Slay the Spire, a strategic roguelike deck-builder, is a challenging game that will have players dying often. Thankfully, it gives players various tools to stave off defeat for as long as possible. The most important of these tools is the relic system, which allows players to customize their deck with up to 139 relics that provide permanent, unique benefits.
The Defect is one of the two characters added post-release, bringing with it a whole new way of playing. This unique play style encourages using a different range of relics than the Ironclad or the Silent, and the 9 Defect-specific relics add entirely new approaches to the game. As such, knowing which relics are worth picking up and which ones you're better off leaving is essential.
10 Mummified Hand
Different classes in Slay the Spire focus on a particular type of cards, and an easy way to boost your deck quickly is to get relics that strengthen or synergize with those cards. The Ironclad has many great Attacks, and the Silent has excellent Skills, but the Defect's focus is on Powers.
Enter the Mummified Hand: an uncommon relic that causes a random card in your hand to cost 0 energy this turn whenever you play a Power card. With the abundance of solid Power cards in the Defect’s card selection, from Defragment and Capacitor to Static Discharge and Buffer, this card will allow players to use many of the Defect’s more expensive cards for free.
9 Gold-Plated Cables
The first Defect-specific relic on this list, Gold-Plated Cables is an uncommon relic that allows your rightmost orb to trigger its passive twice instead of once. This is particularly strong for certain orbs: Lightning and Frost orbs have small, inconsequential passives, so triggering them twice is not particularly beneficial, but Plasma and Dark have much stronger passives that work much better with this relic.
This relic also works fantastically with Loop, a Power card with the same effect as Gold-Plated Cables. Stacking the Cables relic with one or more plays of Loop can build up very quickly for a single explosion of damage later.
8 Bird-Faced Urn
The Bird-Faced Urn is another Power-specific relic. A rare relic, Bird-Faced Urn heals you for 2 HP whenever you play a Power card. With the abundance of strong Power cards available to the Defect, this relic can be used as a reliable base of passive healing to power players through the spire.
There is one card to keep an eye out for when using this relic. An extremely strong Power card, Creative AI adds a random power card to your hand at the start of each turn. Playing this early in combat allows for a constant deluge of some of the Defect’s most valuable cards while also providing considerable healing for the player.
7 Bottled Tornado
Yet another relic that boosts the Defect’s Power cards, the Bottled Tornado relic is the foundation for several deck archetypes in the same way Bottled Lightning is for the Silent. Bottled Tornado is an uncommon relic that, on pickup, allows the player to choose one Power card to appear in the player’s hand at the start of each combat thereafter.
Using this relic to guarantee either Creative AI or Electrodynamics first thing every combat allows decks built around those cards (Power Cycle and Lightning Evoke, respectively) to start off with a bang. This combo works particularly well against many elite enemies and bosses, many of which have a very weak first round, allowing players to use these expensive powers without much risk.
6 Symbiotic Virus
A simple but powerful uncommon Defect relic, the Symbiotic Virus channels 1 Dark orb at the start of combat, acting as a foundation for Dark deck archetypes. Dark decks involve charging one or more Dark orbs before using cards like Dualcast, Multi-Cast, and Recursion to evoke that orb multiple times.
Dark decks can take several turns to get going, especially if the player lacks a source of Dark orbs in the first turn of combat; this relic provides that source. Dark decks also work very well with Gold-Plated Cables, since having the rightmost Dark orb’s passive activate twice can build up damage twice as quickly.
5 Singing Bowl
The Singing Bowl is a relic experienced players will expect to see near the top of every tier list. The Singing Bowl is an uncommon relic that increases the player's maximum health by two upon skipping the chance to add cards to their deck. This can quickly bring the player's health to a level where otherwise worrying damage is superficial.
The Defect starts with 75 HP, so this relic isn’t as crucial for the Defect as it is to the Silent or the Watcher. However, it remains a fantastic relic for any class, especially since it encourages players to carefully consider the cards they want, preventing deck bloat.
4 Inserter
Inserter is a Defect-only boss relic that gives the player an extra orb slot every second turn in combat. While most Defect runs are locked to three orb slots (without the assistance of cards like Capacitor), Inserter allows players to consistently build more slots. This works best in long combats and against bosses, where the player can expect to have upwards of seven or eight orb slots by the end.
This relic works well with Focus decks: players can use Consume (a skill that trades one orb slot for Focus) to farm the orb slots created by Inserter to reach dizzying levels of Focus in lengthy fights.
3 Runic Capacitor
Runic Capacitor is a shop relic that gives players three additional orb slots at the start of each combat. Like the Inserter, this combines well with Consume, and it allows Passive Lightning decks to have half a dozen Lightning orbs activating their passive every turn.
Runic Capacitor is generally better than Inserter because its effects are front loaded: Runic Capacitor does at the beginning of combat what Inserter can only do in six turns. While it is true that Inserter will provide better returns in combats that last eight or more turns, those combats are few and far between enough that Runic Capacitor will outperform it in general in most runs, and is easier for inexperienced players to grasp.
2 Tungsten Rod
Another relic professional slayers will recognize immediately, Tungsten Rod can prevent much damage throughout a run. Tungsten Rod is a rare relic that reduces any unblocked damage the player would receive by 1, which works particularly well against enemies with lots of small attacks (including the final boss).
Already fantastic on its own, this relic has excellent synergy with the Static Discharge Power, which channels one Lightning orb every time the player receives unblocked damage. This combo relies on the Torii relic, which causes any attack dealing 5 or less damage to deal 1 instead. Tungsten Rod activates after Torii, reducing the 1 damage taken to 0, effectively negating any hit that would deal 5 or less damage. Unfortunately, most effects that trigger upon taking damage wouldn’t do so with this combo. Static Discharge, on the other hand, does, which allows players to convert minor incoming damage into outgoing damage without worrying about losing health.
1 Nuclear Battery
Nuclear Battery is arguably the best relic pick for any Defect run. Nuclear Battery is a boss relic that channels one Plasma at the start of combat. Plasma generates 1 Energy passively every turn, or 2 when evoked. This makes Nuclear Battery a constant source of guaranteed Energy in decks that don't involve continuous orb evocation, but it also provides a fantastic jump boost for Orb Evocation decks.
This relic is particularly strong compared to its counterparts. Relics that provide Energy each turn are well-known as powerful, but they all come with a drawback. For example, Busted Crown reduces card reward choices; with Coffee Dripper and Fusion Hammer, players can’t rest or smith; Ectoplasm and Sozu mean players can no longer gain gold or potions; Runic Dome and Velvet Choker make it harder to play effectively; Philosopher’s Stone strengthens enemies. Only Nuclear Battery provides additional Energy each turn at no extra cost, making it a fantastic addition to any Defect deck.
Slay the Spire is available on Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.