Ever since her release, Deadlock has been one of the weakest picks in VALORANT. She lacks a lot of impact in areas where other sentinels shine, but in Patch 8.0, she’ll be grabbing some massive buffs to her Barrier Mesh wall and Sonic Sensor that could boost her playtime.
Unlike her fellow sentinels, Deadlock has lacked flexibility when it comes to covering sites and flank angles. Her Barrier Mesh wall was relatively underwhelming since enemies could still shoot through it, and it couldn’t even boost up allies to unique angles. Her Sonic Sensor lacked a ton of impact since opposing players could simply cut noise and walk past it so it wouldn’t activate.
Deadlock’s Gravnet Grenade can help stop an incoming rush and her Annihilation ultimate is a useful tool to pick off unsuspecting foes from a fight, but overall, she isn’t able to fulfill the same level of impact that Sage and Cypher have on a given map. As a result, these buffs should help add more oomph to her kit, before she steps onto the battlefield on Tuesday Jan. 9 for Episode Eight.
All Barrier Mesh wall changes in VALORANT Patch 8.0
First, Deadlock’s Barrier Mesh wall is getting a huge buff to its effective radius, increasing the length of all four walls that are deployed from the center orb to 10 meters each. This new buff will allow players to run around and wall over massive choke points with ease since they don’t need to be perfectly accurate with their throws to stop a rush.
On the current live patch, the walls only extend out about six meters each, meaning that Deadlock players must be relatively accurate with their placement of the center orb. If not, they’ll fail to block off the choke point and the opposing team will stream into the site while also being able to fire back through the see-through walls.
All Sonic Sensor changes in VALORANT Patch 8.0
Sonic Sensor, on the other hand, will activate half a second faster than before, which should prevent most players from reacting in time to its stun. It is still visible if a player gets close enough, but in a hectic situation with plenty of utility and gunfire, it can be easily missed while on the wall.
Additionally, players can now pick up and redeploy the sensor at any time in the round. On live servers, sensors can only be picked up during the pre-round. After they are placed, they cannot be picked up anymore, making them very limited in their use—especially if the opposing team goes to the other site.
The sensors can also be picked up from up to 27 meters away, which is a massive increase from the previous 12-meter range limit. As a result, Deadlock can set up traps in reaction to a push, without having to expose herself to enemy fire.
