Valve\u2019s invite-only hero shooter and MOBA hybrid Deadlock has exceeded Team Fortress 2\u2019s all-time peak player count on Steam. The comparison comes while Deadlock remains in an experimental stage and has access to Steam\u2019s larger current user base.<\/p>
The latest update adds Solomon, a New York chess hustler who treats the city as a chessboard. He was added around U.S. National Chess Day and is part of Deadlock\u2019s \u201cCity Never Sleeps\u201d lineup.<\/p>
Solomon floats around the Cursed Apple without making footstep sounds. He also has reduced gravity, allowing him to jump higher and remain airborne longer. Instead of using a conventional weapon, he throws chess pieces that deal long-range damage based on his Spirit attribute.<\/p>
His reload animation starts a new game on his board. The number of pieces left in play matches his current ammunition capacity, which can increase through items.<\/p>
Solomon\u2019s first ability, \u201cSetup Bishop,\u201d places a bishop that can later move to another location. The piece damages and slows enemies along its path. After reaching its destination, it creates diagonal fields that act as Spirit-damage mines. Higher levels add a second bishop, increase the fields\u2019 size and reduce the Spirit resistance of affected enemies.<\/p>
\u201cRook Battery\u201d sends two rooks along a straight path. They damage and immobilize enemies, bounce off walls and can change direction at a right angle when Solomon activates the ability again. Upgrades add damage based on an enemy\u2019s current health, an extra wall bounce, a longer immobilization period and a shorter cooldown.<\/p>
\u201cKingside Knight\u201d targets an ally and turns them into a knight. The target gains an additional stamina segment and a barrier. When Solomon targets himself, he receives a barrier twice as large but does not gain the stamina increase.<\/p>
The selected character can then jump to a chosen location in the L-shaped pattern of a chess knight. The character remains invulnerable during the movement. At its highest level, the ability can target two allies or remove debuffs when used on Solomon.<\/p>
Solomon\u2019s ultimate, \u201cDevelop Queen,\u201d places a queen in a large square area and deals Spirit damage. Additional squares spread from the impact point, causing more damage and stunning enemies. Solomon can move the queen to two more locations.<\/p>
Upgrades reduce the ability\u2019s cooldown, add a slowing effect and allow it to execute enemy heroes with less than 200 health. The highest level grants two additional movements and increases the range of the later stun areas.<\/p>
Valve has also announced Nurse Harrow, Deadman Danny and Violet as upcoming additions to the \u201cCity Never Sleeps\u201d lineup. Players can vote on which heroes will be added next.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Valve\u2019s invite-only Deadlock has surpassed Team Fortress 2\u2019s all-time Steam peak. Its new hero, Solomon, uses chess pieces and can reposition allies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-4303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest","tag-pc-gaming-news"],"newsroom_tags":[{"id":19,"title":"PC Gaming","slug":"pc-gaming-news"}],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n