How Souls Work in 2026 (What Actually Pays You)
To farm faster, you need to stop thinking “kills = money” and start thinking “systems = money.” Deadlock’s economy is built around a few consistent Soul streams:
- Lane Troopers (primary income): The most reliable Souls in the match. They arrive on a schedule and can be collected safely with good positioning.
- Neutral camps (secondary/filler income): Great between waves or when your lane is pushed out, but usually not worth missing a full wave for.
- Breakables (micro-income and buffs): Useful when you take them while moving, not when you detour far and miss Troopers.
- Objectives (teamwide spikes): Guardians/Walkers/structures create big team Soul swings and map control that makes future farming safer.
- Soul Urn (teamwide payout): A timed objective that can swing economy—best taken when lanes are prepared, not when you’re bleeding waves.
Two key “2026 reality checks” that change how you farm:
1) Troopers don’t reward sloppy wave play anymore.
Waves are valuable, and missing one because you wandered to a low-value camp is one of the fastest ways to fall behind.
2) Not all Souls are equally safe.
A big part of “farming without falling behind” is understanding Unsecured Souls (Souls that can be dropped on death and are claimed over time) versus the safer income that simply stays with you. If you stack too many risky Souls and then take a bad fight, you didn’t “farm”—you donated.
The #1 Rule: Never Miss a Full Wave
If you want to farm faster than the average player, you don’t need secret routes. You need wave discipline.
A full Trooper wave is usually worth more (and is always more reliable) than most “side activities.” The best players are not the ones who do the most things—they’re the ones who do the right thing at the right time and are always present for the next wave.
Wave discipline means:
- You are in position when the wave arrives.
- You clear it efficiently.
- You collect what it drops safely.
- Then (and only then) you use the short downtime to do a quick extra income action (camp, breakables, shop route, rotation).
- You return before the next wave.
If you adopt one farming habit today, make it this:
Always path in a way that ends with you catching a lane wave.
Wave Timing and Why “One Bad Roam” Is So Expensive
Deadlock’s pacing changes over patches, but one major economic reality is consistent: waves are spaced out enough that each one matters, and missing one is a big deal. When wave intervals were increased (and bounty adjusted accordingly), it made “showing up” even more important: you don’t get another wave immediately to fix your mistake.
What this means for you:
- If you leave lane at the wrong time, you can lose two things at once: the Souls from the wave and the lane control that protects your structure.
- If you fight during a wave crash and die, you often lose the wave and give up structure damage because nobody is there to clear.
A practical mindset that wins:
Treat every wave like an appointment you can’t miss.
You can fight. You can rotate. You can do objectives. But you do it around wave timing, not instead of it.
Securing Trooper Souls Faster (Without Taking Bad Damage)
Modern Deadlock laning rewards players who can collect Trooper income while minimizing risk. Your goal isn’t to “stand in the open and duel.” Your goal is to collect Souls efficiently while your opponent is forced to waste time or health trying to stop you.
Here’s how to do that in a beginner-friendly, repeatable way:
1) Stand close enough before Troopers die.
If you drift too far, you risk missing the drop window and the wave’s value. Good farmers play within safe range of the wave while using cover and angles to avoid free poke.
2) Collect the easy portion first, then contest the risky portion.
A lot of players lose farm because they focus on the flashy contest (trying to deny everything) and forget the guaranteed value. Secure what you can safely secure, then go for extra denies when it won’t cost you health or positioning.
3) Use cover to collect, not ego.
If you step into open space to secure one contested orb and take heavy damage, you’ll be forced to back—then you lose the next wave anyway. Farming faster is often about staying healthy enough to stay present.
4) Don’t “over-clear” if it makes you unsafe.
Clearing the wave quickly is good, but clearing it in a way that pulls you into enemy angles is not. It’s better to clear slightly slower and stay alive than clear fast and get forced out.
A simple lane collection routine:
- Clear the wave from cover.
- Step in briefly to collect what you can safely collect.
- Reset behind cover.
- Repeat.
If you keep doing this, you’ll notice something important: your opponent starts spending more time trying to disrupt you than farming themselves.
Denying Souls Without Losing Your Own Farm
Denies are powerful—but only when you deny without sacrificing your own income. A deny that costs you a full wave is almost never worth it.
Use this priority system:
Priority A: Secure your own wave income.
If denying forces you to miss your own drops or take heavy damage, skip the deny.
Priority B: Deny when you are already in position.
If you’re already safely in the area, denies are “free value.” If you have to sprint into danger, it’s not free.
Priority C: Deny the important moments.
Not every deny matters equally. Deny when:
- Your opponent is low and one deny forces them to back.
- You just won a trade and denying compounds the lead.
- The wave is near your safe territory (your structure side), so the risk is low.
Avoid the classic deny trap:
Players fixate on winning the deny mini-game and forget that the real game is Souls per minute. You can out-farm a “deny god” simply by never missing waves and shopping on time.
Wave Management That Prints Souls (Push, Hold, Bounce)
You don’t need advanced MOBA theory to win lanes in Deadlock. You need three simple wave modes and when to use them:
1) Hold (safe farm mode)
You keep the wave closer to your side so you can collect drops with less risk.
- Best when you’re weaker, low on health, or worried about ganks.
- Best when you want to farm consistently and avoid chaos.
2) Push (pressure mode)
You clear quickly and shove the wave into enemy space.
- Best when you want to rotate after the wave.
- Best when you want to hit a structure with Troopers tanking.
- Best when you want to force the enemy to show on the map.
3) Bounce (the smart reset)
You push the wave so it meets enemy structure pressure, then it naturally returns toward you later.
- Best when you want a future “safe farm window.”
- Best when you want to leave lane briefly but not lose control.
Beginner rule that avoids most farming mistakes:
Before you rotate, push first (or at least stabilize the wave).
If you rotate while the wave is crashing into your structure, you’re paying a huge “farm tax.”
The 30–40 Second Farming Cycle (Lane → Quick Extra → Lane)
Fast farming in Deadlock is usually a loop, not a random sprint.
Your default loop:
- Clear the lane wave.
- Collect the drops safely.
- Use the short downtime for one quick extra action:
- a nearby small/medium camp
- a short breakables line you already pass through
- a safe shop path / reposition
- Return to lane before the next wave.
Why this works:
- You never miss the best income source (Troopers).
- You still squeeze in secondary income consistently.
- You’re always near lanes, which also means you’re near objectives and fights when they matter.
Why most players fall behind:
They do the opposite:
- They roam first, then try to find farm later.
- They jungle deep, then arrive late to a wave that already died.
- They fight in mid while waves die for free.
If you want a simple farm boost immediately:
Stop wandering. Start cycling.
When Jungling Helps (and When It Secretly Loses You the Game)
Jungle camps are valuable, especially after changes that increased neutral bounty and adjusted respawn times for some camps. But jungling is still usually filler income compared to clean lane farming.
Jungle is good when:
- Your lane is pushed far enough that you can’t safely step up to farm.
- Your wave is already handled and you have time before the next one.
- You are rotating between lanes and need income while traveling.
- Your team is grouping for an objective and you need quick Souls nearby without abandoning the plan.
Jungle is bad when:
- You miss a wave to take a camp.
- You take a slow camp that drains your health and forces a reset.
- You jungle on the wrong side of the map and can’t join objectives.
- You jungle while your structure is being pressured and nobody is clearing.
The biggest jungling mistake in Deadlock:
Using jungle as your “main job” when lanes are available.
If you want to farm fast, lanes are the foundation. Jungle is the seasoning.
Neutral Camp Efficiency: Faster Clears, Less Time Wasted
If you’re going to jungle between waves, you need to do it efficiently so you don’t lose lane tempo.
Pick camps you can clear quickly and safely.
As a beginner, prioritize:
- camps you can clear without dropping to dangerous HP
- camps you can clear without spending every cooldown
- camps that sit directly on your route back to lane
Don’t overcommit your cooldowns right before a fight.
If an objective is about to be contested, keep at least one important defensive/mobility tool available. “I got 200 extra Souls” is not worth “I died because my escape was on cooldown.”
Respect camp respawn logic.
If small camps respawn faster than they used to, that rewards consistent cycling. It does not reward deep wandering. The best junglers are the ones who take camps that fit the wave cycle.
Breakables and Golden Statues: Extra Income Without Missing Waves
Breakables are a classic trap for new players because they feel rewarding in the moment. You smash things, number goes up, dopamine hits—then you realize you missed two Trooper waves and lost your lane structure.
Use breakables correctly:
Breakables are best when they’re “on the way.”
- Take crates and breakables that are directly along your rotation route.
- Don’t detour far from lanes.
- Don’t prioritize breakables over a wave.
Know the spawn rhythm.
Breakables spawning earlier in the match and respawning on a schedule means they reward players who take consistent routes—not players who randomly hunt them.
Golden statues are value, but not at any price.
Permanent buffs are strong, but not if getting them costs:
- a full wave
- a rotation to a major objective
- your life (and a dropped pile of Unsecured Souls)
A great beginner habit:
Create a “breakables lane route” that takes 5–10 seconds while moving back to lane. If it takes longer, it’s usually not worth it unless the map is completely quiet.
Unsecured Souls: How to Farm Them Without Donating Them
Unsecured Souls are one of the biggest reasons players feel like they’re farming but still not getting ahead. Certain sources (especially jungle/breakables-type income) can add Souls that are riskier because they can be dropped on death and are claimed over time rather than instantly “locking in” as safe value.
Modern patches also changed how the Unsecured Soul claim period works (the drain rate and the time it takes for different camp bundles to fully convert). The practical takeaway for you is simple:
If you are stacking Unsecured Souls, dying is extra expensive.
So you need to change how you play when you have a big Unsecured stack:
- Avoid coin-flip fights.
- Don’t face-check fog.
- Don’t be first into an objective area.
- Play one level more defensive than your ego wants.
The best way to “protect” Unsecured farming:
Tie it to safe wave cycles and safe map positions.
When you farm camps and breakables, do it:
- near lanes you can retreat into
- near teammates if enemies are missing
- after you’ve already secured wave income
A simple Unsecured safety rule:
If multiple enemies are missing and you’re holding a big stack of risky Souls, do not be the hero. Farm safely, clear the next wave, and let the map reveal where the enemy actually is.
Farming Through Objectives: The Souls That Also Win the Match
A lot of players separate “farming” and “playing to win.” In Deadlock, the best farming often comes from doing objectives because objectives do two things at once:
- They give a team Soul payout.
- They give map control that makes future farming safer and faster.
Structures and lane objectives are farming tools.
When you take Guardians/Walkers and other lane progress objectives, you often:
- unlock safer lanes to farm
- force the enemy to respond to pushed waves
- create windows to jungle and break breakables safely
- reduce the risk of being collapsed on while split-farming
The best conversion in the game:
Win a fight → take a lane objective → then farm the enemy side safely while they respawn.
If you want to “farm fast without falling behind,” stop taking fights that don’t become objectives. Those fights waste time and create no permanent advantage.
Soul Urn Timing: Teamwide Souls Without Losing Your Lanes
The Soul Urn is a timed objective that can reward your whole team. In 2026, it’s still one of the most misunderstood economy tools because teams either:
- ignore it completely, or
- throw their entire game trying to run it at the worst possible time
Here’s how to run Urn in a way that increases Souls per minute instead of decreasing it:
1) Urn is a wave-timed objective.
Before you pick it up, do at least one of these:
- shove a wave so it won’t punish you immediately
- stabilize your lane so your structure won’t take free damage
- make sure another teammate is covering the wave you’re leaving
2) Assign roles: runner + escorts + wave cover.
Running Urn is not a solo mission if the enemy is alive and organized.
- One player runs.
- One or two players escort and control angles.
- At least one player keeps lanes from collapsing.
3) Don’t run Urn during a farm crisis.
If you’re already behind because lanes are pushed into you, running Urn while losing waves usually makes you fall further behind.
A simple Urn decision test:
If picking up Urn will make you miss more than one full wave (yours or your team’s) with no objective trade, don’t do it yet.
Late Game Farming: Why You Suddenly Feel Poor Again
Late game Deadlock can feel like your farm “stops working” because:
- waves become harder to clear (Troopers get tougher over time in some patches)
- fights happen constantly
- death timers punish mistakes harder
- you spend more time grouping, which reduces solo farm
To keep farming late game without falling behind:
1) Prioritize fast wave clear.
If waves get tankier late, you need:
- better positioning so you can clear without dying
- items and upgrades that let you clear quickly
- teammates to cover lanes when you can’t
2) Split intelligently, not greedily.
Split-farming is powerful if:
- you can escape
- you have vision/map info
- your team isn’t about to take a major objective fight
Split-farming is griefing if:
- mid boss or a big objective fight is about to happen
- you can’t join in time
- enemies are missing and you have no safe exit plan
3) Farm “toward” your team.
The best late-game farmers clear a side wave and end up closer to where their team wants to fight next, not on the opposite side of the map.
Role-Based Farming Plans (So You Don’t Accidentally Starve Your Team)
Fast farming is also about not competing with teammates for the same income.
Gun carry / primary DPS
- Your job is high, consistent Souls per minute.
- Avoid sharing lane income with too many allies—stacking reduces per-person payout.
- Take the safest lane waves, then join objective fights that matter.
- If your team is fighting nonstop, you must still catch waves or you’ll be a weak carry in 15 minutes.
Spirit carry
- Farm to hit ability breakpoints, then pressure objectives.
- Don’t spend all your time jungling; waves still pay best.
- Rotate when your wave is pushed and your cooldowns are ready to create a fight win.
Initiator / frontliner
- You don’t need to be top Souls, but you must not be broke.
- Farm waves when nothing is happening; otherwise, prioritize creating objective wins.
- Your best “farm” is often: win a fight → take an objective → collect safe lane waves during enemy respawns.
Assassin / roamer
- The biggest assassin farm mistake is permanent roaming poverty.
- You need a loop: clear wave → look for pick → return to wave.
- Picks are great, but missed waves will make your burst irrelevant later.
Support
- Take “unclaimed” farm (waves nobody can reach, safe camps while rotating).
- Help your carry farm safely and prevent them from being forced out of lane.
- Your item timing matters—steady income is better than random spikes.
Teamwide rule:
If three or more allies are standing in one lane for long periods, someone is probably losing farm. Spread out, cover waves, and regroup only for real objectives.
Comeback Farming When You’re Behind (The Safe Catch-Up Method)
If you’re behind, the worst thing you can do is sprint into constant fights and hope you “out-aim” the enemy economy. You’ll just die, lose waves, and fall further behind.
Instead, use this comeback sequence:
1) Stabilize lanes first.
Clear waves safely near your side. Don’t chase into enemy space.
2) Catch the safest waves on the map.
Behind teams win by collecting guaranteed income while the ahead team wastes time hunting.
3) Trade objectives, not pride.
If the enemy groups for something, take what you can elsewhere:
- clear two waves and damage a structure
- secure a safe objective
- take nearby camps and reset safely
4) Only fight when you have a reason.
Fight when:
- you have numbers
- you have an objective payoff
- you can win quickly and convert
This is how you “farm without falling behind” even when the match is going badly: you protect your income stream and punish enemy over-commitments.
Practical Rules (Copy This Mental Checklist In-Game)
- A wave is worth more than most side actions. Don’t miss full waves.
- Always path so you end up catching a wave. Lane → quick extra → lane.
- Secure your own income first, then deny when it’s safe.
- Don’t take heavy damage for one deny. Health is farming time.
- Push or stabilize the wave before you rotate.
- Jungle only if it doesn’t cost a wave. Jungle is filler, not the foundation.
- Breakables are “on the way” value only. Don’t detour far.
- If you’re holding lots of risky Souls, play safer. Dying is extra expensive.
- Win a fight = take an objective. Objectives are farming multipliers.
- Late game: farm toward your team, not away from it.
- If too many allies are in one lane, you’re all getting poorer. Spread waves.
- If you’re unsure what to do, clear the nearest safe wave. It’s almost never wrong.
BoostRoom: The Fastest Way to Fix Farming Mistakes
If you want to improve fast, the biggest farming gains usually come from fixing small, repeated mistakes—missing specific waves, rotating at the wrong times, taking a camp at the worst moment, or fighting while holding risky Souls. BoostRoom helps you turn “I think I’m farming” into “my Souls per minute is consistently higher.”
What BoostRoom-focused improvement typically targets:
- Wave discipline: identifying exactly which rotations make you miss waves and replacing them with a consistent cycle.
- Lane positioning: how to secure income with less damage taken (so you don’t get forced out).
- Route planning: building a simple lane → camp/breakables → lane loop that fits your hero.
- Objective conversion: turning fight wins into structures so your future farming becomes safer.
- Role-based farming: knowing when you should take farm and when you should create space for a carry.
The result: more consistent item timing, fewer “random behind” games, and better wins even when matches are chaotic.
FAQ
What is the fastest way to farm Souls in Deadlock?
Catching lane waves consistently. Troopers are the most reliable income source, and the best “secret” is simply missing fewer waves than your opponent.
Should I focus on denying or securing?
Secure first. Denies are great when they’re safe and don’t cost you health or wave income, but your own consistent Souls per minute matters more.
When should I jungle?
Jungle between waves or when the lane is unsafe to step up. Don’t jungle if it makes you miss a full wave or costs your structure.
Are breakables worth it?
Yes—when they’re on your route. No—when you detour far, lose wave timing, or get caught and die for them.
How do I farm without falling behind during constant fights?
Clear the nearest wave first, then rotate. If your team is fighting nonstop with no objectives, you’re allowed to farm—just be ready to join real objective fights.
Why do I feel like I farmed a lot but still lost my lead?
Common reasons: missed waves while roaming, died while holding risky Souls, stacked too many teammates in one lane (bad splits), or took fights that didn’t become objectives.
What should I do when I’m behind in Souls?
Stop taking coin-flip fights. Stabilize lanes, collect safe waves, and look for objective trades or picks with a clear payoff.
