Book of Stabbing

Book of Stabbing
HP	160-162 168-172 (Ascension 8+)
In Party With	None
Debut Act	Act 2
Powers	Painful Stabs

The Book of Stabbing is an Elite encounter found in Act 2 of the Spire. Its scaling multi-hit attack, strong single-hit attacks, and ability to shuffle many Wounds into your discard pile make it a fearsome foe.

Pattern

Every turn, the Book of Stabbing has an 85% chance of using Multi-Stab and a 15% chance of using Single Stab.

Cannot use Multi-Stab 3 times in a row. Cannot use Single Stab twice in a row.

Name	Intent	Effect	Ascension 3+	Ascension 18+
Multi-Stab		Deals 6 x N* damage.	Deals 7 x N* damage.	Deals 7 x N* damage.
Single Stab		Deals 21 damage.	Deals 24 damage.	Deals 24 damage.

*N is equal to 2 plus the number of times Multi-Stab has been previously used in the fight. On Ascension 18 and higher, N is equal to the Turn Number plus 1 instead.

Tips

• It is important to try and kill the Book as quickly as possible, because its attacks will only get worse and can become overwhelming.
• The Book suffers greatly against Weak, Thorns, and Strength reduction due to its scaling being solely said multi-hit attacks and its lack of ability to apply any kind of debuff on the player to reduce their ability to Block.
  • The Ironclad fairs fairly well against the Book as he has a lot of powerful Block cards, can obtain Disarm to permanently reduce the Book's Strength, and can obtain Clothesline, Intimidate, and Uppercut to apply Weak.
  • The Silent is arguably the best character against the Book. Her access to Footwork and multiple cheap Block cards allow her to easier stack Block against the Book. Leg Sweep not only grants a huge Block, but also apply a large number of Weak. Neutralize and Sucker Punch are cheap attacks that apply Weak. Piercing Wail can shut down a Multi-Stab attack. Caltrops deals a large damage against Multi-Stab. Lastly, Malaise can potentially shut down the Book for the entirety of the fight.
  • The Defect has a quite harder time against the Book as it mainly relies on slowly scaling with Orbs, Creative AI, or Claw. Consider dealing a large amount of damage by invoking Lightning or Dark multiple times to finish off the Book quickly. Biased Cognition can also be used to give said Orbs a burst of damage and Frost an ability to generates a large Block against the Book.
  • The Watcher can deal with the Book quite well with her ability to burst it down during Wrath or Divinity using cards with high base damage such as Ragnarok and Wheel Kick. She can also gain a large number of Block using Mental Fortress, Nirvana, Talk to the Hand, or Wallop. Wave of the Hand can also apply a large number of Weak in a single use.

Gallery

Book of Stabbing as seen in the Safety card art.

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Update History

• Weekly Update 56: The Collector
  • Book of Stabbing enemy's multi-stab attack strikes 1 less time on Ascension 18.
• Weekly Update 49: The Designer
  • Painful Stabs power will no longer give wounds if the damage was prevented by Buffer.
• Weekly Patch 44: Chrysalis
  • Book of Stabbing enemy on Ascension 18+ now does a single stab sometimes, but still increases its multi-stab count.
• Weekly Patch 42: Reboot
  • Adding SFX for Book of Stabbing attacks.
• Weekly Patch 40: Forethought
  • Ascension 18 Book of Stabbing enemy now has modified AI. Now stabs you relentlessly.
• Weekly Patch 10: Quality of Life
  • We updated the animations for several monsters! Affected monsters include: Book of Stabbing
• Weekly Patch 6: We're Back!
  • Book of Stabbing elite nerf. Has 8 less HP and a new move that deals 21 damage. While doing this move, the multi-stab doesn't increase in stab count.
• Weekly Patch 5: Happy Holidays!
  • Book of Stabbing is completely reworked. Lots more stabbing, and a lot less random.
  • Painful Stabs gets a power icon.
• Weekly Patch 3: Balance Balance Balance
  • Book of Stabbing was appearing in normal enemy rooms and stabbing everyone to death, we are truly sorry for the suffering.