Deadlock September 17 patch fixes one of the game’s worst exploits

Valve’s September 17 patch for Deadlock rolled out fixes for a handful of fringe-case bugs, with the headline change removing a major exploit.

Similarly to contemporary MOBAs, farming resources – in this case, Souls – are the priority during the early game of a match to begin accruing items and build upgrades. Soul sharing is essentially double-dipping on Souls, gaining the currency from multiple lanes in addition to your own.

The process, while requiring specific lane states and coordination, could result in a huge early game lead and snowball effect. As of September 17, however, the exploit is no longer possible, with Valve placing a cap on how many times a player can be “considered for an enemy trooper death event.”

September 17 patch notes

• Fixed players being able to exploit soul sharing across multiple lanes to earn more souls than intended. The way the fix is implemented is that each player can only be considered for an enemy trooper death event 4 times per wave number during the laning phase.
• Fixed troopers sometimes not dying after doing their death flash state.
• Fixed Unstoppable state not preventing fire rate reductions.
• Fixed Grey Talon’s Charge Shot and Vindicta’s Assassinate cameras not working properly.

Other changes included adjustments to camera behavior during Grey Talon and Vindicta’s Charge Shot and Assassinate respectively, as well as troopers oddly refusing to die in certain scenarios.

Valve has been proactively updating Deadlock during closed alpha to accommodate player feedback. Its previous update on September 14 rolled out emergency nerfs for Bebop after numerous complaints claiming the hero’s ultimate ability was overpowered.

Looking for a rundown of how Deadlock’s roster is performing in the current meta? Check out our constantly updated tier list for how each character ranks, as well as individual builds.