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.
Every turn, the Book of Stabbing has an 85% chance of using Multi-Stab and a 15% chance of using Single Stab. Whenever you receive unblocked damage from one of its attacks, a Wound is shuffled into your discard pile.
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 + 1)* 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.
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.