throw a grappling hook to reel yourself towards an enemy, damaging and slowing the target when you arrive.

Trivia

Prior to the April 17, 2025 update, players could use Heavy Melee Cancel to maintain momentum from a Heavy Melee attack. However, the update significantly reduced the momentum preservation, making the technique nearly ineffective for movement purposes.

Further reading

• Deadlock Movement Wiki