Grave Robber (Butcher's Circus)

## Combat Skills

(All buffs and debuffs last for 3 rounds unless otherwise specified.)

## Tactical Analysis

### Using a Grave Robber

The Grave Robber is an extremely versatile class, being able to accommodate most play styles, to an extent.

*Lunge* allows them to deal high damage, especially when coupled with *Shadow Fade*, for increased damage and CRIT chance. Furthermore, the increased Deathblow chance makes it a good "assassin" attack. Front-line Grave Robbers still keep it in their roster as a way to compensate for being shuffled. If you're combining *Shadow Fade* with *Lunge*, equip the Cloak and Dagger to increase Lunge's damage and Deathblow chance, on top of bypassing enemy Guards.

*Thrown Dagger* is effective against Marked targets, due to its increased damage. However, not being able to strike rank 1 means its best used along side the Houndmaster, Arbalest, or Musketeer, since they also deal extra damage to Marked targets.

*Pick to the Face* is effective against high PROT builds, but its lack of target choice compared to the Grave Robber's other attacks make it slightly situational. However, it's the only attack skill that can be used from rank 1, so it can be used when the Grave Robber is stuck on position one, or used as a follow up to *Lunge*.

*Flashing Daggers* deals very high damage for a multi-targeted attack, making it a useful skill. It is effective for hitting targets on Death's Door, as even if it fails to Deathblow, it still damages multiple targets. Also, by reducing bleed resist on targets, it opens them up for bleed attacks- particularly the Houndmaster's *Hound's Harry* and the Jester's *Harvest*, which are multi-target attacks that apply Bleed.

Alternatively, *Panic Darts* deals high stress. This synergizes well with the attack and the Grave Robber's high CRIT chance, creating a 1/5 chance of dealing around 40 stress attacks. Coupled with its potential to strike any rank, this makes it effective for stressing out targets. Its Blight damage and mediocre damage are not to be underestimated - if it reduces a hero to deaths door, the stress can cause a heart attack. If you're using her as part of a Stress build, equip the Satchel of Dirty Tricks to crank up the Stress output - paired with the Carnival Masque and it will deal a massive 39 damage before accounting for crits.

*Toxin Trickery* is invaluable, as it lasts all battle- meaning the Grave Robber goes from having good dodge to very good dodge- coupled with the Man-at-Arm's *Bolster* and/or the Antiquarian's *Invigorating Vapours* can easily make them a very difficult foe to strike. The Hellion's *Terrifying YAWP!* or the Plague Doctor's *Blinding Gas* synergise with the Grave Robber's elevated dodge, allowing the class to be more evasive than the Jester.

### Fighting a Grave Robber

Pay attention to the team setup and her equipment to deduce the Grave Robber's role. If she's equipped with Stress-increasing trinkets or is part of a Stress team in general you can expect her to spam *Panic Darts* throughout the entire battle. If the team has Markers you can expect her to be doing a lot of damage with *Thrown Dagger*. Shuffling her does little to disable her skills due to her high mobility - a knockback will induce a *Lunge* counterattack, and a pull will just have her vanish into hiding with *Shadow Fade*.

Her biggest weakness, though, is her paltry Stun resistance. At a 5% resistance, any Stun skill is almost guaranteed to land. If you're using units with Stun-increasing trinkets, you can even chain-Stun her despite the 50% bonus Stun resistance after recovery. For instance, a Vestal with the Tome of Fury still has a 75% chance of Stunning a Grave Robber with the Stun recovery buff. A stun-focused team can essentially prevent the Grave Robber from acting for most of the battle as long as their attacks hit.