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Venator is a Hero in Deadlock. He doesn't walk the righteous path, he blazes the trail so that others may do so safely. His biggest challenge is knowing which weapon to use first. Firing a Consecrating Grenade into the fray softens up his enemies and keeps them from restoring health, and his Hex-Lined Snap Trap scatters across the ground to lock them in place. A Gutshot from his shotgun will knock back enemies who get too close, and when the time is right, Ira Domini will rid the world of evil once and for all.

Devout

Arms Expert

Tactical

Weapon Stats
Damage Per Second:	63.5
Bullet Damage:	8+0.27
Ammo:	33
Bullets per sec:	7.94
Reload Time:	2.8s
Bullet Velocity:	1590m/s
Light Melee:	50+1.7
Heavy Melee:	125+4.25

Vitality Stats
Health:	820+43
Health Regen:	2
Bullet Resist:	0%x0.122
Spirit Resist:	0%x0.122
Move Speed:	6.4m/s
Sprint Speed:	1m/s
Dash Speed:	13.9m/s
Stamina:	3
Stamina Cooldown:	4.5s

Information

Release Date:	February 5, 2026
Internal names:	Priest

“

I'll drive a stake through their heart!

A vigilante monster hunter, Father Quinn Rourke represents the righteous wrath and fury of the Venators of Saint Benedict. Sent by his superiors at the Vatican, the Venator has been designated a mission: to annihilate the evil brewing in New York.

Venator was released on February 5, 2026 as the fourth winner of the Old Gods, New Blood update contest.

Weapon

51:20

Rapid Fire

Medium Range

63 Damage Per Second

Falloff Range

18m ➞ 47m

Abilities

Consecrating Grenade

Fire a grenade that bounces before exploding, dealing weapon damage and setting enemies on fire.

Burning targets deal pure damage to enemies in the area and suffer from reduced healing.

x1

35

Damage

-30%

Healing Reduction

On Hit:

x1.6

10

Damage Per Second

3.5s Burn Duration

4.5m Burn Radius

1

-5s Cooldown

2

+1.5m Radius & +1s Burn Duration

5

-20% Healing Reduction and allow Charges

Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist Effect can be dispelled

Gutshot

Fire a blast with your shotgun, dealing weapon damage and pushing enemies back. Enemies near a wall receive stun and take bonus weapon damage.

x0.7

60

Damage

On Wall Hit:

x0.8

30

Bonus Damage

On Wall Hit:

Stun

0.6s

Stun Duration

7m Wall Stun Range

1

25 Damage

2

-10s Ability Cooldown and +0.4s Stun Duration

5

On Wall Stun: Your next heavy melee is blessed

Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist

Triggers Reactive Barrier Disable prevented by Indomitable CC effect suppressed by Unstoppable

T3 heavy melee deals +5 bonus damage to vampires ( Drifter, Mina, and enemies with Vampiric Burst active).

Hex-Lined Snap Trap

Kick a trap that arms after a brief delay.

The trap springs on the first enemy it touches, dealing spirit damage, applying immobilize, and revealing enemies for a duration afterwards.

x2.2

80

Damage

Immobilize

1.25s

Immobilize Duration

6s Reveal Duration

30s Lifetime

1

-11s Cooldown

2

1s Immobilize Duration

5

+1 Charge
Deal +30% damage against revealed targets

Debuff duration reduced by Debuff Resist

Triggers Reactive Barrier Effect can be dispelled Disable prevented by Indomitable CC effect suppressed by Unstoppable

Enemies can disarm the trap by shooting at it. It is not affected by abilities, items or melee attacks.
When looking directly upwards, the trap will be thrown very far behind the player.

Ira Domini

Load your crossbow with 3 stakes, dealing massively increased weapon damage.

The final stake is blessed, dealing bonus pure damage and executing low-health enemies.

x1.5

120

Damage

While Blessed:

x3

115

Bonus Damage

While Blessed:

8%

Execute Threshold

1

While Active: Gain 1.2 m/s Move Speed

2

-15s Ability Cooldown and +65 Bonus Damage

5

All Stakes are Blessed

On-shot effect prevented by Plated Armor

Ira Domini is affected by disarm.
The bolts are hitscan and can pierce through enemies.
It deals 30% critical headshot damage.
It deals +5 bonus damage to vampires ( Drifter, Mina, and enemies with Vampiric Burst active).

Backstory

See Venator/Lore for more story content.

“

The Venators of St. Benedict are a Vatican-sanctioned order whose members are deployed to regions with a high concentration of supernatural predators. Few in number, their modus operandi is to observe, identify, and exterminate. They are methodical, they are precise, and once they identify a threat to the flock they are relentless.

But even amongst those who are called The Sword Of St. Benedict, one stands apart from the others. A man whose hardened heart has allowed him to pay terrible prices in the name of the greater good... and he has once again been dispatched to New York.

Update history

View the full update history: Venator/Update history

Update	Changes
July 28, 2026	Sprint speed reduced from 1.5m to 1m. Bullet falloff range reduced from 20m-51m to 18m-47m. Ira Domini cooldown no longer starts after the conclusion of the ability, now starts immediately. Ira Domini blessed stakes damage increased from 100 to 115.
June 30, 2026	Ira Domini cooldown increased from 140s to 160s. (Global ult change)
May 22, 2026	Health increased from 790+43/boon to 830+48/boon. Hex-Lined Snap Trap T3 increased from +25% Damage Against Revealed Targets to +30%. Hex-Lined Snap Trap T3 now also grants +1 Charge.

Gallery

Venator's portrait.
Venator's icon.
Venator in-game render.
Venator's select background.
Venator Reference Sheet.
Venator's weapon, 51:20.
Venator's typography.
"Vote for Venator" poster/spray from the 1/23/26 major update.
Damaged "Vote Venator" poster.
Venator splash art from the vote screen.
Venator voter sticker.
Venator's censer hint at the hideout.
Venator's shadow in the hideout.
Leaked Venator portrait.
Leaked work-in-progress Venator model.
Gloat portrait for Venator.
Critical health portrait for Venator.
Thanks for voting Venator!
For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Trivia

"Venator" means "hunter" in Latin.
Venator's weapon is named after the Bible passage Jeremiah 51:20: "Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms".
One of Venator's voice lines for upgrading Gutshot, "I long for the day when this will be a plowshare" references the phase "beating swords into plowshares" which comes from the Bible passage Isaiah 2:4.
His ultimate ability, "Ira Domini", translates to "Wrath of the Lord" in Latin.
Venator was one of the heroes in a private build who was accidently leaked on stream in May 2025.^[1] A playable version of Venator was added to the files in the Shop Rework Update. A new Venator portrait was leaked in a work-in-progress hero select screen posted on 4chan in July 2025. On 20th January 2026, Venator was teased in the Hideout with a thurible on a bookshelf.
Before he was named "Quinn", Venator was named "Cain" during development before his release.^[2]^[3]^[4]
Venator originally had the Shopkeeper voice actor as a temp VO, who made self-aware jokes about his role. The female temp voice (currently on Boho) called him "the bodega guy".^[5]
Prior to the Six New Heroes Update, Venator had an ability called "Potent Vapors", a channel which would heal Venator and grant him movement slow resist at the cost of him being unable to attack throughout its channel. This ability was replaced with Consecrating Grenade.
- Additionally, prior to the Old Gods, New Blood update, Venator used to have an ability called "Penace and Retribution", a passive that would grant Venator stacking bullet and spirit resistances as he took sustained damage. This ability was replaced with Hex-Lined Snap Trap.
"Blessing Ammunition in the Hideout" is displayed as one's status in the in-game Friends List when playing as Venator in the Hideout.
Venator's selection voice line "Ours is not to question what is necessary. Ours is to have the will to do whatever it takes" is likely a reference to Alfred Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade: "Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die".
Venator had the largest winning margin in the Old Gods, New Blood hero contest, winning by an 11% difference over Celeste.^[6]
Venator's weapon appears to be loosely based on a Heckler & Koch MP5, which officially entered service in 1966 but was designed as early as 1964.^[7] Additionally its under-barrel grenade launcher has been decorated to resemble a typical Ave Maria "Votive candle"^[8] commonly found in Catholic home altars. This is also coupled with some Rosary beads^[9] in place of a sling harness.