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Master Graves in Deadlock with full ability breakdowns, the best Spirit build, and tips to dominate every phase of the game.
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Graves is one of the strongest heroes in Deadlock right now. Sitting at S-tier with a 54.6% win rate across 72,883 ranked matches, she is a Mystic-type hero classified as intermediate complexity. Her entire kit revolves around summoning undead minions, stealing enemy stats, and placing a gravestone that generates a relentless ghoul army. If you want to apply constant pressure without having to land every shot, Graves rewards smart positioning and ability timing more than raw aim.
Jar of Dead summon tracker
Jar of Dead is a passive and active combo. Passively, Graves collects death energy whenever anything dies nearby. Actively, she throws the jar to summon Deadheads that deal spirit damage repeatedly to nearby enemies. With 4 charges, a 13-second charge delay, and 4 Deadheads per throw dealing 16 damage each, this ability scales directly with your spirit power investment.
Grasping Hands unearthes a line of hands that summons a Ghoul and leaves a rift. Enemies passing through take 90 spirit damage and get immobilized. The cast range is 24 meters with a 34-second cooldown and 5-second rift duration. You can alt-cast to rotate the wall orientation, which matters a lot for zoning lane entrances or blocking escapes.
Essence Theft is what makes Graves genuinely scary in extended fights. Your weapon steals up to 25% weapon damage and 10% spirit resist from targets over 4 seconds, affecting up to 3 targets simultaneously. The weapon damage steal scales by 0.25 per point of spirit power, so the more spirit you build, the harder you hit and the weaker your enemies become at the same time.
Borrowed Decree is Graves' ultimate. The innate component lets all her abilities summon Ghouls that march toward the enemy base, deal 40 melee damage, then explode for 115 spirit damage in a 6.5-meter radius with a 1.25-second slow on approach. The active places a gravestone at a target location (20-meter cast range) that continuously spawns Ghouls over 16 seconds. Enemies can destroy the gravestone with two heavy melees, so placement matters. The cooldown is 140 seconds.
Borrowed Decree gravestone position
The most popular ability order carries a 62.0% win rate across 2,360 matches. The highest win rate order pushes that to 66.1% across 301 matches. Here is how the two compare:
| Point | Most Popular (62.0% WR) | Highest Win Rate (66.1% WR) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jar of Dead | Jar of Dead |
| 2 | Jar of Dead | Jar of Dead |
| 3 | Grasping Hands | Grasping Hands |
| 4 | Essence Theft | Essence Theft |
| 5 | Borrowed Decree | Borrowed Decree |
| 6 | Borrowed Decree | Borrowed Decree |
| 7 | Borrowed Decree | Borrowed Decree |
| 8 | Grasping Hands | Grasping Hands |
| 9 | Grasping Hands | Grasping Hands |
| 10 | Grasping Hands | Grasping Hands |
| 11 | Essence Theft | Essence Theft |
| 12 | Borrowed Decree | Essence Theft |
| 13 | Essence Theft | Essence Theft |
| 14 | Essence Theft | Borrowed Decree |
| 15 | Jar of Dead | Jar of Dead |
The key difference is that the highest win rate path finishes maxing Essence Theft before picking up the final Borrowed Decree upgrade. Trust the data on this one: getting the full Essence Theft before capping Borrowed Decree pays off in late-game fights.
Graves' early game is about establishing spirit power and sustain while your summons start applying pressure. The highest win rate early items are:
Most players also grab Extra Stamina (79.9% pick rate) and Restorative Shot (79.8% pick rate) very early. These are near-universal picks because Graves' base health is only 730 with a 1 health regen, so the extra mobility and healing keep her competitive in lane.
This is where Graves gets genuinely oppressive. The premium items with the highest win rates:
Graves late game item setup
Some items look tempting but actively hurt your win rate:
| Item | Cost | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Disarming Hex | 3,200 souls | 42.0% |
| Metal Skin | 3,200 souls | 43.2% |
| Bullet Resilience | 3,200 souls | 46.9% |
| Debuff Reducer | 1,600 souls | 48.4% |
| Spirit Shredder | 1,600 souls | 48.8% |
| Mystic Regeneration | 800 souls | 49.4% |
The mistake most players make is buying defensive items like Metal Skin or Bullet Resilience thinking Graves needs more protection. She does not. Her protection comes from summoning minions that soak aggro and from Warp Stone for active repositioning.
Hard matchups (Graves loses these):
Easy matchups (Graves wins these):
If you are struggling with Rat King specifically, check out the Deadlock Rat King guide to understand exactly what makes him so difficult for Graves to deal with.
Graves wins most often alongside:
Graves pairs well with heroes that can lock enemies in place while her Ghouls and Deadheads do the work. Mo & Krill and Kelvin both have strong crowd control that keeps targets inside Grasping Hands rifts.
Grasping Hands zoning in lane
Placement wins games. Your Borrowed Decree gravestone spawns Ghouls continuously, but enemies destroy it with two heavy melees. Drop it behind cover, around corners, or inside your own team's position so enemies have to fight through your whole team to reach it.
Warp Stone parries Tombstone. The active on Warp Stone can be used to dodge incoming burst right as you place a gravestone. This is a technique worth practicing in lower-stakes matches before you rely on it.
Arcane Surge everything. Seriously. Every ability cast should have Arcane Surge active if you have it. The bonus spirit damage from surging your Grasping Hands or Jar of Dead throw is not small.
Heroic Aura makes your Ghouls run it down. When you pick up Heroic Aura at mid game, your Ghouls become noticeably more threatening. The aura buff applies to your summons, which means they hit harder and create more pressure on objectives.
Echo Shard for double Borrowed Decree. At 6,400 souls with a 60.3% win rate, Echo Shard lets you duplicate your ultimate cast. Placing two gravestones in a teamfight is often an instant win condition.
For more on managing your soul income to hit your mid-game power spikes on time, the Deadlock soul farming guide covers exactly how to stay ahead on the economy curve.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Max Health | 730 |
| Health Regen | 1 per second |
| Bullet Damage | 3.6 |
| DPS | 35.29 |
| Fire Rate | 9.8 |
| Ammo | 40 |
| Reload Time | 2.8 seconds |
| Move Speed | 7 m/s |
| Stamina | 2 |
| Light Melee | 50 damage |
| Heavy Melee | 116 damage |
Graves' base stats are on the lower end for health and regen, which is why the early game items lean heavily on Extra Stamina and Restorative Shot. You are not a frontliner. You are the person who fills every inch of the fight with undead.
For more hero-specific guides and strategy content across the full roster, browse the complete Deadlock strategy guides collection.
