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Deadlock launches four new characters in public build

Holliday, Calico, Vyper, and The Magnificent Sinclair are now available to play for all players in Deadlock.

TJ Denzer

January 17, 2025 2:18 PM

Image via Valve

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As we head deeper into 2025, Valve’s third-person shooter MOBA, Deadlock, has received a substantial update in its public beta. Four new characters have come to the game, and with them comes all sorts of new moves, abilities, and composition opportunities. What’s more, Holliday, Calico, Vyper, and The Magnificent Sinclair can be played by anyone. There’s no need to buy the new characters.

Valve updated Deadlock with the latest characters this week, alongside a Steam Developer Blog post talking a little bit about all of them.

Holliday is a Western-style gunslinger with a revolver. She can roll out a powder keg in front of her and shoot it to do explosive damage to enemies and pop them up. She can also hit head shots that do extra damage and slow enemies.

Vyper is a reptilian humanoid with a machinegun, but poison is her weapon of choice. She can use her slide to slink around the ground and maneuver around enemies quickly, but she can also unleash slowing daggers, damage-over-time poison, and a stunning bola to keep her foes locked down.

Calico is an assassin with a fancy feline named Ava. While Calico is built to do damage quickly from the shadows, unleashing slashes and cluster bombs, she can also shift into Ava, the cat, and become a very hard target to hit, making for easy getaways under pressure.

Finally, The Magnificent Sinclair is a master of magic and trickery. He can create a spectral assistant that allows him to trip enemies up and augment his damage against them. If they fight back, he can even change them into a harmless rabbit for a time. Finally, The Magnificent Sinclair can make opponents’ ultimate attacks his own, stealing from an opponent and unleashing that power on their friends.

All of these characters bring unique niches to Deadlock, which continues to enjoy a wealth of attention in the MOBA scene. Stay tuned to the Deadlock topic for further updates and details.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.