VALORANT analyst claims fans ‘ignore facts’ about Deadlock’s viability

New agent Deadlock has provided VALORANT fans with one of the key things they’ve asked for over the past year: a new Sentinel. Her signature ability, Barrier Mesh, is the biggest topic of discussion, but one EMEA analyst is adamant that fans are dead wrong about its strength.

Jakub “Lothar” Szygulski, VCT EMEA analyst and streamer for DRX, tweeted a Reddit thread that gained a lot a traction talking about Barrier Mesh being too powerful, claiming fans were “ignoring facts” about the ability. In his opinion, Deadlock is more likely going to see a buff in the near future than the nerf the popular post desires.

The nitty-gritty of the post comes down to the usefulness of Barrier Mesh and how much health it has. To destroy the barrier entirely by shooting the middle, players have to unload a lot of ammo into it, making it almost impossible to break it all down on pistol rounds. The fact you can shoot through it and the breakable nature of its four corners balance it out, however. Those four corners represent the four jutting edges of the plus sign that is the wall, and they have less health if you break only one edge of it.

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In the Reddit post, there are multiple arguments for nerfing Barrier Mesh, like the fact that it’s free to use and that its placement is too quick, and its staying time is too long. Lothar was quick to counter that, pointing out that it takes two full seconds for the wall to activate and that it only lasts 30 seconds, 10 less than Sage’s Barrier Orb.

Lothar directly called out the post, saying it was an aim to “shift the narrative and get hundreds of upvotes.” He wasn’t alone in disagreeing with the arguments:, one comment mentioned that if she didn’t have that wall, her kit as a Sentinel would be too weak. Later in that thread, others pointed out that much like Brimstone’s smokes, Deadlock’s signature ability doesn’t recharge over the course of a round after usage, making her kit a lot weaker than some of the alternatives.

Lothar even tweeted a quick poll afterward, asking how long it will be until Deadlock gets buffed, confident that she won’t get nerfed. We’ll have to wait and see, but if there is one thing already confirmed, it is that Deadlock’s kit has led to a lot of debatable opinions in VALORANT.