Cathy is relatively new to the roster of Eternal Return: Black Survival. However, her strong skill attacks combined with quick reflexes have already made her one of the most popular characters.
This article will discuss her skills, build options, playing guide, duo and squad gameplay options, and her strengths and weaknesses. Let’s start this discussion by exploring the passive, QWER, and weapon skills of Cathy.
Table of Contents
Cathy’s Skills
 | Double Bypass (Q) 50 SP; 12 secs cooldown Cathy dashes to the target, dealing damage. Attacking an enemy in close range deals extra damage and reduces Post-op’s cooldown by 1 second. Damage increases with Critical Strike Damage. If Cathy Severely Wounds an enemy, the cooldown of Double Bypass is reduced. |
 | Amputation (W) 70 SP; 16 secs cooldown Cathy swings her saw in front of her, dealing damage. Enemies hit are slowed for a few seconds. Enemies hit by the outer range take more damage and are grounded for a moment. |
 | Suture (E) 70 SP; 24 secs cooldown Cathy throws her suture thread, dealing to the first enemy hit and rooting them for a few seconds. Threads can pass through and hit another enemy, pulling them together, dealing damage and stunning them for a few seconds. Threads can pass through and hit a wall, pushing the enemy to the wall, dealing damage and stunning them for a few seconds. |
 | Emergency Surgery (R) 120 SP; 120 secs cooldown Passive: If Cathy revives a downed ally, she creates a healing zone, recovering her ally's max HP per second for a few seconds. Cathy charges in the targeted direction, dealing damage based on the enemy's missing HP and causing Severe Wounds. Hitting a Severely Wounded Enemy resets the duration. Allies in range recover HP. Allies with less than 40% HP recover 50% HP. |
 | Under the Knife (Passive) No cost; 20 secs cooldown Under The Knife: When Cathy deals damage to enemies, she wounds them for a few seconds, dealing true damage. Normal attacks apply 1 stack of Wounded and skills apply 2 stacks. Upon reaching 5 stacks, enemies are Severely Wounded and take true damage depending on their max HP. Cathy deals additional critical strike damage to Severely Wounded enemies. Post-op: Hitting enemies with a skill grants her a shield, absorbing damage for a few seconds and increasing her movement speed, decaying after that. Dealing critical hits reduces the cooldown of Post-op by 1 second. |
 | Weapon Skill: Cloak and Dagger (D) No cost; 45 secs cooldown Activating the cloak skill causes you to become transparent and increases your movement speed. The increased movement speed decreases again after some time. If you use a normal attack on the enemy when the dagger effect is activated, you move behind the enemy and deal critical damage, along with a fixed amount of the enemy's current HP as additional damage. |
Under the Knife – Passive
The passive skill of Cathy has two effects. Firstly, she applies a wound on her targets when she damages them. This wound deals damage over time. This wound stacks. Once five stacks are reached, enemies become severely wounded. This deals ticking damage proportional to their max HP, and increases the critical strike damage Cathy deals to them.
And secondly, Cathy gains a defensive shield once she casts her skill attacks. She also gains increased movement speed for a few seconds as an effect of her passive skill. The cooldown time for Cathy’s passive skill is 16-20 seconds, but dealing critical hits reduces this cooldown.
Double Bypass – Q
This skill will allow Cathy to dash towards her opponents and cause damage. She quickly charges in a given direction and wounds her opponents with a blade attack. If you manage to hit your opponents, Cathy’s Q skill’s cooldown will reduce by 80%. The actual cooldown for Cathy’s Q skill is 10-12 seconds, and the SP cost is 50-90.
Amputation – W
Cathy unleashes her saw in a given direction and deals damage to nearby opponents. Besides damage, she also reduces her targets’ movement speeds and grounds them for a few seconds. The cooldown time for this skill attack is 12-16 seconds, and the SP cost is 70-90.
Suture – E
The Suture skill attack is very handy with the rooting effect. Enemies can also be stunned by this skill attack. Cathy throws her Suture thread in a given direction and ties her opponents for a few seconds. The best part is that the directed thread can pass through a target and hit enemies behind the first target. The cooldown for this skill is 16-24 seconds, and the SP cost is 70.
Emergency Surgery – R
The ultimate skill Cathy has two effects. The passive one is ideal for duo or squad games where you can heal your downed ally. The active result of Emergency Surgery is more like a teleporting skill attack. She will pass through her opponents and deal a fair amount of damage. The cooldown time for Cathy’s ultimate skill is 90-150 seconds, which is relatively high; whereas, the SP cost is 120- 150.
Cloak and Dagger – D (Dagger)
This weapon skill will make Cathy invisible for a few seconds. It enables Cathy to become transparent and increase her movement speed for 4 seconds. Besides, this weapon skill also allows a dagger effect in the next Normal attack. The dagger effect will enable Cathy to teleport herself behind enemies and cause critical damage. The cooldown for this skill is 45 seconds.
Skill Leveling Order
Passive> R> Q> W> E
Cathy’s passive skill is strong and convenient, and we recommend you maximize it first. Once you do that, the ultimate skill is our second choice. After that, all the reaming abilities, i.e., Q, W, and E, have equal wattage. You can tweak with this order in the last three skills if you want. This skill order is the same for both the builds we are mentioning below.
Cathy’s Builds
Vibroblade Cathy Build
Cathy build with Vibroblade; Saved Plan ID 331701
This build provides enhanced attack power and effective critical strike damage. Most of the items are well suited for this purpose. All you need to do is to capitalize on the opportunity of finishing your weapon quickly.
The two-zoner weapon build-up option is crucial to this build’s success. Overall, it is an instrumental build designed for different gameplay options. You should surely try out this build and see if it works for you.
Items needed for this build are:
- Weapon: Vibroblade
- Chest: Optical Camouflage Suit
- Head: Motorcycle Helmet
- Arm: Creed of the Knight
- Leg: Bucephalus
- Accessory: Schrodinger’s Box
Desired route for this build:
Chapel> Factory> Cemetery> Hospital> Dock
This build has a five-zoner route. The two-zoner weapon is always a bonus point in the variety of builds. Usually, the Factory zone is a bit competitive, and you may find your rivals in this zone. However, starting from the Chapel zone is always welcoming.
Try to finish the Vibroblade as quickly as possible. You can then be aggressive for the remaining three zones. The first four zones are closer to each other; you would barely take much time to collect all the items required. However, going from the fourth zone to the final is a bit longer if you opt not to take the teleporter. Be careful to run into Jackie or Rozzi in the process, as they may clash with you between Hospital and Dock zones.
Auto-Attack Cathy Build
ENAD build for Cathy; Saved Plan ID 331706
Secondly, you can try this Extra-Normal Attack Damage (ENAD) oriented build with Carnwennan as the primary weapon. Most of the build items will add attack power, attack speed, and ENAD. Overall, it is a suitable option to try this build for solo and team gameplay. You should try this build if you prefer Carnwennan over Vibroblade as your primary weapon choice.
Items needed for this build are:
- Weapon: Carnwennan
- Chest: Crusader Armor
- Head: Crystal Tiara
- Arm: Creed of the Knight
- Leg: Bucephalus
- Accessory: Laced Quiver
Desired route for this build:
Chapel> Cemetery> Hospital> Beach> Dock
Like the first build, this one also has a Chapel zone start, an ideal choice for the slow starters. The first three zones are closer to each other; however, you may have to go a bit further to find items from the final two zones.
Like our first suggested build, this one also has a two-zoner weapon build-up. It will help you to get into a strong position quickly and kill your opponents. A five-zoner build route with only the first two zones to go through for weapon is always a welcoming option, and this build will provide you that option.
How to Play Cathy
The melee assassin is a powerful character with quick skill attacks. Cathy can take on any opponent once she has gained enough items. She is naturally an aggressive player with an offensive skillset. Following skill guides will help you master this character and dominate Lumia Island.
Passive Skill Guide
The passive skill of Cathy is pretty handy. This skill has many uses, as mentioned above. Your strategy should be to wound your opponents with the Normal attacks of Cathy critically. Once you gain the five stacks, enemies will bleed and take severe damage.
Moreover, the defensive shield gained due to the passive skill effects is also strong. It will surely help you when you are fighting against more than one enemy. Using the skills of Cathy will provide you a defensive option with a shield. You can then play aggressively without worrying too much about the offensive attacks of your opponents.
Q Skill Guide
The Double Bypass move is pretty handy to close down gaps between your opponents. It will enable Cathy to reach her opponents quickly and wound them. We recommend to use this skill only when you are sure you will hit your opponent with it. In this way, you would be able to get the reduced cooldown.
Moreover, this skill has an extra effect if you use it for the nearest enemies. However, this skill also has a 3-meter attack range, and you can target your opponents within this range.
W Skill Guide
This cone slash attack of Cathy is ideal for close-range targets. You can use this skill attack to deal damage, slow your opponents, and ground them for 1 second. The grounding effect of the Amputation attack is convenient, and enemies cannot use mobility skills.
The W skill is perfect against players with a dash, like Jackie. Because of the grounding effect, they will not be able to use their skills to jump away from you.
E Skill Guide
This skill is convenient, especially in duo or squad gameplays. You can tie more than one enemy with a single shot if you manage to use the E button accurately.
Try to use this skill near a wall if you are in solo gameplay. In this way, enemies will be stunned, and you can then launch other skill attacks to deal extra damage. The attack range is also good, i.e., 5 meters, so you can target your enemies by standing a bit farther as well.
R skill Guide
The ultimate skill Cathy has multiple uses. You can severely damage your opponents and also heal yourself with this skill attack. Cathy can even pierce through walls with this skill, which is very handy running away from dominating opponents or charging animals.
Cathy’s ultimate skill damage is based on the missing HP of your opponents and causes severe wounds. You can also use this skill attack after the Q skill to reduce Double Bypass’s cooldown time by 80%.
We recommend using this skill attack as your killing blow. Once you are in a fight, use this skill at the end of your attack combos. Once you do that, you will have a fair chance of knocking your opponents down.
Weapon Skill Guide (Dagger)
Cathy barely misses a teleporting skill. This dagger skill will enable her to deal damage as well as run away from her opponents. You can use it both defensively as well as with an offensive mindset.
Teams and Match-ups for Cathy
Cathy’s skills, such as her E and R skills, are convenient for both duo and squad gameplay. It also proves her viability to come to the rescue of her teammates. She can fit with many players. Her aggressive gameplay will surely help players with lesser mobility. Following are some of the suitable options for her duo and squad gameplay.
Duo gameplay
Keeping Cathy’s gameplay nature in mind, we highly recommend you keep either Jackie or Rozzi in your duo team. The dagger weapon of both Jackie and Cathy would keep you and your teammate close to each other. Besides weapon similarity, both players have an aggressive attitude and can tear apart their opponents with ease.
However, Rozzi uses a pistol, and we have recommended the Brazilian mercenary because of her skillsets. She can also unleash long-ranged skill shots with fierce mobility.
Squad gameplay
For squad gameplay options, Cathy can fit with Rozzi, Aya, Magnus, and Jackie. It would help if you keep either Rozzi or Aya, but do not go for them both simultaneously. At the same time, Magnus is a compelling character with defensive skills as well.
This squad composition can win you games against the majority of players. However, it would help if you still were careful against Chiara, Sissela, and Isol. Other than these, you should stand a good chance in most of the squad games.
Cathy’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
- She has a lot of damage in her kit: Cathy has amazing killing potential with the damage-causing kit she has.
- She consumes less SP for most of her attacks: Cathy only needs an SP level between 50 and 150 for all her skill attacks. She doesn’t run out of SP as fast as some other characters
- She is a new character that people need to get used to: You can surprise your opponents by playing Cathy. She is relatively more recent to the game, so most of your competitors do not know Cathy’s tricks and tips.
Weaknesses
- Her killing blows are very reliant on her Ultimate skill attack: Cathy heavily relies on Emergency Surgery, as she deals the most amount of damage with this skill attack.
- Her R skill’s cooldown time is incredibly high: 150 seconds cooldown time is very high; it may feel like ages until you use her Ulti again.
- She has only one weapon to choose from: Cathy can have a dagger weapon for her builds; this results in lesser build variety.