Slay the Spire 2 Tier List – Best Characters & Relics [Early Access]

Updated on March 9, 2026: Slay the Spire 2 launched on Steam Early Access on March 5, 2026, and we're already deep into figuring out the best decks. This Slay the Spire 2 tier list covers all five characters, the best universal and character-specific relics, and top cards per class based on current Early Access data. Rankings will be updated as Mega Crit patches the game.

Slay the Spire 2 is finally here, and if you've already been crushed by a random Act 1 elite you were absolutely confident you could handle, you're in good company. Mega Crit's sequel to the genre-defining roguelike deckbuilder brings back three beloved characters alongside two completely new ones. Ranking them, along with the hundreds of relics and cards you'll draft across each run, is no small task four days into Early Access. Still, here's my Slay the Spire 2 tier list for characters and relics, based on everything the community and I have learned since launch.

IMPORTANT NOTE: STS2 is in active Early Access development. The meta is still being discovered, and Mega Crit is pushing patches frequently. These rankings reflect the current state of the game, not a final verdict. A character or relic that looks dominant today may be nerfed (or buffed into relevance) by the time you read this. As always, all five characters can clear runs with the right draft. This tier list is about consistency and power ceiling, not what's possible in a perfect run.

Slay the Spire 2 Characters Tier List

Slay the Spire 2 launches with five playable characters: returning veterans The Ironclad, The Silent, and The Defect (all significantly reworked from the original), plus two brand-new additions, The Regent and The Necrobinder. Here's how they stack up in the current Early Access meta:

⇓ META CHARACTERS ⇓

S

The Silent

The Regent

⇓ VERY GOOD CHARACTERS ⇓

A

The Necrobinder

The Ironclad

⇓ DECENT CHARACTERS ⇓

B

The Defect

Slay the Spire 2 Character Overview & Starting Stats

Before we break each one down, here's a quick reference for characters' key stats and starting relics:

Character	Starter Relic & Signature Mechanics
Ironclad 80 HP	Starting Relic Burning Blood — Heal 6 HP at the end of combat. Signature Mechanics Strength Scaling Exhaust Synergies Self-Damage
The Silent 70 HP	Starting Relic Ring of the Snake — Draw 2 extra cards at start of combat. Signature Mechanics Sly (Auto-Play) Poison Shiv Spam
Defect 75 HP	Starting Relic Cracked Core — Channel 1 Lightning at combat start. Signature Mechanics Orbs & Focus Evoke Action Economy
Necrobinder 66 HP	Starting Relic Bound Phylactery — Summon 1 at start of turn. Signature Mechanics Osty Companion Doom Execution Soul Collection
Regent 75 HP	Starting Relic Divine Right — Gain 3 Stars at combat start. Signature Mechanics Stars (2nd Energy Pool) Forge Buffs Minion Management

S Tier: The Best Characters in Slay the Spire 2

The Regent

How to unlock: Play a run as The Silent.

The Regent is the star of the Early Access meta, pun absolutely intended. This arrogant alien royal operates on two energy pools: your standard energy and a secondary resource called Stars, which accumulate across turns and don't reset between fights. Stars are entirely separate from your normal energy economy, which means a well-built Regent deck can generate devastating turns that wouldn't be possible for any other character.

The key is patience. Act 1 with the Regent can feel awkward as you build up your Stars and figure out your deck direction. But once you commit to a scaling plan, especially around Star-spending attacks, the Regent snowballs harder than anyone else in the current meta. His starting relic, Divine Right, gives you 3 Stars at the start of every combat, which means you're never fully starting from zero.

The community has been particularly vocal about the card Bombardment in its upgraded form, which can deal massive damage for essentially free on turns where you're stockpiling Stars. The Regent also has solid survivability at 75 HP, making Act 1 more forgiving than his learning curve suggests.

Best for: Experienced players who enjoy resource management and patient, snowballing playstyles. The Regent has the highest power ceiling in the current build.

The Silent

How to unlock: Play a run as The Ironclad.

The Silent remains a masterpiece of game design, and STS2 has only made her more dangerous. She's been rebuilt around the brand-new Sly keyword, a mechanic that automatically plays a card for free the moment it's discarded from your hand. When paired with her exceptional card draw and discard synergies, this turns the Silent into an engine that can cycle through her entire deck in a single turn.

Her two strongest archetypes in Early Access are Shiv spam (stacking Shivs via cards like Blade Dance and Hidden Daggers, then buffing them with Accuracy and Helical Dart relic) and Poison stacking (applying massive Poison through Twisted Funnel). Both can go completely off the rails in a good run, and the new Sly keyword opens up a third avenue via discard-payoff builds centered on Master Planner.

Her main downside is her low 70 HP, which has no built-in healing. Mistakes in combat compound quickly, so Silent rewards players who can read fights accurately. But with a well-constructed deck, her late-game damage ceiling is virtually limitless.

Best for: Players who enjoy combo-oriented, high-skill playstyles with multiple viable build paths. The Silent may be the single highest skill-ceiling character in the game.

A Tier: Strong, Reliable Picks

The Ironclad

How to unlock: Available by default. The Ironclad is the first character you play as in Slay the Spire 2 and requires no unlocking.

The Ironclad is where most players will, and arguably should, start their STS2 journey. He's the first character you unlock, the most forgiving in the game, and still a genuinely strong pick even in experienced hands. His Burning Blood starting relic heals 6 HP at the end of every combat, which means bad early drafts and misplays are punished far less severely than they would be with any other character.

His two primary archetypes both hold up well: Strength scaling (stacking Strength through Inflame and later Demon Form, then cashing in with multi-hit attacks) and Exhaust synergies (stripping the deck down with exhaust effects, triggering Charon's Ashes for passive AoE damage or similar relics). Neither requires you to hit a perfect draft to function, which is exactly why the Ironclad is the most consistent character across bad runs as well as good ones.

He sits in A-Tier rather than S-Tier simply because his damage ceiling is slightly lower than the Regent's and Silent's once those characters get rolling. He won't set speed records, but he'll finish runs when other characters would have died in Act 2. Too bad that the Dead Branch Relic is in the sequel.

Best for: Beginners and players who want a safety net while learning the new STS2 systems. Also a solid pick for consistent, no-nonsense climbing.

The Necrobinder

How to unlock: Play a run as The Regent.

The Necrobinder is the most unique character in STS2 and probably the most entertaining to play once you understand how it works. The class starts every combat with a summoned companion named Osty, a rather large undead hand, who begins each fight at 1 HP and gains 1 HP per turn. Osty absorbs incoming damage on the Necrobinder's behalf, protecting her fragile 66 HP base, but he will die if the Necrobinder doesn't generate enough Block to cover him. Keeping Osty alive is key: with the right cards, he can be buffed into a genuine offensive threat, dealing damage equal to his current HP.

The Necrobinder also deals in Doom, a debuff that executes enemies when their remaining HP drops below the total Doom stacks applied. Combined with her Soul economy (which essentially reduces card costs), she can build decks that cycle quickly and finish fights through execution rather than attrition.

The catch is her low HP. At 66, the lowest base health in the game, the Necrobinder is the least forgiving character in the current build. Positioning mistakes and poor threat assessment can be fatal very quickly. That said, experienced players are finding she has an extremely high ceiling, possibly comparable to the Silent in optimal conditions.

Best for: Players who enjoy companion-based mechanics, execution builds, and learning complex systems. A rewarding but punishing pick.

Note on tier placement: A significant portion of the community rates the Necrobinder as S-tier alongside the Regent, citing her Doom execution ceiling and Osty scaling potential as comparable to the highest-output builds in the game. We've placed her in A-tier for now due to the 66 HP floor making her run consistency lower than the Regent across typical drafts, but if you're comfortable managing Osty's HP, her ceiling absolutely justifies an S-tier argument.

B Tier: Draft-Dependent Picks

The Defect

How to unlock: Play a run as The Necrobinder.

The Defect returns from the original game with reworked Orb mechanics and a new Orb type alongside the returning Lightning, Frost, and Dark variants. He's still built around channeling Orbs for passive effects (Lightning for damage, Frost for Block, Dark for scaling execute damage) and using the Evoke mechanic to consume Orbs for amplified burst effects, with Focus improving the passive triggers of every active Orb.

The problem in the current Early Access meta is consistency. The Defect is the most RNG-dependent character in the roster: if the card rewards hand you strong Evoke options and Focus generators, he can absolutely demolish the Spire. If they don't, and early runs often don't, you're a fragile machine waiting to be ground down in Act 2. His best relics, Data Disk (start with 1 Focus) and Runic Capacitor (3 extra Orb slots), are transformative when you find them, but you can't count on them.

The Defect is by no means a bad character, and he's capable of producing some of the most spectacular runs in STS2. He just requires the most deck-building precision and the most favorable card rewards of any character, which makes him harder to recommend for climbing consistently in Early Access.

Best for: Veteran STS players who enjoy puzzle-solving and pushing creative builds to their limits. Not recommended for beginners.

Best Relics in Slay the Spire 2

With over 250 relics in the current Early Access build, spanning Starter, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Shop, Ancient, and Event rarities, picking the right ones can make or break a run. Below, I've broken down the universal top picks you should prioritize regardless of character, followed by the standout character-specific relics for each class.

Note on the Durability mechanic: Several relics in STS2 now have limited uses per combat (Durability), meaning they can't fire indefinitely in a single fight. Always factor this in when evaluating relics that look powerful on paper. A relic with 1 or 2 Durability may do much less work against a boss than it did against hallway enemies.

Note on Wax Relics: STS2 introduces a new type of temporary relic called Wax Relics, obtained through specific Ancient relic pickups. They function like normal relics but degrade over time: every 3 combats, the leftmost Wax Relic melts away permanently. They can provide real value early in a run, but don't build your deck around synergies that depend on them lasting forever.

Best Universal Relics (Any Character)

These relics are strong picks regardless of your character or deck direction. When you see them, you should be taking them almost every time:

Relic	Evaluation
Ice Cream Rare	Unspent energy carries over to the next turn. One of the most powerful relics in the game, enabling huge combo turns and forgiving misplays in energy-tight fights.
Mummified Hand Rare	Whenever you play a Power card, a random card in your hand costs 0 that turn. Makes Power-heavy builds dramatically more explosive.
Anchor Common	Start each combat with 10 Block. A deceptively strong universal defensive relic that smooths out early turns across every character.
Bag of Preparation Common	Draw 2 additional cards at the start of each combat. Increases opening hand consistency. It's almost always good regardless of archetype.
Ornamental Fan Uncommon	After playing 3 Attacks in a turn, gain 4 Block. Rewards attack-heavy turns with passive defense, and most decks naturally trigger it.
Membership Card Shop	Shop items cost 50% less. One of the best shop relics in the game. Buying it early pays for itself in gold savings multiple times over.
Gambling Chip Rare	At the start of each combat, discard any number of cards then draw that many. Effectively gives you a free mulligan every fight. It's one of the most consistently powerful relics in the game, regardless of character or archetype, because a bad opening hand is often all that separates a clean fight from a messy one.

Relics to avoid: Not every relic that sounds powerful is worth picking up. Velvet Choker caps you at 6 card plays per turn, which can completely brick combo-heavy decks. Brimstone is only safe if you can reliably end fights before the enemy Strength spiral gets out of hand (skip it entirely on Necrobinder). Calling Bell gives you a unique Curse alongside 3 relics. Only worth picking if you have a curse-synergy deck. When in doubt, a bad relic is worse than no relic.

The Ironclad Best Relics

Relic	Evaluation
Demon Tongue Rare	Tier: S – The first time you lose HP on your turn, heal HP equal to the amount lost. Synergizes perfectly with Ironclad's self-damage cards (Hemokinesis, Breakthrough), turning a weakness into a healing engine.
Self-Forming Clay Uncommon	Tier: S – Whenever you lose HP in combat, gain 3 Block next turn. Ironclad's self-damage playstyle makes this excellent. Every HP loss becomes a defensive buffer.
Ruined Helmet Rare	Tier: A – The first time you gain Strength each combat, double the amount gained. Multiplicatively strong with Inflame and the Strength-scaling archetype.
Charon's Ashes Rare	Tier: B – Whenever you Exhaust a card, deal 3 damage to all enemies. Defines the Exhaust build archetype and turns deck-thinning into a legitimate damage source.
Paper Phrog Uncommon	Tier: B – Enemies with Vulnerable take 75% more damage instead of 50%. A significant damage multiplier if you're consistently applying Vulnerable through Uppercut or Taunt.

The Silent Best Relics

Relic	Evaluation
Tingsha Uncommon	Tier: EX – Whenever you discard a card during your turn, deal 3 damage to a random enemy per card discarded. In a discard-heavy Silent deck, this is one of the most broken relics in Early Access. It turns every discard into a damage proc.
Tough Bandages Rare	Tier: EX – Whenever you discard a card during your turn, gain 3 Block. Pairs with Tingsha to make discard builds essentially unkillable while also dealing damage.
Helical Dart Rare	Tier: S – Whenever you play a Shiv, gain 1 Dexterity this turn. Stacks rapidly in Shiv-spam decks and turns Blade Dance and Hidden Daggers into defensive powerhouses.
Snecko Skull Common	Tier: A – Whenever you apply Poison, apply 1 additional Poison. Straightforward Poison amplifier that doubles your Poison stacking rate effectively.
Twisted Funnel Uncommon	Tier: B – Apply 4 Poison to all enemies at the start of each combat. Free Poison before you even play a card. Excellent in Poison builds, mediocre otherwise.

The Defect Best Relics

Relic	Evaluation
Data Disk Common	Tier: S – Start each combat with 1 Focus. Passively improves every Orb's trigger value without requiring any setup. Arguably the Defect's single most impactful relic.
Runic Capacitor Shop	Tier: S – Start each combat with 3 additional Orb slots. More Orbs means more passive triggers per turn and dramatically widens the Defect's action economy.
Metronome Rare	Tier: A – The first time you Channel 7 Orbs in a combat, deal 30 damage to all enemies. A milestone bonus that rewards the Orb-heavy playstyle and can swing boss fights.
Symbiotic Virus Uncommon	Tier: A – Start each combat by channeling 1 Dark. Free Dark Orb every fight. Dark scales its execute damage with each trigger, so a free starting Orb compounds throughout long fights.
Gold-Plated Cables Uncommon	Tier: B – Your rightmost Orb triggers its passive an additional time. Doubles the value of whichever Orb is in your rightmost slot. Position your strongest Orb type accordingly.

Note: Character-specific relics for The Regent and The Necrobinder are still being fully catalogued by the community as of Early Access launch week. We will update this section with complete rankings for both characters as data becomes available.

All Shop Relics Tier List in Slay the Spire 2

Shop relics are the only relics you can reliably plan for. You know a shop is coming, and you know you'll have gold to spend. That makes evaluating them differently from combat drops important: a shop relic needs to justify its gold cost in addition to being strong in a vacuum. Some are universally worth buying the moment you see them; others only make sense if your deck is already pointing in a specific direction. Here's how every current shop relic ranks.

S Tier Shop Relics

These are near-auto-buys regardless of deck archetype. The gold cost pays off across the rest of the run, often multiple times over.

Relic	Description	Pros & Cons
Membership Card	50% discount on all shop products.	Pays for itself the moment you buy another item in the same shop. Makes previously unaffordable relics and card removals accessible. Costs gold upfront, so timing matters. Don't buy it on your last shop visit.
Orrery	Upon pickup, gain 5 card rewards to choose from.	Massive immediate deck building power spike. Five free card picks is enormous. Works equally well for any character and any archetype. High gold cost; weaker if your deck already has direction.
Ringing Triangle	Retain your entire hand on the first turn of combat.	Lets you plan around your exact opening hand every fight and eliminates bad-hand variance. Especially strong for bosses where knowing your first turn in advance is huge. No ongoing effect past the first turn; weaker for fast-cycling decks.
Runic Capacitor	Start each combat with 3 additional Orb slots. (Defect only)	Dramatically increases Defect's passive damage and Block output per turn. One of the core relics that makes Defect a competitive pick in Early Access. Effectively dead for every other character; only buy as Defect.

A Tier Shop Relics

Strong pickups that provide sustained value across a run, though some require your deck to be pointing in a specific direction to get full mileage.

Relic	Description	Pros & Cons
Chemical X	The effects of your X-cost cards are increased by 2.	Turns already strong X-cost cards like Whirlwind into run-winners. Passive buff with no ongoing cost. Completely dead if your deck has no X-cost cards; check before buying.
Miniature Tent	You may choose any number of options at Rest Sites.	Unlocks healing, upgrading, card removal, and relic digging all at the same rest stop. Incredible flexibility for runs where you need everything at once. No immediate impact on combat; purely a planning tool.
Dolly's Mirror	Upon pickup, obtain an additional copy of a card in your Deck.	Doubles your best combo piece or run-defining card immediately. Works best with powerful rares or your key build enabler. Value is tied to having a card worth copying; mediocre in unfocused decks.
Dragon Fruit	Whenever you gain Gold, raise your Max HP by 1.	Scales HP passively throughout the run; can add 15-30+ Max HP in gold-heavy routes. Especially powerful early in the run where more gold events are ahead. Weaker if purchased late; diminishing returns as fewer gold sources remain.
Gnarled Hammer	Upon pickup, Enchant up to 3 Attacks with Sharp 3 (+3 damage permanently).	Immediate damage boost to three attacks at no energy cost ever again. Works best with attacks you play every turn. One-time pickup effect; doesn't scale with future additions.
Lava Lamp	At the end of combat, Upgrade all card rewards if you took no damage.	Upgraded card rewards are significantly stronger than base versions. Incentivizes a defensive playstyle that many decks want to pursue anyway. Requires no-damage clears, which is impossible in many elite and boss fights.
The Abacus	Whenever you shuffle your Draw Pile, gain 6 Block.	Free Block every cycle with zero card investment. It adds up across long fights. Particularly strong in thin decks that shuffle more frequently. Nearly useless in large, slow-cycling decks that rarely reshuffle.
Brimstone	At the start of your turn, gain 2 Strength. ALL enemies also gain 1 Strength.	Two free Strength every turn is enormous scaling for Strength builds. Enemies getting stronger every turn is a real cost; fights get lethal fast. Avoid entirely on fragile characters like Necrobinder.

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B Tier Shop Relics

Situationally useful relics that can be excellent in the right deck but don't belong in every shopping cart. Evaluate these based on your current build direction.

Relic	Description	Pros & Cons
Burning Sticks	The first time each combat you Exhaust a Skill, add a copy of it to your Hand.	Strong in Exhaust-heavy Ironclad builds; recovers your best Skill for free once per fight. Works well with high-value Skills like Inflame or Taunt. Only triggers once per combat; weak if you rarely exhaust Skills.
Kifuda	Upon pickup, Enchant up to 3 cards with Adroit (draw an extra card when played).	Free card draw on three cards permanently boosts deck cycling rate. Apply to your most-played cards for maximum value. One-time effect; doesn't scale with future deck additions.
Royal Stamp	Upon pickup, Enchant one Attack or Skill in your Deck with Royally Approved.	Permanently enhances one key combo piece or high-impact card. Single-target effect; impact depends entirely on the card and enchant choice.
Lee's Waffle	Upon pickup, raise your Max HP by 7 and heal to full HP.	Full heal on pickup makes it a lifesaver when running low mid-run. Max HP bonus provides permanent value. Weak proactively if already at full HP; mostly emergency value.
Cauldron	Upon pickup, brew 5 random potions.	Five potions provide a massive immediate resource burst for tough fights. Potions are random, potentially resulting in low-value options. One-time pickup effect with no ongoing benefits.
Ghost Seed	Strikes and Defends gain Ethereal (disappear after being drawn if not played).	Effectively thins your deck of starter cards without using a removal slot. Free deck quality improvement over time. Starter cards occasionally have value; losing them can hurt in short fights.
Sling of Courage	Start each Elite combat with 2 Strength.	Free Strength in Elite fights where you need it most. Stacks with other Strength sources for massive scaling. Only applies to Elite combats, not bosses or regular hallway fights.
Ninja Scroll	At the start of each combat, add 3 Shivs into your Hand.	Excellent synergy with Helical Dart for dedicated Silent Shiv builds. Entirely useless for every character except The Silent.
Wing Charm	A random card in each card reward is Enchanted with Swift 1 (costs 1 less Energy once).	Free enchant on one card every reward; slow but consistent value. Random targeting; Swift 1 is a mild enchant with gradual impact.
Punch Dagger	Upon pickup, Enchant one Attack in your Deck with Momentum 5.	Momentum 5 builds power on a key Attack every time it's played. Single card enchant; effect is narrow but strong with the right target.
Mystic Lighter	Enchanted Attacks deal 9 additional damage.	Huge damage bonus if your deck has multiple Enchanted Attacks. Completely dead without Enchanted Attacks; always check your deck before buying.

C Tier Shop Relics

These relics have narrow use cases, high conditional requirements, or are so character-specific that they're only worth considering in very specific run states.

Relic	Description	Pro / Con
Bread	Lose 2 Energy on your first turn. Gain 1 Colorless Energy at the start of all other turns.	Technically a net positive in long combats (profit from turn 4 onwards). First turn Energy loss can be fatal in critical fights where setup is everything. Unpredictable value makes it a very risky purchase.
Belt Buckle	While you have no potions, you have 2 additional Dexterity.	Free Dexterity is highly valuable for defensive scaling, especially for Silent. Bonus disappears immediately the moment you pick up or brew any potion. Requires actively avoiding a core game mechanic (potions) to maintain.
Screaming Flagon	If you end your turn with no cards in your Hand, deal 20 damage to ALL enemies.	20 AoE damage is a massive free proc if you can trigger it consistently. Playing your entire hand every turn is difficult for most non-exhaust decks. Unreliable trigger condition makes it hard to build a strategy around.
Dingy Rug	Card rewards can now contain Colorless cards.	Access to run-defining Colorless cards like Apparition or Bi-Modal Bomb. Value is entirely dependent on RNG; you might never see the card you need. Dilutes card reward pools if you already have a focused character build.
Toolbox	At the start of each combat, add 1 of 3 random Colorless cards into your Hand.	Consistent utility access every fight (Discover mechanic). Randomly generated cards may not be relevant to your specific situation. Takes up hand space on Turn 1, which is often your most crowded turn.
Undying Sigil	Enemies with at least as much Doom as HP deal 50% less damage.	Effectively halves incoming damage—massive survivability for Necrobinder. Zero value for other characters; strictly a Necrobinder-specific buy. Requires substantial Doom setup before the defensive benefit kicks in.
Vitruvian Minion	Cards containing "Minion" deal double damage and gain double Block.	Doubles the power of the Regent’s core mechanic; essential for Forge builds. Completely useless for characters other than The Regent. Only scales with specific "Minion" cards, making it narrow in utility.

Best Cards in Slay the Spire 2 by Character

With 101+ cards in the current build and more coming throughout Early Access, a comprehensive card tier list is a living document. Here are the top cards for each character based on the current meta, organized by tier. Cards marked as Run-Shaping are the ones you build around; Premium picks are strong additions to almost any deck of that character. The Defect's card pool has the least community consensus at this stage due to its RNG-dependent nature, so its section has been omitted until the meta stabilizes.

The Ironclad – Best Cards

Run-Shaping (S Tier):

• Headbutt (Common, 1 Energy): Deal 9 damage and put a card from your Discard Pile on top of your Draw Pile. Fixes draw quality and lets you replay your key card for the fight. It's one of the best tempo cards in the Ironclad's deck.
• Grapple (Uncommon, 1 Energy): Deal 7 damage; whenever you gain Block this turn, deal 5 damage to the enemy. A hybrid card that rewards block-heavy turns with additional damage pressure.

Premium (A Tier):

• Uppercut (Uncommon, 2 Energy): Deal 13 damage, apply 1 Weak and 1 Vulnerable. One of the cleanest tempo swings available: it debuffs enemies while dealing solid damage.
• Inflame (Uncommon, 1 Energy): Gain 2 Strength. The foundation of the Strength-scaling archetype. Take it early; it gets better as you stack more of them.
• Breakthrough (Common, 1 Energy): Lose 1 HP, deal 9 damage to ALL enemies. Exceptional AoE for one energy, and the 1 HP cost is effectively nothing for Ironclad's HP pool.
• Taunt (Uncommon, 1 Energy): Gain 7 Block, apply 1 Vulnerable to all enemies. A two-way card that defends and sets up damage simultaneously. Extremely valuable in multi-enemy fights.
• Ashen Strike (Uncommon, 1 Energy): Deal 6 damage plus 3 additional damage per card in your Exhaust Pile. Gets stronger as the run progresses. The finisher the Exhaust build wants.

The Silent – Best Cards

Run-Shaping (S Tier):

• Well-Laid Plans (Uncommon, 1 Energy): At the end of your turn, Retain up to 1 card. Locks in your best answer for the next turn. Essential for control-oriented Silent builds.
• Hidden Daggers (Uncommon, 0 Energy): Discard 2 cards, add 2 Shivs to your Hand. Free discard trigger with immediate Shiv volume. Defines the discard + Shiv shell on its own.
• Master Planner (Rare, 2 Energy): When you play a Skill, it gains Sly. The ceiling on this card is absurd. It turns your entire Skill package into an engine that plays itself. If you find this card, build your deck around it.

Premium (A Tier):

• Anticipate (Common, 0 Energy): Gain 3 Dexterity this turn. A free defensive spike that swings elite turns, especially in fast-cycling decks.
• Reflex (Uncommon, 3 Energy): Sly: Draw 2 cards. Playing it from discard via Sly gives you two free cards. A powerful draw engine that improves the discard loop dramatically.
• Dagger Throw (Common, 1 Energy): Deal 9 damage, draw 1 card, discard 1 card. Damage, draw, and a discard trigger in one clean package.
• Blade Dance (Common, 1 Energy): Add 3 Shivs to your Hand, then Exhaust. One of the easiest ways to create a lethal turn in a Shiv build.
• Flick-Flack (Common, 1 Energy): Sly: Deal 7 damage to ALL enemies. A Sly-triggered AoE that rewards discarding it, exactly the kind of payoff a discard build wants on every cycle.

The Necrobinder – Best Cards

Run-Shaping (S Tier):

• Doom application cards: Cards that apply Doom to multiple enemies simultaneously are the Necrobinder's primary win condition. The Doom execution threshold mechanic scales with Doom stacks, making cards that apply Doom in bulk the core of any offensive build.
• Osty-buffing cards: Cards that increase Osty's HP or damage output turn the companion from a simple damage sponge into a genuine offensive threat. The card that deals damage equal to Osty's current HP is particularly powerful, since keeping Osty healthy is the same as building a damage multiplier.

Premium (A Tier):

• 0-cost cards: The Necrobinder has a notably high density of 0-cost cards in her pool, which chain together efficiently and stretch her limited Summon economy. Prioritizing 0-cost pickups allows her to act multiple times per turn even when Souls are low.
• Soul-reducing cards: Cards that reduce their cost to 0 after playing another Hand card compound her action economy dramatically. These are key bridges between setup turns and lethal turns.

The Regent – Best Cards

Run-Shaping (S Tier):

• Stars-spending attacks: The Regent's power comes from converting accumulated Stars into massive damage. Cards that spend Stars for disproportionate damage output, especially those that refund Stars on kill, are the core of the highest-damage Regent builds.
• Bombardment (Upgraded): Community consensus is that Bombardment, in its upgraded form, is among the strongest individual cards in the current Early Access build for any character. Its combination of damage output and Stars' efficiency makes it a run-defining pick.

Premium (A Tier):

• Star-generating cards: Cards that generate additional Stars each turn supplement the starting relic's 3-Star grant and accelerate the Regent's snowball curve. Look for these aggressively in Act 1.
• Minion-creating cards (Forge): The Regent can transform cards in his deck into Minions, which fight alongside him. Well-built Forge archetypes can create powerful board states, though they require more specific drafting than the Stars-spending build.

Note: Detailed individual card rankings for The Defect are actively being developed as the community accumulates more run data. We will update with specific card names and effects as information becomes confirmed.

Slay the Spire 2 FAQs

With that said, our Slay the Spire 2 Tier List is complete! Thanks for reading, and make sure to come back soon, as we will update the guide regularly as the meta evolves and the developers continue updating the game with new balance patches. And while you are here, check out our Vampire Crawlers Evolutions Guide.