New Deadlock Hero Graves Overview: Skills, Role, Items

January 29, 2026, Valve released the second hero as part of the major Deadlock update titled Old Gods, New Blood. This hero is Graves, a necromancer who combines crowd control abilities, lane support, and the ability to summon additional minions. Graves is a formidable split-push hero who cannot be ignored if you want to keep your base safe. In this blog, we will tell you everything about the new Deadlock hero Graves, including her abilities and gameplay.

Graves Appearance

The daughter of influential lawyers, Darcy Graves grew up in a family where every conversation was a debate, an argument, or a negotiation. It was exhausting. But while her parents were often too busy with client meetings or casework to truly connect with her, the dead were always there to listen.

Graves enjoyed spending time in the cemetery. It was a quiet place where she could calm her thoughts and talk through her problems… but one day, her one-sided conversations began to change.

It started with a barely audible whisper. A female voice that seemed to respond to Graves’ complaints. Intrigued, the teenager listened… and followed the voice’s instructions until it led her to a lead box buried in Van Cortlandt Park. And while most high schoolers would be terrified to dig up a severed lich’s hand, Graves was definitely not most teenagers. The hand was now freed from its imprisonment, the lich’s voice grew stronger… she had spent years searching for a student to whom she could pass on her knowledge, and Graves was eager to learn.

Now, as a novice necromancer, Darcy balances not only her homework at Blackmoor Academy… but also the needs of the cemetery’s residents, each of whom has unfinished business and seeks her help in resolving it.

Graves Skill Overview

Let’s move on to an overview of the abilities of the new Deadlock hero, Graves. Thanks to her summoning skills, she is a strong split pusher, while also combining support, crowd control, and damage dealing.

• Jar of Dead (1) – The ability has both a passive and an active effect. 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 prioritze the target of your weapon.
• Grasping Hands (2) - Unearth a line of grasping hands, dealing spirit damage and applying immobilize to enemies when they pass through.
• Essence Theft (3) - Your weapon steals weapon damage and spirit resist over time, up to a maximum amount per target.
• Borrowed Decree (4) - Create a gravestone at a target location that summons ghouls over time. Enemies can destroy the gravestone with two heavy melees. Ghouls shamble towards the enemy base, dealing melee damage. They explode when they approach a hero or objective, dealing spirit damage in an area and applying a brief slow.

Graves, like the other New Hero Rem, is a versatile hero and can bring significant value to the team.

Graves – Which Role?

Graves is most effective as a carry and split pusher. It is recommended to pick Graves in a lane with a support so the hero can acquire necessary items faster. However, with the right skills, Graves can independently push a lane and make a significant contribution to the team’s victory.

Graves Item Build

With this item build, you will unlock Graves’ potential in the carry role and increase your chances of winning.

Among situational items, Counterspell, Inhibitor, and Debuff Reducer can be highlighted. New heroes from the Old Gods, New Blood update will be added to Deadlock soon, so follow our pages and the official channels to make sure you don’t miss anything interesting.