Deadlock Tracks: How to Track Like a Pro

Deadlock’s innovative blend of MOBA and shooter gameplay has attracted many players to the game. Among these players, there are many gamers who have never tried a MOBA before. Deadlock is essentially a MOBA and most of its gameplay follows the MOBA formula. Something that is very important in MOBA is laning. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Deadlock trails and how to navigate them.

What is a Path?

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Patrons of both teams are connected via four routes. These routes are called paths. To make it easier for players to communicate and strategize, each path is colored. The lanes in Deadlock are yellow, orange, blue, and purple. This coloring is shown on maps and Transit Lines. The red part of each path on the map indicates the length of the path controlled by the enemy.

Every 25 seconds, a wave of 4 Troopers will appear at the start of each lane (at the base) and travel via the Transit Line (fancy word for zipline) to the end of each lane (the part that isn’t red).

Goal in Lane

The journey from your Patron to your enemy’s Patron is not easy. Apart from facing enemy heroes and Troopers, you also have to defeat enemy objectives. Simply put, these are mini-bosses, and they appear in this order in each path. You must defeat them all to reach the enemy Patron:

Attack/Defend Lane

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Once again, Deadlock’s main goal is to destroy enemy Patrons. To do so, you need to cross the path and reach their base. But the enemy will not let you do this easily. So, when you are pushing on the lane and fighting enemy heroes, minions, and other objectives, that’s what it’s called attack a path.

On the other hand, if the enemy pushes you hard in lane and you block it, that’s it maintain a lane.

So, whenever you hear a teammate say to defend a certain lane, it means holding back the enemy from advancing any further. On the other hand, attacking a lane means being aggressive in that lane and making some progress.

Laning Phase

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The laning phase is just another name for the early game. This is the phase of the game where your goal is to collect souls and lead the enemy. We have a special article about what the Soul is and how to cultivate it.

Basically, Souls are used to upgrade your Heroes, and if you can upgrade your Heroes before the enemy, it can give you a huge advantage. Laning Phase is the initial stage of the game where the focus is on collecting Souls.

Actions that prioritize Soul farming and killing Troopers are what is called ‘laning’.

Winning and Losing Paths

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If you have progressed a lot in a lane and are close to an enemy Patron, you win the lane. For example: You have defeated an enemy Walker and are about to head to the Elder Guardian, allowing you access to the enemy base.

Losing track is the opposite of this. It occurs when the enemy has penetrated your defenses in a lane and made a significant push.

Basically, ‘winning paths’ and ‘losing paths’ are used to indicate progress on a particular path.

Line Pressure

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When you attack a lane and win, it creates pressure on the enemy. For example: at the start of the match, you kill one enemy hero and all the Troopers in one lane. Now, you can advance further and attack enemy targets. This will create pressure on the enemy to defend the route. If you see an opportunity, you can even ask a teammate to help you apply more pressure in the lane.

If you keep pressing this, sooner or later the enemy’s defenses will break, allowing you to advance easily.

Moreover, when you put a lot of pressure on one lane, it is likely that enemy heroes will come from other lanes to defend it, giving you the opportunity to attack other lanes.

Knowing when to hit a particular lane and when to back off is one of Deadlock’s most important strategic decisions.

How to Choose a Path

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It’s all about team coordination. At the start of the match, you can tell your team which path they want to take. Paths are colored for this purpose. For example, you can tell your team that you will guard the yellow line.

A common mistake beginners make is changing lanes every time they die. This is not a wise decision, as leaving your chosen path without telling your teammates will cause confusion and allow the enemy team to advance.

In most cases, you should stay on your path, try to make progress on it, and communicate with your team when you want to change paths.

Some Quick Tips to Help You Get Through the Laning Phase

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The Laning Phase is a time when many beginner players make mistakes. These mistakes can allow the enemy to get soul hints at you. A small lead at the start can easily turn into a huge lead late in the game. So, here are some tips so you can get through the laning phase.

Focus on animal husbandry and not on killing

It is instinct to kill as soon as you see an enemy hero. This can be especially appealing to players transitioning from shooter games, where getting frags is critical and sometimes even the only goal.

But in the laning phase, kills don’t really matter. Your sole focus is to gather more troops than the enemy and secure/reject as many soul orbs as possible. Your goal here is to collect more souls than the enemy. Only commit murder if it helps in farming souls.

Get the item as soon as you have enough Souls

In the heat of battle, it’s easy to forget to buy items. But that’s the whole point of the laning phase: it’s meant to collect souls and level up your heroes quickly.

There’s an item shop right next to your Guardian, so you don’t have to go back to base to get items. Just collect some souls, retreat to the shop, get the items you need, and get back to farming again.

Have the right build for the laning phase

You must have a build that can help you in farming souls and Troopers. In the laning phase, it doesn’t make sense to build your character for a late-game boost, because getting Souls is the most important part of the laning phase. You can easily select a build from the Browse Builds section, or you can create your own. In general, we recommend having a build set that you use for farming Souls during the lane phase.

Try to avoid death as much as possible

Again, the sole purpose of the laning phase is to farm souls. If you die, you will let the enemy get a free soul when you respawn. Therefore, try to avoid death. Stay hidden, retreat if necessary, and secure/deny the Soul as best you can. If you have to heal, save your Transit line upgrade back to base for a quick heal and then come back.

Conclusion

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Lanes are at the heart of every MOBA, and Deadlock is no exception. Many new players fail to understand the importance of the laning phase in MOBAs, so it’s a good idea to know what to do in the Deadlock lane. This article covers almost everything you need to know.