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  1. Games
  2. Third Person Shooters
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Deadlock nerfs Apollo in new update, but fans want Valve to pay more attention to another "menace" hero instead: "Why does Celeste get to exist in her current state?"

News
By Anna Koselke published 18 February 2026

"I don't understand how Celeste gets a slap on the wrist..."

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Deadlock Apollo
(Image credit: Valve)
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Another round of nerfs to a new Deadlock hero has gone out, this time targeting Apollo – and although fans of Valve's shooter are happy with the changes, there's apparently still room for more improvement, albeit to other characters.

Right after welcoming dazzling new unicorn-horned hero Celeste, Valve introduced Apollo to Deadlock. Now that fans have had a bit of time to explore his kit and play as him or against him, developers are working to tweak things a bit to level the playing field.

As per a new post from developer 'Yoshi' on the shooter's official online forums, this means nerfs – much like the changes that the team applied to Celeste late last week.

Some of the nerfs include damage and scaling reductions, with the most significant perhaps being Apollo's ultimate Itani Lo Sahn ability now going on cooldown when interrupted. In other words, folks will actually need to be careful when they opt to use it, or it'll go to waste.

Overall, the adjustments seem pretty fair and valid, with the community taking to online spaces like Reddit to discuss them in a positive light.

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  • Deadlock Celeste Deadlock icon Celeste survives first round of nerfs, with fans hoping Valve's "slap on the wrist" isn't the last
  • Deadlock Celeste Deadlock scores another win with Celeste, a unicorn-horned performer dazzling fans with her "overpowered" bunnyhopping
  • Deadlock character Celeste, a pink-haired woman with a unicorn horn Even Valve is impressed by Deadlock's most dedicated Celeste simp, who spent hundreds of hours voting 813 times
Obligatory from r/DeadlockTheGame

One fan exclaims, "thank god this patch finally landed" – a sentiment many commenters appear to be in agreement with.

Another person alludes to the ult change specifically: "This is low-key the biggest nerf in there in my opinion. Hero might still be too strong, but… it is pretty hard to get ult off without an interrupt, now you will have to be more intentional about when you use it and not just keep spamming it in the middle of fights."

Not everyone is thrilled, though – but it has nothing to do with Apollo's own nerfs, and more to do with nerfs fans want other heroes to receive… those other heroes being Celeste.

A post elsewhere on the site proves as much, with a player noting, "Yet Celeste gets to continue being an absolute menace." Someone else echoes this thought: "I don't understand how Celeste gets a slap on the wrist, and Apollo gets shot in the back of the head."

Overall, even though people think "Apollo needed those nerfs," they question, "But why does Celeste get to exist in her current state?" Here's hoping that a nice middle ground is reached in the end for both Apollo and Celeste truthers.

Even Valve is impressed by Deadlock's most dedicated simp, who spent hundreds of hours voting 813 times during Old Gods, New Blood: "Every single one was for Celeste"

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Anna Koselke
Anna Koselke
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Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

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