•Patrik Mršnik• 6 min read
Games
Every Deadlock New Hero and What Their Four Abilities Do
The Deadlock new heroes from the City Never Sleeps update are all live now. Nurse Harrow joined on October 20 as the sixth and last hero, closing out a three-week rollout that started with Rat King on October 2 and pushed the game past 300,000 concurrent players on Steam.
Six heroes landed in under three weeks, each with four abilities, a new weapon, and a few odd interactions, and several of them were patched in the middle of the rollout.
Want to know what each newcomer does before you lock one in? This page covers all six heroes in Deadlock: who they are, what their four abilities do, how they're performing, and who each one suits.
Deadlock New Heroes Summary
Six Deadlock new heroes arrived between October 2 and October 20: Rat King, Baba, Solomon, Deadman Danny, Violet, and Nurse Harrow.
Players voted on the release order in the pregame lobby, and Valve shipped two heroes a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Rat King is the strongest new hero so far by a wide margin, winning 57.5% of matches even after an early nerf to his banner.
Baba sits in a healthy spot at 52.7%, with a hex-and-brawl kit that rewards melee play.
Solomon and Deadman Danny both win under 46% of their games, and Danny drops below 39% at higher ranks.
Violet hovers near 49%, with a small sample since she only arrived on October 16.
Nurse Harrow is a support who heals with her gun, drains enemy buffs with leeches, and fears enemies who look at her.
New players should start with Rat King, support mains with Nurse Harrow, and aim-focused players with Violet.
How the Deadlock New Heroes Rollout Worked
City Never Sleeps launched on September 29 with a big visual update to the map and neutrals, HUD changes, accessibility options, and six heroes held back for later. Valve explains the update on the official City Never Sleeps update page.
Players voted on the order in a new pregame lobby, and Valve released two heroes each week, on Tuesdays and Fridays at 2:00 pm PT. Winning a match gave your votes extra weight, and your first win of the day counted for more again. Valve says players cast about 110 million votes, nearly double the previous campaign, and Nurse Harrow finished last.
Hero | Release date | Hero tags |
|---|---|---|
Rat King | October 2 | Scrappy, Regal, Tenacious |
Baba | October 6 | Cackling, Beady, Hexing |
Solomon | October 9 | Strategist, Focused, Checkmate |
Deadman Danny | October 13 | Reckless, High-Flying, Explosive |
Violet | October 16 | Ambitious, Nimble, Creative |
Nurse Harrow | October 20 | Strict, Terrifying, Savior |
A staggered schedule meant each hero got a few days as the newest pick before the next one arrived. It also gave Valve room to patch between releases, which it did more than once: the studio toned Rat King down three days after launch and changed both Baba and Deadman Danny on October 14.
All win rates below come from public match data covering normal-mode games up to October 19. Treat them as a snapshot, since the next balance patch will move them.
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Rat King, the Banner Tank Who Rules the Warrens
Rat King is Louis, ruler of the New York Warrens, a cryptid king who is tired of hiding underground and plans to turn Long Island into a rat nation called Ratannia. He was the first hero to win the vote and went live on October 2. In play, he is a tanky frontliner with 800 base health, the highest of the six newcomers.
Ability | What it does | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
Scrap Grenade | Bounces toward enemies and detonates three times, dealing bullet damage and slowing. The last blast is bigger and slows by 40%. | 26s |
Rat Swarm | Up to five rats leap onto enemies, biting for spirit damage and shredding 1% bullet resist per bite. Dashing shakes them off. | 24s |
Royal Pestments | Gives Rat King a barrier worth 15% of his max health for 6 seconds, with a 15% chance to send bullets back at attackers. | 22s |
Rule, Ratannia! | Raises a banner that gives allies within 20 meters move speed, slow immunity, and damage reduction. Carrying it slows Rat King by 40%, and slamming it deals 200 bullet damage, knocks enemies up, and releases rats. | 160s |
His innate helps with rotations: out of combat, Rat King can crouch next to a vent to slip into the tunnels, and he gets a higher double jump. Sovereign's Decree, his gun, fires two pellets per shot, with one always landing on your aim point.
Rat King's loop is simple. Grenade and swarm slow and soften a group, Pestments soaks the return fire, and the banner turns a scrappy fight into a team push. Rat Swarm's resist shred also quietly helps gun-heavy teammates.
Valve nerfed him on October 5, pushing Rule, Ratannia! to a 160-second cooldown and shrinking its radius from 24 to 20 meters. Rat King peaked above 62% before that patch and still sits at 57.5% across more than 1.2 million games, the best mark of any new hero. Pick him if you want to win now and like being the one who walks in first.
Baba, the Pigeon Witch With Long Legs
Baba is Deadlock's take on the Slavic folklore witch Baba Yaga, recast as a New York institution: the Central Park Pigeon Lady. She fights from a bench with long legs, steals spirit from enemies, and hexes them into pigeons. Baba went live on October 6.
Ability | What it does | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
Threadsap | Throws a thread that steals enemy Spirit and bursts for spirit damage. Stolen Spirit (up to 45) adds spirit damage to her bullets. | 28s |
Granny Long Legs | Extends the bench's legs for 10 seconds of extra speed, higher jumps, and 30% debuff and melee resistance. Light melee kicks, heavy melee ground-pounds for a knockup and a 50% slow. | 32s |
Baba's Brew | Throws a teapot that cycles between three effects: a 90-point barrier, a 3-second Silence, or a burn that cuts spirit resist. | 27s |
Feed The Birds | A 6.5-second channel that covers targets in bread, stacking a slow up to 32%. When it ends, pigeons strike for up to 450 spirit damage and turn targets into pigeons. | 150s |
The Bunko-Night Special carries only 15 shots per clip, three pellets each, and it hits harder once Threadsap lands, since every bullet then adds bonus spirit damage. Her melee does real work too: during Granny Long Legs, a heavy melee knocks enemies up and slows them by 50% for 4 seconds.
Baba's Brew takes the most skill. The teapot cycles through its three effects, and alt-fire pauses or resumes brewing, so a good Baba times the throw for the effect the fight needs. Brewing locks out shooting, Threadsap and Feed The Birds, but she can still melee, parry, and use items.
Valve trimmed her on October 14 with longer cooldowns on Threadsap, Granny Long Legs, and Baba's Brew, plus a weaker Brew barrier. She still wins 52.7% of her games, second only to Rat King among the five heroes with enough games to track. Players who like brawling up close and reading a fight a second ahead will get the most out of her.
Solomon, the Chess Strategist Who Plays the Long Game
Solomon treats every fight like a chessboard. He is a calm listener who has played chess with tourists, criminals, and business leaders, and he sees the game as an equalizer that connects him with anyone. Carl Lumbly voices him, and he arrived on October 9.
Ability | What it does | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
Setup Bishop | Places a bishop you move with alt-fire, slowing and damaging enemies on its path. After a delay, its diagonal squares deal extra spirit damage. | 12s |
Kingside Knight | Turns an ally into a knight with bonus stamina and a barrier for 7 seconds. Self-cast makes Solomon the king, with double the barrier. | 25s |
Rook Battery | Fires two rooks that deal spirit damage, immobilize for 1 second, and bounce off walls. Recast splits them sideways. | 33s |
Develop Queen | The queen crashes down for spirit damage, then sends out lines of squares that stun for 1.25 seconds. Alt-fire leaps her two more times. | 210s |
Alekhine's Gun hits hard with 30 damage per explosive shot but holds only eight rounds. It also can't zoom, since right-click moves his pieces. His innate lowers his gravity by 25% and lets him float briefly as you aim each move.
Setup Bishop is his main pressure tool and has the shortest cooldown on the kit at 12 seconds. Rook Battery covers zoning and crowd control, and Kingside Knight is the save button. Develop Queen is the finisher, and its second upgrade executes heroes below 200 health, which makes it scary in long fights.
Solomon's numbers are rough for now: he wins 45.6% of his matches and stays under 45% at Oracle rank and above. I'd put part of that down to the learning curve, since every piece needs placing, moving, and recalling. Chess fans who like setting traps three moves out will feel at home after a few losses.
Deadman Danny, the Jetpack Salesman
Fairfax Industries calls Deadman Danny its most valuable salesman, a reckless pilot with a rocket launcher and a jetpack he can't take off. He was the fourth vote winner and launched on October 13. Of all the Deadlock's new heroes, he has the most movement tech packed into one kit.
Ability | What it does | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
Chimera Mk1 | Hold jump to fly as heat builds. At max heat, Danny plunges and explodes, launching nearby enemies. Missing every hero stuns him for 1.3 seconds. | 21s |
Strix Salvo | Fires a line of missiles that lodge in the ground and explode after 6 seconds or when an enemy comes near. Hits marked targets for bonus charged-shot damage. | 25s |
Jettison Fuel | Sprays fuel for 2 seconds, shredding 15% bullet resistance. It ends with a backblast that knocks Danny backward and cools the jetpack. | 22s |
Close the Deal | Grabs an enemy, flies up and crashes down with them. Targets under 50% health take 75% bonus damage. | 135s |
The Chimera Peace Bringer fires bursts or a charged splash rocket that costs two ammo. A charged shot that hits no hero damages Danny for 5% of his max health and knocks him back, which doubles as a rocket jump. He can't land headshots, so headshot items and Ricochet are off his shopping list.
Danny's kit rewards aggression with a safety net. Strix Salvo marks targets, your charged shots cash in the marks, and Jettison Fuel's backblast pulls you out of trouble and cools the jetpack for another flight. Close the Deal is the finisher for a low-health target who thinks the fight is over.
Valve buffed him on October 14, raising his health from 680 to 730 and his base bullet damage from 12 to 15. It hasn't been enough so far. Danny wins 44.8% overall and 38.9% at Oracle and above, the lowest of the five tracked heroes. Movement players will love him, as long as they can live with those stats for now.
Violet, the Art Student Who Paints the Fight
A young art student afraid of failing as an artist, Violet bends the Ritual with paint and ink. Her kit mixes ally support with disruption, and she arrived on October 16 as the fifth hero.
Ability | What it does | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
Living Ink | Two charges. Empower makes your next three bullets steerable with bonus damage, and each hero hit cuts your ability cooldowns by 1.5s. Draw paints a 20-second ink wall that blocks projectiles and players. | 22s |
Flow State | Launches a brush that leaves an ink trail. Allies slide farther on it, and enemies the brush passes through are slowed and damaged. Recast flicks the brush for a burst of 50 to 100 spirit damage. | 23s |
Still Life | A 2.6-second channel on a target you keep in view. If it completes, the target is stunned for 1 second and drops a sketch. | 35s |
Abstract Landscape | Paints a 6-second ink dome that blocks vision and gives allies Spirit Power. Enemies inside are revealed, and leaving the dome damages, slows, and silences them for 2 seconds. | 165s |
Every sketch Violet collects from Still Life gives her a permanent stat bonus, chosen at random from weapon damage, Spirit Power, max health, or move speed. The channel breaks if the target leaves your view for about 0.4 seconds, so landing it takes tracking and patience.
Creative Solutions deals 30 damage per shot with 15 rounds and no zoom, since right-click draws ink. Empower lowers her fire rate by 20%, so the steerable shots are a trade you make on purpose. I'd rate the ink wall, which blocks both bullets and bodies, as one of the best escape tools on the new roster.
Violet wins 49.4% of her games, falling to 44.8% at Oracle and above. She has the smallest sample of the five tracked heroes, so those numbers are still settling. Her best players will be the ones with sharp tracking and the patience for long fights.
Nurse Harrow, the Healer You Shouldn't Look At
Nurse Harrow closed out the update on October 20. Her in-game tags call her strict, terrifying, and a savior. The kit follows those three words: she heals allies with her gun, drains enemies with leeches, and punishes anyone who looks her in the eye. She is the most support-focused hero of the six.
Ability | What it does | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
Leech Therapy | Throws a jar of leeches that attach to enemies, dealing spirit damage over time and shortening enemy buffs. | 30s |
Wretched Vapors | Cracks a vial on herself or an ally for a 4-second rush of faster actions and numbed damage, followed by a 4-second crash that slows actions. | 40s |
Healing Needles | Loads her weapon with a full clip of healing syringes that restore 25 health per hit on allies. It runs on charges. | Charges |
Lurking Terrors | A 7-second channel that opens her bag and damages enemies in front of her. Enemies looking at her build terror and flee at max terror. | 200s |
Once her leeches finish feeding, Harrow can pick them up to heal for the health they drained and to gain permanent health regen and fire rate, up to 10 stacks. She loses a quarter of those stacks on death. Each collected leech also slowly restores Healing Needles charges and adds fear duration to Lurking Terrors.
Wretched Vapors needs careful timing. During the rush, specters numb and hold back incoming damage, and when the crash hits, any specters left deal that delayed damage plus 30% extra. Use it to carry an ally through a burst, then get them out of danger before the crash lands.
Lurking Terrors rewards positioning. Enemies who face Harrow build terror, can't use stamina or movement abilities, and flee once the meter fills; enemies facing away take only half damage unless they're already feared. With her last upgrade, she is immune to damage during the channel. She only launched on October 20, so there's no reliable win rate yet, but support players who want healing with real teeth have their hero.
Which New Hero Should You Try First?
Start with Rat King if you're new to the update or just want to win games. His kit is simple to read; he has the most health of the six, and his banner rewards plain teamwork over precise aim. He is also the strongest of the six by the numbers.
Hero | Best for | Difficulty | Win rate (all ranks) |
|---|---|---|---|
Rat King | Frontline players and newer players | Low | 57.5% |
Baba | Melee brawlers who like utility | Medium | 52.7% |
Violet | Players with good aim and spacing | High | 49.4% |
Nurse Harrow | Support mains | Medium | Too early to tell |
Solomon | Patient planners | High | 45.6% |
Deadman Danny | Movement and rocket-jump fans | High | 44.8% |
Baba is the safe second pick. Her win rate is healthy, her melee kit teaches you the timing of brawls, and Baba's Brew gives you a choice to make every fight. If you main support, go straight to Nurse Harrow: she is the only newcomer built around healing, and her leech stacks reward staying alive.
Solomon, Violet and Deadman Danny are for players who enjoy a learning curve. All three ask you to control something beyond your crosshair, whether that's chess pieces, ink trails, or jetpack heat. Expect their win rates to move as players learn them and as Valve keeps tuning, and Danny's October 14 buffs suggest Valve is already watching.
FAQs About Deadlock New Heroes
Final Words
I'd call the vote the update's best feature. Instead of a six-hero dump, the community got a new hero every few days, and Valve got a live test between each release. Valve nerfed Rat King's banner three days after launch and buffed Deadman Danny before Violet even arrived, so these heroes are still a work in progress.
Nurse Harrow could swing the meta this week. Leech Therapy eats into enemy buff timers, and the new roster leans hard on timed buffs: Royal Pestments, Granny Long Legs and Solomon's knight barriers. If her drain proves as strong as it reads, fights could get shorter and burstier.
Will Solomon and Danny get the bigger buffs their win rates suggest, and will Rat King take a second hit? Nobody outside Valve knows the timing, but given how fast the studio patched during the rollout, the next changes probably aren't far off.
Pick one newcomer, play ten games, and learn its cooldowns before you judge it. Solomon and Danny in particular have the most room to climb once players figure out their pieces and their heat.
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“ A former sports journalist and editor, Patrik joined Gameboost SEO team in 2026. He has spent most of his life playing Football Manager, but his sphere of interests spreads through whole gaming universe.”
