Best way to build the Graverobber?

[PalmTree]

Even after playing the game for so long I still haven't figured out the best kit for her. She's one of my least used heroes, and I can never seem to find a good good way to utilize her.

I tend to run her with Pick to the Face, Thrown Dagger, Flashing Daggers, and Poison Darts. She's always got a trinket like the Ancestor's Musket Ball or the Fuseman's Matchstick to make the most out this kit's ranged abilities, but even with those her performance is underwhelming and it's better to just used a ranged Highwayman instead.

Is this even an good way to play her? A Lunge/Shadowfade build feels like it could be better, but I'm not a fan of her only being able to attack once every other round.

[Sir Francis]

1st round lunge is one of the best things you can do in the game.
In a shuffle party she ideally can lunge nonstop, like in Ves - GR - Cru - HWM, its not hard to figure out how that one works. Even if you dont do that, starting with Lunge is better than having the option of flashing daggers.

[SKull]

Lunge build or back row specialist. Both are nice.

[Skinny Pete]

I usually have Lunge/Pick to the Face/Poison Darts/Thrown Dagger.

Some swear by Shadow Fade. I don't. Anything that isn't attacking is a waste of time imo.

Some also swear by taking advantage of her special bonuses for attacking Blighted which can be good if you already have blighters and they're faster. . .but I usually don't. I just go for raw damage boosting and like the Quickdraw trinket, Hot to Trot quirk, or anything that jacks up speed and damage on round 1 so Lunge reliably kills something every time.

She pairs well with HWM and I also like a full charging team where everyone has an attack (preferably a really good one) that moves them forward. For instance, GR/HWM/CRU/whatever. Lunge and Holy Lance often nuke two enemies on round 1.

[Butt Goblin]

There's basically no reason to ever run Poison Darts or Toxin Trickery--they're too weak to really care about, especially since the former requires a trinket to make consistent. There's also no reason to ever not run Lunge, since Lunge is basically the only reason to take GR over other DPS heroes in the first place. As you've seen, Thrown Dagger is very weak even if you build around blight.

I always run Lunge/Shadow Fade/Pick to the Face/Thrown Dagger. Flashing Daggers technically isn't useless, but it isn't providing you any super-important utility--Thrown Dagger and Pick round out the weaknesses of Lunge (no rank 4 targeting and no self-contained way of dealing with PROT respectively) whereas Flashing Daggers is just slightly more efficient than Thrown Dagger if it happens to be able to kill an enemy. Even in a dancing party Shadow Fade will at least let you reposition if you get surprised so I've never found Flashing Daggers to provide much of use.

The main question from there is how you build the party. As others mention above, the typical way she's used is that you pair her with two other dancers so that she can spam Lunge every turn. The result is a fairly bursty party but since it tends to have poor damage prevention (the only stunners available are MaA and whatever you put in rank 4, which will probably be a Vestal who's quite poor at stunning) it is quite vulnerable to getting burst down itself. The alternative is opening with Shadow Fade, having another hero stun whatever you want the GR to kill, then Lunging on the second turn and fighting with daggers/pick from there. This is more flexible since you're not restricted to dancers--which makes it much easier to use blighters if you desired since pretty much every dancer (including SB) will screw up your dancing--and also helps to keep the GR more protected. It's a little worse off in a sustained fight though. The stun prevents the enemy from acting while you set up the Lunge so even though you're spending the first round on a non-damaging attack you're ultimately still going to prevent that enemy from getting any actions.

Trinket-wise you just build for raw damage/CRIT/ACC and perhaps SPD (she's quite fast and might not need more than a quirk for it). Sharpened Letter Opener is a godsend if you can get it. Maybe bring some HP as well if you're using her as a dancer, since she's super squishy and your party can't effectively keep her protected--the Shadow Fade opener won't need it though since she can't be directly targeted on the round where everything deadly is alive.

[RopeDrink]

As others have said, if you're taking a GR without Lunge, Pick and Throwing Dagger, you're doing yourself a disservice. There are better blighters, and the fact that she gains damage against blighted targets does not mean you should have her apply it herself, not when Lunge is such a strong go-to button in almost all circumstances, especially as one of the fastest heroes who can open rounds by essentially maiming or exploding a priority almost immediately.

Shadow Fade is always worth having if only for the sake of having a self-made pushback for moments where someone else can't do this for her, or for those moments where removing her as a viable target whilst also giving her next lunge a huge steroid is a better alternative to leaving her exposed while resorting to dagger or pick. I still greatly prefer the old Shadow Fade as that at least stunned the front-line whilst pushing her backwards, whereas losing a turn for the sake of a stronger Lunge next-turn is situational at best, though being stealthed in the process does lead to some safety for the otherwise squishiest hero in the game.

In short, I never leave home without Pick > TDagger > Lunge > Shadow Fade. It is the most well-rounded kit seeing as there is less need for DoT's when you already have an inherent answer for prot. You have an attack for all ranks from specific positions, have an on-demand burst button to begin fights with, and a shuffle/safety net for those moments where doing it yourself is worthwhile (or the only option) along with rendering her safe from everything but AoE attacks.

Flashing Daggers isn't bad, it's just not as good as the rest. You can opt for funky AoE comps or compliment bleeders, but mid-rank restriction and the fact generic play doesn't have much time for debuff strategies outside of just last-hitting with AoE means you're infinitely better off with the above buttons instead. Leave blights to something like a Plague Doctor - your GR was, is, and likely always will be the first-round-burst-queen, not a DoT hero.

[FlintX]

Since I didn't see anyone talking about this here I think I should share. I created an OP build to Graverobber in the SECOND party or THIRD party slot which involves using "Flashing Daggers", "Thrown Dagger", "Poison Dart", "Toxin Trickery" and maxing DODGE stat. You can replace Flashing Daggers with Lunge or Pick to the Face if you want, but this build is not about dealing damage, it is about avoiding many damage as possible.

For me Poison Darts and Toxin Trickery are her only decent skills since her role is not about dealing a great lot of damage at all, she is more like a bait and dodge unit pretty much like the Jester and one of the most OP characters in the game.

With DODGE trinkets like her own Lucky Talisman, Feather Crystal, Ancestor's Coat, etc, and paired with an Antiquarian 'Protect Me" skill, she LITERALY CANNOT be hit by anything in the game as long she has her high dodge numbers up and not suffering any dodge debuffs. Since Antiquarian's Protect Me also gives a dodge buff and marks the target, she will be drawning attacks and keep dodging like was no tomorrow.

How it works:

1- Being locked on the 2th or 3th party slot is mandatory for obvious reasons. Those are the slots she is able to use most of her skills and ALSO BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE 2 MOST TARGETED SLOTS IN THE GAME, BY MOST ENEMIES.

2- As soon as ANY battle or EVERY SINGLE battle starts. The first action you should do with her is using Toxin Trickery because this will considerably increase her dodge and speed for the rest of the ENTIRE fight. Unless you got surprised and need to move her back to her slot. This is also useful because you won't be needing to waste a future turn of the fight on this skill. So if you had the speed advantage of the fight, ALWAYS use it as your first action.

3- After that you will only need to use her Poison Darts and Thrown Daggers to eliminate or help deal with the most troublesome enemies in the game, like the stress dealers and the tough big mobs. Don't underestimate "Thrown Dagger" on a POISONED AND MARKED enemy, it can easily crit by a toon of damage and even e able to one shot weaker stress dealers.

4- Marking her with Antiquarian Protect Me is not always necessary but is the ideal in some dungeons. Of course you will no always be able to bring an Antiquarian along, but the mark will ensure that most mobs will attack her. In most cases she will be the only party member needing a heal, and thats only in the case of some very lucky enemy manages to hit her.

Best places to use:
She can be used in a lot of dungeons, but the best places to use her are in the Ruins on the 2th slot where she will be able to be targeted by most enemies.

And in the Cove on 3th slot along with Antiquarian on 4th slot. Thats because Pelagic Grouper (The Fishman with the Spear) most of the times will always try to hit your 2 rear units with "Spearfishing"which can easily crit and deals a lot of damage, especialy to your healer units like Vestal.

So for me the best party for the Cove that involves Graverobber is: Bounty Hunter of the 1th slot with both "Mark for Death" and "Come Hither" skills to help Graverobber when needed. Occultist on the 2th slot for heals and with "Vulnerability Hex" skill to help both Graverobber and Bounty Hunter when needed. Graverobber on 3th slot with the skills I've already listed before and Antiquarian on 4th slot with the skills "Protect Me", "Invigorating Vapours", Get "Down!" and "Festering Vapours" (which is also good for stacking with Graverobber Poison Darts and is also the enemy weakness).

[76561198042686546]

That's just asking for a crit.

[FlintX]

Originally posted by Bloodgay:

That's just asking for a crit.

Try it for yourself

[Skinny Pete]

Originally posted by dixon sider:

I like jumping back and fourth with grave robber. She can indirectly tank from the third row. She is the only character I really like to do this with in the game. She is excellent for not only stress relief from her excellent crit chance but she is also excellent for spreading the damage types out a little more evenly throughout your party

I prefer her in back with another forward charging hero starting in 3. This way, on the second round, you can decide whether or not to lunge again or do something else. If you use Quickdraw Charm, you can even set it up so she's virtually guaranteed to go first on the first round and second the next.

[Smuckem]

Originally posted by FlintX:

Since I didn't see anyone talking about this here I think I should share. I created an OP build to Graverobber in the SECOND party or THIRD party slot which involves using "Flashing Daggers", "Thrown Dagger", "Poison Dart", "Toxin Trickery" and maxing DODGE stat. You can replace Flashing Daggers with Lunge or Pick to the Face if you want, but this build is not about dealing damage, it is about avoiding many damage as possible.

For me Poison Darts and Toxin Trickery are her only decent skills since her role is not about dealing a great lot of damage at all, she is more like a bait and dodge unit pretty much like the Jester and one of the most OP characters in the game.

With DODGE trinkets like her own Lucky Talisman, Feather Crystal, Ancestor's Coat, etc, and paired with an Antiquarian 'Protect Me" skill, she LITERALY CANNOT be hit by anything in the game as long she has her high dodge numbers up and not suffering any dodge debuffs. Since Antiquarian's Protect Me also gives a dodge buff and marks the target, she will be drawning attacks and keep dodging like was no tomorrow.

How it works:

1- Being locked on the 2th or 3th party slot is mandatory for obvious reasons. Those are the slots she is able to use most of her skills and ALSO BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE 2 MOST TARGETED SLOTS IN THE GAME, BY MOST ENEMIES.

2- As soon as ANY battle or EVERY SINGLE battle starts. The first action you should do with her is using Toxin Trickery because this will considerably increase her dodge and speed for the rest of the ENTIRE fight. Unless you got surprised and need to move her back to her slot. This is also useful because you won't be needing to waste a future turn of the fight on this skill. So if you had the speed advantage of the fight, ALWAYS use it as your first action.

3- After that you will only need to use her Poison Darts and Thrown Daggers to eliminate or help deal with the most troublesome enemies in the game, like the stress dealers and the tough big mobs. Don't underestimate "Thrown Dagger" on a POISONED AND MARKED enemy, it can easily crit by a toon of damage and even e able to one shot weaker stress dealers.

4- Marking her with Antiquarian Protect Me is not always necessary but is the ideal in some dungeons. Of course you will no always be able to bring an Antiquarian along, but the mark will ensure that most mobs will attack her. In most cases she will be the only party member needing a heal, and thats only in the case of some very lucky enemy manages to hit her.

Best places to use:
She can be used in a lot of dungeons, but the best places to use her are in the Ruins on the 2th slot where she will be able to be targeted by most enemies.

And in the Cove on 3th slot along with Antiquarian on 4th slot. Thats because Pelagic Grouper (The Fishman with the Spear) most of the times will always try to hit your 2 rear units with "Spearfishing"which can easily crit and deals a lot of damage, especialy to your healer units like Vestal.

So for me the best party for the Cove that involves Graverobber is: Bounty Hunter of the 1th slot with both "Mark for Death" and "Come Hither" skills to help Graverobber when needed. Occultist on the 2th slot for heals and with "Vulnerability Hex" skill to help both Graverobber and Bounty Hunter when needed. Graverobber on 3th slot with the skills I've already listed before and Antiquarian on 4th slot with the skills "Protect Me", "Invigorating Vapours", Get "Down!" and "Festering Vapours" (which is also good for stacking with Graverobber Poison Darts and is also the enemy weakness).

Have actually printed this post out in isolated, with a mostly-GR run looming I am definitely going to be trying this out before I end up getting bored with Lunge cycling teams.