Strategy: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:35, 26 January 2025

Strategy in Deadlock, at a very basic level, involves leading your army into enemy territory down 4 lanes, destroying objectives and eventually killing the enemy team's Patron. However, the methods for doing this are where the depth and the complexity come in. The Cursed Apple is separated into four lanes: York, Greenwich, Broadway, and Park (color coded based on the first letter of their name). An army of Troopers will be deployed marching down each lane. 1 player will be sent to York and Park, while 2 players will be sent to Greenwich and Broadway.

Laning[edit | edit source]

The mini-map in the bottom-right corner of *Deadlock's* HUD.

Laning is the process of managing the troopers on a lane, and destroying objectives along it. At the start of each round, players are assigned to the four lanes according to a 1-2-2-1 setup. York and Park are solo lanes, containing one player each. And Greenwich and Broadway are duo lanes containing 2 players each. Support-centric characters like Ivy or Dynamo typically perform best in duo lanes with a high-DPS counterpart. Self-reliant characters with sustain or poke abilities, like Shiv, are typically suited for the solo lanes. The random placement seems to account for this, though the exact mechanism is unclear.

Laning is strategically divided into three phases:

Laning Phase (Early game): Players focus on winning their lane by managing troops, Jungling, looking for easy kills, and gaining a Soul advantage.
Midgame: Sidelaners who have won their lane start roaming to assist midlaners, while all players continue farming objectives to strengthen their team’s position.
Endgame: Players work to solidify their team's Soul advantage, engage in most of the teamfights, and push to attack the enemy Patron.

Team Composition[edit | edit source]

A Team Composition is the 6 heroes a team employs in battle. Strategically employing heroes whose abilities complement each other, or who work best with a certain playstyle is significant for team strategy. For example a Dynamo can use Singularity to trap a number of enemies, while a friendly Infernus charges up his Concussive Combustion, guaranteeing that the explosion blasts every target in the vicinity.

Micro Strategies[edit | edit source]

Uptime[edit | edit source]

Uptime is the amount of time you spend actively contributing to something in a match, usually by creating pressure against the enemy team or collecting Souls for your team. Time spent farming Denizens, harassing enemies, pushing troopers towards enemy Guardians, and Walkers contributes to uptime, as opposed to "downtime" which can include time spent respawning, idly waiting for objectives to spawn, and rotating aimlessly around the map.

Positioning[edit | edit source]

Managing your positioning will allow you to control more space on the map, be effective in teamfights, deny enemy pushes, and utilize your Hero's abilities most effectively. Controlling more area of the map increases the viable farming area for both Denizens and enemy Troopers for your team. Positioning in teamfights or in smaller skirmishes is critical; staying safe but active in the fight will allow you to apply pressure to the enemy while removing the opportunity for them to gain an advantage by killing you.

Cover Usage[edit | edit source]

Like any shooter, using corners and walls allows you to be covered against almost all skills and items, since most of them require Line of Sight to be activated or cause damage. Heroes will lean around cover when close to the cover's horizontal edge, exposing their head hitbox.

At present, the third person camera is locked to each Hero's right shoulder, which means that peeking on the right side of cover will always expose you less than the left side. Using this to your advantage in the laning phase will give you a significant advantage when trading weapon damage.

Aiming[edit | edit source]

Some Heroes require more accuracy and skill expression regarding aiming, such as Vindicta but overall aiming is a crucial part of Deadlock.

Map Knowledge[edit | edit source]

Knowledge of the Map's layout. This includes, but is not limited to, Cosmic Veil locations, Rune locations, and Teleporter locations.

Rotations[edit | edit source]

The process of traversing one part of the map to enter another. Rotation can be related to concepts such as ganking or roaming. Terminology from DOTA 2 calls ganking in the art of appearing from a fog of the jungle to surprise - and potentially kill - enemies, but rotations are more broad and are be related to creating space in different lanes and related concepts.

Movement[edit | edit source]

The process of moving and positioning your Hero.
Involves Ziplines and Stamina usage in addition to sliding.

Troop Management[edit | edit source]

The process of killing enemy Troopers and denying the enemy from getting Souls from their Trooper kills.
Can also be referred to as Creep Management.

Creep/Troop denial is a crucial part of the game's laning phase and involves shooting the Souls of one's own trooper when they are killed. This prevents enemy laners from obtaining Soul Orbs by killing Troopers. Denying Souls is still effective after the laning phase, as Souls increase in value as the game continues. Denying Souls after the lane phase grants all Souls to the denier, which can be an effective way to individually gain more Souls if you are farming for an important item.

Pushing up lanes by killing enemy Troopers spreads your team's area of control and removes farmable space from the enemy. If your team is able to control more of the map by pushing up Troopers, friendly Ziplines will extend and allow Trooper reinforcements to help push Guardians and Walkers, further pressing your advantage.

Freezing a Lane[edit | edit source]

By carefully damaging enemy troopers to equalize the number of troopers on each team within a lane, it is possible to "freeze" a lane in place so that the troops neither advance nor fall back. By only last-hitting troopers during their death animation, it is possible to deal no additional damage to the lane and effectively keep it "frozen" indefinitely.

This tactic is useful to keep troops close to your Guardian or Walker for your own safety. By preventing your troops from pushing forward, you can stay within the safe zones of your defenses.

It is also useful for denying your opponent's access to farm due to the distance from their defenses. Since your guardian or walker is the point furthest from their guardian or walker, freezing a lane on your side of the map can make retreat difficult for your opponent.

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-{{Stub}}
+'''Strategy''' in [[Deadlock]], at a very basic level, involves leading your army into enemy territory down 4 lanes, destroying objectives and eventually killing the enemy team's [[Patron]]. However, the methods for doing this are where the depth and the complexity come in. [[The Cursed Apple]] is separated into four lanes: [[The Cursed Apple#Solo Lanes|York]], [[The Cursed Apple#Duo Lanes|Greenwich]], [[The Cursed Apple#Duo Lanes|Broadway]], and [[The Cursed Apple#Solo Lanes|Park]] (color coded based on the first letter of their name). An army of [[Troopers]] will be deployed marching down each lane. 1 player will be sent to York and Park, while 2 players will be sent to Greenwich and Broadway.
-'''Strategy''' in ''[[Deadlock]]'' is based on the game's unique [[mechanics]], focused on a combination of both third-person-shooter mechanics and MOBA gameplay. In the game's current state, many aspects of the game's strategy have been derived from high MMR play, tournaments, and knowledge from similar titles.
 == Laning ==
-[[File:Map.png|thumb|The mini-map present in the bottom-right corner of ''[[Deadlock|Deadlock's]]'' HUD.]]
+[[File:Map.png|thumb|The mini-map in the bottom-right corner of ''[[Deadlock|Deadlock's]]'' HUD.]]
-At the start of each round, players are assigned to the four lanes randomly. Two lanes will be duo lanes and two will be solo lanes. The specific lane colors that are solo and duo are also randomly decided at the beginning of the match. Players are randomly placed, but duo parties are more likely to be queued into the same lane.
+Laning is the process of managing the troopers on a lane, and destroying objectives along it. At the start of each round, players are assigned to the four lanes according to a 1-2-2-1 setup. York and Park are solo lanes, containing one player each. And Greenwich and Broadway are duo lanes containing 2 players each. Support-centric characters like {{HeroIcon|Ivy}} or {{HeroIcon|Dynamo}} typically perform best in duo lanes with a high-DPS counterpart. Self-reliant characters with sustain or poke abilities, like {{HeroIcon|Shiv}}, are typically suited for the solo lanes. The random placement seems to account for this, though the exact mechanism is unclear.
-Support-centric characters like [[Ivy]] or [[Dynamo]] perform best in duo lanes with a high-DPS counterpart. Self-reliant characters with sustain or poke abilities, like [[Shiv]], are better suited for the solo lanes. The random placement seems to account for this, though the exact mechanism is unclear.
 '''Laning''' is strategically divided into three phases:
-* '''Laning Phase (Early game)''': Players focus on winning their lane by managing troops, jungling, looking for easy kills, and gaining a {{souls| }}[[souls|soul]] advantage.
+* '''Laning Phase (Early game)''': Players focus on winning their lane by managing troops, [[Jungling]], looking for easy kills, and gaining a [[souls|Soul]] advantage.
 * '''Midgame''': Sidelaners who have won their lane start roaming to assist midlaners, while all players continue farming objectives to strengthen their team’s position.
-* '''Endgame''': Players work to solidify their team's {{souls| }}[[souls|soul]] advantage, engage in most of the teamfights, and push to attack the enemy [[Patron]].
+* '''Endgame''': Players work to solidify their team's [[souls|Soul]] advantage, engage in most of the teamfights, and push to attack the enemy [[Patron]].
 == Team Composition ==
-A '''Team Composition''' is the 6 heroes a team employs in battle. Strategically employing heroes whose abilities complement each other, or who work best with a certain playstyle is essential to team strategy. An example of heroes with complementary abilities are [[Seven]] and [[Ivy]]. Seven can use his ultimate, Storm Cloud, as [[Crowd Control|crowd control]] while Ivy can use the ability Watcher's Covenant to move him towards opponents. Similarly, [[Dynamo]] can teleport inside the enemy ranks and start his Singularity, while friendly [[Infernus]] charges up his Concussive Combustion, guaranteeing that the explosion blasts every target in the vicinity.
+A '''Team Composition''' is the 6 heroes a team employs in battle. Strategically employing heroes whose abilities complement each other, or who work best with a certain playstyle is significant for team strategy. For example a {{HeroIcon|Dynamo}} can use Singularity to trap a number of enemies, while a friendly {{HeroIcon|Infernus}} charges up his Concussive Combustion, guaranteeing that the explosion blasts every target in the vicinity.
 ==Micro Strategies==
 === Uptime ===
-Uptime relates to farm camps (either Troops or Neutrals), to advancing lanes, to harassing enemies, to taking down towers etc. Everything that doesn't make you idle and generate value could be considered Uptime;
+'''Uptime''' is the amount of time you spend actively contributing to something in a match, usually by creating pressure against the enemy team or collecting Souls for your team. Time spent farming Denizens, harassing enemies, pushing troopers towards enemy Guardians, and Walkers contributes to '''uptime''', as opposed to "downtime" which can include time spent respawning, idly waiting for objectives to spawn, and rotating aimlessly around the map.
-=== Space ===
+=== Positioning ===
-* Creating space will define which areas are controlled by your team, which Neutral camps are safe to farm, the length of your Zipline, the vision you have on your map etc. This concept is really broad, but what is important to understand is using Space in your favor and deny any enemy advance of Space;
+Managing your '''positioning''' will allow you to control more space on the map, be effective in teamfights, deny enemy pushes, and utilize your Hero's abilities most effectively. Controlling more area of the map increases the viable farming area for both Denizens and enemy Troopers for your team. '''Positioning''' in teamfights or in smaller skirmishes is critical; staying safe but active in the fight will allow you to apply pressure to the enemy while removing the opportunity for them to gain an advantage by killing you.
-* During the Laning phase, this concept is even more important, since Space will define how far your Troops advance, it will impact ultimately on your last hits/denies and hero killing opportunities;
-=== Line of Sight ===
-Famous LoS of shooters, meaning the ability of the enemy to target you on their screen;
-Being in LoS of the enemy is dangerous in many situations and will create kill opportunity for the enemy team. This can be denied by using Corners and Walls (in most of cases);
 === Cover Usage ===
-Like any shooter, using corners and walls allows you to be covered against almost all skills and items, since most of them require Line of Sight to be activated or cause damage. In other words, corners and wall usage can be translated as unbreakable shields for both Weapon and Spirit protection. Heroes will lean around cover when close to the cover's horizontal edge, exposing their head hitbox. Keep this in mind when shooting around the sides of cover.
+Like any shooter, using corners and walls allows you to be covered against almost all skills and items, since most of them require Line of Sight to be activated or cause damage. Heroes will lean around cover when close to the cover's horizontal edge, exposing their head hitbox.
-=== Target Prioritization ===
+At present, the third person camera is locked to each Hero's right shoulder, which means that peeking on the right side of cover will always expose you less than the left side. Using this to your advantage in the laning phase will give you a significant advantage when trading weapon damage.
-This concept is situational and depends on different factors. The main idea here is to focus your fire on the most important part of the fight. Some examples:
-* Heroes with a number of unsecured Souls, since they can turn the table in team fights. Additionally, the reward for killing this hero will be greater;
-* Heroes with disruptive ults - like Dynamo's, Pocket's etc - should be a primary target to either prevent the usage of these abilities or to force them to use in a not-optimal situation for the enemy;
-* Heroes with low HP, since allowing them to live will prevent your team to get souls and will allow the enemy to have uptime;
-=== Distance Management ===
-Understanding heroes (and abilities) which work in short range vs long range is key. Some examples:
-* Pocket's shotgun will do huge damage from short range, while almost zero damage from mid/long range;
-* Vindicta's ult can target long range target without significant damage fall off. Same happens with Grey Talon's first ability;
 === Aiming ===
-Some heroes require more accuracy and skill expression regarding aiming - such as Vindicta -, but overall aiming is a crucial part of ''[[Deadlock]]''.
+Some Heroes require more accuracy and skill expression regarding '''aiming''', such as {{HeroIcon|Vindicta}} but overall '''aiming''' is a crucial part of ''[[Deadlock]]''.
-=== Cooldown Management ===
-Ideally, skill and item usage should be maximized, since they bring a big advantage in gaining souls and gaining Space. At the same time, cooldowns are your way to create space, to secure kills and escape from dying. So, Cooldown management is key to finding a balance between soul farming usage and enemy hero usage;
 === Map Knowledge ===
-Crucial for many aspects in the game. Learning veil locations, Rune locations, Teleport locations, which buildings can be camped from rooftop etc., is a huge advantage for farming, securing kills, escaping, pursing enemies and so many other aspects of ''[[Deadlock]].''
+Knowledge of the [[Map|Map's]] layout. This includes, but is not limited to, [[Cosmic Veil]] locations, Rune locations, and [[Teleporter]] locations.
 === Rotations ===
-Can be defined as the creation of opportunities by surprising the enemy. A terminology from Dota calls Gank the art of appearing from a fog of a jungle to surprise - and potentially kill - enemies, but rotations are broader than that and can be related to creating space in different lanes and other related concepts;
+The process of traversing one part of the map to enter another. '''Rotation''' can be related to concepts such as ganking or roaming. Terminology from DOTA 2 calls ganking in the art of appearing from a fog of the jungle to surprise - and potentially kill - enemies, but '''rotations''' are more broad and are be related to creating space in different lanes and related concepts.
 === Movement ===
-* The process of moving and positioning your hero.
+* The process of moving and positioning your Hero.
-* Involves [[ziplines]] and [[stamina]] usage in addition to sliding.
+* Involves [[Ziplines]] and [[Stamina]] usage in addition to sliding.
 === Troop Management ===
-* The process of killing enemy [[trooper]]s whilst '''denying''' the enemy from getting {{souls| }}[[souls]] from yours.
+* The process of killing enemy [[Trooper]]s and '''denying''' the enemy from getting [[Souls]] from their Trooper kills.
 * Can also be referred to as Creep Management.
-'''Creep/troop denial''' is a crucial part of the game's laning phase and involves shooting the souls of one's own trooper when they are killed. This prevents enemy laners from obtaining soul orbs by killing troopers.
+'''Creep/Troop denial''' is a crucial part of the game's laning phase and involves shooting the Souls of one's own trooper when they are killed. This prevents enemy laners from obtaining Soul Orbs by killing Troopers. Denying Souls is still effective after the laning phase, as Souls increase in value as the game continues. Denying Souls after the lane phase grants all Souls to the denier, which can be an effective way to individually gain more Souls if you are farming for an important item.
+Pushing up lanes by killing enemy Troopers spreads your team's area of control and removes farmable space from the enemy. If your team is able to control more of the map by pushing up Troopers, friendly Ziplines will extend and allow Trooper reinforcements to help push [[Guardian|Guardians]] and [[Walker|Walkers]], further pressing your advantage.
+=== Freezing a Lane ===
+By carefully damaging enemy troopers to equalize the number of troopers on each team within a lane, it is possible to "freeze" a lane in place so that the troops neither advance nor fall back. By only last-hitting troopers during their death animation, it is possible to deal no additional damage to the lane and effectively keep it "frozen" indefinitely.
+This tactic is useful to keep troops close to your Guardian or Walker for your own safety. By preventing your troops from pushing forward, you can stay within the safe zones of your defenses.
+It is also useful for denying your opponent's access to farm due to the distance from their defenses. Since your guardian or walker is the point furthest from their guardian or walker, freezing a lane on your side of the map can make retreat difficult for your opponent.
+{{Gameplay Navbox}}