On October 30 Valve shipped Halloween 2026 + Gameplay Update. It is a short seasonal event and a big gameplay patch at once: Manhattan and the Hideout got Halloween decor, the Mid‑Boss arena was rebuilt, and heroes and items took a wide pass. The official post is on Steam News.

Cauldrons and candy until November 2

Halloween Cauldrons showed up on Manhattan streets. Smash them with a heavy melee hit and a candy drops. Eat it later for a temporary Sugar Rush buff, Valve says. Hideout decorations, pumpkins and hero masks are part of the event too. The in‑game festival runs until November 2, 2026.

Valve's patch notes do not spell out Sugar Rush stats in numbers.

Mid‑Boss: more HP, less bounty, three crystals

The biggest map change sits around the boss:

  • The arena is a bit larger and has cover.
  • Mid‑Boss health is +20%, and HP per minute is also +20%.
  • Resistance reductions only work at 50% against him.
  • The roar now triggers at 25% HP, not 50%.
  • Bounty fell from 3000 (+50/min) to 1500 (+25/min).
  • Instead of one Rejuvenator in the center, three crystals drop around the pit.
  • Each crystal breaks with one heavy melee and gives the team one Rejuvenator (still three total).
  • Full heal now lands on every crystal, not only the first smash.
  • Breaking a crystal pays a bounty of 500 (+9/min).
  • Crystals spawn after 7.5 s instead of 6 s.

Baba's heavy stomp on the area now hits only the nearest crystal in range, not all of them at once.

Six "new" heroes can be banned

The six City Never Sleeps heroes are no longer marked as "new". Ranked uses normal unlock rules for them, and they can be banned. That set is Rat King, Baba, Solomon, Deadman Danny, Violet and Nurse Harrow.

Hero and item balance

The patch is long. Valve touched almost the whole roster and a big set of items. Clear notes from the official post include:

  • Rat King: gun damage and damage growth cut, Scrap Grenade weaker, ultimate knock‑up shorter and cooldown 160 → 180 s.
  • Solomon: base bullet damage 30 → 25, −20% headshot damage, Rook Battery weaker on scale, Develop Queen 210 → 240 s.
  • Graves: move speed 7 → 6.7, Grasping Hands take longer to place and are easier to jump over.
  • Nurse Harrow: base gun damage −10%, Healing Needles weaker, Lurking Terrors fear charge 1.3 → 2 s, T3 is no longer full immunity but −50% incoming damage during the cast.
  • Violet, Baba, Mirage and Yamato also took notable hits; Warden, Kelvin, Apollo and several others got buffs instead.

On items, among other changes: High‑Velocity Rounds 60% → 45% bullet speed, Radiant Regeneration only heals from casts in combat and heals less, Healbane now stacks from multiple sources with diminishing returns.

It is too early to call the win‑rate fallout. Fresh hero numbers live on the Deadlock tier list; the picture before this patch is in Deadlock hero win rates after the October 14 patch. The Deadlock characters list helps when you rebuild your picks.

Hideout wardrobe teaser (not official)

Separate from the patch notes: TheGamer says players found something upstairs in the Hideout that looks like a teaser for a future Wardrobe with paid skins (Tyler_McV flagged it on X). That is a community read. Valve did not announce a wardrobe in the Halloween patch post.