A full 100% damage resistance for a few seconds, a slope down to 30%, then nothing after minute 13. That is the profile Valve reportedly tested on Deadlock’s Walkers, according to the informant Ghostwriter.
These new Ghostwriter leaks, relayed between October 4 and 6, 2026 by the X account @deadlockesport, cover three workstreams of the next big update: the Walkers, a rune system and a ranked PvE mode. Valve confirms nothing. The studio also keeps repeating that Deadlock remains an invite-only playtest.
The PvE mode extends our March article on the Risk of Rain-inspired mode. That is where the new details are clearest. Here is what holds up, and what remains shaky.
Ghostwriter leaks: what is reported, what is guesswork
The first message opens with a warning: everything in parentheses is editorial speculation, and the text was reorganized for readability. The relay is therefore not Ghostwriter directly. It is an account that summarizes the claims and mixes in its own guesses.
Post from the X account @deadlockesport on Ghostwriter’s leaks, information dated October 6, 2026.
First reported fact: Valve planned to finish most of the map for the City Never Sleeps update, but ran into difficulties. The post adds that « Playtesters have generally been reluctant to embrace balance-related changes. » That sentence sheds light on everything that follows.
Walkers: resistance that melts away over time
According to the same post, Valve tried several times to rework the Walkers, in both function and looks. In the SleepLive leak, the Archmother-side Walker was drawn as a bull. The new mechanics, for their part, were judged too complicated to work as intended.
The scenario visible in our screenshot: after its tower falls, a Walker that you approach gains 100% damage resistance for a few seconds. It then drops toward 30%, then disappears after minute 13. The rest of the post, outside our screenshot, mentions regeneration if you leave its range, and a final phase where the Walker attacks on its own, targeting only players.
Our take: of all the Ghostwriter leaks, this is the most credible. Valve itself indicated that the Walkers, the Guardians and the Midboss would be the next workstreams, as GamingOnLinux reported on October 1. A short invulnerability window would stop players from chaining tower then Walker without catching their breath, and the total loss of resistance after 13 minutes prevents games from dragging on. The weak point is complexity: regeneration out of range, a decay to read in real time, the Walker’s own attacks late in the game. Testers have already balked. We would bet on a simplified version.
Dota 2-style runes: bounty and forest
The relay also announces runes reworked in the style of Dota 2: small runes near the lanes, the shops and in the jungle, with two new types, Bounty and forest runes. The effect details do not appear in what we were able to read.
In Dota 2, the bounty rune hands out gold. A transposition would give souls, Deadlock’s currency, but that is our hypothesis, not Ghostwriter’s. The idea is coherent: Deadlock already borrows its lanes and shops from Dota 2. The risk lies elsewhere. A player who leaves their lane for a forest rune leaves a hole, in a game where every lost soul is paid for in items. It will all depend on the value of these runes.
Ranked PvE: what March did not say
In March, the leaker Mindeeper described a mode modeled on Risk of Rain: waves of enemies, chests, a shrine to activate, all on maps still at the mockup stage. The October 4 post brings something new: a dedicated ranking, stats tracked hero by hero, and a run split into a four-stage cycle.
Post from the X account @deadlockesport relaying Ghostwriter’s information on PvE, October 2026.
- Combat: regular creeps and mini-bosses.
- Exploration: a no-combat stroll after the fight, chests and secrets.
- Shop: gear upgrades using parts dropped by monsters.
- Boss: a major fight.
There would be seven locations, hence seven unique bosses. Nothing is random in their order: each is tied to progression, with its own scenery and mechanics. The map follows a 50/50 principle: terrain and buildings are drawn at random, but always in the style of the location. There are currently three variants per zone, and the developers are said to be testing full procedural generation. The final stage would be the Baroness. The details in parentheses, such as enemies comparable to tier 3 dolls, are the relay’s guesses.
Our view on these Ghostwriter leaks: the cross-check with March holds up, since combat, chests and bosses were already there. But the concept was reportedly revised six times by October 4, and a team that changes its mind six times is not done. A ranking with per-hero stats also means balancing every hero against bosses, in a game where heroes shift with every patch.
No date, and an already busy calendar
City Never Sleeps came out on September 29, 2026, according to Game8, with a peak of 228,000 concurrent players against 171,490 for the previous record from September 2024. The previous update of that size dated from January 22. We detailed the content and the record in a dedicated article.
The Deadlock Wiki shows a busy calendar. Rat King arrived on October 2, Baba on October 6, and other hero releases are listed for October 13, 16 and 20. Solomon is one of the six heroes from that community vote. Rat King has already shaken up the meta, with a 61% win rate, as we noted.
In the Ghostwriter leaks, Walkers, runes and PvE have no date. Valve even pushes hero reworks to later phases, again according to GamingOnLinux.
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