Mechanics

Death and respawning

A hero dies at zero health. A death timer appears, kill and assist recipients receive souls, and unsecured souls drop in a container that other heroes can collect. The hero returns to base when the timer expires.

ContentsHide
  1. 1Respawn time
  2. 2Last Stand and revive tokens
  3. 3Selected update history
  4. 4Sources and editorial notes

A hero dies at zero health. A death timer appears, kill and assist recipients receive souls, and unsecured souls drop in a container that other heroes can collect. The hero returns to base when the timer expires.

A dead player can browse the shop, spectate allies, ping and chat. If all allies are dead, the Patron’s perspective remains available; clicking an objective on the minimap shows that objective’s perspective.

Respawn time

Respawn time rises linearly between the following match-time points and is capped at 90 seconds:

Match time Respawn time
5 min 8 s
20 min 38 s
30 min 70 s
40 min 85 s

Death to a non-player unit adds 10 seconds when no enemy hero receives a bounty or assist. After 10 minutes, a comeback kill can add time when the victim’s net worth exceeds the killer team’s average by more than 15%. The increase scales from 6 seconds at a 15% difference and 10 minutes to 22 seconds at 30% and 25 minutes.

Last Stand and revive tokens

When a Patron’s first stage dies, each already-dead defending hero’s remaining timer is reduced once: 30 seconds or more loses 20 seconds; between 10 and 30 seconds becomes 10; 10 seconds or less remains unchanged. Later deaths use the normal timer.

The October 30, 2026 patch changed the Midboss drop to three Rejuvenator crystals at randomly selected positions around the pit. Break each with one heavy melee to grant one token. Each crystal also provides a full heal and awards its breaker 500 souls plus 9 per minute. The prior cited Death revision describes one crystal containing three tokens. A token is consumed on its holder’s death; further deaths of that player do not consume another. Once all tokens are consumed, the team loses the Midboss buff. A token death grants no souls and does not appear as a HUD kill, but triggers on-hero-kill effects, including Shiv’s Killing Blow reset and the ultimate stacks of Grey Talon, Mo & Krill and Vindicta. Victor’s Shocking Reanimation has the same interaction.

The removed Soul Rebirth item revived its holder at the death location after 4 seconds, but increased normal respawn time if the holder died while it was on cooldown.

Selected update history

Date Change
September 16, 2026 Respawn time at 20 minutes rose from 35 to 38 seconds, without changing later maximum values.
June 30, 2026 Ramp changed from 8–30 seconds over 5–19 minutes to 8–35 seconds over 5–20 minutes.
January 20, 2026 At 19 minutes respawn fell from 35 to 30 seconds; at 30 minutes it fell from 75 to 70 seconds. The net-worth-based comeback penalty was introduced.

Sources and editorial notes

Adapted from Deadlock Wiki contributors; checked 2026-11-01. Source-derived text and factual tables are adapted under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. Game content may be subject to separate rights.

Editorial coverage note: The Death revision predates or has not incorporated the October 30 crystal change; the later patch is identified above. The full Souls breakdown is in the separate Souls article.