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Economy·Laning

Soul orbs and denies

The flying soul orb is a short contest over a reward; the orb left on the ground is a different pickup. Learning to distinguish them keeps you from aiming at something your team cannot steal while the actual deny window disappears.

Overview

Prepare the shot before the orb rises

Keep ammunition available when a trooper is about to die and move your aim toward the expected orb path. Choose cover that still gives sight of the reward. Reloading through every death hands the opponent opportunities even when your damage on the wave was good.

Protect your income without overreaching

Secure a friendly flying orb when the enemy can contest it, and look for their flying orb when your own collection is safe. A deny attempt that costs a large health trade can force you away from several later rewards. Ground pickups still require approach afterward.

Source
Update history10
06-17-2025 UpdateJun 17, 2025
  • Soul Orb auto claim radius reduced from 40m to 35m
05-19-2025 UpdateMay 20, 2025
  • The soul orb securer's advantage over denier has been reduced.
04-04-2025 UpdateApr 04, 2025
  • Soul orb spawn delay range increased from 0.2-0.7 to 0.4-0.7
  • Soul orb size increased by 10%
  • Soul orb lag compensation buffer increased from 120ms to 140ms
03-13-2025 UpdateMar 13, 2025
  • Soul Orb spawn delay increased a bit and added some variability
09-26-2024 UpdateSep 26, 2024
  • Some latency-related calculation improvements that help orbs be a little less deny favored
  • Orbs now appear a little smaller to the enemy that is trying to deny them
08-01-2024 UpdateAug 01, 2024
  • Improved distinction between orb collect and orb deny sounds
Data and APIAPI

identity

id
mechanic_soul_orbs_and_denies
slug
soul-orbs-and-denies
category
economy
flowStage
laning
aliases
soul orb, securing, secure orb, confirm souls, secure souls, unsecured souls, deny, denying, soul deny, soul steal, steal orb, ground orb, deniable orb, proximity souls, last-hit orb
sourcePath
manual:mechanics/soul-orbs-and-denies
updatedAt
2026-09-20T22:00:00.000Z