The Chinatown district of Deadlock's reworked map in the City Never Sleeps update

Deadlock Haunts Guide: Every New Neutral Camp, Soul Values and Map Secrets After City Never Sleeps

October 12, 2026 Noah

Valve’s City Never Sleeps update did more than add six new heroes to Deadlock. It also replaced every neutral camp in the game with a new set of creatures called Haunts, rebuilt the back alleys into four themed districts and scattered new soul sources across the map. If you are still farming the city the way you did before September 29, you are leaving souls on the table. This Deadlock Haunts guide explains what Haunts are, every Haunt family and where Valve placed them, how the camp tiers work, and the new map secrets like the Sunken Plaza and the Bell Tower.

What Are Haunts in Deadlock?

Haunts are Deadlock’s new neutral camps. With the City Never Sleeps update, Valve swapped out the old neutrals for a range of new creatures that each behave differently. Their job in a match is the same as before: you clear them between lane fights to earn extra souls and fall behind less when your lane goes badly.

A few basics are worth knowing before you start routing:

Souls go straight to you. According to community testing, a killed Haunt grants its souls to every player who damaged it, split evenly between them, instead of dropping soul orbs. Only recent damage counts, and farming a camp with a teammate splits the reward.
The HUD now shows the reward. The update added soul values and a comparative difficulty rating for NPCs, so you can check whether a camp is worth it before you commit.
Respawn timers are visible in the world. When you stand near a cleared Haunt camp or the Midboss area, you can now see when it will respawn.

Every Deadlock Haunt Family

Valve introduced nine Haunt families. On its official tour, four of them belong to the main city streets and five to the new districts tucked between the lanes, although community maps show some families spawning in other spots too:

Specimen: A disembodied hand that crawls across the floor. Valve introduces it next to Times Square on its official city tour.
Past Dues: Haunted books that are anything but a calm bedtime read.
Gutter Ghouls: Humanity’s buried dark and dirty thoughts given form. Community maps show them as the most widespread family in the city.
Barrel Mimics: Possessed gunpowder barrels.
Stage Hands: Floating performers found in the Theater district.
Festival Spirit: Spirits kindled by hopes and wishes that turn violent, found in the Chinatown district. Community testing shows they attack from range.
Crabbage Pots: Also tied to Chinatown on Valve’s map, where something is clearly wrong with the water.
Shrooms: Walking fungi charged with demonic energy, found in the Haunted Lot district. In the game files the family is listed as Slum Shroom.
Underhands: Grasping, pickpocketing hands found in the Plaza district.

The family mostly changes how a camp looks, moves and attacks. How much health it has and how many souls it gives depends on the camp’s tier, which is why reading the tier matters more than recognizing the creature.

The Theater district in Deadlock, home of the Stage Hands Haunt camps

The Theater district is one of four new side areas, and the home of the Stage Hands.

Deadlock Haunts Tiers: Souls, Spawn and Respawn Times

Valve has not published official numbers for Haunts, but community trackers that pulled the values from the game files agree on the basics. Haunt camps come in three tiers:

Small (Tier I): 129 health and a base value of 41 souls per Haunt. First spawn at 2:00, respawn 1:25 after the camp is cleared.
Medium (Tier II): 322 health and 68 souls. First spawn at 5:00, respawn after 4:50.
Large (Tier III): 1,133 health and 181 souls. First spawn at 8:00, respawn after 5:35.

These are starting values. Haunts get tougher and more valuable as the match goes on, so a camp you clear easily at minute 8 can become expensive later if your build falls behind. The respawn timer only starts once the whole camp is dead: some medium camps include Sinner’s Sacrifice machines, and both the Haunts and the machines have to be cleared before the camp comes back.

Deadlock's in-world respawn timer showing when a Haunt camp returns

The new in-world timers show exactly when a cleared camp will return.

The Four Districts and Their Map Secrets

Hidden between the main streets are four districts: the Theater, Chinatown, the Haunted Lot and the Plaza. Besides their Haunt camps, the update added several new things to find and break across the city:

Sunken Plaza: Below the Plaza district’s main square. Valve calls it high risk, high reward: the deeper you go, the more your stamina fades.
Bell Tower: Climb the Chinatown Bell Tower for a concentrated soul hotspot. The catch is that the bell rings loudly across the whole map while you collect, so expect visitors.
Tough Crates: These only break with a Heavy Melee, but they contain extra souls.
Buff Containers: The revamped golden statues can now also grant permanent Spirit Resist, Bullet Resist, Ability Range and Move Speed bonuses.
Healing Snacks: Hidden around the map, these let you heal up in a pinch.
Steam Vents: Standing on one makes you invisible and gives a small amount of regen, which makes them great for ambushes and safe rotations.

Tips for Farming Haunts Efficiently

Check the tier, not the creature. Use the soul value and difficulty info on the HUD to decide whether a camp is worth your time.
Close beats big. A nearby small or medium camp you clear quickly is often worth more than walking across the map to a large camp you can’t kill fast.
Don’t steal your teammate’s farm. Since the souls are split between everyone who deals damage, stacking two players on one camp halves the payout for each of you.
Finish the whole camp. Leave a Sinner’s Sacrifice standing and the camp won’t start its respawn timer.
Treat the Bell Tower as bait. Everyone hears the bell, so only take it when you can survive a fight or when your team is ready to punish whoever shows up.
Route past the extras. Plan your path through districts so you pick up Tough Crates, Buff Containers and Healing Snacks on the way to your next camp.

Deadlock Haunts: Our Verdict

Deadlock Haunts make farming a bigger part of every match: nine new families, four districts full of hidden extras and much better information on the HUD. Learn where your closest camps are, read the tier before you commit and use the respawn timers to plan your rotations, and your soul lead will follow. Want the bigger picture first? Read our overview of everything in the City Never Sleeps update. This guide reflects Deadlock after the City Never Sleeps update and the minor update of October 5, 2026. Deadlock is still in early development, and Valve changes values regularly, so numbers may shift with future patches.

Keep the adventure going! Check out more Gaming Guides on Gamersuniverse.

Picture Source: Valve