Counterlock
Heroes / Graves / How to play
Field manual · Sep 29 patch

How to play GravesHow to play

57.2% win rate · #1 of 44 · Morbid · Area Denial · Necromancer

Updated 2026-10-30 01:19 UTC · n = 3,827,247 matches

How to play Graves

Grasping Hands1Grasping HandsJar of Dead2Jar of Dead

Your combo: Unearth a wall of Grasping Hands that immobilises anyone who walks through it for 1s, then let Jar of Dead’s Deadheads hit them while they’re stuck.

Don’t waste: You can rotate the wall: place it to cut off their escape rather than in front of them.

Edge: Divers who get past your summons are your weakness. Stay behind them.

From community hero guides, Oct 2026 patches, checked against deadlock.wiki. The same combo from the other side is on how to counter Graves.

Your kit

Jar of Dead
Jar of Dead
Ability 1

Passive: Collect death when anything dies nearby and store it in your Jar of Dead.Active: Throw a jar to summon Deadheads that repeatedly deal spirit damage to enemies. Deadheads follow you instead if there's no nearby enemies, and prioritize the target of your weapon.

Grasping Hands
Grasping Hands
Ability 2 · 34s cooldown · immobilize 1s · tether 1s

Unearth a line of grasping hands, summoning a Ghoul and leaving behind a rift. Enemies who pass through take spirit damage and receive immobilize. Alt-Cast rotates the orientation of the wall.

Essence Theft
Essence Theft
Ability 3

Your weapon steals weapon damage and spirit resist over time, up to a maximum amount per target.

Borrowed Decree
Borrowed Decree
Ultimate · 140s cooldown · slow · ultimate

Skill order

Max first:Grasping HandsGrasping Hands›Jar of DeadJar of Dead›Essence TheftEssence Theft›Borrowed DecreeBorrowed Decree

From the most common upgrade order (28k matches): the order abilities reach their last tier.

10m21m32m43m53m65m76m87m911m1013m1114m1215m1317m1422m1530m
Jar of DeadJar of DeadAbility 1IIIIII
Grasping HandsGrasping HandsAbility 2IIIIII
Essence TheftEssence TheftAbility 3IIIIII
Borrowed DecreeBorrowed DecreeUltimateIII

unlock I II III upgrade tiers · column labels are the average minute of each step

Build path with timings

Early
Mid
Late

Items that win most on Graves

Magic Carpet
+6.7 pp · 2% buy itScourge
+6.4 pp · 3% buy itSiphon Bullets
+6.0 pp · 15% buy itDiviner's Kevlar
+5.1 pp · 7% buy itSpirit Burn
+4.4 pp · 16% buy itSilencer
+4.2 pp · 5% buy it

Lanes you win

Lanes to play safe

When they counter you

−7.7 ppRat King

Buy against Rat King:

−7.6 ppPaige

Buy against Paige:

−5.8 ppSeven

Buy against Seven:

Best teammates

Rat King
64.0% togetherPaige
63.3% togetherSeven
62.2% togetherKelvin
61.3% togetherVictor
61.1% togetherHaze
60.7% together

Notes from the best builds

Juhwooce's PVZ Map Maker Graves (NEVER SLEEP)S

DONT DIE NO MATTER WHAT once u get max wall spam it on every t2 camp u see (preferably the enemy camps but urs are fine as well) once ur in late, all t4 items are replacable by other t4 in same color

#Citadel_HeroBuilds_Late: rough l-r carpet is a vibe check

61.3% over 8.4k games · open build →
Jamlex Tank GravesS

Explanation + Gameplay on Youtube @ Jamlex, Tested + Played in Ascendant. Tankier Variant: 908388 You stack Resists + Health for high eHP Torment Pulse = instance damage, the idea is to stack many item damage instances together to have higher effective DPS. Torment + Tesla/Capacitor + Toxic + Escalating Exposure + Scourge + Siphone Bullets - 7 item instances of damage combined simultaniously. If you do not like Torment Pulse swap it, but I think it's good. Leo Solved Gun Graves [788707] - Best

Early [21.6k]: Roughly L -> R based on priority, Sell Resto Shot when slot locked. Weapon Shielding + Essence Theft are early game Resists.

Mid [30.4k]: 18% Bres, 42%+ Sres

Late [49.6k]: 26% Bres, 84% Sres

Graves in-depth Abilities + Interactions break down below:: coming soon

61.1% over 92k games · open build →

Graves stats and buildsHow to counter Graves