Riot Drops Hints About Deadlock’s Long-Awaited Buff

Valorant's 23rd agent, Deadlock, is set to receive a buff as she continues to face challenges in finding her rightful place in the game.

Deadlock, introduced as a Sentinel agent, has been a part of the game’s roster since her debut in June 2023. She has a set of cutting-edge nanowire tech aiming to disrupt movements, block pathways and detect presence. Much like any other sentinel, Deadlock has the exact tools to hold the site and prevent attackers from taking over.

However, compared to other sentinels, Deadlock's effectiveness as a solo sentinel is often questioned. Deadlock's Sonic Sensor, designed to watch flanks, is often considered unreliable as enemies can simply refrain from making any kind of noise so as to not be detected. This ability though is helpful in deterring pushes as it applies an AOE stun that concusses anyone caught within the area. However, it has a slow trigger time allowing agents with high mobility such as Jett and Raze to get away from it even after setting it off. On the other hand, Deadlock’s GravNet is somewhat situational and often only useful when combined with other agent abilities such as molly and Raze’s Paint Shells.

Due to this, players have raised doubts about Deadlock's effectiveness, especially when compared to other sentinels like Killjoy and Cypher, leading Riot to take action.

Deadlock is slated to receive a buff soon

In the recently released dev blog called “State of the Agents", John Goscicki, Valorant’s Character Producer hinted at the upcoming Deadlock buff. He acknowledged Deadlock is currently weak and expressed a commitment to improving her kit to make her a more viable sentinel.

“Although it can take months for a new Agent’s potential and contributions to be felt, we’ve heard that many of you are feeling that her addition to the Sentinel roster is a bit weak at the moment. We are keeping an eye on areas of her kit that we can improve that would help Deadlock become a Sentinel that can better react on the fly.”

Currently, Deadlock continues to struggle to find her place as evident in her low pick and win rate. She is one of the least picked agents with a mere 1.6% Pick Rate with a 48.7% Win rate in Valorant across all ranks alongside Astra and Harbor, according to Tracker.gg. In the pro scene, Deadlock also failed to make an impact in the Valorant Champions Tour 2023, where she was the only agent not picked throughout the entire tournament.

As of the moment, not much is known regarding which part of her kit will undergo changes and it remains uncertain whether Riot Games will implement a major overhaul to her abilities. However, players can anticipate adjustments that will bring her in line with other sentinels, transforming her from a niche pick into a solid choice for teams.

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