Level up notification for 4,500 souls gathered. Rewards an Ability Point and a Power Increase.
Levels in Deadlock signify how many total Souls a hero has gathered. Levels increase a hero's power by granting rewards at specific souls-gathered thresholds. A hero's level is most appropriately referred to by the number of souls they have gathered, which is displayed at all times for all players.
Leveling up in Deadlock is based on a hero's total gathered souls. Level up rewards vary from level to level and are a mix of Ability Unlocks, Ability Points, and Boons (Power Increases). The first three ability unlocks can only be used on non-ultimate abilities. When the fourth ability unlock is obtained at 3k it can be used to learn the hero's ultimate ability.
Ability points are obtained in various ways but primarily as level up rewards. Each ability has three levels, requiring one, two, and then five ability points to unlock. It is possible to spend ability points in any order, including saving them to spend on an ultimate ability or for the final level of an ability costs five ability points to unlock. Fully leveling up all of a hero's abilities requires a total of thirty-two ability points.
Haze's power increase profile. (Image for reference only, numbers may be outdated)
Boons (power increases) serve to increase the base attributes of the hero. Level Up occasionally grant Boons from Patron. The base attributes that are improved by Boons are: base bullet damage, base melee damage, and base health. Each hero gains unique amounts of base stats from their Boons. The differences in these power increase profiles can dictate which heroes are more powerful in the early stages of a game and which heroes become powerful in the late game.
Spreadshot weapons will consume a single round in the magazine and fire all pellets at once centered around the crosshair position. Based on distance and spread, some pellets may miss the target.
Burst Fire weapons will try to consume as many magazine rounds as there are in a single burst and will fire one bullet at the crosshair position per round consumed, applying recoil and waiting for a short delay before shooting the next bullet. If there are not enough rounds in the magazine, the burst will end prematurely. Actions such as dashing and using a melee attack will pause a burst but not cancel it (same mechanic as pausing weapon reloads).
Alt-firing may consume extra rounds to execute an alternative shot with upgraded properties by pressing the alt fire button (normally used to look down sight).
Souls a hero has gathered. Levels increase a hero's power by granting rewards at specific souls-gathered thresholds. A hero's level is most appropriately referred to by the number of souls they have gathered, which is displayed at all times for all players.
Ability Unlocks, 
Ability Points, and 
Boons (Power Increases). The first three ability unlocks can only be used on non-ultimate abilities. When the fourth ability unlock is obtained at 
Abrams: 9 pellets, 4.68/pellet, +0.32/pellet
Mo & Krill: 4 pellets, 3.6/pellet, +0.25/pellet
Pocket: 7 pellets, 5/pellet, +0,4/pellet
Shiv: 6 pellets, 5.7/pellet, +0.4/pellet
Yamato: 5 pellets, 5.65/pellet, +0.5/pellet
Lash: 3 rounds, 9/bullet, +0.71/bullet
Paradox: 5 rounds, 7.2/bullet, +0.42/bullet
Seven: 3 rounds, 11.5/bullet, +0.6/bullet
