Graves Guide — Abilities, Builds & Strategy

Graves Base Stats

• Role: Marksman
• Max Health: 730
• Max Move Speed: 7
• Stamina: 2
• Base Health Regen: 1
• Light Melee Damage: 50
• Heavy Melee Damage: 116

Graves Weapon Stats

• DPS: 35.294
• Sustained DPS: 20.93
• Bullet Damage: 3.6
• Rounds Per Second: 9.8039
• Clip Size: 40
• Reload Time: 2.8s
• Bullet Speed: 635
• Can Crit: Yes

Graves Abilities

• Ability 1: Jar of Dead
• Ability 2: Grasping Hands
• Ability 3: Essence Theft
• Ability 4: Borrowed Decree

Graves Guide — Strategy & Tips

Quick Answer: Graves is a necromancer carry who locks targets down with Grasping Hands, chips them with Jar of Dead Deadheads, and floods the map with Ghouls from Borrowed Decree. Hold The Teacher on one target to land its 13-shot double-damage shot and let Essence Theft steal weapon damage and spirit resist. Play her patient and positional — immobilize, stack your beam, and let your summons close out the fight.

Graves is a necromancer who plays like a close-range beam carry with heavy area denial. Her weapon, The Teacher, latches onto the target nearest your reticle and doubles its damage every 13 consecutive shots, so you commit to one target instead of spraying across several. She stores "death" from anything that dies nearby to charge Jar of Dead, which she throws to summon Deadheads that chase and chip enemies. Grasping Hands and Borrowed Decree flood the map with Ghouls, letting her control space and pressure objectives without standing in the middle of the fight. Essence Theft rewards sustained beam time by stealing weapon damage and spirit resist from her targets, swinging long trades in her favor. Play her patient and positional: pick a target, immobilize them, and let your summons close out the kill.

Early Game

The laning phase is about charging Jar of Dead, since every trooper, ghoul, or hero that dies nearby adds "death" to your jar, and the first upgrade heals you per pickup. Trade with The Teacher held on a single target to build toward its double-damage shot, and skip headshot items entirely because Graves can't use them. Use Grasping Hands to immobilize an over-extended laner, then drop Deadheads and beam them down. Build into sustained weapon damage, fire rate, and ammo; Extended Magazine, Restorative Shot, and Extra Stamina are heavily weighted picks for her.

Mid Game

Mid game is where Graves' area denial takes over. Drop a Borrowed Decree gravestone near a lane or objective to keep a steady trickle of Ghouls shambling toward the enemy, remembering the gravestone is visible on the minimap and dies to two heavy melees. Pair that Ghoul pressure with Grasping Hands to keep enemies inside the burst, and rotate toward fights where your Deadheads can finish staggered targets. Keep Essence Theft stacked by holding your beam on one target for the full duration before swapping. Items like Active Reload, Mystic Shot, and Duration Extender push this pressure even further.

Late Game

In late game Graves is a teamfight lock-down carry who wins by stacking Essence Theft and controlling space with summons. Hold your beam on the same target to reach the full steal while your Deadheads and Ghouls clean up anyone who tries to reposition. Grasping Hands is your pick tool: immobilizing a key carry lets your whole team collapse on them. Borrowed Decree gravestones and Ghoul waves keep side lanes and objectives pressured while you group with your team. Buy around survivability and cooldown so the rift and your summons keep flowing through extended fights.

Combos

Core combo: land Grasping Hands to immobilize, then unload The Teacher on the trapped target while throwing Jar of Dead Deadheads, which prioritize your weapon target. Objective combo: place a Borrowed Decree gravestone to spawn Ghouls, then wall off the area with Grasping Hands so enemies eat both the Ghoul explosions and the immobilize. Teamfight opener: stack Essence Theft on the front-most target for its build-up time, then swap your beam onto the carry to apply the stolen-power swing. Whenever you're safe, keep tapping targets to bank "death" so your next Jar of Dead cast is ready. Air-dash while firing to keep your beam up without spending ammo.

Strong Against

Graves thrives against squishy, low-mobility heroes she can lock down, since Grasping Hands immobilizes them long enough for Deadheads and her beam to finish the job. The Teacher deals full damage with no falloff inside its range, so she wins extended trades against heroes who try to brawl at close range. Her summons let her pressure heroes who want to avoid direct fights, forcing them to spend resources clearing Ghouls and Deadheads. Essence Theft snowballs against tanky targets who stay in the beam too long, stealing their weapon damage and spirit resist. She also punishes heroes who over-extend into choke points where her rift and Ghouls overlap.

Weak Against

Graves struggles against anything that can delete her summons quickly, because Deadheads and Ghouls take weapon and melee damage and can be shot down. She has only two stamina and below-average mobility, so burst heroes and hard-engage comps punish her before she can set up. Enemies who dispel or prevent her crowd control — Unstoppable, Dispel Magic, or Indomitable — can walk straight through Grasping Hands. Long-range harass also hurts, since her beam deals no damage beyond its max range and she must close the gap to deal any damage at all. Losing her beam target resets the double-damage count, so kiting and target-swapping heroes blunt her uptime.

Synergies

Monster Rounds and Heroic Aura directly buff Graves' summons, and Cultist Sacrifice affects Ghouls, so build them to make your Deadheads and Ghouls hit harder. She pairs well with teammates who group or hold enemies in place, letting her area denial and Deadhead chip hit several targets at once. Items that extend duration and cut cooldown — Duration Extender, Superior Duration, Compress Cooldown — keep Grasping Hands, Jar of Dead, and Borrowed Decree active across a whole fight. Weapon and fire-rate items like Extended Magazine, Active Reload, and Split Shot amplify her beam uptime and Essence Theft build-up. A Graves core stacked with summon buffs turns every skirmish into a grinding siege.

Common Mistakes

• Reloading, losing your target, or switching to a new enemy resets The Teacher's 13-shot double-damage count, so commit to a single target to earn the bonus shot.
• Throwing Grasping Hands on cooldown instead of saving its long cooldown for a real pick, leaving you with no immobilize when the fight actually starts.
• Standing at long range with The Teacher: the beam deals no damage beyond its max range, so you must close the gap or you deal nothing at all.

Matchup Notes

• vs Vindicta — Don't take her poke at range; dash in, land Grasping Hands to immobilize, and hold The Teacher on her, since your beam deals no damage beyond its max range and Deadheads will finish the trapped target.
• vs Abrams — Drop Grasping Hands to immobilize him mid-commit, then keep The Teacher on him and layer Deadheads; stacking Essence Theft on a tanky target steals his weapon damage and spirit resist over the build-up.
• vs Haze — Save Grasping Hands as your answer when she dives, immobilize her, and let Deadheads prioritize your beam target so she cannot reset; your rift is what denies her the fight she wants.
• vs Seven — Use Grasping Hands to wall off his area and Borrowed Decree Ghouls to pressure him while you close in with the beam, because The Teacher only deals damage inside its range.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Graves land headshots?

No. The Teacher cannot deal headshots, and Graves cannot buy headshot items.

How does The Teacher's double damage work?

It deals double damage once every 13 consecutive shots, roughly every 1.3s at base fire rate. The count resets on reload, loss of target, or when you attack a different target.

How do I get more Jar of Dead charges?

Each charge requires 12 "death", reducible by cooldown reduction. Troopers and Ghouls drop 1, Haunts drop 3, and Heroes and the Mid-Boss drop 5.

Can Graves shoot while moving or dashing?

Yes. Air dashing while firing stops ammo consumption briefly, and The Teacher is the only weapon in the game that can be continuously fired during an air dash.

How does Essence Theft work?

Your weapon steals weapon damage and spirit resist over time, reaching a maximum per target. At base it steals up to 25% weapon damage and 10% spirit resist from up to 3 targets over 4 seconds.

What is the best way to use Grasping Hands?

Unearth a line of grasping hands that leaves a rift, summoning a Ghoul; enemies passing through take spirit damage and are immobilized. Alt-cast rotates the orientation of the wall.