Essence Theft
Essence Theft is Graves' third ability in Deadlock (slot 3), a passive ability. Your weapon steals weapon damage and spirit resist over time, up to a maximum amount per target. Its tooltip lists 25% Max Weapon Damage Stolen (+0.25 x Spirit, in percentage points), 10% Max Spirit Resist Stolen, 3 Max Steal Targets and 4s Time for Max Damage.
Open the most-bought Graves build
The 4 items bought most in each phase of 169,697 Graves matches, October 30 to November 1, 2026, measured by deadlock-api.com.
Essence Theft in matches
Graves players unlocked Essence Theft third in 83.3% of matches (142,037 of 170,575), second in 12.6% of matches (21,430 of 170,575) and first in 3.9% of matches (6,701 of 170,575), in all-rank matches from October 30 to November 1, 2026, from patch 6833's release day.
Measured from matches at all ranks from October 30 to November 1, 2026, starting on the day patch 6833 was released (October 30, 2026), by deadlock-api.com. These are match results, not numbers from the game files, and not a recommendation. Each share is the Graves matches in which Essence Theft was the first, second, third or fourth ability unlocked, out of every Graves match counted; a step under 500 matches is not listed.
Match data: deadlock-api.com. deadlock-api.com is not endorsed by Valve and does not reflect the views or opinions of Valve or anyone officially involved in producing or managing Valve properties. How a share is computed: methodology.
Essence Theft stats
Essence Theft
- Duration 4s
Your weapon steals weapon damage and spirit resist over time, up to a maximum amount per target.
- 3 Max Steal Targets
- 4s Time for Max Damage
Upgrades
| Tier | Bonuses | In game |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | +5% Max Spirit Resist Stolen | |
| 2 | +20% Max Weapon Damage Stolen | |
| 3 | +0.15 Skull Build Up +0.15 Zombie Melee Build Up +1 Zombie Explosion Build Up +1 Max Steal Targets | +1 Max Steal Targets All Summons now apply Essence Theft |
Each tier is bought with ability points; how many points a tier costs is not in the game files this site reads, so it is not shown. Learning the ability takes 1 ability unlock.
Essence Theft change history
| Patch | Change | State |
|---|---|---|
| November 5, 2026build 6860from build 6642 | No player-facing change in 55 builds (July 28 to November 5, 2026). | Unchanged |
| July 25, 2026build 6640 | First recorded in Deadlock. | Baseline |
Essence Theft FAQ
What does Essence Theft do?
Your weapon steals weapon damage and spirit resist over time, up to a maximum amount per target. Its tooltip lists 25% Max Weapon Damage Stolen (+0.25 x Spirit, in percentage points), 10% Max Spirit Resist Stolen, 3 Max Steal Targets and 4s Time for Max Damage.
How does Essence Theft scale with spirit power?
Max Weapon Damage Stolen starts at 25% and gains 0.25 percentage points per point of Spirit, the coefficient the game file writes on the value.
What do Essence Theft's upgrades do?
Tier 1: +5% Max Spirit Resist Stolen. Tier 2: +20% Max Weapon Damage Stolen. Tier 3: +1 Max Steal Targets, All Summons now apply Essence Theft.
Which hero has Essence Theft?
Essence Theft is Graves' third ability (slot 3).
Was Essence Theft changed in the latest patch?
No. Essence Theft is unchanged in the latest build of Deadlock on file.