Souls are a crucial element in Deadlock, serving both as currency and experience points (XP) for heroes. Players collect souls by various means, including shooting soul orbs released when certain entities die, last-hitting enemy Troopers, taking Guardians/Walkers, killing enemy players, and finding unsecured souls in boxes or crates. Unsecured souls are added to your total immediately but can drop upon death for other players to collect.

Soul released by the trooper.
A weakened trooper.

Gathering Souls

Hero Kills

  • Souls from player kills are influenced by the team's overall soul count: teams with fewer souls gain more from kills.

Last Hitting + Soul Orbs

  • Souls are only gained when the player lands the "Last hit" on a target. Troopers that are killed by other troopers or structures award no Souls
    • After a Trooper reaches 0 HP, there is a very short time where a Last Hit may still be landed by a hero's attack.
    • Players cannot "deny" a last hit on a minion by killing their own minions, but they can deny the Soul Orb.
  • Soul orbs are released by dying entities and can be shot to collect souls. If not collected, the orbs eventually expire, awarding the same amount of souls automatically.
  • Shooting these orbs will Deny the kill and steal the Souls from the orb for yourself.

Lane Soul Distribution

Before 10 minutes

  • When a Trooper is killed, the killer will receive half of the Trooper's souls at once, then half again when the Soul Orb is destroyed by themselves, an ally, or it expires.
  • For two players in lane, Souls from Troopers are 'duplicated' between both players (about 50m from the kill). This means a Trooper kill worth 50 souls will grant 50 souls to each player.
  • If 3 or more players attempt to receive souls from a creep, the killer will receive the full Trooper value, while all other players will equally divide the duplicated amount.
    • For example: for a Trooper creep worth 50 Souls in a lane of 3 heroes, the killer will receive 50 Souls and both other players will receive 25 Souls each. [1]

After 10 minutes

  • After 10 minutes, trooper souls are divided evenly among nearby players. There is no longer any "duplication" of Souls.

Denizens (Jungle Creeps)

  • Jungle camps contain Denizens that give souls to players on kill. They do not release soul orbs.
    • In order for jungle creeps to give souls to both players, both players must deal damage to the creep.
    • Souls from jungle creeps are split between all allied players who dealt damage to said creeps.

Breakables

  • Breaking the wooden crates scattered throughout the map will have a chance to spawn some souls.
    • Chance for any given crate to drop souls when broken is 40%.
    • Amount of souls dropped is a function of in-game time:
      • [Souls Dropped] = 45 + 3*([Game Time in Minutes) - 3)
      • For example: At 25:00 game time, a broken crate will drop 111 souls.

Be aware that soul orbs can be missed from events like Soul Urn turn-ins, Guardian destruction, or Sinner's Sacrifice Safes.

Leveling Up

Gathering souls is directly tied to leveling up in Deadlock. See leveling up.

References

  1. https://youtu.be/4I1YH4xNxfA?t=230 - Timestamped video showing Trooper Soul split in lane before 10 minutes