The Rat King has secured the top spot in community voting to become the first new hero added to Deadlock through the City Never Sleeps patch, which will introduce six fresh characters alongside numerous gameplay improvements and features.
The hero is now available to play and offers a distinctive playstyle centered on deploying rats to debuff and damage opponents while providing team-wide support through his ultimate ability. Armed with a ranged rifle as his primary weapon, the Rat King's kit combines offensive and defensive tools.
His first ability, Scrap Grenade, launches a bouncing projectile that detonates multiple times, dealing bullet damage and slowing enemies in the blast radius. The grenade can be knocked away by melee attacks. The second ability summons a swarm of smaller rats that leap onto nearby enemies, dealing damage over time while reducing their bullet resistance. The effect intensifies as more rats attach to a single target, though enemies can dislodge them by dashing on the ground or through the air.
Defensively, the Rat King gains a barrier scaled to his maximum health, increasing survivability and providing a chance to reflect incoming bullets back at attackers. He also shares a unique passive ability with another hero named Rem, allowing him to use underground tunnels beneath the map for positioning and escape.
His ultimate ability, Ultimate Rule, Ratannia!, has the Rat King charge forward before slamming a large flag at a chosen location. The flag grants nearby allies increased movement speed, reduced slow effects, and damage resistance. The slam itself triggers an eruption dealing bullet damage over time while applying knockup and slow effects to enemies, with both sewage and rats emerging from the ground to strike.
The Rat King's selection comes as little surprise given the overwhelmingly positive reception from players, who praised both his unique mechanical kit and distinctive character design. The hero had already dominated community discussions and online sentiment before voting concluded. While the next hero to join the patch remains uncertain, community speculation points toward Baba or Solomon as likely contenders, though the race remains competitive.
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