Valve Launches Graves in Deadlock: How the Necromancer Drains Enemies

Valve surprised Deadlock players in early February 2026 with the official launch of Graves. The new heroine arrives with a stylish necromancer look and mechanics that strongly recall Undying from Dota 2. Unlike other classic summoners, she focuses on long fights and progressively weakening opponents while draining life to stay alive on the battlefield.

Graves’s main weapon is a severed lich hand that fires a short-range beam with built-in lifesteal. Meanwhile, the Essence Theft ability supercharges this attack, letting her steal up to 25% of the target’s weapon damage and 10% of spirit resistance after four seconds of contact. That makes her an unstoppable threat in prolonged fights, especially if you equip items like Split Shot to hit multiple targets at once.

Graves’s Abilities in Deadlock

• Beam Weapon: Short-range shot that drains life with slight target tracking.
• Essence Theft: Steals up to 25% weapon damage and 10% spirit resistance (scales with Spirit).
• Jar of Dead: Collects souls from the ground to summon four Deadheads" (floating skulls) that attack the target.
• Grasping Hands: Creates a wall that roots and damages enemies passing through it.
• Borrowed Decree (Ultimate): Places a tombstone that spawns explosive Ghouls. Each explosion deals 150 damage (1.5x Spirit scaling) and 80% slow.

For summon fans, Jar of Dead lets Graves collect souls around the map to create the Deadheads. These small floating skulls chase and strike enemies repeatedly, dealing constant Spirit damage. She also gets Grasping Hands, an excellent tactical wall for cutting off narrow lanes and stopping victims from escaping while their strength is sapped.

The highlight of the kit is Borrowed Decree, her ultimate ability. Graves places a giant tombstone that continuously spawns Ghouls to attack opponents. However, players must stay alert, as enemies can destroy the tombstone with just two heavy melee attacks. Proper placement of the structure therefore decides whether Graves dominates the fight or quickly loses her biggest trump card.