Valve shipped Deadlock’s Halloween 2026 event alongside a substantial gameplay update on October 30, 2026. The patch adds Halloween Cauldrons to Manhattan, reworks the Mid-Boss objective and Rejuvenator drop, shifts several comeback economy levers, and removes the “new” classification from the latest six heroes. According to Valve’s Steam announcement, the Halloween festivities run in-game now through November 2, 2026.
Halloween Cauldrons Arrive in Manhattan
The Cursed Apple gets a seasonal makeover. The Hideout has a spooky look, heroes wear masks, and New York City is littered with pumpkins and Halloween Cauldrons. During a match, players walking through Manhattan can find bubbling cauldrons. A Heavy Melee breaks one to pick up a piece of Candy, which can be stashed for later. Consuming the Candy applies the temporary Sugar Rush buff.
Mid-Boss Rework Cuts the Central Snowball Objective
Valve changed the Mid-Boss fight on several fronts. The terrain around the pit is larger with more cover. The Mid-Boss has 20 percent more health and gains health per minute 20 percent faster. Resistance reductions are now only 50 percent as effective against it, and its roar now triggers at 25 percent HP instead of 50 percent. The direct team bounty falls from 3000 souls plus 50 per minute to 1500 souls plus 25 per minute.
- Terrain layout adjusted: area is bigger and has more cover.
- Health increased by 20 percent; health gained per minute increased by 20 percent.
- Resistance reductions are only 50 percent as effective against the Mid-Boss.
- Roar now happens at 25 percent HP instead of 50 percent.
- Team bounty reduced from 3000 (+50/min) to 1500 (+25/min).
- The Rejuvenator now drops as 3 crystals placed evenly around the pit at random positions instead of 1 crystal in the center.
- Each Rejuvenator crystal breaks in 1 heavy melee and grants the team 1 Rejuvenator, for an unchanged total of 3 per kill.
- The full heal for breaking a Rejuvenator now applies to each crystal, not only the first hit.
- Rejuvenator crystals give the breaker a 500 soul bounty plus 9 per minute.
- Crystal drop time increased from 6s to 7.5s.
The old Mid-Boss was a single high-bounty objective with one central Rejuvenator crystal. The new version spreads the reward across three crystals, lowers team bounty, and attaches individual bounty to each breaker. That changes contest geometry. It likely reduces the instant snowball effect from one player securing a single central crystal and gives opponents more time to contest because the drop takes longer and the pit has more cover. The 50 percent resistance reduction cap and later roar also mean resist-shredding compositions cannot burn the boss as quickly. This is an inference based on the patch numbers; Valve did not state the intended effect in the patch notes.
Economy Levers Tilt Toward Comeback
Several changes adjust how souls flow. Breakables growth values are down 10 percent. Haunts base bounty and growth are up 10 percent, and their HP and damage output are up 10 percent. Haunted Souls secure rate is now 25 percent slower at baseline. However, the secure rate can be up to 50 percent faster than baseline based on how far behind a player is in Net Worth compared to the enemy team’s average, reaching max rate at a 20 percent Net Worth gap. Comeback gold from non-hero sources increased from a max of 26 percent to 30 percent when behind by roughly 20 percent Net Worth. The bonus NPC souls multiplier when behind now also increases tick souls for the two poorest players. Fixed some boxes taking longer to respawn if another box’s or powerup’s pickup was left on the ground.
Healing Snacks heal increased from 10 percent Max HP to 14 percent. Steam Vents now increase stamina regeneration by 150 percent. Move slow to air drag ratio increased from 0.35 to 0.5. Move speed in tunnels reduced from +70 percent to +50 percent.
These changes favor comeback play. The slower baseline Haunted Souls secure rate makes neutral soul theft less punishing for a team that is ahead, while the scaling secure rate when behind gives trailing players a faster catch-up mechanism. Raising comeback gold from non-hero sources from 26 to 30 percent and extending tick souls to the two poorest players reinforces that direction. The tunnel speed reduction and air drag change are movement consistency adjustments that affect rotations. Valve did not explicitly say the patch is anti-snowball, but the combination of lower Mid-Boss bounty, distributed Rejuvenator rewards, and these comeback economy changes points that way.
Latest Six Heroes Leave the New Classification
Valve also removed the “new” tag from the latest six heroes. Those heroes arrived across the City Never Sleeps update and subsequent releases. They now have normal hero unlocking requirements for ranked and can be banned. In competitive terms, this opens ban slots and forces teams to prepare for the full roster rather than protecting newly released characters. The patch notes do not list which specific unlock requirements apply, only that they are the normal ranked requirements.
Hero and Item Balance Pass
The patch includes a broad tuning pass. On items, High-Velocity Rounds bullet velocity drops from 60 percent to 45 percent, with upgrades unaffected. Shadow Weave is reworked: it no longer has Ambush Fire Rate or Melee Damage, now grants +50 percent Ambush Weapon Damage, and its Ambush bonuses build up over 6 seconds of being stealthed before reaching full power. Abilities used to break stealth now benefit from the Ambush bonus on their own damage. Toxic Bullets anti-heal rises from 35 percent to 40 percent. Armor Piercer chance rises from 55 percent to 60 percent. Glass Cannon weapon damage rises from 80 percent to 85 percent. Radiant Regeneration gets several nerfs: Regen on Spirit Damage scaling drops from 0.35 to 0.25, Heal on Ability Cast now only triggers in combat, heal reduced from 65 to 40, and boon scaling reduced from 1.7 to 1.4. Healing Booster no longer builds from Extra Regen and no longer grants +3 Health Regen; Out of Combat Regen increases from +1 to +2. Spirit Sap cooldown increases from 18s to 22s and cast range drops from 40m to 35m. Divine Barrier cooldown increases from 45s to 55s.
Mirage’s Traveler is reworked. Channel time increases from 2s to 3s, interrupt/cancel cooldown increases from 4s to 5s, and it now gets interrupted by Stun, Immobilize, Sleep, or slowing hex. The base ability now grants the old T2 barrier with no scaling, the minimap moves to the center of the screen and enlarges while targeting, a targeting reticle appears under the cursor on the minimap that allies can see, and destinations are marked on all minimaps. T2 changes from a 400 Barrier that scales with spirit to -65s Cooldown, and T3 changes from -90s Cooldown to Cannot be interrupted by damage, plus barrier spirit scaling of 0.8.
Rat King receives direct nerfs. Base bullet damage is reduced by 5 percent and bullet damage growth by 20 percent. Scrap Grenade damage drops from 70 to 60, T2 damage from +70 to +60, and T3 damage from 300 to 275. Rule, Ratannia! knockup duration is reduced by 50 percent, and cooldown increases from 160s to 180s.
For Nurse Harrow, base gun damage is reduced by 10 percent. Lurking Terrors fear buildup time increases from 1.3s to 2s. The T3 changes from “Immune to damage while channeling” to “Takes 50% Reduced Damage while channeling.”
Violet gets moderate performance improvements alongside several changes. Still Life stun duration drops from 1.0s to 0.9s, and line of sight is now required when the channel ends. Abstract Landscape cooldown increases from 165s to 180s, duration spirit scaling drops from 0.04 to 0.01, and the ability ends early if Violet dies.
Street Brawl mode received separate nerfs to Deadman Danny, Nurse Harrow, Paige, Rat King, and Violet.
