Reaper

Reaper
Class	Ironclad
Type	Attack
Rarity	Rare
Cost	2
Effect	Deal 4 damage to ALL enemies. Heal HP equal to unblocked damage. Exhaust.
Reaper+
Cost+	2
Effect+	Deal 5 damage to ALL enemies. Heal HP equal to unblocked damage. Exhaust.

Reaper is a Rare Attack card for the Ironclad. It deals 4 damage to all enemies, then heals the player for the combined HP lost by the enemies. Upgrading Reaper increases the damage dealt per enemy from 4 to 5.

Interactions

• Because the health restored is based on the damage dealt, anything that increases damage, including Vulnerable, Strength buffs, Relics, Stances, and upgrading Reaper will increase the amount of health restored.
  • Similarly, effects that reduce damage, such as Weak or enemy Buffs, will reduce the health restored.
• Reaper restores health equal to the HP the enemy loses. For instance, dealing 4 damage to an enemy with 1 HP will only restore one point of health, and blocked damage is not healed.
• The heal from Reaper applies after taking damage from Thorns and Sharp Hide, and cannot be used to avoid death by these effects.
• As a healing card, Reaper cannot be created by Infernal Blade.
• Due to its long animation requiring the red orbs needing to touch the character, using Reaper as a finishing blow against certain enemies that have fast death animations and/or are in spots farther away from the character can sometimes cause the reward screen to show up and the battle to end before the healing is able to work.

Strategy

• Reaper is a clunky card - not only is it situational, but it's expensive at 2 Energy. When playing a deck with Reaper, take care not to get too greedy. It's easy to make poor plays in the hope that Reaper will restore more health in the future. At the same time, however, Reaper can also be one of the most powerful cards in the entire game. With enough Strength gain, Reaper can gain an incredible amount of health each fight.

• In fights with one or two enemies, it's usually advisable to play Reaper as soon as possible to avoid drawing it in the future. With more enemies, you can hold out longer, but be careful - wait too long, and you may need to kill the enemy you had hoped to drain.

• In general, you should play Reaper as soon as enemies give you an opening unless you'll lose more HP that turn by using it than by blocking, or you have a reliable way of gaining large amounts of Strength, such as Demon Form or an upgraded Limit Break.

• Reaper is generally not worth spending a Smith action to upgrade - it only increases the damage by 1, which usually translates to at most 3-5 extra damage/health.

Synergies

• Reaper performs well with cards that inflict Vulnerable, which sharply increases the amount of health restored.

• Reaper's best friends are Strength buffs. Not only does Strength increase the amount of Health restored, but you don't need to worry about timing it like you would with Vulnerable.

• Reaper is an excellent utility for self-damaging decks, especially ones with Rupture. It gives you more health in mid-battle, allowing the usually short-lived deck to effectively fight longer battles against bosses.

• Consider combining it with Dual Wield or Double Tap to maximize its potential.

• Strange Spoon can be a double-edged sword - more plays equals more Health, but the card's utility generally decreases with the number of enemies.

Update History

• Patch V1.1: The Dealer
  • Improved lifesteal logic for Reaper and Shelled Parasite.
• Weekly Patch 55: Blur
  • Reaper card now heals the correct amount if the player has The Boot relic.
  • Adding VFX for Reaper card.
• Weekly Patch 44: Chrysalis
  • All sources of random temporary card generation in combat (like Dead Branch) can no longer generate cards that provide healing.
  • New tip added to indicate that healing cards cannot be generated randomly during combat.
• Weekly Patch 6: We're Back!
  • Reaper now heals as part of the attack now, not after (you heal before thorns hit you).