Grim Reaper

**Grim Reaper** is a Evil Hero in Dark Deeds. Whilst being an intelligence based hero, Grim Reaper is one of the hardest Evils to kill due to his slippery nature. His Ethereal form allows Grim Reaper to avoid potentially deadly engagements by flying over cliffs, and also doubles as a way for Grim Reaper to enter a player's base with relative ease.

Grim Reaper has an unique trait where he has passive invisibility whilst he is not attacking. A trade-off for having this ability is that Grim Reaper can only transform until after the second day phase. Grim Reaper must also gather souls to survive so he must transform from a farmer at some point to do so. There is no direct drawback if the player still transformed as Grim Reaper whilst it is daytime, apart from the disabling of certain abilities.

## ***Abilities***

### **Ethereal Form**

Turns the Grim Reaper ethereal, making him immune to physical damage but unable to attack. He can cast Disease Plague, Locust Plague, and Death Plague, and will take extra damage from Magic attacks and spells. He can hover or walk through obstacles while in Ethereal form.

### **Mark of Death**

Marks out a victim with an evil curse that cripples the victim and deals damage until it dies. Cannot be cast on Farmers, knights, Heroes, Sorceresses or most creeps. Has a melee cast range.

Level 1: Deals 20 damage initially and then 6 damage every few seconds.

Level 2: Half the cooldown and mana cost, and can be cast from long range

### **Soul Absorption**

Gives a chance to instantly inflict bonus damage on an attack. Does not work on Heroes, Farmers, Knights, Sorceresses or most creeps. Passive: The Reaper gains 1 permanent damage for every 5 victims he kills. A hero kill is worth 2 damage."

Level 1: 10% chance, 3x normal damage

Level 2: 15% chance, 3x normal damage

Level 3: 20% chance, 3x normal damage

### **Disease Plague**

Blasts a cloud of death and disease at enemy units that deal intital damage, and then minor over a long time.

Level 1: 50 initial damage, 6 minutes diseased, taking 1 hitpoint per second

Level 2: 75 initial damage, 7 minutes diseased, taking 2 hitpoints per second

Level 3: 100 initial damage, 8 minutes diseased taking 3 hitpoints per second

### **Locust Swarm (ultimate)**

Creates a plague of angry locusts that swarm out to bite, tear, and chew at enemy units over a great distance. Lasts 2 minutes.

### **Death Plague (legendary)**

Creates a cloud of death at the targeted point. The plague lasts for 5 minutes, and leeches away 10 hitpoints per second of nearby enemy units. Passive: Damages all enemy organic units within 1500 AOE of Grim Reaper by 1% of their maximum hit points per second. This passive is always active.

## *Perks*

### Reaper's Scythe

Gains 1 Agility or Intelligence (random one) whenever the reaper kills 10 enemy units. A Hero kill grants one random attribute.

### Essence Reap

Restores 35 health and 7 mana whenever the Reaper kills an enemy unit

### Phase

Removed mana cost of changing between Ethereal form and Corporeal form.

## Strategies

### **Strategy as evil**

* You can't transform until the second night so it is imperative that you build workers to gather lumber while you fight so you can tech later.
* if you are not revealed, build an army as fast as you can to get some quick kills as you will sooner or later be revealed since you will be fighting constantly after the second night.
* Mask of Death is a useful tool for Grim Reaper to have, depending on how you play. Use Mask of Death wisely. It is recommended that you do not obtain Mask of Death until you have gained a couple of levels.
* Consider purchasing Boots of Speed as Grim Reaper's Ethereal Form has slow movement speed.
* Whilst Locust Swarm is active, players will fear you as you become more difficult to kill.
* Locust Swarm also damages buildings, so it can be useful to use whilst in an enclosed space in a player's base.
* It is highly recommended that players stay in the Grim Reaper form during both day and night phases, as there is little benefit in transforming back into a Farmer, unless you are actively trying to build/tech.
* With Essence of Life, every time you kill a unit you will gain Essence, do not worry too much about this mechanic as you will always be killing units. However, this will also proc when you kill critters, so there should be no excuse not to kill units.

### **Strategy versus evil**

* Although he is slippery and can fly, building a poison tower and building very tightly will buy you a lot of time versus the reaper. It is very difficult to kill him early so it is best to turtle and tech as fast as you can to build a hero as well as a sorceress to immobilize him.
* End game you will need a castle to build a Flying Machine to follow him when he goes ethereal mode. As long as enough players are alive late game, you should be able to win.
* Gem of Truesight, Dust of Appearance or your wife will be needed to see Grim Reaper whilst he is running away from you.
* Beware of his locust swarm, you will need some priests to sustain the damage.

### **Strategy as minion**

* Use your ability to fly over cliffs to your advantage to kill player workers from a distance where you can't be touched. Once you have gold, buy items from the tavern to power up immensely.
* NPC units can also be killed from a distance, but do not net as much EXP.
* Follow your master to gain some quick exp when he dispatches enemies to become a valuable asset.
* Death Coil is an essential ability for the minion to heal other minions or the Grim Reaper himself. Use frequently on Grim Reaper during big fights.
* Boots of Speed is an essential item for the Wraith has very slow movement speed, just like Grim Reaper's Ethereal form.

### **Strategy versus minion**

* Wraiths are weak, even two militia attacking them will give them a run for their money.
* Use ranged units such as Spearthrowers or Archers to bring the Wraith down whilst they are over cliffs.
* Use Flying Machine to find Wraiths who are trying to avoid you over cliffs.