Valve is now up to four sets of Deadlock patch notes where changes to the Soul Urn are the biggest talking point. This time, they’re the only thing in the update, and it’s another fairly substantial overhaul. The ‘Capture the Flag’ style vase of souls has long deserved more attention, and Valve’s attempt to make players care has thrust it very much into the spotlight. With the MOBA’s latest redesign, it more closely resembles a ‘King of the Hill’ format, allowing you to concentrate your attention more on contesting the enemy team for it.
The past changes we’ve seen are still in effect, so expect to be running the Urn all the way across the Deadlock map to deposit it. Rather than dropping it off below the side bridge, however, you’ll now do so above it. Protections are still in place to stop players from hoarding the Urn for the defensive buffs instead of taking it to its intended destination, although the total duration before you start taking damage has been raised by ten seconds. If you’re behind, the sprint speed bonus while running with the Urn is a little faster.
Once you get to the drop-off, things really start to look different. To start with, the 35% bonus bounty and stats given to the Urn carrier are now awarded immediately when they slam it down, giving you an instant reward that’s guaranteed, whether your team ends up actually winning the subsequent showdown.
Instead of the old system of having to melee the Urn to switch who’s ‘controlling’ it, there’s now a 20-meter radius to stand inside. As a rough guideline, this is just slightly smaller than the lowered square under the bridge. Valve describes this as acting like King of the Hill, but both teams can actually progress their counters at the same time if they’re within the zone. The Urn can only actually be claimed when a single side remains, however, so you’ll need to clear your rivals out eventually.
The progress duration is six seconds if favored, 12 if neutral, and 18 if unfavored, and there is no additional benefit to having more than one ally within the area. Once the Urn pays out, its overall bounty has been reduced by 20% as standard, although the value of the favored urn is unchanged, making it an even more potent comeback tool if you can secure it as the losing side.
The ‘comeback aura’ still exists – in fact, it’s now a little stronger, awarding +35% Debuff Resistance along with the previous +35% boosts to Bullet Resistance and Spirit Resistance. It affects a much smaller radius, however, cleanly matching the 20 meters of the capture zone rather than the vast 60-meter span of old.
Most interestingly, however, should the capture be contested for a total of 75 seconds (a deadlock between the teams, if you will), the Urn will simply “give up” – Valve’s words, not mine. When this happens, it just throws its full collection of souls into the sky in orb form, where they’ll float “for a long time,” giving everyone the chance to grab a piece.
This new Deadlock update is live now. Remember that we’re still working on the slightly slower rollout, where Soul Urns will only spawn every six minutes instead of five. Combine that with the lower base payout, and it should have a slightly lessened impact on the overall economy, although it’ll still be a serious offer of salvation should the losing team snag it. Will these be the final changes? Probably not, but I’ll certainly be watching how the weekend plays out.
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