- Tank (8 heroes): These frontline characters absorb damage, initiate team fights, and protect their squishier teammates from enemy attacks. Popular picks include Warden, a shield-wielding brawler who can stun entire teams with a single ability, and Forge, a fire-powered tank who leaves lasting area-of-effect damage zones behind her to block enemy paths.
- Damage (9 heroes): The primary damage dealers of the team, these heroes focus on taking down high-priority enemy targets quickly from close or long range. Standouts include Ranger, a long-range sniper with one-shot kill potential against low-health targets, and Rift, a close-quarters assassin who blinks through walls to catch enemies off guard before they can react.
- Support (7 heroes): These heroes heal teammates, provide useful buffs, and disable enemy attackers to turn the tide of even the most one-sided fights. Most new players start with Lumin, a beginner-friendly healer who can revive downed teammates from a distance, but more advanced supports like Vex can also deal significant damage while keeping their team alive through long fights.
- Flanker (8 heroes): Fast, highly mobile heroes who get behind enemy lines to take out support and damage characters before they can set up their abilities. Many flankers have stealth or movement abilities that let them escape bad fights, including Shade, a stealth assassin who can turn invisible for 10 seconds at a time to sneak past enemy frontlines.
I recommend new players test at least one hero from each role during their first 10 matches. You might assume you prefer high-damage picks at first, but many new players find they love playing support once they get the hang of keeping their team alive through tough objective fights. You don’t have to stick to one role forever, and learning how every hero works will make you a better player even when you’re sticking to your main role for ranked matches.
How to Unlock Locked Deadlock Heroes
Of the 32 current heroes, only 8 are available when you first create your account. The rest are locked behind two different unlock paths, and neither requires you to spend real money if you don’t want to. I’ve seen a lot of new players panic when they see locked heroes on the selection screen, but you don’t have to grind for dozens of hours to get access to the full roster. Even if you only play a couple of matches a week, you can unlock every Credit-locked hero in less than two months.
First, 18 heroes can be unlocked with in-game currency called Credits, which you earn after every match regardless of whether you win or lose. Each of these heroes costs between 1000 and 5000 Credits, so you can unlock a new one every 3 to 5 matches if you’re playing regularly. The remaining 6 heroes are exclusive to current and past battle passes, but Valve re-releases old battle pass heroes every 3 months for Credit purchase, so you won’t miss out forever if you don’t buy a pass when it’s active.
Never spend real money on hero unlocks unless you want to support the game early, since every hero will be available for free earn eventually. Also, if you complete the full new player tutorial, you’ll get a free hero unlock token that lets you grab any Credit-locked hero immediately, no grind required. I used mine to unlock Forge when I first started, and I still main her to this day in high-ranked play.
Upcoming Additions to the Deadlock Hero Roster
Valve has confirmed they plan to grow the Deadlock hero roster to at least 50 characters over the next two years, so the count will keep going up every few weeks. Each new hero comes with a full set of unique abilities, a backstory tied to the game’s lore, and a dedicated balance patch to make sure they fit into the existing meta without breaking it. The team prioritizes making new heroes feel original rather than rehashing abilities from other MOBAs, so every new addition feels like a fresh shakeup to the game.
The next upcoming hero is a support character who can create temporary portals for their team to travel across the map, which should shake up the meta for ranked play when it launches. Valve always tests new heroes for 2 weeks in their public test server before full release, so you can try out new characters early if you want to get a head start on learning their abilities and counters.
A common complaint from new players is that the roster feels small compared to older MOBAs like League of Legends or Dota 2, but the smaller roster actually makes it easier to learn how every character works. You won’t run into a hero you’ve never seen before 100 hours into playing, which cuts down on the frustration of getting surprised by unknown abilities during ranked matches.
At the end of the day, the exact answer to how many heroes in Deadlock are playable right now is 32, but that number will keep growing as the game gets more regular updates. Whether you prefer tanking for your team, dealing massive burst damage, or keeping your teammates healed up through tough fights, there’s a hero on the roster that will fit your playstyle perfectly. Take the time to test out a few different characters when you first start, and don’t be afraid to branch out of your comfort zone to find your new main. The small, curated roster means every hero feels intentional, so you won’t waste time learning a character that gets abandoned by devs a few months after release.