Quick answer: Baba is now playable in Deadlock after winning the second character vote in the City Never Sleeps update. The October 7 build adds Baba’s four-part kit, including Spirit theft, a mobility stance, a cycling area-effect brew and an ultimate that can hex enemies into pigeons. The same update also includes a large batch of changes around Midtown and other parts of the live build.
Last checked: October 7, 2026. This guide separates the confirmed live changes from strategy conclusions that may shift as players learn the new hero.
Is Baba playable in Deadlock now?
Yes. Baba won the second City Never Sleeps character vote and became playable after a small live update. She joins Rat King among the characters unlocked through the ongoing vote-driven rollout. The next character vote continues separately, so Baba’s arrival is not the end of the City Never Sleeps hero sequence.
The timing matters because search results are still mixed between pre-release vote coverage and post-release ability guides. If you are seeing older pages saying Baba is only a candidate, those are now outdated.
Deadlock Baba abilities explained
| Ability | What it does | Practical use |
|---|---|---|
| Threadsap | Creates a guided thread path that bursts for Spirit damage and steals enemy Spirit. | Useful for poke, weakening Spirit-based targets and improving Baba’s follow-up bullet pressure while stolen Spirit is held. |
| Granny Long Legs | Extends the legs of Baba’s bench for extra movement, jump height and defensive resistances; melee actions gain special knockback/ground-pound behavior. | Her main repositioning and disruption tool, especially when a fight moves vertically or she needs to escape pressure. |
| Baba’s Brew | Throws a tea effect that cycles between different outcomes, including a barrier, silence or a damaging burn that reduces Spirit resistance. | Requires reading the current brew state before committing. It can protect, disable or amplify a Spirit-damage sequence. |
| Feed The Birds | Stacks slow with bread during a channel, then calls pigeons that damage and can hex the target into a pigeon; more bread increases the payoff. | Her signature crowd-control finisher. It rewards setup and makes isolated or already-slowed targets easier to punish. |
What makes Baba different?
Baba’s kit is unusually layered. Threadsap is not simply a projectile, because the Spirit-steal component changes the value of the bullets that follow. Baba’s Brew also asks the player to track a changing effect instead of treating every throw the same way. Granny Long Legs gives her more movement and melee utility than her visual silhouette might suggest, while Feed The Birds creates a very visible control window that teammates can play around.
That combination suggests a hero built around timing and sequencing rather than a single repeated combo. Early players should learn the state of Baba’s Brew and the movement limits of Granny Long Legs before worrying about perfect ultimate setups.
October 7 patch and Midtown changes
The Baba build is not only a hero unlock. Current patch tracking shows well over one hundred individual changes, including map work in Midtown. One documented change adjusts crates and a rope near the north alley. The exact number and wording of live-build tweaks can continue to move as Valve iterates, so players looking for every tiny map comparison should check the current patch page rather than relying on screenshots from October 5.
The important takeaway for normal matches is that familiar movement routes can feel different even if the headline change is Baba. If a jump, rope route or cover angle no longer behaves exactly as expected, check the latest live notes before assuming it is a bug.
How Baba fits the City Never Sleeps rollout
City Never Sleeps uses player voting to decide which new characters become available next. Baba was the second winner. That makes her launch especially searchable because old candidate lists, vote predictions and leaked kits remain in circulation at the same time as the live hero.
For players returning after the update, the safest way to catch up is to treat the rollout as a sequence: first verify which heroes are already live, then check the active vote, and finally review the latest map and balance changes. The hero order can matter more than an older static “six new characters” list.
Should you play Baba immediately?
If you enjoy utility-heavy heroes, yes. Her mechanics cover poke, Spirit interaction, movement, defensive utility, silence/burn effects and hard crowd control. The cost is complexity: Baba’s Brew can produce different outcomes, and Feed The Birds is strongest when you have enough time to build its effect instead of panic-casting it.
A simple first-match approach is to use Threadsap to learn its pathing, keep Granny Long Legs available for movement, watch the Brew state before throwing it, and reserve Feed The Birds for targets who have already spent an escape. That minimizes the number of variables you are learning at once.
Deadlock Baba FAQ
When did Baba become playable?
Baba became playable during the City Never Sleeps rollout after winning the second character vote, with the current Baba-focused patch reflected on October 7, 2026.
What does Baba’s ultimate do?
Feed The Birds applies stacking slow while channeling, then sends pigeons at the target. With enough setup it can hex the enemy into a pigeon, with the damage and duration increasing as the bread stack rises.
Is Baba a pure damage hero?
No. Her kit includes damage, mobility, resistance, shielding, silence, Spirit-resistance reduction and crowd control. She is better described as a flexible utility/control hero with damage windows.
Did the Baba update change the map?
Yes. The current update also includes map revisions, including changes around Midtown. Patch trackers list more than the hero alone.
Sources and further reading
- Current Deadlock patch tracker — live change overview and map comparisons.
- Shacknews Baba unlock report — vote result and ability names.
For more live-service coverage, see AVARIXO’s Overwatch Season 5 update guide.
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