Deadlock: Beginner's Guide & Best Tips

My First Week with Deadlock

I spent my first three runs trying to stack poison on the Harvester boss and got destroyed by his phase two swipe combo EVERY TIME. That was about twelve hours of my life I'm never getting back. Deadlock is that kind of game — it looks like a straightforward action-platformer with a cool cyberpunk skin, but it's actually a brutal lesson in patience and positioning. The first time I saw the Subway Junction elevator shaft collapse? I just stood there like an idiot and got flattened by debris. The game doesn't care if you're new. It will punish you for being curious without being cautious.

But here's the thing: once you understand the rules, Deadlock becomes one of the most satisfying games I've played in years. The movement system alone is worth the price of entry — wall-jumping actually works consistently, and the dash cancel timing is buttery smooth when you nail it. I've got about 400 hours in now, and I still find new weapon synergies and shortcut routes. This guide is the stuff I wish someone had told me before I wasted my first day dying to the tutorial boss's overhead slam.

Why Players Struggle (And Why You're Not Bad)

Let's be real: Deadlock's tutorial is garbage. It shows you how to shoot and dodge, then throws you into a fight with a mech that has three separate attack patterns. The game expects you to figure out that you can parry mech fists by timing a heavy attack? That's never explained. I discovered it by accident after getting killed six times and frantically mashing buttons.

Here are the real pain points that make people rage-quit:

• The camera is too tight indoors. In the Warehouse District, you'll get cornered by the fast-moving scrappers and can't see the second wave coming from behind a crate. The camera doesn't give you a warning — you have to feel the enemy spawns through audio cues. Turn your sound up and listen for the metallic click-clack of their legs. That's your only notice.
• Stamina management is everything, and the game hides the numbers. You have exactly 100 stamina points. Each dodge costs 25. Each wall-jump costs 15. If you panic-dodge three times in a row, you're out of stamina for four full seconds. That's enough time for any elite enemy to ruin your day. The tutorial never tells you the cooldown on stamina recovery is 1.8 seconds before it starts refilling.
• The upgrade system is intentionally confusing. Weapons have three upgrade slots, but the game doesn't explain that you can swap chips at any time — you don't need to farm for a new gun. I spent hours grinding for a second rifle because I thought I'd locked myself into a bad build. You haven't. Press Tab and go to the loadout screen to swap chips for free.
• Enemy damage scaling is brutal in co-op. If you're playing with a friend, enemy HP increases by 60% per additional player. That means the tutorial boss has about 210% HP in a three-player game. Don't coop for your first run unless you want to spend twenty minutes whittling down a bullet sponge.

I'm not saying these design choices are bad — they make the game memorable. But if you hit a wall, it's probably because the game hid something from you, not because you're bad. This guide exists to surface all that hidden info.

Day One Checklist: What to Do First

You just downloaded the game. You're in the main menu. Here's your sequence of actions for the first hour:

1. Go straight to the Training Room. It's the second option on the main menu, not the campaign. Spend ten minutes here. Practice the dash-jump-dash combo until you can do it without looking at your stamina bar. The combo is: Space (jump) > Shift (dash) > Space (jump) > Shift (dash). This covers about three times the distance of normal running and is mandatory for the second level's timed gate puzzle.
2. Pick the Volt Pistol as your starter weapon. I know the shotgun looks tempting, but the Volt Pistol has 0.4 second reload speed and builds stun on the second hit. Stun is the strongest status effect in the early game. The shotgun has terrible range and you'll get punished by the snipers in the Power Plant level.
3. Map your parry to a side mouse button. The default key is V. That's awful. You need parry on something you can hit without moving your hand. I use mouse button 4. This single change made the tutorial boss fight go from "rage-inducing" to "actually fair."
4. Do the first campaign mission, but don't rush. There's a hidden room behind the second waterfall in level one that gives you a +5 stability chip. You need to shoot the cracked wall to the left of the waterfall. That chip reduces weapon recoil by 20%. I missed it my first three playthroughs.
5. Turn off camera shake in settings. This is not optional. The camera shake on explosions will disorient you during the first boss. Go to Settings > Video > Camera Shake: 0%. Thank me later.

Once you've done those five things, start the campaign for real. The first level is basically a tutorial in disguise — there are no tough enemies until you reach the bridge section. Use that time to get comfortable with your dash-jump-dash rhythm.

Expert Tips That Actually Work

These aren't the obvious "upgrade your gear" tips. This is the real stuff I've stolen from watching top-tier players and testing in my own runs.

Weapon Choice & Synergy

The Flamethrower does 45 base DPS but ramps to 120 DPS after 3 seconds of continuous fire. That ramp mechanic is way overrated by the community — you rarely hold the trigger for three seconds in a real fight. The real hidden gem is the Shock Rifle. It does 32 damage per shot with a 1.2 second charge time, but charged shots ignore armor. That's huge against the Sentinels in Act 3, which have 70% damage reduction from the front. Most people ignore the Shock Rifle because of the charge delay, but it trivializes the hardest normal enemies in the game.

Boss Fight Pattern Exploit

The first boss, the Harvester, has a move where it raises both arms before a ground slam. The telegraph window is exactly 1.1 seconds. You can parry this attack by pressing your parry button at 0.7 seconds into the animation. If you parry it, the Harvester gets stunned for 3 seconds and takes 2x damage from all sources during that stun. This turns a 10-minute boss fight into a 3-minute execution. I learned this from a random forum post after dying to this boss fifteen times. The game never explains parrying boss attacks.

Movement Tech for Harder Acts

Starting from Act 2, there are environmental puzzles that require precise wall jumps. The trick is that wall jumps give you 0.3 seconds of air control before gravity takes over. You can extend that by doing a neutral air dash immediately after leaving the wall. The input is: Wall jump > hit jump again > dash forward. This gives you about 80% more horizontal distance. You need this to reach the secret weapon cache in the Cooling Towers level. That cache has a blueprint for a +15% crit chance chip that you cannot get anywhere else until New Game+.

Resource Management

Scrap is the main currency, and you'll be broke constantly. Stop buying health packs from the vending machines. They cost 50 scrap each and you find health pickups everywhere. Instead, save your scrap for ammunition upgrades. The first upgrade for any weapon costs 200 scrap and gives you +3 magazine capacity. That's a 20% DPS increase for most weapons. Prioritize magazine capacity over damage upgrades in the first two acts. You'll reload less, which means you're shooting more, which means you're killing faster.

Co-op Communication

If you're playing with a friend, use the ping system. Press Middle Mouse Button to ping an enemy. It highlights them for your teammates for 4 seconds. This is better than voice chat because the ping also shows the enemy's health bar to your team at all times. In split-second encounters, that extra health bar awareness saves lives. Also, assign one person to be the designated "parry checker" — that player focuses on parrying boss attacks while the other two deal damage. Trust me on this one. My first co-op run was chaos because we both tried to parry and neither of us hit the timing.

If you enjoy this kind of movement and parry gameplay, you might like the precision mechanics in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice — same focus on timing over stats.

Six Mistakes That Got Me Killed (Repeatedly)

I've made these errors dozens of times. Don't be like me.

1. Grinding for weapon drops instead of upgrading. I spent two hours farming the Gutter level because I wanted a better pistol. Turns out the starter pistol upgraded to +5 has 40% more DPS than any weapon you can find in Act 1. Upgrade your starting gear. Don't chase loot. The weapon rarity system doesn't matter until Act 3.
2. Tanking hits instead of dodging. Deadlock has no invincibility frames on the standard dodge. Zero. You get hit during the dodge animation if an enemy's swing connects with your hitbox. The dodge is for positioning, not i-frames. I learned this the hard way when I tried to dodge through the Harvester's sweep attack and got clobbered. You need to dodge away from the attack's path.
3. Ignoring the puzzle rooms. There are optional puzzle rooms in every level that give permanent stat boosts. The first puzzle room in the Subway Junction requires you to shoot three hidden switches within 6 seconds. The reward is +10 max stamina. I skipped that puzzle my first run and wondered why my stamina bar felt tiny. It's worth the effort.
4. Not using the map (M key). The map is minimalist but it shows locked doors that lead to secrets. If you see a blue icon on the map, that's a door that unlocks with a key card. Key cards are always within the same level. Go find it. Some of these rooms contain skill point orbs that permanently increase your ability level.
5. Over-relying on the shotgun in tight spaces. The shotgun does 180 damage per shot at point-blank range, but damage falls off completely at 8 meters. Most indoor corridors in Deadlock are longer than 8 meters. You'll be shooting pellets that do nothing. I died about ten times in the Warehouse crawl because I was using the shotgun and enemies were sniping me from 15 meters away.
6. Selling unwanted items to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper gives you 30% of the item's value if you sell it back. That's a terrible rate. Instead, use unwanted chips as upgrade fodder. You can improve any chip's quality by combining three duplicate chips. The combining system is not explained anywhere. I found this out by accident on my fourth playthrough after trying to clear inventory space.

FAQ

Is Deadlock actually hard or just unfair?
Both. The first two acts are genuinely hard because the game doesn't explain its mechanics. Once you learn the systems (parry timing, stamina economy, weapon ramp mechanics), it becomes fair. The third act is actually easier because you have more tools. The first boss is objectively the hardest part of the game for new players — it's a knowledge check, not a skill check.

What's the best starting build?
Start with the Volt Pistol. Put your first three skill points into the Reload Speed passive (it's in the Tech tree). That gives you a 0.3 second reload once maxed. Combine that with a Reload Chip (drops from the first boss) and you'll have a continuous stun-lock machine. For abilities, take the Emergency Shield active — it blocks one instance of damage and has a 30-second cooldown. That shield saved me more times than any healing item.

How long is the campaign?
First playthrough with no deaths: about 6-8 hours if you explore thoroughly. Realistically, expect 10-12 hours with deaths and backtracking. New Game+ adds about 4 more hours and changes boss patterns — the Harvester gets a fourth attack phase with a lightning AoE.

Can I respec my skill points?
Yes, but it costs 500 scrap and you need to reach the Station Hub in Act 2. There's a terminal near the vending machines. You can respec as many times as you want, but the cost increases by 200 scrap each time. I respec'd three times before settling on a crit-focused build. Save your scrap if you plan to experiment.

Is the multiplayer dead?
Not on PC. The player count is healthy on Steam, with about 3,000-5,000 concurrent players depending on the time of day. Matchmaking takes about 30 seconds for co-op. PvP modes are less populated (1-2 minute wait times). Console crossplay is not yet available — that's coming in a future patch.

What do I do if I hit a wall in Act 2?
Act 2's difficulty spike is notorious. The answer is almost always "you missed a chip upgrade." Go back to earlier levels using the fast travel points (unlocked after each boss). Find the puzzle rooms you missed. Get that +10 stamina boost. Upgrade your pistol to +5. The game expects you to have specific stat thresholds by Act 2 — 300 HP minimum and 120 stamina. If you don't have those, you're going to get one-shot by the Act 2 elite enemies.

This kind of punishing-but-fair design reminds me a lot of what makes Dark Souls so compelling — if you haven't played it, our Dark Souls guide might help you understand the mindset better.

Final Thoughts (Not a Summary, Just Me Talking)

Deadlock is a game that respects your time once you know what you're doing. It's cruel to beginners but generous to veterans. The movement system is some of the best I've ever felt in a third-person game — once you nail the landing cancel and wall jump extensions, you'll be zipping through levels like you're in a parkour movie. The weapon variety is deeper than it first appears, and the secret rooms reward exploration in a way that feels meaningful rather than arbitrary.

I still die to stupid stuff. Last week I fell into a bottomless pit in the Hydro Plant because I forgot the dash button exists. But that's the charm — Deadlock punishes you for sloppy play but rewards you for learning. Stick with it. Learn the parry timings. Upgrade your starting weapon. And for the love of god, map that parry button to something comfortable.