Ranking EVERY Relic in Slay the Spire! (Tier List)

[@Baalorlord]

What's your all-time favorite relic? Comment below!

[@neilmalhotra5724]

So hard to choose. Getting tough bandages early and building around it is unbeatable.

[@neilmalhotra5724]

Also Talk to the Hand is very good with Bottled Flame

[@lincolnmiller4757]

I don't know which is my top pick, but some of my favorites are the Golden Idol, Unceasing Top, and Mummified Hand.

[@abyssalAnalyst]

My favourite one is Nilry`s Codex, for the sake of fun this relic provides. It just adds more depth into each turn you make, along with incredible value. Sometimes your deck needs more defense and you get this with Nilry, sometimes it neeeds more card draw or damage output and you get it. Nilry`s Code is awesome, I love it.

[@paloompaloom]

Mummy Hand is up there. Also really enjoy everytime i get Tough Bandages on Silent.

[@zamplify]

Best thing I can say for The Boot is that it still does 5 damage when the enemy is Intangible and I enjoy that.

[@atpsoldat6108]

There's literally only one enemy that goes Intangible.

[@HiddenOcelot]

@@atpsoldat6108 tbh if you're black star building and you get the boot that's a garunteed easier fight in act three against one of the harder to fight elites.

[@ShrekPNG]

Also helps with birds

[@Briman13]

Good, Nemesis is a prick

[@TheBig5856]

And 1 extra damage for un-accuracied shivs

[@elim9054]

My favorite non-boss relic to see is the shuriken or kunai. It doesn't always pop off if I don't have a million shivs, but getting that little stackable bonus for doing stuff I'd do anyway really activates the dopamine transmitters

[@blueangels111]

Even just kunai at least is so insane for scaling. My first good scaling buid was with kunai, because for longer fights, you start to gain more and more dex. Especially when you get calipers or a lot of blur. They are so stupidly strong

[@morganpriest7726]

Getting either on a shiv build is always a good time

[@martymcfly88mph35]

Based

[@mgarcar1255]

Mummified Hand is my personal favorite. It is fun on most characters, but defect is one of my favorites, and it can get nutty with heat sinks.

[@Krossfyre]

Definitely one of my favourite relics too. I consider it to be an energy relic, and probably the best. Almost S tier, if only you were likely to pick up a few more powers it'd be straight S tier. On Defect it's definitely S tier though.

[@florianfanderl6674]

That's so much funny. Just spamming Powers in combination with Storm ⛈❤

[@antondovydaitis2261]

I agree. I also really enjoy Runic Pyramid.

[@kentfurst8291]

Only problem with Mummified Hand is that if you get it in Act 1 or 2, it increases your chances of getting Awakened One as the Act 3 boss by approximately 10,000% (in my personal experience).

[@Hyperfoxeye]

@@kentfurst8291 even the awakened one cant handle a mummified hand defect just loaded on powers

[@TheMrSnuSnu]

Evaluating the poop relic with how it's acquired (same logic as bloom or circlet) I think it should be moved from D to at least C, curse removal is almost always correct (unless you have a weird Du-vu build going)

[@koalteufel7947]

Tungsten Rod has saved me more times that I'd care to admit, it is without a doubt my favorite relic. Unceasing Top also gets an honorary mention.

[@Goreblender]

I think chemical X might be my favorite relic. Turning the X cost cards into capable giant effects for 0 mana gives so much flexibility. it is especially awesome on defect

[@mikkosorsa5305]

One of my personal favorites as well

[@Ssure2]

I like the X-cost card mechanic and chemical X as well, it's just really sad that the game only has 10 X-cost cards total. Doesn't feel like it's worth it to get chemical X for that

[@VitaEmerald324]

Chemical X is best on Silent and Defect as they each have 3 X-cost cards.

[@ericd1022]

Would be good with the Flex + Whirlwind strat on ironclad

[@lovelyfma]

i think i really like how seriously you take the rarity of each item. it helps when judging like standard runs rather then being kinda exclusive to 'the dream run's

[@cr0mag732]

Medkit is an absolute beast of a relic on ironclad, feel no pain, dark embrace and power through combo is incredibly powerful

[@WetBoy]

Dag gon you right

[@LindyKnight]

Really

[@Rokkedahl]

medkit is S tier for me, or ATLEAST A. Playing status cards is always great, and as you say, bonkers on ironclad

[@davidbaierl5531]

One of my favorites is the membership card, because then I get even more relics :)

[@briancooley8777]

Same. I like to do what I call “Jew runs” where I maximize my gold spending and ALWAYS take the ? Rooms where there is gold to be gotten! It’s actually pretty fun challenge because you have to be ready to play around the downsides.

[@turbomeows]

@@briancooley8777 yikes

[@mishaf19]

@@briancooley8777 that, is nazism on a slay the spire video. Wow.

[@metinaydogdu2616]

​@@turbomeows I believe it starts with K

[@johnjoeson3115]

Brimstone: "Comes with a big-ass downside" Does not get more accurate than that.

[@trutty]

im just now getting really getting into spire, and your video catalog is a big reason why i really enjoy this game. this game is so addicting the more i start to understand it, and every time i get a chunk of knowledge from your channel im immediately chomping at the bit to apply it to a run of my own.

[@Amateur2CombaT]

My favorite is probably Toxic egg cause I love having upgraded cards and most decks end up with more skills than powers and attacks. Also big fan of chemical X even tho it s more difficult to make it work , thanks for the video Baalor !

[@Krossfyre]

Personally I'd put Nilry's Codex in S tier. It's a bit inconsistent, but it provides great scaling and crucial cards, to the point I find it can carry entire runs, especially on Silent. I find it a lot better across 3/4 classes over Necronomicon, except on Ironclad, but it's still really good there.

[@RMGamer31O]

I like it a lot as Defect, as it turns Heatsinks into a very silly card.

[@jayloncrisp4310]

I think Hand Drill is quite underrated for characters that don’t have vulnerable often, many enemies armor up and attack together, which gives you the opportunity to set up massive damage. Saved domes runs for me before.

[@wastefultreemangaming4763]

I enjoyed it with iron clad even, it's actually pretty decent in act 3 on some of those tough encounters. Especially the one that generated block every time you hit it. I do understand it's niche but when it's good, it's good

[@adjsmith]

The way I see Matroyshka, Tiny Chest, and Shovel is this: instead of getting a different relic *now*, you are offered the *chance* to get a different relic *later*, and will be offered additional chances beyond that. In the short term they're all quite bad. It's like opening an empty chest: you get no immediate benefit. If you meet certain conditions (don't be in late act 3 for Matroyshka, willing to give up a rest for Shovel, willing (or required) to take four question rooms for Tiny Chest), you are "rewarded" with the equivalent value to that chest simply... not having been empty in the first place. If you are *very* lucky (in the case of Matroyshka) or dedicated (in the case of TC/Shovel), you can end up ahead in relics in the long run - but first you have to get past having opened an empty chest *and then* having "merely" gotten a replacement relic. Frankly I'm surprised you put any of these above "F" tier. I agree that Matroyshka is slightly better - you don't need to change anything about your pathing to get the "replacement" relic or its followup; maybe that's enough for a D - but it still is a bad relic.

[@danielshamlian2800]

Really liking tough bandages lately, since it basically reads "Don't worry about blocking for the rest of the run" if you find a calc gamble or two. Second is Orange pellets

[@TTduckTT]

Thanks for the tierlist Baalor, great to hear your insights. Personal favorite is Runic Pyramid. There's just something so cozy about "retaining" cards from turn to turn.

[@briancooley8777]

Runic pyramid is great but sometimes I feel like I’m suffocating because my hand is too full lol

[@WaddickLawnCare]

@@briancooley8777 that’s when you need exhaust or discard cards

[@martymcfly88mph35]

Mfw I have 4 blocks and 3 energy per turn and the enemy is hitting for 30

[@zanethezaniest274]

Got the game 3 hours ago and finished my first run in STS with Ironclad, this will definitely be useful for further runs. Thx Baalor.

[@thegaminggeezer9310]

If you are new I recommend frost primes over explained runs as even as a vet I learnt new stuff

[@abyssalAnalyst]

Here are my humble opinions. Mummified Hand is easily an S-tier. You are going to play your talents anyways, and MH effectively makes 1-3 (sometimes even 4 or 5) energy for every talent you play, which is nuts. For Defect talent build this is even game breaking. Prayer Wheel is an S. I mean, it`s usually THREE more cards to choose from! Insane. Every single one matters a lot (that`s why ?-Card is good), and here are THREE. Ice Cream. I tnink it`s also an S. You don`t need to meet any conditions for that relic to be useful, and a single X card with Ice Cream launches your deck straight to the moon. I`ve never lost a run with Ice Cream, I believe. Remember those awkward moments when you have 1-2 energy left for one turn, and are lacking the SAME amount next turn. Ice Cream fixes that. Dead Branch is overrated. Sure, it generates a ton of random cards, but this can actually become an issue, because it ruins your deck`s consistency. You aren`t always able to play cards generated with the Dead Branch immideately. And you quite often need the space in your hand for a specific card rather than a random one. AND sometimes I don`t need to reshuffle my deck with this relic, but sometimes I do and then regret having a drawn hand full of garbage. Too many downsides for an S. A-tier, I tnink. Self-Forming Clay is A-tier. It`s only S when you have a specific build, and in other builds it`s like... okay, because you don`t always need than 3-9-whatever block the turn AFTER you`ve taken damage. Champion`s Belt is A. I mean, as Ironclad you have at least one attack which applies Vurnelable in your starting deck, and you are generally (with some exeptions maybe) add more. Champion Belt can be a life saver as often (and probably more often) than Lizard`s Tail. Ink Botle is B. B for Bottle. That card draw you occasionally receive can save you, but also can ruin your fight if you draw and then need to discard or exhaust something valuable (like Echo Form, Corruption/Barricade, Bullet Time etc.) Sometimes I should play than 10th card, but I`m too scared to do so, cuz I would have 0 energy when I draw that card, which is often bad. Pen Nib is A. Damage per attack you get from it values pretty much the same as from the Shuriken, if not higher. Considering that Pen Nib is common and adds value to EVERY SINGLE attack you play, I rate Pen Nib slightly higher than Shuriken.

[@serenolopez-darwin1975]

Dead Branch is a weird relic because sometimes it's actually bad for you and you need to skip it, but when you take it it's usually run-defining, beyond S-tier. Because it's even far above the other S-tiers when it works I think even with the awkward downside of hand clog it's still S-tier.

[@Krossfyre]

@@serenolopez-darwin1975 Far more decks want Dead Branch than don't want it too. Sure, there's a couple decks where it's bad, but in general most decks are quite happy to gamble on finding powerful cards. Turns out you don't really care if consistency goes down if you either kill faster than your deck becomes useless, or you find scaling that keeps you going the entire fight.

[@Krossfyre]

I think Mummified Hand is barely not S tier. It requires a decent density of Powers, which can make it awkward. I think it is the best non-boss energy relic, but since it relies so heavily on Power density and it's RNG, it can feel really awkward at inopportune times when you'd rather have just an extra energy every third turn for longer sustain, or additional energy on your first turn for front load. If Powers were offered just a bit more often I'd definitely put it in S tier.

[@michaelgrant2132]

I'm punching the air everytime I get an ice-cream. Love it.

[@aaronbulmahn3817]

I mean ... if you already got your infinite, yeah, don’t take dead branch then. But honestly, the amount if decks in which Dead Branch just absolutely breaks the run is crazy. And imo that’s more than what is needed for it to be an S relic.

[@Cl0ne66]

I once used the relic that allows you to play curses with a rupture and got a necromicon on ironclad. I played the bell over and over until I had 20 strength then played immolate twice. You can also create an infinite combo with the bell, with dark embrace and an upgraded true grit, and sun dial. Mix in juggernaut. Draw True grit over and over exhausting the bell, get infinite e Getty of sun dial.

[@mothertrucker-u9m]

Recently got the game and man does this rock! Playing magic the gathering for twenty years i really like the similarities. I'm still noob though and you sir provide an excellent step into the depths of the game.

[@topplebc6965]

Being new to the game (like I bought it a 5 days ago) and ironically, everytime I've won a run, Enchiridian (free power book turn 1) has legit been a win condition in 6 of the 7 wins I've had so far. 3-1-1-1 I ironically got my first win without it by spamming shivs after finding a boot. Stocked a ton of bursts with shiv dances and horde attack pots for bad boss fights.

[@briancooley8777]

Powers are so strong! It makes sense that getting a free power every combat improves your winrate! :P

[@topplebc6965]

@@briancooley8777 after unlocking the actual artifacts for everyone and learned the pools far more, I got far more consistent with general runs but notning feels better than Shuirken Blade Dance+. That said tho, I feel like half my deathes tend to be me being to zealous over Energy Artifacts and can't play without them.

[@knadam13]

Big fan of Ice Cream. Glad to see other tier lists being made!

[@briancooley8777]

Everyone loves ice cream! :D it’s just so good

[@martymcfly88mph35]

Ice cream is S+

[@HackionSTx]

Definitely Snecko Eye. Best relic and most fun for sure. Relics that change your run completely are the most fun for me.

[@briancooley8777]

I don’t get what people like about that relic. It has straight up lost me runs because it decides to not decrease my 3 drops but increase the cost of my 1s and 2s. I hate snecko eye

[@szelitzkyerick7456]

@@briancooley8777 you play too little and take every loss too personal, most of the time snecko eye variance will end up positive for the player since you draw more cards. Thus have more options to play. Sure there are some unlucky rolls and sometimes you lose because of it, but most of the time you probably lost anyways since you took an elite fight with too low hp or whatever.

[@colinhawkins3672]

If I ever take snake oh I I always get high cost cards because everything is random anyway

[@HackionSTx]

@@colinhawkins3672 this is the idea. If your average is above average, Snecko Eye is gonna lower it.

[@markmartin2819]

​@@briancooley8777The trick is to always fill your deck with very expensive cardsz since they'll always average out at 1.5 cost. Snecko eye gave me my first win and I breezed through bosses like it was nothing

[@elim9054]

My favorite relics are the ones that let you get more/better cards and relics over the run; question card, prayer wheel, all of the eggs (but especially toxic egg), and membership card are all insanely strong if you get them early in act 1 or from Neow. Imo even black star is one of the stronger boss relic swaps you can get, provided you manage to survive act 1

[@adaephon]

Wristblades (especially as a swap) is definitely my favourite! Is it the best relic? No. Is it hilarious to go hard into shivs, accuracy, and then get a Phantasmal Killer so each of your shivs are hitting for 28+ damage? God yes 😂

[@Deode-d4h]

Honestly, I would argue that Lizard Tail is S-tier regardless of whether it pops or not. It's just a good insurance policy to have. If you have potion belt with any bottled fairies, that's a near immortal build.

[@bluedistortions]

It can cover a bad draw on a hard enemy, that's true. One of the most frustrating ways to lose a run.

[@jonimitchellneverlies]

The first time I ever got hand drill , I really really liiked it bc I was playing The Silent with the applying poison every turn card, the card that does 4 damage each time you apply a debuff, and I found with a lot of enemies having the hand drill on top meant the beginning of each turn was applying like 3 debuffs , with vulnerable stacking and the damage scaling with that. Maybe more than anything it was really satisfying haha and since that run I realised that hand drill is only so good for specific runs. Would have given it C or D rather than F, great video though!

[@tym6217]

My favorite relic genuinely might be Art of War. I've had several runs where I got it early and actually managed to build around it, picking literally 0 attacks and also purging all my starting deck attacks. If you manage to accomplish that it essentially becomes as powerful as a boss energy relic, providing energy every single turn except turn 1. Which is downright insane power for a common relic if you manage to pull that off. Bonus points if you also find a Lantern to cover the turn 1 energy making you a true 4 energy deck every turn without even needing a single boss energy relic. It's extremely satisfying. In my experience this can be done with some niche builds on every class, like power/orb spam on Defect, pressure points on Watcher, or juggernaut block spams on Ironclad just to name a few, but can most consistently be accomplished on the Silent with poison builds as long as you avoid cards like poisoned stab and bane.

[@albert95usa]

omg man, just started playing the game, and been watching your tier list and opinion videos on cards from months ago, and u just upload this, hahaha bless you man super good videos to learn and understand the game!!!

[@storyofsharplyon]

unceasing top will always hold a special place in my heart for my first ever infinite deck on defect with a bunch of 0 cost cards and like 3 1 cost cards that exhausted or were powers

[@jaysea5804]

I beat the donut boss on turn 1 had energy refills and attacks it never ended ....until the bosses did lol

[@AvangionQ]

Solid list, with only three disagreements ... and two of the three are basically jokes: Mummified Hand should be S-tier, as it's sometimes stronger than an energy relic Cultist Mask should be D-tier, as it's only good for memes, has no in-game effect Spirit Poop should be F-tier, as all it does is lower your score by 1 point (useless)

[@briancooley8777]

I agree. I also think mark of the bloom should be F considered this is a relic tier list NOT an event tier list. Going based on just the effects of each relic makes mark of the bloom one of the worst ones. Which is WHY it’s a downside to that event. The relic itself is the downside. It makes no sense to put the relic that is ONLY a downside; in C tier.

[@sickman9124]

Mummified is S-tier for defect, but across all character pools, it goes down a rank. Sure it beats other energy relics sometimes, but that's best case. And if you use the best case uses for other relics, there'd be a lot more S tiers. A random card in your hand becoming free is good, but still situational.

[@Walrus286]

I’m 2 years late but I think Creative AI + Mummy Hand is the best card / relic combo in the game so I agree with you. S tier auto win

[@jmatt440]

But... but... caw caww!

[@themuch21]

I think gambling chip is my favourite. I really love draw engine decks with the silent. Gambling chip just adds so mich consistency. There are some decks that can otk most enemies with the right card combo, but if you brick your starting hand you can get killed pretty fast.

[@Animemom96]

Normally Mummified Hand is my favorite but lately Dead Branch and Necronomicon have been climbing up there.

[@shyguypro9876]

Just completed my first run with paper crane and it immediately became a personal favourite. Being able to immediately reduce damage by 40% is insane.

[@timothylavergne3257]

Honestly. Medical kit is easy A tier to me. Book of stabbing, hexaflame, the heart... Plus it synergizes so well with some decks. Admittedly much better for an ironclad due to cards like power through, but still can straight win a hard fight.

[@honeydarlinggaming9156]

Ah yes Ped Nib. The relic i always end up wasting by accident.

[@GynxShinx]

Blue Candle should definitely draw you a card. I want a good curse deck.

[@briancooley8777]

It’s pretty good in either an exhaust or self pain ironclad deck

[@BenyBenator]

I have to say that the most fun I've had with a relic is dead branch

[@dodhethompson4841]

The face that gives you 50 gold every time you go into a random question room, because I love question rooms and I love money

[@erichiguera]

31:00 orichalcum is a C even though it saved my life vs the heart lmao

[@LucyTheBox]

Lizard tail is a little high in my eyes. It seems strong, but just doesn't do enough. Either you don't need it and it just sits there accumulating dust. Or it does trigger and then the next fight you die anyways.

[@popejackv]

Had 2 mid tier ( 7 & 8) heart wins today with Lizard Tail and Fairy in a Bottle, never triggered either. I agree with A after thinking about it. One of those items that lets you take risks and learn, worth it. :)

[@Silverpicker]

Love this list, thanks a ton! I definitely think Necronomicon is S tier though!

[@briancooley8777]

My favorite relic is the turnip cause I hate being frail :(

[@brandonwilbur2146]

I think my favorite relic is the 3 thorns one (bronze scales?), crazy strong.

[@brandonwilbur2146]

Hand Drill is pretty good against act bosses, definitely not F tier

[@briancooley8777]

Yes bronze scales is good 👍

[@jmatt440]

Encountering the Byrd fight when you have bronze scales is hilarious

[@IkEisawesome7]

My personal favorite relic is Akabeko! I'm surprised Omamori found itself so low on the list - I feel like it's money machine or enables a cursed key quite nicely!

[@jamespatterson5644]

my best run ever with the Silent was unceasing top run. discard for energy, 0 cost cards, play through my deck multiple times in one turn. killed bosses without ever leaving turn 1. Also, tungsten rod vs the heart was total life saver

[@stephenlyon1358]

Membership card. Its the best relic in the game hands down.

[@senoraraton]

I wonder if membership card is overrated compared to old coin. Old coin is 300 gold flat. Membership costs 150 gold, and requires you have to spend 300 more gold to overcome the costs and break even. Then you need to spend another 150 gold to overcome old coin. This means if you don't spend 450 gold after you buy membership, old coin is better

[@briancooley8777]

I like the shopping relics too

[@szelitzkyerick7456]

@@senoraraton actually you need to spend 75 gold to break even and 150gold to be even with gold coin. Since your gold is basically doubled.

[@artsyvids2563]

I'd really like it if they made the bottle "choose one of your X cards on your first turn" instead, though that might be overpowered I'd also like it if reic gave you a few free card draws when you pick it up, and a Pale version for colourless

[@FlowerPaladin]

That Hand Drill BM after the latest Slay By Comment against the Champ :D

[@Questioningbasics]

Caw Caw Helmet isn't S+ tier? Invalid list.

[@generationp.r.a.y7875]

I really love THE BOOT because if you have pummel and boomerang it really comes in clutch especially pummel cause it's a free 25 or 30 damage to the enemy

[@elim9054]

You can also buff those attacks by gaining strength, which does not cap at 5 damage per hit.

[@D_Abellus]

@@elim9054 You could gain strength, but some runs you can get screwed over in not getting mostly any strength scaling whatsoever. In that case the boot might actually help. Also the boot kills mister intangible in the 3rd act, which may not be too much at face value, but that guy does tend to be a bit of a bitch to kill every other run.

[@1TieDye1]

2 exhausts+strange spoon allows you to exhume as many times as you would like. Just keep exhuming your exhume until one dumps in the discard, then exhume the card you actually want. Particularly notable with dead branch, exhaust based decks, and strong exhaust cards, like feed or reaper, and many others

[@elim9054]

You can't Exhume another Exhume. That was patched out a long time ago. Also dead branch + strange spoon is a terrible combo most of the time because they're good in exactly opposite situations. You'd never take a strange spoon with a deck that wanted cards to exhaust every time.

[@mashirikomurasaki46]

Personally I prefer tungsha and touch bandage. I already like discard archetype and the way they interact is pretty dang cool And the best is tori imo. Combined it with tungsten rod, and u can stand 14 turn in the heart fight

[@while_coyote]

My favorite relic is the watcher exclusive boss relic holy water

[@samantharustmann2975]

Ice cream in B tier is the *coldest* take here.

[@4bschaum]

i love neows lament just for convenience. usually i get it after getting my ass beat in act 1 and being able to quickly get another run going dampens a lot of frustration haha

[@devinkondro]

On Silent, I had starter relic, bag of prep, and a gambling chip. Very strong

[@jordanpruitt6127]

My fav is kunai. I love building around dex scaling.

[@tapevulture6801]

a spire channel and his voice has the timbre and cadence of an sunday afternoon baseball broadcaster...AND he's not alt right!! i'm in heaven... 😍

[@elim9054]

Not a right winger at all, but are there even alt right StS streamers? The only one I've ever seen vaguely talk about politics is Frost Prime and he seems like a pretty normal liberal/social democratic type at worst

[@SashaS-s2z]

Unceasing Top is my least favourite relic - most times I manage to play all cards from the hand, I'm also out of energy. And its result is just "let me show you which card from the draw pile you COULD have used next turn!". Prismatic Shard, on the other hand, is probably my favourite - it doesn't actually help, but is very fun in theory.

[@jmatt440]

If you get unceasing top early enough though, you can spec into 0 cost cards. But yeah, otherwise it's not that useful

[@marktaylor3290]

If you ever do another tier list like this, can you please do a little more explaining what each relic does before you rank it? Not every single person knows exactly what every relic does at a half seconds glance. Really wanted to try and learn from this video, but it's obviously not meant to be for beginners of the game :/

[@elim9054]

Literally every relic's function is shown in the video.

[@marcar9marcar972]

@@elim9054 yeah, for a brief sec, hence the complaint

[@formerlypie8781]

I just can't believe that you put prayer wheel not in s

[@reynal_omnicide9217]

Prismatic shard is so absolutely fun, even if you lose because of it xD

[@guimon78]

I love all the ninja relics, especially together. Play three attacks, get an effect, is just amusing to me.

[@steamtasticvagabond474]

Tingsha and Charon’s Ashes are very fun when you get them

[@EGH9701]

Ive gone semi-infinite with strange spoon before, 3 offerings, 2 exhumes, iron rod and apparition. It was so goofy.

[@dragoncrash1234]

I get boot not being high but D tier feels bad. There’s so many times where it’s useful, acting as free strength on some cards, shivs, hitting through weakness, nemesis in act 3, birds and so on

[@firejuggler31]

Had some money left over at final shop and decided to buy Brimstone rather than let it go to waste. Big mistake. Heart swung for a gazillion damage on Turn 5.

[@Alex_is_cool974]

I think bottled flame is a bit harsh its carried me through act 1 and helped with act 2 by throwing a immolate or whatever its called in it

[@Xeconis]

I personally think Cracked Core is a little low because as a starting relic, giving you 1 lightning orb with no setup in act 1 is kind of bonkers. Dualcasting without using an energy on a Zap gets through a lot of the act 1 fights with that 16 damage. Even in the early fights that you can't just dualcast turn 1 or 2 to win, you simply don't dualcast and you get a good chunk of passive damage for longer fights like Sentries. I can see it being lower due to how it begins to fall off later if the deck isn't orientated around lightning or evoking. But certainly an act 1 killer. Now as for my favorite it's between Prismatic and Pellets. Prismatic is just fun, but as a Defect player at heart, the existence of Pellets releases all the dopamine because of Biased Cognition.

[@pronini-kun4571]

My favorite is Dead branch. Because it is fun. Unless it throws a run. I will play Dead branch and find all exhaust. Especially at shiv deck

[@ljlk8583]

I once took handdrill. I really liked it, I thought it did a lot. Then I realized that I just liked vulnerable...

[@juneore]

I've liked using the dead branch before I started playing slay the spire, so of course it's my favorite.

[@esa9848]

I'm surprised he glossed over the Medkit, I swear it auto wins you the run on ironclad if you have a dark embrace and feel no pain

[@jacobvicary-lovegrove4066]

Hey man where'd you get that lordran poster in the background? it's sick as fuck, I'd love to get one

[@lavatrex]

sacred bark. if you have three helpful potions going into a boss, EZ win

[@MaaronK42]

I'm sorry, we're evaluating mark if the bloom based on the event, but spirit poop is F?! Spirit poop is certainly A or S, I am happy to see it in any run.

[@Gutted925]

If I have literally any powers, bottled tornado is easily the most goated thing

[@artsyvids2563]

ice cream a or b unless you're defect when it becomes giga S with is insane energy generation + an X card :333

[@andreapaolini6835]

Caliber C or less: you MUST generate 21-22 or more block ABOVE the foe damage every turn to be barely a basic block; BUT if you can do it: you are strong enough to NOT need caliber.

[@jmatt440]

If you can't generate that much block consistently though, it's quite good. Also, you usually want to attack, not block, so building up enough block in the previous turn can be pretty good, if you have powerful block cards that turn

[@Ryusuta]

I knew you were a person of class when you put Cultist Face in S-Tier.

[@nathanielsimper5270]

Du vu du doll with ironclad is my favourite to go with curses and make them possitive

[@Hyperfoxeye]

Id argue spirit poop is more of a low c tier. Its a garaunteed curse removal if you have it

[@exposedshadow9641]

Maybe it was different when the video was posted a year back but the Juzu Bracelet prevents ? events from being combats, it doesnt turn combats into events

[@sutfolsemaj]

It does by turning every ? that WOULD HAVE been a combat into a different event

[@popejackv]

Another comment, won't be the last maybe but we're getting close to the end. ;) I would take both Juzu and Tiny Chest because of perceived damage risk on the ? rooms...big mistake. Fighting generates more benefit than not. Secrets of the Spire.

[@xellanoir]

Honestly an amazing list. Agree with just about near everything except maybe like Persevered Insect being s-tier.

[@elim9054]

Insect is insane what? It's literally always good. At the very worst it makes the act 4 elite easier

[@xellanoir]

@@elim9054 You wanted to correct someone so bad that you didn't even bother to actually read the comment you were responding to. Or you didn't watch the video, because I'm arguing that it should have been ranked higher than what it actually was.

[@elim9054]

​@@xellanoir I did read the comment and you literally said "I don't agree with preserved insect being S tier" lmao

[@sutfolsemaj]

​@@elim9054it's A tier in the video, they're saying it should have been S. Not sure why they had to get all cryptic about it instead of just directly correcting you.

[@gameby41]

If you could make your own relic for slay the spire, what would be be and what would it do Aunts chili- heal 12 HP and gains 3 strength after leaving rest spot " A steaming hot pot of chili, labeled aunts famous chili, nobody knows who truly made it, but its smell amazing, Rarity-uncommon.

[@jeremybanks5264]

I have a soft spot for girya. It makes physical damage way more fun

[@AndreasVNesje]

Mummified hand is definitely S tier. Run-defining quite often. Maybe my fav relic. Also very fun to play with Hand Drill is very good against several common mobs - especially act two, such as Armored Parasite and that centurion-duo, as well as all mallable mobs. And gremlin boss with shielding gremlin minions. And donu/deca. And Time Eater. So half of the act 2/3 bosses! Why is this in F?? I wouldn't buy it, but it definitely helps damage output.

[@elim9054]

"I wouldn't buy it" yeah, bad news about the only way you can ever actually get it (also a big reason why it's in F)

[@MichaelNerman]

Is the list available online? Can you put a link in the description?

[@popejackv]

Had 2 free Elites on Neow's Lament today. Only time in 200+ hours, but you know. ;)

[@NaughtyOddity]

idk tungsten rod is absolutely an S tier relic, the % winrate increase on a20 it provides vs the heart is absurd, countering 2 of the major parts of the fight. getting to act 4 isnt that hard, especially when you forego some scaling/greed to get there. and usually being too weak for the heart makes those playlines undesirable, but tungsten rod just lets you get away with it.

[@nonnegaard]

I think Chem X shoudl be A or S simply for the fact that it allows you to play cost-x for FREE and still get value, like that's crazy.

[@justalittletoointrusive]

the boot combos with envenom so well it should be mandatory

[@elim9054]

??? What?

[@chrisg6654]

Nilrys codex saved my 1st try minimalist run

[@heimo444]

Baalorlord I'm like 40 hours in and I literally can't win once with Defect, any advice?

[@MrBurnsyboy12]

I'm not Baelord, but definitely would be willing to give some advice. I would say to get your first defect win, a solid strategy is to play heavily into orb slots. Focus and additional orbs tends to be the most consistent way to win with Defect. Then tank up with frost orbs, once you can block enough each turn, letting a lightning orb chip the enemy out, or playing one darkness orb to build up damage can win you the fight. This isn't the only way to win with Defect, but again, I find it a more consistent way to do so

[@MrJustinNagai]

A20 player here. I agree with MrBurnsyboy12. Take focus pretty much every chance you can get. Defect heavily favors setting up, so also take a bunch of cards that prevent you from dying before/while you're getting set up. Cold headed, turbo, glacier, chill +, boot sequence, and skim are some examples. I'll say the most consistently powerful cards for me are biased cognition (especially if you have orange pellets), defragment, capacitor, electrodynamics, and echo form.

[@MichaelNerman]

At low ascension you can win with power or 0-cost strategies if you aren't getting the orb cards, but they're less consistent. Don't commit to All for One or Creative AI unless you already have significant support for them.

[@OfficialJab]

Did you ever get that W 🙏

[@AtillaTheFun1337]

Drill in F tier is very harsh… it’s come in clutch for me quite often…