Deadlock Rat King Hero 100 Voice Lines Valve Update [2026 Update]

As originally reported by PC Gamer, Valve's hero shooter-MOBA hybrid Deadlock received a massive update this week that overhauled the game's map environment and introduced six new playable classes. Among them, Rat King—a hulking humanoid rodent tank—stands out for both his origin story and sheer vocal personality. Originally conceived as a fan concept before Valve adopted him into the official roster, Rat King shipped with 1,534 individual voice lines, a count comparable to most existing Deadlock heroes. What distinguishes him is that 126 of those lines are exclusively tied to a single ability, Rat Swarm, in which he flings rodents from beneath his cape to deal spirit damage over time. The volume of contextual dialogue reflects Valve's broader philosophy of investing in character depth to drive player attachment—a design ethos that has historically powered the studio's most successful economies, from Dota 2 to Counter-Strike. This level of creative investment in hero personality mirrors trends seen across the industry, where to elevate player engagement beyond raw mechanics.