Valve has unleashed one of Deadlock’s biggest updates yet, with City Never Sleeps introducing six new heroes, a dramatically reworked map, a new vendor, and a long list of UI and quality-of-life improvements.
The latest major update for Deadlock is now live, giving Valve’s MOBA/hero shooter hybrid a substantial shake-up across almost every part of the game.
Titled ‘City Never Sleeps’, the update expands the playable roster with six new heroes while also changing how players navigate and interact with The Cursed Apple. The map has now been divided into distinct lanes and districts, each bringing its own points of interest and neutral enemies. There are also new resources to discover, new ways to track what’s happening during a match, and a mysterious vendor offering powerful ,but potentially costly, upgrades.
Six New Heroes Join Deadlock
City Never Sleeps adds six heroes to Deadlock:
Nurse Harrow — Strict, terrifying and a savior.
Solomon — A focused strategist who is always thinking several moves ahead.
Deadman Danny — Reckless, high-flying and explosive.
Violet — Ambitious, nimble and creative.
Rat King — Scrappy, regal and tenacious.
Baba — Cackling, beady-eyed and capable of hexing.
Valve hasn’t revealed the complete details of every hero’s abilities or their intended team roles yet and their arrival will also be staggered, with the Deadlock community determining the release order via a voting system that was used in the previous update, ‘Old God’s New Blood’.
Two heroes will be introduced each week, with one arriving on Tuesday and another following on Friday.
That means players will have plenty of time to experiment with each new character before the next addition hits the roster.
The Cursed Apple Gets a Major Makeover
The biggest visual and structural change comes to the map itself. Each lane now has its own points of interest and unique Haunts, creatures that players can encounter while moving around the map and farm in order to collect souls (the in game currency). York, for example, introduces threats such as Barrel Mimics and Gutter Ghouls, while Broadway is home to the mysterious Specimens. The areas between the lanes have also been transformed into four dedicated districts, each with its own visual style and selection of Haunts.
Four New Districts
Theater District
Players can encounter Stage Hands here.
Chinatown District
This area is populated by Crabbage Pots and Festival Spirits.
Haunted Lot District
Shrooms are the primary Haunt found here.
Plaza District
The district is home to Underhands.
Several locations contain high-risk, high-reward challenges for players willing to venture away from the standard lanes. The Sunken Plaza in the Plaza District and the Bell Tower in Chinatown are two examples of these encounters with increased numbers of Sinner’s Sacrifices and souls. New Tough Crates, Buff Containers and Healing Snacks are also scattered around the city, giving players additional ways to recover and collect resources. There are even Steam Vents, which can temporarily make players invisible while providing a small amount of regeneration.
Meet The Broker
One of the more unusual additions is The Broker, a new, limited time vendor who can appear in different locations around the map. Finding him gives players the opportunity to trade high-tier items for corrupted versions. The first shipment becomes available at around the 30-minute mark, with additional corrupted items appearing roughly every 15 minutes afterwards.
There’s an obvious catch.
Corrupted items receive random negative attributes from a predefined pool, meaning players will have to weigh the potential benefits against whatever drawback they’ve been handed. The Broker won’t stick around forever, either. Once the first new hero arrives, he’ll disappear from the map.
A Major Overhaul To Deadlock’s HUD
City Never Sleeps also brings a significant overhaul to the information presented during matches. Players can now more easily identify party members during chaotic fights, while new indicators provide additional information about Rejuvenators, Ultimate’s, stamina and critical health. Health values are displayed as damage is dealt, making it easier to understand exactly how close an opponent is to going down. The update also provides more information about Haunts, including their Soul value and relative difficulty. Damage numbers have received additional options too, allowing players to customise how damage totals are displayed. Ally indicators have been improved as well, making teammates easier to locate even when they’re some distance away.
Better Combat Information
Valve is also making it easier to understand what’s happening beneath the surface during a fight. Players can now see how their stats are being affected in real time, while the shop provides information about how purchases change their current build. Build-ups and durations are more visible, including effects such as Mina’s Love Bites, while a cleaner targeting mode reduces some of the visual clutter that could previously obscure the action.
There’s also a new Event Feed designed to highlight important moments during a match. The feed explains what caused a player to die, including the specific item or ability responsible for the killing blow. Bounties have received similar treatment. Players can see the total bounty of Souls attached to a target as well as their individual share of the reward. This now makes Soul Bags easier to track so players don’t accidentally leave valuable rewards behind. Several ping and communication improvements have also been added.
The Shop Gets Smarter
The Curiosity Shop has been redesigned to make finding suitable items considerably easier. Rather than simply presenting you with an enormous selection, the shop can now use live player data to highlight items that are being purchased most frequently. Tooltips can show how often an item is being purchased and during which stage of a match it tends to appear. Players can also filter the shop based on the specific stats they’re looking for. This should make it easier to construct builds around particular attributes instead of having to search through the entire catalogue every time a purchase is needed.
Even More Changes Across The City
The City Never Sleeps update doesn’t stop with heroes, the map and HUD.
Other additions include:
A new Commends Counter.
Improvements to Troopers.
New voice lines.
A new dialogue player.
Minimap location labels.
New Veils.
Updated Barrier treatment.
Changes to Parry cooldowns.
Respawn timers displayed in-world.
A Midboss timer on the top bar.
Permanent buffs.
Expanded Custom Lobbies.
A Custom Hideout camera.
Overhead buff displays.
Taken together, the changes make City Never Sleeps considerably more than a conventional content drop. With six new heroes arriving, a substantially altered map, new enemy encounters and resources, and a sweeping collection of interface improvements, Deadlock is entering another significant phase of its development.
With the new heroes being rolled out over the coming weeks, there’s still plenty more for players to discover.
