How to install Deadlock skins

Where to get skins

Almost every Deadlock skin lives on GameBanana - as of October 5, 2026 its Skins section has 2,959 mods. Some are 18+, so our per-hero showcases filter those out: you get popular and new skins for every hero with a link to the author.

How to install a skin

The simplest way is the free Deadlock Mod Manager: skins on our showcases have an install button for it. By hand it is four steps.

1. Open the game folder: Steam > Deadlock > Manage > Browse local files, then game\citadel. Create an addons folder there if it is missing.
2. Open game\citadel\gameinfo.gi in Notepad and add Game citadel/addons as the first line of the SearchPaths block. You only do this once.
3. Download the skin, unpack it, rename the .vpk to pak01_dir.vpk (the next mod is pak02_dir.vpk) and put it into addons.
4. Restart the game and pick the hero - the skin is there.

Why other players can't see your skin

A skin mod only changes model files on your own PC. The game server and other players know nothing about it, so teammates and opponents see the stock hero while you see your skin. The only way to show it to a friend is for them to install the same mod.

Skin gone after a patch

• The update may have overwritten gameinfo.gi - add the Game citadel/addons line back.
• If the patch changed the hero model, an old skin may look broken or not load. Wait for the author to update it on GameBanana.
• To switch all skins off at once, remove the line from gameinfo.gi - the files in addons can stay.

Valve has not published official rules on Deadlock mods. Skins only change what you see, and there have been no mass bans for them, but nobody gives guarantees.