Deadlock is Valve's team-based shooter with MOBA elements, and you win it not by topping the kill count but by destroying a chain of enemy objectives. Every lane is sealed off by a "ladder" of fortifications, and to win your team has to break through them all the way to the Patron. Understanding how that ladder works helps you decide where to push, when to back off, and the moment your team is genuinely close to victory.

The lane objective ladder

At the start of a match each lane is guarded by a Guardian — the first tower, which fires on heroes and creeps. A Guardian isn't always vulnerable: while no enemy hero is nearby it holds a shield, and it opens up once it comes under fire. Destroying a Guardian opens the lane, grants the whole team a souls bonus, and lets you push deeper into the map for the first time. Don't dive a Guardian alone in the early game — it punishes overextension and shreds your health quickly.

Behind the Guardian stands a Walker — a huge striding sentinel that patrols the approaches to the base. A Walker deals heavy damage and stomps an area, so it's best attacked as a full team, splitting its attention across several heroes. Bringing a Walker down hands every player a large souls reward and opens the path to the inner fortifications. It's one of the most visible turning points of a match: a team that loses its Walker also loses control over part of the map.

Base Guardians and shrines

Closer to the base sit the Base Guardians — the last line of defense before the team's heart. They are stronger than ordinary Guardians and cover the space where the Shrines stand. There are two Shrines, and both must be destroyed to open access to the Patron. As long as even one Shrine remains, the main objective cannot be finished off, so a base assault almost always begins by clearing these objectives under cover of your own creeps.

The Patron — the win condition

The Patron is the final objective and the only way to win a match. The fight with it runs in two phases. First the Patron fights back, shooting at heroes; you need to break through its defenses and drop its health to a threshold, after which it becomes vulnerable and lowers itself. In the second phase you have to finish off its core — and that is what ends the game. If the team fails to close out the Patron, it recovers, and you'll have to try again, now under the enemy's counterattack.

Practical tips

Don't storm objectives blind: check whether the enemy is alive and where they respawn, or your push turns into free kills for the opposition. Bring a wave of your own creeps — they soak tower fire and speed up the takedown. Only commit to the Patron with a numbers advantage or after a winning fight when several enemies are down; trying to close it out at even strength often ends in disaster. And remember the souls reward: every objective you take strengthens the whole team, so objectives are not just map progress — they're economy too.