Deadlock: How to Unlock Flex Slots [Complete Guide] (2024)

In Valve’s latest game, Deadlock, mastering the mechanics of flex slots is key to dominating your matches. These additional item slots can provide game-changing buffs, but unlocking them is not easy. But I’m here to help!

In this guide, we’ll dive into everything you need to know about flex slots, including a step-by-step guide on how to unlock them, advanced strategies for faster unlocking, and which roles or heroes are best suited to complete the objectives.

What Are Flex Slots in Deadlock?

Flex slots in Deadlock are bonus item slots that can be unlocked during the match, giving players extra space to equip items from any category – Weapons, Vitality, or Spirit.

These slots increase your item capacity from 12 to 16, providing more flexibility and power during mid-to-late game stages.

Pro Tip: Flex slots become even more important in the late game, where additional items can tip the scales in close fights. Make sure to focus on unlocking these slots early enough to gain momentum!

How to Unlock Flex Slots in Deadlock: Step-by-Step Guide

Each of the four flex slots requires your team to complete specific objectives related to destroying key enemy structures. These objectives are heavily team-focused, so coordination is critical. Here’s how to unlock each flex slot:

1. Flex Slot 1: Destroy All Enemy Guardians

Guardians are powerful defensive units located in each lane, tasked with protecting critical enemy structures.

Destroying all enemy Guardians will unlock your first flex slot, but it’s not as easy as it sounds – Guardians are tanky and deal significant damage if not handled properly.

• How to Destroy Guardians: Use a mix of ranged and high-damage heroes to chip away at their health from a safe distance. Heroes with crowd control (e.g., stuns or slows) can help immobilize nearby enemies while your damage-dealing heroes focus on taking down the Guardian.
• Strategy to Unlock Faster: Coordinate an early push with your team after winning a skirmish in one lane. Target the weakest lane first, where the enemy team is spread thin, and focus your efforts on the Guardians there. Securing this early objective will open up the map and give you a crucial flex slot advantage.

Roles Best Suited for this job:

• Damage Dealers (DPS): Heroes with burst damage or sustained ranged attacks (e.g., sharpshooters, marksmen) are ideal for dealing with Guardians.
• Tanks: These heroes can soak up the damage from Guardians, allowing your damage dealers to focus on the kill.
• Supports: Healing and shielding heroes can keep the team alive while pushing toward Guardians, reducing the risk of losing the fight.

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2. Flex Slot 2: Destroy an Enemy Shrine

Destroying a Shrine will unlock your second flex slot, and it’s a great way to diminish the enemy’s map control in the process.

• How to Destroy Shrines: Shrines are heavily guarded by the enemy team, so make sure you clear the lane first before focusing on the Shrine itself. Use heroes with area-of-effect (AoE) abilities to clear out enemy minions and apply pressure to the Shrine. Once the area is secure, concentrate your damage on the Shrine, which is much easier to destroy once enemy forces are pushed back.
• Strategy to Unlock Faster: After successfully winning a team fight, rush the Shrine while the enemy team is respawning. This window of time is critical for destroying the Shrine quickly without resistance. Be mindful of enemy heroes with global abilities who can disrupt your push even from a distance.

Roles Best Suited for the job:

• Bruisers: Heroes that can deal damage while absorbing hits (e.g., melee fighters with decent sustain) are ideal for leading a Shrine push.
• Supports: Use shielding and crowd control abilities to prevent enemy reinforcements from disrupting your team’s Shrine destruction.

3. Flex Slot 3: Destroy an Enemy Walker

Walkers are mobile enemy units that push lanes and defend critical areas of the map. Destroying an enemy Walker will unlock the third flex slot, giving your team a noticeable boost.

• How to Destroy Walkers: Walkers move along the lanes and can deal heavy damage to your team if left unchecked. Heroes with strong burst damage or high mobility can quickly take them out, but it’s important to focus fire and bring them down before they reach your structures.
• Strategy to Unlock Faster: Coordinate an early push toward a Walker in the mid-game before it can apply too much pressure to your lanes. Use heroes with high mobility to intercept Walkers while they are moving between objectives. Catch them before they enter a more heavily fortified area, such as near enemy Shrines or Towers.

Roles Best Suited:

• Assassins: Heroes with burst damage and high mobility (e.g., rogues, stealth heroes) are perfect for taking down Walkers quickly.
• Tanks: Engage the Walker and soak up its damage to allow your DPS to focus on destroying it safely.

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4. Flex Slot 4: Destroy All Enemy Walkers

The final flex slot is unlocked once your team destroys all of the enemy Walkers. This is usually a late-game objective, and by the time it’s unlocked, you’ll have a significant advantage if coordinated correctly.

• How to Destroy All Walkers: As the match progresses, Walkers become even more dangerous. Your team must track and eliminate each Walker as it spawns to prevent them from pushing your lanes too far. Use crowd control and high-damage abilities to prevent Walkers from reaching key structures while focusing all your firepower on them.
• Strategy to Unlock Faster: Position your team to intercept Walkers as soon as they spawn. Focusing down the Walkers as a group allows you to unlock the final flex slot faster, providing you with a full set of 16 item slots to dominate the endgame.

Roles Best Suited:

• Crowd Control (CC) Heroes: Heroes with stuns, roots, or slows can immobilize Walkers and prevent them from pushing while your team focuses them down.
• High-Damage Ranged DPS: These heroes can deal consistent damage from a safe distance, allowing you to bring down Walkers quickly and efficiently.

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Advanced Strategies for Unlocking Flex Slots Efficiently

Here are a few tips and strategies to unlock flex slots faster and more efficiently during your matches – although trust me, it will always be a challenge!

1. Prioritize Objectives Over Kills

It can be tempting to chase down kills, but your primary focus should be on map objectives.

Destroying Guardians, Shrines, and Walkers is what ultimately leads to unlocking flex slots and securing a late-game advantage.

Once a Guardian or Walker falls, push your advantage by targeting the next structure immediately.

2. Coordinate Pushes After Winning Team Fights

The best time to target objectives is after a successful team fight. When key enemy heroes are respawning, rush objectives like Shrines or Walkers to unlock slots without contest.

Communicate with your team to synchronize pushes and take down objectives faster.

3. Split-Push to Distract the Enemy

When facing a well-organized enemy team, consider split-pushing, which means sending one or two high-mobility heroes to pressure a different lane while your main force focuses on objectives.

This tactic can draw enemy players away from Guardians or Walkers, making them easier to take down.

Pro Tip: Heroes with map-wide movement or global abilities are great for split-pushing and applying pressure on multiple objectives simultaneously.

Have your own strategies for unlocking flex slots in Deadlock? Share your tips in the comments below!

If not, you can switch over to a different game that is just as fun though – read my Norland Guide to get started!