Best Reaper Build in Backpack Battles

There are many ways to build your Reaper in fantasy auto battler Backpack Battles. But to give yourself the best chance of rising through the rankings, check out the best builds for the Reaper class below. 

Backpack Battles - Best Reaper Builds

The reaper starts with an 8-slot Storage Coffin where any item inside has a 25 percent chance to inflict Poison on activation, plus a basic 4-slot bag. You’ll also have a Fly Agaric food item that inflicts 1 Poison damage every 5 seconds. You’ve probably already spotted a theme here but there is more than just the poison route available to the reaper. 

It’s important to note that Backpack Battles is a fast-playing game with a lot of variability in the luck of the draw. A build rarely goes exactly to plan so you need to get used to the idea of making the most of what you’ve been given. This often means combining elements of several of the builds below, which can work even better. Variety means you’ll have more chance against decks set up to counter one of the more common archetypes as you strive for the best combinations.  

Related: All Reaper subclasses in Backpack Battles

Evergreen Reaper Build Items - Backpack Battles

Certain items are always worth picking up for the Reaper as they keep yuo going early while you work towards your main build, or because they’ll work in any build.

• Pan and food: While the Pan doesn’t look great, it soon starts to make sense when you surround it with food as each unique type adds +1 damage. When you consider all food has a unique benefit of its own, this soon makes for some fine combos. If you mix it with a Corrupt Crystal you’ll have a Pandamonium which does solid damage at a low Stamina cost while the food next it tuen into bonus Poison damage.  
• Ruby Chonk: You’ll need to look out for a Ruby Egg. It doesn’t look great on paper but after two rounds it will transform into a Ruby Whelp dragon pet. The other time you need to buy is the Deck of Cards. Once bought, you’ll find cards start to appear in the shop. Buy the Holo Fire Lizard Card when it shows up and place it next to your Ruby Whelp and next round you’ll have a Ruby Chonk. This upgraded pet does big damage, fast, while costing no Stamina so what’s not to like?
• Poison Dagger: The basic Dagger is a nice item as it does a bit of damage, can house all kinds of gems, can be converted into lots of cool items, and uses no stamina. Combine it with a Pestilence Flask (itself a solid Poison item) and you’ve got a Poison Dagger, which keeps the gem slot and 0 Stamina cost while inflicting Poison on top of its standard damage.

Backpack Battles Reaper Poison Builds

This is a simple build, allowing you to use all the evergreen items above to get going. Look out for the Death Sythe to make it sing as this doubles the Poison damage of up to six adjacent items. If your opponent hits 35Poison it also adds 50 percent to your crit chance, which is huge. 

Try to pick up a second Fly Agaric food item and also get Goobert as a pet. Goobert is a great healer, working well with your food items, but once crafted with two Fly Agarics he becomes a Poison Goobert. Now rather than healing you it will cleanse you of 2 Poison per star activation while dealing 4 Poison to your opponent.  

You can go for either the Nocturnal Lock Lifter or Snake when you choose your subclass. You’ll need some Luck generation to make the Snake work but if you do it's an awesome combo, dealing more Poison while stopping your opponent from cleansing it. The Nocturnal Lock Lifter gives you more healing ability instead while having the advantage of being a single-slot item.

Related: All Pets in Backpack Battles, ranked

Backpack Battles Vampiric Poison Builds

A Vampirism build relies on more crafting but once it gets going it can be hard to stop. The key ingredient you need is the Blood Amulet and lots of them! They’ll combine with the Dagger (Bloody Dagger), Leather Armor (Vampiric Armor), and Gloves of Haste (Vampiric Gloves), all of which have Vampiric abilities to exploit. 

If you find a Thorn Whip and the Hungry Blade sword, combining them creates Bloodthorne. This weapon converts 1 Regeneration into 1 Vampirism and 1 Spike each time it hits. To make the most use of it, also equip yourself with Healing Herbs to power it early on and a Heart Container to keep it going.  

As for a subclass, it is the Nocturnal Lock Lifter all the way. It gives you two Vampirism per turn, adding life stealing to your Poison damage, while also turning any weapons you can get close to it into life-stealers. 

Backpack Battles Deck of Cards Builds

Going big on cards is also a fun strategy, although it is quite fiddly due to the nature of the cards needing to trigger each other. Once you have the Deck of Cards, pick up where possible The Fool (placing it first in the line), along with multiple The Lovers (Steal Life and Regeneration), Dragons (damage), Lizards (armor), and some Ace of Spades (generates crits). 

To make the build work you’ll also need some solid weapon damage. The Lightsaber is a great option here as long as you have The Lovers (and some Healing Herbs will help) because it turns Regen into Blindness which can completely shut down an opponent.

More than any other build this one relies on flexibility in your backpack, so you’ll need to be patient and grab as many inventory-building items as possible. Fanny Packs and Stamina Sacks are the best thanks to their buffs to Speed and Stamina respectively. If the deck feels slow, but you’re staying alive, go with Mr. Struggles (deals out Fatigue) as a subclass and back it up with some shields. Otherwise, as long as you’ve picked up some food, I like to go with The Cauldron.

For more on Backpack Battles check out Best Builds Tier List – Backpack Battles here at Pro Game Guides!