Deadlock now fields a roster of more than 30 playable heroes, each with a unique weapon, a personality, and four abilities that level up during a match. Unlike a traditional MOBA, every character can shoot, push lanes, and farm the jungle, so the differences come down to abilities, scaling, and how well a player knows the hero. Below is a current win-rate tier list for the full roster, a breakdown of hero types, and the standout abilities you will run into most.
Quick answer: Graves, Seven, and Victor sit at the top with a 56% win rate, while Venator (44%) trails the field. Seven is the strongest all-round pick for new players thanks to constant damage output, and Viscous is the hardest to make work without heavy practice.
Deadlock hero tier list by win rate
Win rate is the clearest signal of how a hero performs across all skill levels, but it is not the final word. A player’s mastery of a single character can outweigh the numbers, and Deadlock patches shift balance often. Treat the tiers below as a starting point, not a hard rule.
| Tier | Win rate | Heroes |
|---|---|---|
| S | 54–56% | Graves, Seven, Victor, McGinnis |
| A | 52–53% | Kelvin, Dynamo, Haze, Ivy, The Doorman |
| B | 50–51% | Abrams, Lady Geist, Calico, Drifter, Lash, Mo & Krill, Paige, Yamato, Warden |
| C | 48–49% | Billy, Grey Talon, Apollo, Infernus, Pocket |
| D | 44–47% | Celeste, Mina, Mirage, Paradox, Rem, Silver, Vindicta, Vyper, Wraith, Holliday, Shiv, Viscous, Bebop, Sinclair, Venator |
Seven earns the top-pick label for a reason. He layers skill-shot damage, damage-over-time effects, and passive output, and his Storm Cloud ultimate creates a no-go zone without needing line of sight, which lets him zone teams while allies regroup. Viscous sits at the other end. His Goo Ball ultimate turns him into a bouncing slime that accelerates slowly and steers poorly, so he is easy to catch out of position despite a high skill ceiling.
Deadlock hero types
Every hero is grouped into one of four broad combat styles. These labels describe a playstyle rather than a locked role, since any character can deal damage and hold a lane.
| Type | Style | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Marksman | Ranged, precision weapon damage | Graves, Grey Talon, Vindicta, Wraith |
| Mystic | Ability and spirit-power focused | Seven, McGinnis, Dynamo, Lady Geist |
| Assassin | Mobility and burst kills | Haze, Lash, Pocket, Yamato |
| Brawler | Durable, close-range fights | Abrams, Victor, Kelvin, Warden |
Signature abilities across the roster
Each hero brings one defining ability that shapes how teams play around them. These are the high-impact tools you will see decide fights.
Abrams leaps into the air and slams down on a chosen spot. Enemy heroes caught in the radius take damage and are stunned, and you can recast the ability to crash down early.
Apollo charges up a long-range slash. Enemies struck cannot act or heal and are frozen in slow motion, then take heavy damage when the effect expires.
Bebop fires a powerful laser that damages enemies while slowing their movement and dashes. He moves and turns slowly during the channel, and he hovers while firing if it is unleashed in the air.
Billy chains nearby enemies to himself. Chained targets cannot use movement abilities and are heavily slowed when they pull against the chain, then get yanked in for spirit damage after a short delay.
Calico turns into shadows, gaining movement speed and becoming untargetable while dealing damage. After a brief cooldown she returns from the shadows and deals damage again.
Celeste launches an orb of light that deals spirit damage, slows, and shortens dash distance on impact. The orb then bounces between nearby enemies within range.
Drifter wraps nearby enemy heroes in darkness, sharply cutting their vision of other units while briefly revealing them. During Eternal Night he gains bonus sprint speed.
Dynamo creates a singularity that pulls in nearby enemies and damages them. When the channel finishes, everyone caught is knocked into the air.
Graves plants a gravestone that summons ghouls over time. The ghouls march toward the enemy base dealing melee damage and explode when they reach a hero or objective.
Grey Talon launches a controllable spirit owl that explodes on impact, damaging and stunning enemies it hits. Each kill grants permanent Spirit Power, and holding fire extends the flight.
Haze sprays nearby enemies with perfect accuracy during her flurry, gaining a fire-rate bonus and a chance to evade incoming bullets.
Hidden and experimental Deadlock heroes
Several additional heroes appear in the game files but are not on the main branch yet. They may eventually graduate to live play or get cut during development.
- Kali
- Gunslinger
- The Boss
- Tokamak
- Rutger
- Thumper
- Cadence
- Bomber
- Shield Guy
How hero priority selection works
Every match asks you to choose three heroes from the roster, and Deadlock never allows duplicates on the battlefield. To improve your odds of landing one of your picks, the game uses a priority system you set by right-clicking a hero’s portrait.
| Marker | Priority |
|---|---|
| Purple | High |
| Gold | Medium |
| None | Low |
Matchmaking tries to slot you into a game based on those markers. Popular picks like Seven get chosen constantly, so flagging a few less-contested heroes can shorten your queue. Learn at least three characters in bot or public matches before diving into ranked, and you can do that directly through the Deadlock page on Steam.
Balance shifts with each patch, and recent updates have already adjusted heroes like Apollo, Graves, McGinnis, and Yamato, so expect these standings to move. If your favorite hero sits low on the list today, strong fundamentals and a few buffs can change that quickly.
