Valve shipped a Deadlock balance patch on October 5, 2026 through a Steam Community announcement, with changes focused on the Rat King hero and Sinclair. The Steam Community announcement categorized the patch as a minor update, and Valve also fixed bugs that were causing troopers to walk too slowly in lane.
This balance pass follows the recent six-hero City Never Sleeps update and brings targeted adjustments to the two affected heroes.
Rat King Changes
For Rat King, Scrap Grenade had some bouncing targeting bugs fixed, and its damage increased from 65 to 70. The T2 damage also increased from 65 to 70. Rat Swarm base cooldown was reduced from 28 seconds to 24 seconds.
Rule, Ratannia! received several changes. Cooldown increased from 130 to 160, damage reduction reduced from 20 percent to 15 percent, radius reduced from 24 meters to 20 meters, and charge duration reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds. Bonus move speed no longer scales with Spirit, and the hero now falls faster while charging. T1 move speed changed from plus 1 meter per second to plus 2 meters per second, and T1 no longer gives a 20 second cooldown reduction, leaving total cooldown from 110 seconds to 160 seconds. T2 no longer grants plus 8 seconds charge duration, leaving total charge duration from 20 seconds to 10 seconds, and T2 flag duration was reduced from plus 8 seconds to plus 5 seconds. T3 damage reduction was reduced from 15 percent to 10 percent, making total damage reduction from 35 percent to 25 percent.
Sinclair Changes
Sinclair received base HP regeneration reduced from 2 to 1. Sinclair’s gun falloff range was reduced from 25-61 to 20-60, and bullet base damage was reduced from 17.76 to 16.5. Vexing Bolt now does half damage to objectives. Spectral Assistant gun falloff range was reduced from 25-61 to 20-60. Rabbit Hex radius was reduced from 6.5 meters to 6 meters, and T3 radius was reduced from plus 3 meters to plus 2 meters. Audience Participation copy duration was reduced from 12 seconds to 9 seconds, and copied cooldown increased from 40 percent to 60 percent.
