Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens start being earned once the first City Never Sleeps hero releases on October 2. Playing matches fills the token system, and an available token can be dragged onto a new hero’s card to give you the highest chance of being assigned that specific hero when matchmaking builds the lobby.
The most useful rule for Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens is that a token is only spent when you are actually given the hero you marked. It is a priority system rather than a guaranteed character reservation, so you can still be assigned someone else when demand for the new hero is extremely high.
How to get Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens
You earn Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens by playing matches after the first City Never Sleeps hero joins the pool. Valve’s current interface text does not describe a shop purchase or soul cost for the token system.
The earning rate increases as more new heroes are released into the matchmaking pool. That means tokens become easier to build later in the six-hero rollout, when several new characters are competing for player interest.
How to use a Hero Priority Token
When you have one of the Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens available, open the hero selection interface and drag the token onto the hero card you want to prioritize. The interface describes this as giving you the highest chance of receiving that hero.
Do this before matchmaking finalizes hero assignments. A token sitting unused in your balance does not automatically attach itself to the newest hero.
Does a Priority Token guarantee the hero?
No. Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens improve assignment priority but do not promise that every token holder can receive the same new hero in one match.
That limitation is necessary because only one copy of a hero can normally occupy a team assignment. If many players prioritize the same release, matchmaking still has to distribute other heroes.
When is the token consumed?
An important Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens rule in the current interface is that your token is only spent if you are given the hero you marked.
If matchmaking assigns you a different hero, the token should remain available rather than disappearing simply because you attempted to prioritize someone. This is worth checking on the live token counter after each match, especially during the first high-demand release.
How fast do Priority Tokens earn?
Valve does not publish a simple fixed “one token every X matches” line for Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens on the City Never Sleeps page. The current interface instead says the earning rate increases as more new heroes enter the matchmaking pool.
That makes a static match-count table unreliable across the whole October rollout. A rate observed on October 2 may not be the same once the second, third or fourth hero is available.
Which heroes can use Priority Tokens?
Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens are designed around the newly released City Never Sleeps heroes. The six rollout characters are Nurse Harrow, Rat King, Solomon, Deadman Danny, Baba and Violet.
You do not need to spend the token on the first release immediately. If another upcoming hero matters more to you, keeping a token available can be more useful than burning it simply because the system just unlocked.
Priority Tokens and the voting system
Voting and Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens solve different problems. Voting determines which unreleased hero joins Deadlock next. Priority Tokens help you get a better chance of playing a hero after that character has actually released.
A vote cannot reserve the hero for you, and a Priority Token cannot change the release order. Use the Pregame ballot for the first job and hero selection for the second.
Why the earning rate increases
The rising earning rate for Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens makes sense as the City Never Sleeps pool expands. On October 2 there is only one freshly released hero, while later weeks can have several new heroes drawing players away from the established roster.
Valve’s system can therefore give players more opportunities to prioritize specific new characters as the number of possible targets grows.
What if a token disappears unexpectedly?
If Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens disappear when you were not assigned the marked hero, first check the post-match token counter and make sure the selected hero was not actually granted before a disconnect or safe-to-leave state.
Token-consumption bugs have been reported during earlier Deadlock hero rollouts, so a repeatable current-build problem is worth reporting through Valve’s Deadlock forums with the match details.
Best way to use Priority Tokens
The best use of Deadlock Hero Priority Tokens is on the hero you genuinely want to learn, not automatically on whichever character released most recently. The system improves your chance but does not remove queue competition.
Earn tokens through normal play, attach one to the chosen new hero, and remember that the token should only be consumed when matchmaking actually gives you that hero.
Official source: Valve City Never Sleeps.
