New to Deadlock? Part 1: Your first few games

Deadlock has a lot of stuff to learn. For now, let's stick to what you'll actually need in your first few games. Pick a hero you like, get your souls, buy some items and help your team push. I've put clips below so you can see what I'm talking about.

1. Find a hero you like

Mess around with a few heroes in Sandbox or play some bot games. If you like shooting, try Haze. Want to get in someone's face and punch them? Try Abrams. Dynamo is a good pick if you like helping your team and setting up fights.

Set your favorite to a higher priority when you queue for Standard and pick some backups. Don't worry about who's the best hero yet. Play someone you actually enjoy.

2. Use a build

You don't need to figure out the whole shop right away. Open the Build Browser and grab a recently updated build from a creator you trust. Follow the item choices and ability upgrades while you learn what everything does.

Weapon items help your gun, Vitality helps keep you alive, and Spirit helps abilities and effects that scale with Spirit Power. You'll usually want a mix.

Souls are your money and also help you level up. Don't forget to spend them. Sitting on enough souls for an item doesn't help you in a fight if you haven't bought it.

3. Focus on souls in lane

Take your assigned zipline into lane. Those little soldiers are troopers. They're where most of your early souls come from.

Kill the enemy troopers and stay close enough to pick up the souls they drop. When an orb floats up, wait for it to light up, then shoot it before the enemy does. You can shoot their orbs too. That's a deny. Get used to securing your own first.

Shoot the enemy players when you get a chance, but don't chase someone halfway down the lane and miss a bunch of souls for it. Use cover and stay behind your troopers. Enemy medic troopers drop healing when they die. They're the ones with a cross.

Once your troopers reach the enemy Guardian, help shoot it if it's safe.

4. Save some stamina and learn to parry

Don't blow all your stamina getting into a fight. You might need a dash to dodge something or get out. Also, shooting while sliding doesn't use ammo.

Hold melee to charge a heavy punch. If someone throws one at you, parry it. Get the timing right and they'll be stunned so you can hit back. Practice on the training bot before trying it in a match.

Don't jump on a zipline right in front of someone shooting you. They can knock you off and stun you just after you get on. Get out of their line of sight first.

5. Keep farming, but help your team

Keep farming when you start moving between lanes. Grab safe trooper waves, kill the neutral creatures, and break crates for souls. The golden statues give you buffs that last the rest of the match.

Keep an eye on the minimap too. If your team is fighting nearby or taking an objective, see if you can help. These are a few you'll run into:

• Urn: carry it to the marked delivery spot.
• Rift: fight for control of the area. Think King of the Hill.
• Mid Boss: drops the Rejuvenator, that big crystal. Heavy melee it to claim revives for your team. The other team can still steal them, even if you killed the boss.

Won a fight? Go take something while they're dead. Push a lane, kill a Walker, or help your team do Mid Boss.

6. Push together to win

To win, you'll need to get through Guardians, Walkers and base Guardians, destroy both Shrines, then kill the Patron twice.

Push the base with your team and troopers. The enemy can heal and get back to you pretty quickly here. In the final phase, deal with enemies standing in the Patron pit. They can reduce or completely block the damage you're doing to it.

That's enough to get started. Don't try to remember all of this in your first match. Start with getting your souls and buying your items, then work on the rest as you play.