Goodbye, Purple Lane! Massive Deadlock update gets rid of 4-lane layout among other sweeping changes

As is the thing with closed alpha games, you expect them to go through changes constantly. Deadlock’s latest update, however, pushes the envelope even going by that metric. It’s an entirely overhauled map layout, accompanied by a new last-hitting mechanic and a whole host of other smaller changes.

The headliner of the Feb 25 Deadlock patch is, of course, the three-lane layout. In a sense, this brings the new kid in the block closer to its sister MOBA Dota 2 and other games in the genre. As you might expect the consequences of amputating one lane out of the game, the whole map underwent an overhaul.

“This has a large range of accompanying map-wide changes regarding visuals, building layouts, pathways, neutral camps, air vents, breakables, Powerup buffs, juke spots, Mid Boss, etc.,” Valve says in the patch notes. The new Mid Boss arena, for example, is now on the underground level, right beneath the middle lane. The Powerup buffs, on the other hand, now spawn higher up on top of newly added sky bridges.

If you are itching to check the map out without being in a match, the update has also added the option to do so. The “Explore Map” feature is tucked under the Play button in the main menu. This will let you run around an empty city and come to grips with all the changes.

While the new map layout could be enough on its own, it’s not the only overhaul brought by last night’s update. Troopers (the creeps/minions of Deadlock) have a new last-hitting mechanic. Rather than having to last-hit their flashing body, you just have to be near them to generate Soul Orbs. The mechanic for securing and denying those generated Soul Orbs, however, remains unchanged.

The general movement in Deadlock also sees a makeover on two fronts. The default sprint speed has been straight-up doubled and the sprint disable duration from combat has been reduced, resulting in the entire game feeling much faster.

There’s also a plethora of hero-specific, quality-of-life, and technical changes that are too many to list here. I am biased toward Abrams, so I’ll just mention NY sleuth’s killer visual makeover. Here’s the link to the official patch notes for a complete list of changes.