Deathgivers

Deathgivers

STALKER HOOD - MERCENARY JACKET - ANY CLOTH SANDALS - UNDEAD CAPE

A Tier
Important Update: Due to over-nerfing, many people who played this build before have abandoned this build in favor of other builds. This means it is up to debate whether if this build is still meta or not, since we define meta by popularity. I do think this is still an A-tier worthy build, but it is definitely harder to play than before all the nerfs.

Awakening trats:

The highest value common traits are: HP, DEF, Ability Damage.

Life steal and CDR are also great. If no better traits are available, IP and mana reduction are okay.

Default Abilities and Passives:
Deathgivers:

Q2, W4, passive1

Stalkerhood:
Mortal Agony, passive 1

Mercenary Jacket:
Bloodlust, passive 1
Any cloth sandals:
Energizing sprint Sprint, passive 2 (balanced mind)

Explanation:

Prestack as much as possible. This build is strongest near mobs where you can use mobs to gain extra q stacks and to proc Mercenary Jacket if your enemy tries to kite Bloodlust or to time it out with Mistwalker/Assassin. To get easy mercenary procs against people running purge, make sure to have 3x Q stacks so you can double E. If you use mercenary jacket while you have E, it will be a lot harder for them to target you with Fiend Cowl. Dont be afraid to use Stalker Hood early for the damage buff as it is very short cooldown. Stalker Hood makes it easy to execute low targets through undead cape, but hitting a E+Q even can execute undead cape on even IP targets even without Stalker hood.

Strengths and weaknesses:

Good at Dismounting, plays well off of the eviroment, high damage for how mobile the weapon is.

Mobility is limited by mobs / hitting skill shots

Variations:

Fiend cowl is a common choice instead of stalker hood. Fiend cowl makes it much easier to chase down targets when you purge their boots, but finishing undead capes is slightly more inconsistent.
Important Update: The recent damage nerf on Deathgiver E greatly impacted the Deathgiver’s ability to finish targets with Undead Cape. As a result, Fiend Cowl is much less viable than before and Stalker hood is greatly preferred. If you still feel like you need the purge, consider running Helmet of Valor instead of Fiend Cowl as a way of dealing with Undead Cape.

Main Food:

Eel stew

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