It's not been long since Deadlock officially launched into closed beta, but even still, some players are starting to figure out which heroes they really click with and which are simply too overpowered to ignore.
Thanks to the site Tracklock, we can see not only who the most popular hero picks are but also how successful those characters are in terms of win rates, pick rates, total games, and total wins. Most of the heroes up towards the top (and bottom) are pretty expected. Seven, who seems to be the most popular hero, is currently sitting at the top with a 57% win rate out of 2,518,656 games and an impressive pick rate of 92%—he's in almost every single game I play.
Seven is a pretty lethal hero and also very easy to master. His Lightning Ball is a great way to gather a bunch of souls in one go, and it is also a really annoying ability to play against, as it can deal with 70 damage, slow 40% movement, and zone enemies really easily. The Storm Cloud ultimate is also a lethal ability to have in this game, considering its reach and duration. Seven has even already been nerfed in a recent Deadlock patch, but it's honestly not that noticeable.
Although I fully admit that I am part of the problem as Seven is also my most played hero. Out of 25 games, I've won 20 of them, a statistic that I was kind of proud of until I found out that everyone else and their mum also shares in this success.
Other heroes in the top five also include Warden, McGinnis, Haze, and Lady Geist, although only Haze comes close to matching the total games played as Seven, with 2,434,513 total games so far.
On the other hand, the worst five characters are currently Yamato, Viscous, Grey Talon, Paradox, and Vindicta. Although to be fair, Yamato and Viscous aren't beginner-friendly heroes, they can be good after some practice. I've seen Yamato tear apart teams with the right kind of build and sequence of abilities. Characters like Grey Talon and Paradox often need to rely on having a solid team composition, with characters like Lash or Haze drawing enemy attention or fire.
"Valve really needs to update the 'great for new players' [heroes]," one player says in a Reddit thread. "How are Vindicta and Bebop good for new players?? They require specific play styles and builds, while Warden is one of the easiest and strongest heroes to play, and he's not considered good for new players."
I'm not sure Vindicta or Bebop is that hard to master. Vindicta is my second most-player character, and out of 12 games, I've won seven so far. Her kit is simple to understand, and after switching to the solid yet awfully named Sniper DPS Sexy Feet build, I've felt a lot more powerful in solo and team fights. Although I will say that having solid aim does help when playing Vindicta, as headshots can be what divides good and bad players, especially if you have the Headhunter perk, which deals bonus damage, heals you, and grants bonus movement speed.
It'll be fun to see how this list changes as the months roll by, as I'm sure we'll see some stand-out heroes that are perhaps harder to master than Seven climb the ranks. So far, I think Lash and Shiv are characters to look out for as players get a better grasp of Deadlock.
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