Deadlock Patch Notes (October 5, 2026): Rat King and Sinclair Nerfed as Baba Joins the Roster

Valve's October 5 Deadlock update reins in the brand-new Rat King and trims Sinclair, then Baba arrives as the second City Never Sleeps hero. Here's what changed.

Deadlock's first week after the huge City Never Sleeps update has been busy. Valve released the first of six new heroes, the Rat King, on October 2, pushed a balance update on October 5, 2026 that pulls him back into line and trims Sinclair, and then unlocked the second new hero, Baba, on October 6. Valve doesn't use version numbers for these patches, so this one is officially "Minor Update - 10-05-2026." Here's what changed and what it means for your next match.

TL;DR

• Rat King's ultimate is heavily nerfed: longer cooldown, smaller radius, shorter charge and less damage reduction, especially at full upgrades.
• Rat King's basic abilities get small buffs: Scrap Grenade damage 65 → 70, Rat Swarm cooldown 28s → 24s.
• Sinclair loses gun damage, range and regen, and his Audience Participation ultimate is weaker.
• Vexing Bolt now deals only half damage to objectives.
• A bug that made troopers walk too slowly in lane is fixed.
• Baba is playable as of October 6, and the next hero arrives Friday, October 9 at 2pm PDT.
• The first Ranked season now ends November 5, 2026.

Context: City Never Sleeps and the hero vote

The City Never Sleeps update landed at the end of September with a large visual overhaul of the map and its neutral creeps, HUD and accessibility updates, and six new heroes: the Rat King, Baba, Deadman Danny, Nurse Harrow, Solomon and Violet. Rather than drop them all at once, Valve is releasing them one at a time, twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays at 2pm PDT), in an order decided by player votes. You vote in the new pre-game lobby, and a win counts for more than a loss, so winning matches is the fastest way to push your favorite up the queue. If the schedule holds, all six should be in the game by around October 20.

The biggest change: Rat King's ultimate

The Rat King won the first vote and went live on Friday, October 2. His kit centers on a bouncing Scrap Grenade, a Rat Swarm that bites at enemies' heels, Royal Pestments that let him shrug off incoming damage, and an ultimate, Rule, Ratannia!, in which he leads a charge into the fight and raises the Banner of Ratannia.

Three days later, that ultimate was the main target. The base version is weaker across the board, and its upgrade tiers lost a lot of what made it so oppressive:

The totals tell the story. A fully upgraded ultimate used to sit on a 110-second cooldown with a 20-second charge and 35% damage reduction. Now it's 160 seconds, 10 seconds and 25%. The bonus move speed also no longer scales with Spirit, and he drops faster while charging, which makes him easier to catch.

To soften the blow, his regular kit gets small buffs. Scrap Grenade damage rises from 65 to 70 (and its T2 bonus from 65 to 70), and Valve fixed some bugs with how the grenade picks targets as it bounces. Rat Swarm's base cooldown drops from 28 to 24 seconds.

Sinclair nerfs

The Magnificent Sinclair, one of the existing heroes, takes a broad nerf aimed at his gun and his ultimate:

On top of that, Vexing Bolt now deals only half damage to objectives, which makes him a weaker pick for pushing structures. Taken together, he's weaker in long trades, worse at sustaining in lane, and his stolen ultimates come back slower and last less time.

New content: Baba joins the fight

Baba, New York's pigeon lady from Central Park, won the second vote and became playable on October 6. Her kit, based on Valve's announcement and hero details:

• Threadsap: a spool of yarn that steals some of her enemies' spirit and turns it into extra power for her.
• Granny Long Legs: her park bench sprouts legs, letting her run, jump and kick enemies with surprising mobility.
• Baba's Brew: a thrown pot of tea whose effect varies, from helpful to painful.
• Feed the Birds: her ultimate covers enemies in bread, then sends her pigeons in.

Valve hasn't published balance numbers for her yet, so expect her first tuning pass in a coming update, much as the Rat King got his after three days.

Valve also pushed back the end of Deadlock's first Ranked season to Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 2pm PDT, with the next season starting right after. That gives players a few more weeks to climb while the new heroes settle in.

Bug fixes worth knowing

• Troopers walking too slowly in lane has been fixed. This one quietly affected lane timings and wave pushing, so the laning phase should feel normal again.
• Scrap Grenade bounce targeting bugs are fixed, so the Rat King's grenade should pick its targets more reliably.

What it means for players

If you've been losing to Rat King teams that hold fights with their banner, that window is now much smaller. The ultimate comes up far less often, offers less damage reduction and covers a smaller area. Rat King players should lean more on Scrap Grenade and Rat Swarm, which are now slightly stronger, and pick their ultimate timing more carefully.

Sinclair players lose some of the long-range poke and sustain that made him safe, and copied ultimates are no longer as easy to cycle. Expect him to show up a bit less.

The bigger picture is that Valve is clearly watching each new hero closely and reacting within days. With a new hero arriving roughly every three to four days until late October, the meta will keep shifting, so it's worth getting your votes in and checking in after each release.

This article was written by AI (Claude) and checked against the sources above. Games are updated regularly, so details may change.