What the Soul Urn Is and Why It Changes Games

The Soul Urn (often called the Spirit Urn) is a timed side objective that gives your team a big burst of Souls and additional long-term value. It is designed to do three things at once:

• Create a midgame “event” that forces both teams to rotate and fight with purpose.
• Offer a comeback lever so the team that’s behind can still find a high-impact objective that isn’t just “win a straight 6v6.”
• Convert map control into economy—the team that controls lanes, routes, and entrances can turn that control into a big payout.

The Urn is not just “extra farm.” It’s a macro lever. The moment it spawns, it asks a question:

• Do we have the lane state and bodies to run it safely?
• Should we contest it, trade it, or ignore it and take something more permanent (like a Walker)?
• If the enemy runs it, what is our best counter: intercept, camp delivery, or cross-map trade?

If your team answers those questions correctly more often than the enemy, your win rate rises even if your aim stays the same.

Urn Spawn Rules and What to Watch on the Map

The Urn appears after the early game and then repeats regularly. In most matches, you’ll see it become available around the 10-minute mark and then return on a repeating schedule (commonly on five-minute cycles). The exact timing can be confirmed in-game because the objective is announced and marked.

Two important details newer players miss:

• The Urn isn’t always instantly interactable the moment it “spawns.” It can appear and settle before pickup is possible.
• It spawns at one of two side locations and tends to alternate sides across spawns. You don’t need to memorize “colors” or lane names. You need to watch the map ping and plan your rotation early.

Your practical habit:

When Urn time is approaching, start fixing your lane one wave earlier than you think.

The teams that show up late are the teams that either lose the Urn or win it but lose two waves and a Guardian while doing it.

How the Urn Works: Carry Rules, Drops, and Why It’s Risky

The Urn has strict courier rules that turn the carrier into a moving objective rather than a fighter.

While carrying the Urn, the courier is typically:

• Disarmed (can’t use weapon fire)
• Restricted (can’t cast abilities and can’t use most active items)
• Limited in travel options (ziplines and teleport/portal-style travel are commonly restricted, and some portal interactions force the Urn to drop)
• Compensated with speed (the courier usually gets a movement speed boost, and the behind team often gets extra help)

This creates the main Urn tension:

• You gain huge value if you deliver.
• You become a vulnerable “walking jackpot” while carrying.

Carrying doesn’t mean helpless

Even while disarmed, the courier still has universal movement tools. That means a good courier is not “slow and doomed.” A good courier is a movement player who:

• uses cover
• preserves stamina
• chooses routes with safe exits
• stays close enough to escorts to avoid being isolated

The “drop” interaction is the core counterplay

A big part of stopping Urn is forcing the courier to drop it. In modern Deadlock, it’s not just heavy melee that matters—light melee interactions can also knock it loose, and melee hits can disrupt the pickup process.

That changes both sides of the objective:

• Runners must protect the pickup moment and avoid being touched.
• Defenders can focus on “tagging” the courier to force drops rather than trying to win a full DPS race.

Pickup is a channel, delivery may not be

Pickup commonly requires a short channel/hold. In modern updates, the drop-off process is often faster and may not require the same “stand still and channel” vulnerability it used to. That shifts the defense: you can’t rely on last-second interruption as your only plan. You must slow, intercept, or kill earlier.

Timer pressure prevents “holding forever”

The Urn is not meant to be held indefinitely. If the courier tries to stall too long, the game applies pressure (such as health drain) to force action. This prevents a team from “parking” the Urn to deny it from everyone.

The courier is not invincible

Urn carriers have had their durability tuning adjusted over time (including changes to carry resistance). You should assume the courier is killable—especially if isolated—and plan accordingly.

Rewards: What You Get and Why Urn Is Worth Fighting For

Urn rewards scale with game time and are shown on the Urn itself as a value. This is critical: you don’t have to guess whether it’s worth it—the reward is literally displayed.

What you usually get from a successful turn-in:

• A large teamwide Souls payout (a major macro swing, not just “a little extra”)
• A bonus share for the courier (often extra Souls compared to teammates)
• Additional long-term value tied to the courier (this has changed across patches—sometimes an ability progression reward, and in later updates it may be converted into multiple permanent buffs for the deliverer)

Also important: the Urn can function as a comeback mechanic. If your team is behind, you may receive:

• a safer delivery location (closer to your side)
• a courier speed advantage
• bonus Souls beyond the base value

What this means in practice:

• If you’re ahead, Urn can still be correct—but it might be riskier because delivery could be deeper and defenders can collapse.
• If you’re behind, Urn becomes a powerful “get back in the game” objective that you should actively look for when lanes are stabilized.

When to Take the Urn: The Decision Framework That Prevents Throws

Most Urn throws come from taking it at the wrong time, not from “bad fighting.” Use this framework.

Take Urn when you can answer “yes” to at least 3 of these

• Our nearest lane wave is pushed or stabilized (we won’t lose a structure for free).
• We have at least 2–3 players available to move now (runner + escorts).
• We can see enough enemies on the map to predict the collapse route.
• We have shop timing handled (we’re not starting Urn with half the team sitting on unspent Souls).
• We have a route plan (we know which streets/bridges/angles we will use).
• We have stamina and key cooldowns ready for the fight that Urn will cause.

Do NOT take Urn when any of these are true

• Your lane is crashing into your Guardian/Walker and nobody is covering it.
• Your team is split shopping/respawning and you will be alone for 10–20 seconds.
• The enemy has strong pick tools and you have no escort/control to protect the courier.
• You’re about to win the game with a base push (don’t remove your own DPS from the end attempt).
• You’re holding a fragile lead and your team tends to chase—Urn is a discipline test.

The simplest “green light” rule

If taking Urn will cost you more than one full wave in a key lane with no objective trade, it’s probably wrong.

Urn value is huge, but it’s not infinite. Missing multiple waves plus donating a courier kill is how you turn Urn into negative value.

Urn Preparation: The 60-Second Setup That Makes Delivery Easy

The best Urn runs look “free” because the team did work before pickup.

Step 1: Fix lanes first (always)

Your team should do one of these before committing:

• shove a wave so it hits enemy structures and forces a response, or
• stabilize your wave so it won’t punish your base, or
• assign one player to cover the lane you’re leaving

This matters because Urn pulls bodies. If you leave three lanes unattended, you’ll pay for it.

Step 2: Spend your Souls

Urn is often the moment where teams fight hard and then forget to convert. If you’re sitting on a big wallet, you’re weaker than you should be.

Your rule:

If you can complete a meaningful purchase now, shop before Urn unless the enemy will take it uncontested.

Step 3: Grab “free” power before the event

If a power-up is on the route and doesn’t cost you a wave, take it. Urn fights are often decided by small stat edges:

• movement edge to intercept
• survivability edge to live through the collapse
• damage edge to win the escort fight quickly

Step 4: Assign roles (even if you don’t use voice)

Urn becomes simple when everyone knows their job:

• Runner (courier): carries, survives, uses cover, avoids being touched.
• Front escort: goes first, checks corners, blocks melee attempts.
• Back escort: stays close enough to protect but not stacked; watches flanks.
• Wave cover (optional): keeps lanes from collapsing during the run.
• Scout/pick player (optional): looks for isolated defenders and prevents regroup.

If nobody is assigned, the “escort” becomes five people half-following and one courier dying alone.

Who Should Carry the Urn: Picking the Right Runner

A great runner has three traits:

• Movement reliability: strong stamina usage, slide/dash comfort, good pathing.
• Survivability: not easily deleted if caught for two seconds.
• Low opportunity cost: your team doesn’t lose its main damage engine while the courier is disarmed.

Good runner profiles

• Tanks/frontliners who can survive contact and have good baseline movement.
• Mobile heroes who can still use universal movement cleanly and don’t rely on “active items to live.”
• Players who are already behind on damage responsibility (for example, your support-style hero can carry while your DPS keeps pressure).

Risky runner profiles

• Your top damage carry in a moment where you need them to threaten fights.
• A hero with low stamina who cannot escape once tagged.
• A player who is likely to panic and double-dash into open space and get meleed.

Runner mindset that wins

Your job is not to “make a play.” Your job is to arrive alive.

If you get tempted into duels, you will drop the Urn and lose tempo.

How to Pick Up the Urn Safely (The Channel Moment That Gets People Killed)

Pickup is one of the most punishable moments because you’re predictable: you are standing in a known spot doing a known action.

The safe pickup checklist

• Push or clear the nearby wave first (so you’re not being shot while channeling).
• Put at least one teammate on the “melee denial” angle (the path defenders use to tag you).
• Don’t start pickup if enemies are missing and close enough to collapse instantly.
• Use cover and bodies: escorts should stand so the courier isn’t the easiest target to touch.

Understand the melee disruption risk

Modern rules often include:

• the pickup channel can be disrupted/reset by melee hits, and
• you can’t rely on parry while channeling pickup to save the attempt.

That means the enemy doesn’t need to “win a fight.” They just need to touch you at the right moment. Your escorts must treat pickup like a mini-teamfight: deny melee access first, then pick up.

If pickup feels risky, flip the plan

Instead of forcing it:

• fake presence, clear wave, wait for enemies to show, then pick up
• or let the enemy start and punish them when they approach predictably
• Urn is valuable, but the goal is value without donation.

How to Deliver the Urn: Routes, Escorts, and the Last 10 Seconds

Delivery is where runs succeed or fail. The most important concept is: you are not racing in a straight line—you are navigating threats.

Route planning: choose “safe distance,” not “shortest distance”

The shortest route often goes through open streets, predictable bridges, and choke points. A safer route:

• keeps cover available
• offers multiple turns (harder to track)
• stays near teammates or near a lane your team controls
• avoids portal/teleporter interactions that can force drops

If you don’t know routes yet, use this simple rule:

Run through territory where your team’s wave is pushed, because pushed waves imply safer space.

Escort positioning: don’t stack, don’t split

Stacking too tightly means you all get hit by the same control, and one defender tagging the courier can create chaos. Splitting too wide means the courier becomes isolated.

A strong escort shape looks like:

• one player slightly ahead clearing and checking corners
• courier in the middle, hugging cover
• one player slightly behind watching the flank cut-off

The last 10 seconds are not “free”

In many modern versions, drop-off is faster and doesn’t require the same long channel. That means the defending team’s best chance is often before the courier reaches the zone, not after.

As the runner, your last 10 seconds should be:

• slow down slightly (yes, slow down) to stay behind cover
• wait for escorts to clear the final approach
• avoid open-line sprints that invite a melee tag
• be ready to drop intentionally if you get collapsed and your team can fight for it

Delivery zone discipline

If you arrive and a fight is happening:

• the courier should not be first into open space
• escorts should take the first contact so the courier isn’t tagged
• if you get tagged and drop, treat it like a “payload fight” and secure the area before re-picking

After You Deliver: Securing the Payout and Converting to Win Conditions

Many teams “win Urn” and then still lose the next two minutes because they don’t convert.

Step 1: Secure the Souls that pop out

Urn rewards can include Souls that appear as orbs, which can be denied if you don’t secure them quickly. Don’t admire the animation—secure the value.

A simple rule:

After delivery, spend 3–5 seconds as a team to confirm the Souls.

Step 2: Immediate shop timing

Urn is a big injection. If you don’t spend it, you are delaying your power spike.

Best practice:

• reset and shop quickly
• return to the map with items
• use that timing window to take the next objective (usually a Walker)

Step 3: Convert to Walkers, not wandering

Urn is strongest when it becomes:

• Urn → item spike → win fight → Walker
• or
• Urn → item spike → safe siege → Walker
• If your team Urns and then runs into random mid brawls, you’re wasting the objective’s whole purpose.

When You’re Ahead: Should You Still Run Urn?

Yes—sometimes. But you must be more selective.

When you’re ahead, Urn can be correct if:

• your lanes are already pushed
• you can run with strong escort control
• you can use the payout to end the game faster (Walkers → Shrines → Patron)
• the Urn delivery location isn’t absurdly deep into enemy-controlled space

When you’re ahead, Urn is often wrong if:

• you can already take a Walker safely right now
• you’re one clean fight away from base
• running Urn would remove your main DPS from the push window
• your team is undisciplined and likely to throw chasing

A good “ahead-team” mindset:

Don’t take Urn because it exists—take Urn because it shortens the game.

When You’re Behind: How Urn Becomes Your Best Comeback Tool

When behind, Urn is often one of the cleanest ways to recover—if you do it correctly.

Why it helps behind teams:

• delivery may be closer or safer
• the courier may receive extra speed support
• the Souls injection can catch your team up to critical defensive items
• it forces the enemy to rotate and stop farming comfortably

Your behind-team plan:

• stabilize lanes first (don’t run Urn while losing structures for free)
• pick a tankier courier or a very movement-confident courier
• escort tightly and avoid open fights until you can secure delivery value
• immediately convert Urn into defensive itemization and wave control

The biggest behind-team mistake:

Running Urn as a desperate solo mission. Desperation creates predictable routes and isolated deaths.

How to Stop the Enemy Urn: The Three Defense Plans

Stopping Urn is easier when you choose the right plan early instead of half-doing everything.

Plan A: Intercept (best when you can arrive early)

Intercepting is about cutting the courier off before they reach the final approach.

How to intercept correctly:

• watch minimap and objective announcements
• rotate early to the likely route rather than chasing behind
• take high-cover angles where you can tag the courier with melee or control
• focus on forcing a drop, not on killing everyone

Intercept is strongest when you have:

• fast rotators
• crowd control
• melee access heroes who can reliably touch the courier

Plan B: Camp delivery (best when you’re late but organized)

If you can’t intercept, defending the delivery zone is often better than chasing.

How to camp delivery correctly:

• arrive early and hold angles
• deny the final cover path so courier must enter open space
• save your “touch” tool (melee, pull, stun) for the moment the courier steps in
• remember: if drop-off is fast, you must tag earlier—not at the last frame

Camp delivery is strongest when:

• the courier must approach through predictable choke points
• your team can hold space with a frontline
• you can burst escorts who step forward too far

Plan C: Trade cross-map (best when contest is losing)

Sometimes stopping Urn costs too much. If your team is split or late, trade instead.

Good trades:

• take a Walker while they run Urn
• take a Guardian and shove waves to force defense
• take power-ups and camps while setting up a better next fight
• prepare a mid boss setup if their team over-rotates for Urn

Trade rule:

If you cannot realistically stop the delivery, don’t feed trying. Take permanent progress elsewhere.

The “Touch” Mechanics: How Defenders Force Drops

Modern Urn defense is largely about “touching” the courier at the right moment.

Key principles:

• Light melee interactions can be enough to knock the Urn loose.
• Heavy melee is still a major threat if you can land it cleanly.
• Melee hits can disrupt pickup attempts, resetting the channel.

How to weaponize this:

• approach from cover and prioritize contact over damage
• don’t stand at range trying to “beam” a courier through escorts
• coordinate: one player tags to drop, another controls the pickup zone so the courier can’t instantly re-grab

The simplest defender win sequence:

Tag courier → Urn drops → control the Urn → win the fight around it or force it to reset.

Common Urn Mistakes (And the Fix That Actually Works)

Mistake: Taking Urn while your lanes are collapsing

Fix: push or stabilize one wave first. Urn is not worth losing a Walker for free.

Mistake: Solo Urn runs

Fix: minimum two escorts. If you can’t get two, it’s probably a trade situation.

Mistake: Courier is your best DPS

Fix: let a tank/support or movement-confident flex hero run it; keep DPS ready to fight.

Mistake: Starting pickup while enemies are missing

Fix: wait 10 seconds, clear wave, confirm enemy positions, then pick up.

Mistake: Escorts chase fights and abandon the courier

Fix: escort job is not “get kills.” Escort job is “make the courier untouchable.”

Mistake: Winning Urn then doing nothing

Fix: secure payout → shop → take Walker. Make it automatic.

Mistake: Defenders chase behind the courier

Fix: rotate ahead and cut route, or camp delivery. Chasing behind is the lowest-value defense.

Urn Strategy by Role: What Each Hero Type Should Do

Gun carry / main DPS

• Don’t run the Urn unless your team can end fights without your damage.
• Farm the nearest safe wave, then rotate to the Urn fight early with full ammo and items.
• Your job is to delete defenders and secure the payout, then convert to Walkers.

Spirit carry

• Control space and choke points on the route.
• Save key cooldowns for the intercept or the delivery defense.
• Burst the defender who threatens melee contact on your courier.

Initiator

• You are the intercept king. Your job is to start the fight on defenders before they touch the courier.
• If defending against enemy Urn, you are often the one who tags courier first.

Frontliner

• Stand between courier and the “touch” threat.
• Hold the final approach space so your courier can walk in safely.
• If defending, your job is to be the wall at delivery: force the courier to enter danger zones.

Assassin / roamer

• Look for picks on escorts and late rotators.
• Don’t get baited into deep solo chases while Urn is being carried—your value is in creating numbers advantage around the objective.

Support

• Keep courier alive and keep escorts healthy enough to hold space.
• Use saves on the courier when they’re about to be tagged.
• Control the pickup zone if the Urn drops so your team wins the “re-grab” moment.

Practical Rules (The Urn Checklist You Can Follow Every Game)

• Fix lanes one wave early before Urn.
• Don’t start Urn while your team is shopping or respawning.
• Assign roles: courier + escorts + wave cover.
• Protect the pickup channel; deny melee access.
• Choose a safe route with cover, not the shortest straight line.
• Arrive at delivery with escorts first, courier second.
• After delivery: secure Souls → shop → take Walker.
• Defending: rotate ahead, don’t chase behind.
• Defending: tag courier to force drops; fight around the Urn, not far away.
• If you can’t stop it safely, trade cross-map for permanent objectives.

BoostRoom: Win More Urns and Convert Them Into Real Wins

Urn is one of the fastest ways to swing a match, but it’s also one of the easiest places to throw—because it punishes poor lane prep, poor timing, and poor role discipline. BoostRoom helps players turn Urn from “coin flip chaos” into a repeatable win condition.

What BoostRoom-style improvement focuses on for Urn:

• Route planning for your hero pool: the safest paths and the best cover chains you can repeat every match
• Role clarity: who runs, who escorts, who scouts, who covers waves
• Timing discipline: when to take Urn vs when to take Walkers instead
• Execution fixes: protecting pickup, avoiding last-second tags, securing payout Souls instantly
• Defense coaching: how to intercept early, how to camp delivery correctly, and when to trade instead of feeding

The goal is simple: more successful turn-ins, fewer donated courier deaths, and cleaner conversions into Walkers, Shrines, and the Patron.

FAQ

What time does the Urn spawn?

It typically appears around the 10-minute mark and then returns on a repeating schedule. Always confirm by the in-game objective announcement and map marker.

Does the courier still have movement options while carrying?

Yes, the courier is usually disarmed and ability-restricted, but can still use universal movement like jumping and sliding. Travel tools like ziplines/teleport-style movement are commonly

restricted.

How do we choose who should carry the Urn?

Pick someone who can survive contact, has reliable movement discipline, and isn’t your only source of damage for the next fight.

What’s the safest way to run Urn in solo queue?

Push your wave first, ping for at least two escorts, choose a cover-heavy route, and slow down at the final approach so you don’t get tagged in open space.

Why do we keep “winning Urn” but still losing the game?

Because you’re not converting. The conversion is: secure payout Souls → shop → take a Walker. If you skip that, Urn becomes temporary value.

How do I stop the enemy Urn if my team is late?

Don’t chase behind. Either rotate ahead to intercept a choke point, camp the delivery zone, or trade cross-map for a Walker/Guardian if stopping is unrealistic.

What’s the best single action to stop a courier?

Force a drop by tagging the courier with melee/control at the right moment, then control the Urn so they can’t re-grab instantly.

Should we ever ignore Urn completely?

Yes. If your team can win with a base push, or if contesting Urn would cost you multiple waves and a permanent objective, it’s often better to prioritize Walkers and lane progress.