Dracul’s Grasp is a pair of Vampirebone Gloves, useful in PvM (Players vs Monsters) due to its high Life Leech and chance of inflicting Open Wounds, but its primary and best use comes in the realm of PvP (Players vs. Players) gameplay, due to the Life Tap trigger.
Defense: 125-145
Minimum Strength: 50
Level Requirement: 76
+90-120% Enhanced Defense (varies)
+10-15 To Strength (varies)
+5-10 Life After Each Kill (varies)
25% Chance of Open Wounds
7-10% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies)
5% Chance to Cast Level 10 Life Tap on Striking
+10-15 To Strength (varies)
Dracul’s Grasp doesn’t require high Strength to equip, but other equipment that you’ve had your eye on might. This mod helps you to meet the high Strength requirement on other items so that you character can successful equip them.
+5-10 Life After Each Kill (varies)
This mod doesn’t benefit PvP play since it’s unlikely you’ll be killing 10 players within a few seconds.
Very useful for PvM (Players vs. Monsters), especially by characters who can kill a lot of weaker monsters in a very short period of time; the best candidates would be Paladins who used Blessed Hammer as their primary attacking Skill, also commonly referred to as Hammerdins.
25% Chance of Open Wounds
Open Wounds is a type of physical damage that results in a steady loss of hit points, similar to Poison. However, Open Wounds stacks with Poison, so both of these mods can drain life from a target at the same time. The steady loss of hit points caused by Open Wounds lasts for 8 seconds. Just like Poison, targets inflicted with Open Wounds will not regenerate Life.
Open Wounds is less effective against champions and unique monsters, where the potential damage loss is halved.
7-10% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies)
Life leech doesn’t work in PvP (see below), but it works very well in the normal PvM game, even factoring in the reduced returns on Hell Difficulty.
5% Chance to Cast Level 10 Life Tap on Striking
This mod makes Dracul’s Grasp attractive for those who engage in PvP.
Life Tap is one of the Necromancer’s Curses. When cast on a target, any attacker who attacks the target gets healed 50% of the damage suffered by the victim. A Level 10 Life Tap last for 25.6 seconds.
This is important because in the current Diablo 2 game, Life Leech from items does not work in PvP. You have to cast Life Tap on the target and heal by consistently inflicting damage on your poor victim.
With a 5% Chance to cast on Striking, players who use melee characters in PvP will need a lot of IAS (Increased Attack Speed) on their items; the quicker they can hit their opponents, the more strikes they can get in, and the more strikes they can get in, the more chances Life Tap have on triggering.
Summary:
Dracul’s Grasp is a nice pair of gloves to have if you’re playing PvM, but they are absolutely essential for PvP as there are very few items that trigger Life Tap on Striking, and Life Tap it is the only way you can siphon health from your opponent in PvP.
