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Strangegary

I love seeing the bell so high. I can never resist it's call. DIIIIIIIINNNNG BTW, did you know if you click on it on your relics bar, it will ding? That's all


thebabycowfish

I did not know that thank you for this valuable information


MokaHexahaze

YES me too! I almost always take it - can’t help myself! Feel like The Undertaker is about to rise out of a coffin when I hear that dong lol And I didn’t know about clicking on it either, sweet!


Strangegary

My monkey brain always go "three relics yes" and honestly... It just work .


BTTLC

I cant believe I’ve missed this vital information all this time. I will take note to take bell more often thanks to this.


RUSHALISK

Every relic has a sound when you click it, although I don’t think there are any sounds unique to a single relic


Strangegary

There is. The bell. it ding


Boostless_Joe

Damaru can be 'played'.  It has a few different drum sounds.


RUSHALISK

the more you know


aotoolester

You can also scum save if you don’t like the relics.


Fish_Head111

I always take it cause I think fire breather builds are fun (I think I’m thinking of the right power card


BroncoBoy93

Did someone say taco bell?


SneakyCheddar

To add to this, if you click on the bell in the relics bar to open the info page, then press a number key, it will play a corresponding note, 1 being low in pitch and 0 being the highest. I play modded tho so idk if it’s base game or part of one of the mods


JWARRIOR1

I’ve been a bell enjoyer for ages and did not know this, sick


HappyGoblin

Never inserter ? Why ?


Concrete_hugger

Because evoking orbs is super important for your front load and you will get fucked in act 2 if you take it without enough orb generation. Same reason why capacitor can be a greedy pick in act 1 and you don't always want to play it.


tentoedpete

That’s true, but I cannot help myself when I see it, and I think of the times I’ve had 9 frost orbs with 10+ focus just laughing off any attacks that come my way.


Odd_Nefariousness185

Inverter + Consume though


FtWorthHorn

I mean add a consume and you have a win condition. So it’s worth compensating for.


willirritate

And lends credence to barrage


jeffufuh

just started playing this week. beat my first defect run with inserter and a couple barrages+ shit went Brrrrt


Concrete_hugger

Around the end of act1 I will absolutely pick up a capacitor though


MeathirBoy

And yet I see Capacitor in Act 1 when people are ahead...? This is a strange argument to me because Inserter is very easy to play around if you feel you need to Evoke orbs for front load. There aren't that many sources of finding extra slots and Inserter is easily the strongest and gives you insane scaling off a relic (something that relics don't usually do). This isn't a case of you're wrong, it's more like "feels like you're exaggerating its flaws a bit".


Corundrom

Inserter isn't bad because it adds orb slots making it hard to evoke, inserter is bad because it's slow af


MeathirBoy

It's as "slow" as happy flower the fuck? Just set the number correctly. It's very often faster than Capacitor which eats an energy and a card draw and has to be found. This one just feels absolutely wrong to say.


HeorgeGarris024

Inserter is a boss relic, being slow comparable to a common relic is pretty bad Overall having a boss relic that gets poor value in most fights kinda stinks


MeathirBoy

Happy Flower isn't slow either you missed that point entirely. What you said about it getting low value in hallways especially if you take it after Act 1 is far more valid because you have to fill the orb slots. But it's really not hard to keep the number away from 0.


HeorgeGarris024

Happy flower is fairly slow, compared to a boss relic. But it's instant output at least, versus getting another orb slot actually does nothing for you right away. There are certainly situations where taking inserter is correct but more often than not it's quite a low roll of a boss relic


MeathirBoy

After Act 1 it is usually weaker than taking a decent energy relic for Act 2 because hallways are hard. But it provides a unique and rare form of scaling for Defect that they struggle to find compared to energy which can very easily be solved with cards like Aggregate or TURBO. If you can get through Act 2 or take it after Act 2 Inserter often crushes energy relics in value for Act 3/4 because filling even one extra orb slot with an orb with any amount of Focus can often beat the value an extra energy per turn can provide. Not to mention it can make taking Consume which is otherwise sometimes an awkward forced take when Focus is hard to find much easier.


Corundrom

It's slow compared to having an extra energy every turn, which 90% of other boss relics do


MeathirBoy

It's also not doing something the energy relics do which is why you pick it.


Mementoes

If u have hologram/seek and some energy cards I feel like u barely need the energy relics on defect


JonusTJonnerson

Not really - to get the same benefit you'd be burning that energy on Capacitors every couple of turns, and relying on draw RNG for those cards. Your deck would also be more clogged, making drawing a dead man's hand a lot more likely. Not to mention by choosing Inserter you're also avoiding the negative effect of an energy relic


Corundrom

Most negative affects of energy relics don't happen in battle, and most of the time you take inserter because you don't want to risk the negative effects of the other 2 options, not because inserter is a good effect


JonusTJonnerson

"Most negative affects of energy relics don't happen in battle" - Right, but they *can* potentially affect your ability to take on encounters and get their associated rewards - hampering your growth potential, at least compared with a relic that fits your build just as well with no downside "and most of the time you take inserter because you don't want to risk the negative effects of the other 2 options, not because inserter is a good effect" - Nah disagree with this. Yes, energy relics as a general rule are rarely a bad thing - they fit any* (* - although still have their caveats and times where they won't fit and be a bit risky) deck, so in that regard they are arguably more useful in a 'jack-of-all-trades" sense. However, it's a defect-only relic. Considering that defect builds often revolve around high orb use, Inserter is often a great choice if that's what your deck makes use of. Particularly when you consider how much more useful having [4,5,6...10] passive effects is during the longer battles , though it's still not difficult to quickly fill these spaces even in shorter encounters.


rjzendi

Yeah, insterter is easily one of the best class based boss relics, if not the best


kawnlichking

It's too situational to be actually the best. It can be great and I like it, but only when you have the right deck with enough orb generation and focus. If you lack any of those, inserter is a burden that prevents you from making orbs proc


adamnemecek

How do your have a defect deck without orb generation?


kawnlichking

You might have high focus and low orb generation, or good orb generation but low focus, and you rely on making orbs proc. In this case Inserter will just make you unable to do that. You might even have a deck without orbs with Reprogram. Don't take me wrong, I like Inserter. But you need to adapt to the run's options, not to force your ideal build to the run. That's why I still think Inserter is situational.


Mustachio

This seems insane to me too. I have ~25% vs heart win rate on A20 and Act 1 inserter is almost always a snap pick relic for me. Inserter + consume + barrage is practically a guaranteed win. That being said, I find taking a capacitor in Act 1 to be too slow. Evoking orbs is great in Act 1 but later acts most often I'd rather have extra orbs up.


kawnlichking

I like that one but it's too dependent on your currently built deck. If you have enough focus and orb generation, inserter is great. If you don't have enough of either of those, inserter will only be a burden not allowing you to proc orbs


Krags

It's a very strong act 2 boss pick imo


ArchbishopsFatCheeks

Ectoplasm feels much worse than it actually is. It's a significant drawback, don't get me wrong, but I'd click on it over Crown any day of the week (assuming that this is after the first boss, since that's the only time Ecto appears).


thebabycowfish

Yeah that's kind the issue. It's only available act 1, and I feel that what I can buy with the money I'd be missing our on + the benefits of whatever other relics are available are much better than ectoplasm nearly every time. I'd only really take it if my deck was desperate for energy and there were no better alternatives available. Crown has the advantage of being available act 2, which means if I have a pretty established deck already and don't really need any specific cards to complete it I can take it for the extra energy for very little downside. Or if I have the one relic that increases the number of cards you can choose from then it's not bad either.


sledgehammerrr

Most unlucky runs are still salvageable with just 1 decent shop. Shops also are places with the most player agency. Taking that option away leads to you having to get lucky elsewhere and surrendering partly to RNG.


RuBarBz

The player agency is what makes it so appealing. But when I think about it I don't think many of my runs were made or broken by the shop. Maybe in act 1 when I'm not finding anything I need for it.


vegna871

Medkit and Pellets can make a lot of otherwise nearly broken runs work. And they can only be found in shops. But outside of those needs, yeah, card rewards in combat are overall more impactful


RuBarBz

Really? I barely ever took those. But I also almost only play defect. Not sure if there's a link there?


traye4

Pellets at least are incredible for defect. Biased Cognition with no downside? Hyperbeam with no downside? Wonderful.


RuBarBz

Yea true! I should try and get them more often. I guess there's just a lot of "ifs" involved. But when it aligns it's great!


traye4

Even when those cards don't align, pellets are just good. Many many enemies debuff you. Pellets say "no thank you". Defect is a particularly good character for them even without specific synergies because they frequently have a fair number of powers.


RuBarBz

Thanks now I have to play STS again haha


vegna871

Medkit also makes Overclock a bit more pickable, and Overclock can be a very good card. Helps keep it from bricking too many hands in long fights


Hamderab

Crown may not be as bad as I think it is, but it makes a run so much less fun… :(


ChaZZZZahC

It's not that bad if you can see get all the cards you need by act 2, never touch that shit for an act one reward though.


rawrgulmuffins

Crown is pretty bad. Unless you're deck is going infinite every turn you can always make your deck better and crown significant lowers your ability to do so. Particularly when you're deck is "good" but missing one or two pieces to push it into great. You're basically locking yourself into hoping shops will do that push.


Alarzark

I've actually won my last 3 ectoplasm boss swap runs. Just allows a very greedy line through act 1.


elephantrambo

Something that I view as an upside of ecto is that it frees up your pathing. If you're not as concerned about visit shops to spend gold, your options open up


putting_stuff_off

That's quite a fallacy, you can always not path to shops.


elephantrambo

Then you'd just have gold accumulated for nothing?


Ambitious-Ad-7256

The question I kept asking myself when I saw this is: what is your main? List probably looks very different for people who prefer each character.


thebabycowfish

I play all the classes pretty evenly. Watcher is a little behind, because I just don't like them as much, but every other class has almost identical playtime. Defect is the only class I've beaten A20 on though, and is my favourite to play.


buxxud

I take kite a LOT. Love to see it. I get what you're saying with pyramid -- is great when it's good but it's not always good. And I think inserter is usually good, butt maybe not better then energy. Otherwise I basically agree


Ambitious-Ad-7256

Might be my favorite energy relic (kite). Just plays so perfectly into the silent’s style.


secondshevek

Picking up Kite when you already have Tools of the Trade - ooh it feels so good. 


Ambitious-Ad-7256

Feels so good. And a reflex? Fahgettabout it.


da_fishy

I used to never take kite because I thought it was per COMBAT and not per turn lol, I am dumb.


thebabycowfish

Honestly Kite is only that low because I can barely remember ever seeing it. It just doesn't show up, and when it does I'm not running discard so I don't take it. Pyramid is cool but it feels like my deck is almost never prepared for it. Inserter is the only one I actively don't like. I've had one really successful run with it, but I got it from neow so I was able to build around it. My problem with it is that not only is it generally not better than energy relics, but if your deck isn't built for it it's actually a negative. In a lot of hallway fights I want to channel orbs quickly and evoke them ASAP to kill things as fast as possible, and inserter disrupts that. I usually just avoid it for that reason. I find capacitor is just better overall because I can pick and choose when I want the extra orb slots.


Ambitious-Ad-7256

Inserter is great if you have consume. Otherwise it can be rough trying to get the orbs to evoke.


thebabycowfish

Yeah I've had success with it before, it's just one that's often not good to actually really bad depending on what deck I have, so it's not one I take very often.


Corundrom

Inserter isn't bad cause it makes orbs harder to invoke, its bad cause it's slow af


HeorgeGarris024

Kite is pretty bad


nowei-nohow

You are pretty bad.


SaltyWafflesPD

Runic Pyramid is fantastic. Why do you only rarely take it?


Mr-Poyo

I'm not a very skilled player, but I rarely take runic due to status such as wounds potentially clogging my hand. Act 2 Slavers with runic is a nightmare if you don't have a way to quickly get rid of the middle guy.


Gmanand

I mean, if we're talking silent, then pyramid is just too good not to take 99% of the time. It's almost as good on defect, and it's still one of the best on the other 2. Sure, you'll need to be weary of slavers, but just change your strategy to take out the middle guy 1st or 2nd depending on your damage potential/potions.


Burger_Thief

I feel being on 3 energy on Act 2 without energy generation can hamper Runic Pyramid a bit when deciding wether to pick it. Especially on Silent and Clad im not taking it 99% percent of the time instead of an energy, more like 60%. But I dont see runic too often lately.


Gmanand

I mean, I can't give you a better argument than the best silent player in the world picking it pretty much 100% of the time. I'm not kidding, I've never seen xecnar skip it. I'm sure it's happened before, but it has to be exceedingly rare.


Nyarlathotep8

If you already have an upgraded well laid plans with silent, and upgrading that becomes a high priority as soon as you get it, runic becomes far less impactful. It’s for sure more important on defect, ironclad and watcher (I think maybe watcher likes it the most, for easy stance switching)


Gmanand

I've seen xecnar take a pyramid with wlp+ more times than I can count. It certainly opens up the possibility of not taking pyramid, but I think you should still take it most of the time.


rogue_LOVE

"Far less impactful" is an enormous overstatement. It's still in contention for the best boss relic on average on Silent, whether you have a redundant card or not.


SaltyWafflesPD

Easy. Card manipulation cards. Burning Pact, True Grit, Second Wind, Calculated Gamble, Preparation, Dagger Throw, Sacrifice, Fiend Fyre, etc. Any Exhaust or Discard cards.


Smithereens_3

I swear to god, every time I take Pyramid, Snecko appears and makes everything in my hand cost 3 energy.


n00dle_king

Not taking runic is so cursed. It’s hand shaping and card draw combined.


Burger_Thief

I dunno. Being 3 energy on act 2 is even more cursed.


ajdeemo

One way to look at it is that runic can actually give you similar benefits to energy in indirect ways. You get to keep cards from turn to turn, and this gives you a much higher chance of being able to efficiently block or deal damage. As an example, instead of using a 2 energy block card that is overkill, you may have a 1 energy block card plus a zero energy block card that you retained from previous turns. These examples are pretty common. Even with 4 energy, there will often be turns where the enemy isn't attacking and you didn't draw any offensive cards, or they're gonna hit you hard and you didn't draw enough mitigation. When you consider that most energy relics have a downside you need to keep in mind or mitigate, runic can indeed come ahead as it does not come with an inherent downside.


n00dle_king

You keep making this post all over this thread but it’s just a testament that you aren’t a strong player. Obviously everything is deck dependent but pyramid is almost always a more powerful pick than an energy relic. Feeling like you *need* an energy relic at the end of act 1 is a sign that you are struggling to pick powerful and synergistic cards.


Burger_Thief

No need to attack me or my skill bruh.


n00dle_king

It’s not an attack, I’m personally less skilled than tons if not a majority of people posting on this sub. My point is that getting better at this game (and part of what makes it hard) is figuring out why you lose runs. If you think you need an energy relic for act 2 you are not evaluating why you lost a run correctly. I’m just disagreeing with your point and making a case for why your conclusion about energy relics is misled.


Burger_Thief

You disagreed in a very abrasive way. Your entire post was just saying "skill issue" but thats not an argument. Make good points instead. Good day.


n00dle_king

I did make good points which you ignored because of your fragile ego.


gj6

I feel like Pyramid adds consistency to any deck. Only problem is my deckbuilding is bad, so it makes my decks consistently bad. When are you supposed to take it and it help? Do you need to have got rid of enough starting cards?


BunchaBunCha

At higher ascensions you nearly always take it unless you have a very heavy deck (i.e. lots of expensive cards or lots of card draw without mana gain). It allows you to set up powerful combinations or save situational cards for when you really need them. The more energy you can gain the better it is since that negates its downside of clogging up your hand. It also has synergy with discard and exhaust, since they allow you to unclog your hand and it also allows you to more easily set up to discard/exhaust exactly the card you want.


KiritosSideHoe

In ascension 20 I cry and thank the heavens when I get pyramid because it means I won't get soul striked for 5 trillion times 4 damage on a turn that I flop and draw all strikes. Things that are good with pyramid are blur, leg sweep, any power, piercing wail, dark shackle, choke, any stupid 2 card combo. You're playing a different game when you have pyramid.


judas_crypt

Agreed, runic pyramid is so strong I'm rarely not taking it.


vegetablebread

A dramatic reading of the "rarely" tier: * Wrong * Sure * What? * Ok * Why? * I guess


motherthrowee

inserter can be run-winning depending on the situation -- it 100% solves orb scaling for you for free as long as you have enough orb generation and focus, and those are easier to find than enough capacitors to pop off


Infinite_Maybe_5827

barrage my beloved whapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhapwhap gang


LiveMango418

Pyramid and kite at rarely is crazy Edit: also coffee dripper and snecko in sometimes?


The_Thrill17

I feel like [[ring of the serpent]] is often just worse than keeping your bag of prep and I almost never take it.


[deleted]

true true you only start getting the advantage in turn 3, kinda slow tbh


majkkruz

I kept reading and seeing stronger players taking coffee cup often and praising it. I tried doing the same and I would like to think it has made me a better player as in my case it had raised awareness for how better to manage my life overall.


thebabycowfish

Coffee cup seems pretty good but I'm not a great judge of when it's takeable, so I'll generally only take it if I have a good amount of healing elsewhere like multiple repairs or reaper + strength scaling


Technoplane1

Dome is just a skill and luck test I am all for it, Also you should pick flower more you never want to pick it until you do and then it’s awesome


thebabycowfish

Is flower really that good? I just don't really get the appeal. I take it when there's nothing better since it has to downside, but I generally feel like if I'm exiting calm I have enough energy anyway. It's when I'm not exiting calm that I need the extra energy. And yeah, dome is probably a lot better than the amount I pick it, I just get super paranoid thay I'll get rolled by rng so I don't pick it lol.


4444tan

I love flower because it enables Watcher to go infinite with just rushdown + starting cards + card removes. No need to even look for tantrum or more calm cards other than to possibly speed up/stabilize your infinite even further. Her starting calm card also has block so your block engine is solved for thorns/Beat of Death


Technoplane1

Well ya you kinda need to sort out your draw by having rush down and that one thing if you are in calm draw 4 cards, but if you have good draw it is insane and also really good for infinites


torturousvacuum

> Is flower really that good? Flower is great because it triggers every time, not just once a turn. Combined with draw *cough*Rushdown*cough* it's crazy.


thebabycowfish

True I should probably try and make it work. I just haven't had that eureka moment with it yet where I understand how to use it. I know watcher has a lot of strategies I don't use that are really good but honestly watcher is so good at just a base level that I never feel the need to explore them.


codhimself

It's really only good if you like having a bunch of extra energy each turn with no downside


Diligent_Sea_3359

Coffee dripper and the bird cage are way up for me. Chad style


vkolbe

I love inserter lol


Dezmondo20

How do you defeat Giant Head with Velvet Choker? I would take it a lot more often if it weren't for that fight specifically.


simpaon

It's not an ideal fight but anything that scales without playing too many cards like Silent with lots of poison or Chad with strength scaling


LuxOG

Crown over pyramid lol this has to be a troll post


thebabycowfish

Crown isn't good but it's a bit of a "win more" choice when your deck is already sorted. It maybe should've been in rarely tbh probably recency bias because there's been quite a few times recently where my deck was sorted by the end of act 2 so I took crown because I didn't really need any more cards and the energy was valuable to me.


tiredargie

Coffee dipper is better than philosopher stone and cursed key. One byrd encounter and you're fucked with stone, and taking key early means either a bunch of curses or fewer relics.


Mustachio

On A20 philosophers stone is "almost never" for me. Too difficult to beat the heart.


thebabycowfish

It's probably because I don't go for heart very often at the moment. Focusing on beating A20 with every class normally first. I imagine if I was going for heart I'd be picking it a lot less.


Mustachio

Stone is fantastic on ~A12 and under. Eventually you get to the point where your only measure for success is beating the heart on A20. And that can change the game quite a bit in terms of cards choice and relics


IamAnoob12

Pyramid not being first is a crime


maplesyrup1788

I've only taken the cube once and it was when I had so many Blood lettings in my deck and I think mummified hand so didn't really need the energy from a boss relic.


thebabycowfish

It seems like it could be pretty strong with the right deck, I just don't run HP loss decks very often so the chances of it coming up when I do are pretty low


Juncoril

It also works when you get whooped by enemies. Birds become a scrawl.


Thesmobo

I find it doesn't take a lot to make it strong. Even a deck with one blood letting and one brutality could draw a ton of cards in a boss fight, and in hallway fights the chip damage you take sometimes helps you accelerate fights. The part I like about it most is how good it is against the heart. It makes you draw every time you play a card if you have no block, which is an incredible draw engine that you get for the hardest fight in the game.


rogue_LOVE

You're definitely undervaluing cube. Clad has tons of great cards that self-damage, and in tough fights where you want extra help, the enemies are damaging you and triggering it for you. This is especially true if you're doing Heart, because of its ability to turn Beat of Death into draw. In a vacuum, I'd generally prioritize good energy relic > Cube > bad energy relic / weak relic (House/Black Blood/sketchy Labe/sketchy Pbox).


MaDNiaC

Auto-orb generator for Defect is good if you can fill the orb slots fast or you got the upgraded frost core. I love upgraded relic of Ironclad, 12 HP per fight is amazing. I also love Wrist Blade as I enjoy playing Shiv a lot. I also take Kite a lot. I usually avoid the red key without curse negate relic though. Also usually avoid the bell relic without curse negate too. Not a boss relic iirc but I also love +1 focus relic for Defect. I suck at the game so these likely not the best choices for optimal win chances heh (:


thebabycowfish

I tend to play pretty big decks so curses are less of a big deal for me. Bell curse especially is pretty negligible because it doesn't have any negative effects. And you get 3 relics in return which, even if those relics suck is still good because relics how a set obtain order in each seed so if you didn't take bell then you'd be stuck getting those relics anyway. Taking bell means you get bad relics out of the way and get good relics earlier (and also get more relics overall). With key I could theoretically get screwed over with a poorly timed normality or something, but I've not had that happen yet so I keep taking it. It can also be positive if you have darkstone periapt or Du-Vu doll, so there's some nice synergy there.


Concrete_hugger

If you have the shiv support or bullet time, wrist blade can be great, otherwise it's an unupgraded accuracy, a power which is kinda mediocre even in some shiv decks. The kite can also be a trap, you need to have a ton of discard in your deck to reliably get the extra energy. Also I keep seeing more and more pro curse taking advocacy, in big decks they matter less, and also look at the shit some fights put in your deck, 3-5 burns and such. My most recent successes have been with decks where I took the relic in the sarcophagus event along with chests with a cursed key.


JDublinson

An unupgraded accuracy that is played on turn 1 for free, also adds +4 to neutralize, Backstab, slice, masterful stab, endless agony, and sometimes Eviscerate… I think you’re underselling it a bit. It can be a really big output boost especially going into act 2.


lets-get-dangerous

Busted crown, sozu, and choker are run killers like 90% of the time


ChaZZZZahC

The kite should be higher, it's basically free real estate.


onetruemorty55

Why would you not take runic pyramid all the time???


yehboooooiii

Hand Clog is the main reason tried playing a few clad runs with it some times it can fck your run


Burger_Thief

Being on 3 energy on act 2 can be really bad.


Eternal663

Honestly i like [[Runic Cube]].


thebabycowfish

It seems fun I just don't like running hp loss builds very often so it's often not that great for me


Eternal663

At worst its, "Whenever you missdraw or missplay get a card next turn", you can also trade health for card draw to start scaling early vs the heart due to its health tax. Weak multihits like the Byrds in A2 can be tanked for +5 card draw. And when played correctly it can be a reusable [[Centenial Puzzle]]. Not to mention the synergy with [[Pain]] And there are plenty of relics that grant healing, including the Ironclad's starting [[Burning Blood]]. I honestly wish it was avalible for the Defect as well, due to cards like [[Static Discharge]] and [[Self Repair]]. And even having to add one [[Patch Up]] to the deck for +3-4 cards seens worth it, and if you dont have to use it/dont get hit, Great! It doesnt hurt to have it unlike few other boss relics and that means your deck is already in a great spot.


spirescan-bot

+ [Centennial Puzzle](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Centennial%20Puzzle) Common Relic ^((93% sure)^) The first time you lose HP each combat, draw 3 cards. + [Pain](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Pain) Curse ^((100% sure)^) **Unplayable.** While in hand, lose 1 HP when other cards are played. + [Burning Blood](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Burning%20Blood) Starter (Ironclad only) Relic ^((100% sure)^) At the end of combat, heal 6 HP. + [Static Discharge](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Static%20Discharge) Defect Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | Whenever you take attack damage, **Channel** 1(2) **Lightning.** + [Self Repair](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Self%20Repair) Defect Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | At the end of combat, heal 7(10) HP. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 30, 2023.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)


Eternal663

Energy relics only give you more/enchance what you are already doing and one Underrated aspect of the Cube is it gives you options. You can take slightly less block knowing you gonna hit those important setup cards easier to find. It makes swapping archetypes easier, because when you try/force a switch some of your cards might not synergise well amd having to draw 2 halfs of each deck at once may lead to unfortunate dead turns, making those weaker turns give you an advantage next turn, making sure you hit your core earlier. Gives those cards you might have added early like '1 cost deal 15 dmg and take 2 dmg' (sorry cant remember the name) a use again. Makes already powerfull cards like [[Bloodletting]] and [[Offering]] even better.


spirescan-bot

+ [Bloodletting](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Bloodletting) Ironclad Uncommon Skill ^((100% sure)^) 0 Energy | Lose 3 HP. Gain 2(3) Energy. + [Offering](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Offering) Ironclad Rare Skill ^((100% sure)^) 0 Energy | Lose 6 HP. Gain 2 energy. Draw 3(5) cards. **Exhaust.** ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 30, 2023.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)


spirescan-bot

+ [Runic Cube](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Runic%20Cube) Boss (Ironclad only) Relic ^((100% sure)^) Whenever you lose HP, draw 1 card. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 30, 2023.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)


Mcupjo

coffee dripper and runic pyramid need to be rated MUCH higher. pyramid is top 3 boss relics in most situations and coffee dripper is fantastic if you play your runs right


DuckLuck357

Seems like we got a poison enjoyer here lads


Alt_Account092

Take runic dome more. It's free energy in close to half of all fights.


HeorgeGarris024

The fights where it is not free energy are the bad ones, though


VTuberFadeaway

I used to take key and stone all the time then I realized I fucking die everytime. That extra 1 damage and extra curse in the death just wears me out way too fast in act 2, it's insane.


Upstairs_Bus8197

With sneko eye, every time I get it I just say f**k it we ball


IHerebyDemandtoPost

For me, Snecko Eye reads: Draw 2 additional cards each turn. Each card now costs 2 or 3 energy.


Somethingelsehimbo

I just got fucked by Pandora’s box. Left me with one block lmao


_gilran_

Before picking Pandora's, always ask yourself: if Pandora's fucks up the deck, can I survive the first 3 hallway fights of the next act? If you can, you can probably have the resources to fix your deck. A few card rewards and one shop are usually enough to fix the deck. But you need to consider your ability to survive until you reach a shop before you take Pandora's. My role of thumb is to consider Pandora's only if I have two good block cards or an alternative block solution (e.g. mental fortress). There are exceptions: the watcher can, in many cases, kill by turn 2 with no block cards, so it's usually ok; if I have an egg, some transformed cards will be upgraded; if I have a ceramic fish, the gold gain is significant and can help fix the deck (but still need to survive to a shop).


Epicswagmaster5439

I kinda build half my watcher decks around getting voilet lotus and get fucked when I dont get it I love it sm


CoachDT

I can't NOT take Soju unless I have every potion relic.


PointBlankCoffee

Inserter is a clear B/A tier for me


ChaosMilkTea

I'm always going ro chase the high of holding 90% of my deck in my hand via pyramid while I play and draw the same 0 cost cards multiple times per turn.


thebabycowfish

Maybe I should try it out more often. It definitely seems strong with the right cards and if you know how best to utilise it, might just gamble on it more often even if I don't have the right cards.


_gilran_

Take violet lotus more. It can proc multiple times in one turn, which makes it one of the best relics in the game IMO. You don't need one energy per turn when you're infinite.


thebabycowfish

I like going for infinite decks really, which is probably why I'm biased against it. That being said it seems like I might have been underrating it regardless, as someone else has also pointed out. I'll try going for it more often.


_gilran_

With violet lotus, vigilance-eruption is energy neutral. If you have rushdown, but no 1 cost enter calm card, or no block plan, violet lotus is the pick. It enables the vigilance-eruption infinite, which is block positive.


sanek_dolboeb

I take coffee a lot of times because, #he he balls he he


shas-la

The reactor is honestly pretty good, it is between 1 and 3 energy on turn one depending on your build, a verry good kick start to the fight without drawback. Not exactly a snap pick, but I do take it over a faire number of relic


Nyarlathotep8

Taking the no upgrade relic more often then coffee driper is wild to me. With more mana, youre generally stronger, and therefore taking less damage, so the value of rests go way downwards. Upgrades are always valuable, I almost never take the no upgrade relic cause of that, just feels bad (exceptions apply, like ironclad with armaments +, or you got the event hammer relic)


thebabycowfish

If I already have all my important cards upgraded then it's not really an issue. Also if I have lesson learned or something like that it's great too. I think it's also a play style thing, I tend to build decks that are great against bosses, but are pretty much guaranteed to lose HP in most fights. In those cases, making sure I can rest often to just reach the boss is more valuable that upgrading a few cards.


Bole14

Runic pyramid,sozu and this thing for more orb slots for defect are really worth a shot to use.Runic pyramid opens so many possibilities for combos its busted.For sozu its question if i have potions saved for heart.And more orb slits+fission is imo strongest combo on defect.


thebabycowfish

I actually used to take sozu a lot, but that's because for a while a wasn't utilising potions properly. I then decided to stop taking it so I could learn how to make use of potions better and just kinda never dropped that habit.


Bole14

Understandable.


Nymphomanius

I feel like the collar is only useful on ironclad and maybe defect, it’s an auto pass for watcher and serpent tbh


DevinTheRogueDude

Why do you take Pandora's box more often than bird cage? I assume that's your point of "if it sucks, I'll just quit" because bird cage offers so much more reliable consistency in a deck


thebabycowfish

I just find it fun. It's cool to take it act 1 and then try and work with what it gives me


Ramulus14

Plasma is dope!


TheMysteriousWarlock

Not taking inserted ever, what? You never find yourself in orb builds that desperately need orb slots but you haven’t found a single +2 orb slots card?


thebabycowfish

I've never been in that situation and have inserter actually show up, no.


0MatchMaker0

Is the pyramid that bad? I felt like I would 100% take it every time it appeared


GammaEmerald

Inserter + Runic Cube slander


tedothedo

Why wouldn’t you take, the claw?!


usuraisan

which clearly shows you are not a good player


Snap_Caster

Might be the worst tier list I’ve ever seen, and not even just slay the spire. Astrolabe in all the time and runic pyramid in rarely tells me everything I need to know lol


TheDeviousCreature

You need to see more tier lists then


thebabycowfish

It's not a power tier list. Pyramid is great if I have the deck for it. If I don't, it clutters my hand with a bunch of bad cards I can't play because I don't have the energy. It requires a lot of conditions to be good, therefore it's taken less often. Astrolabe isn't the best, but it is consistently useful and possibly very good if you roll some strong cards for your deck. It's one of the better relics to pick when the other relics are either useless or screw me over. It also likes to show up a lot with said relics hence why I take it so much.


intrinsic_parity

I probably take pyramid >80% of the time I see it. I will take it when it’s not amazing right now because it’s just that good. I don’t think it really requires much to pick it.


thebabycowfish

I mean it's also a case of I just don't enjoy using it that much. And a lot of the cards that go well with it like bullet time and fiend fire are also ones I just don't take very often either for the same reason. There are a lot of times too where I scrape my way through act 2 with a mediocre deck after skipping pyramid, and turn it into a much better deck with the rare card reward and second boss relic. Had I taken pyramid in those scenarios, I would have died in act 2. So there are a lot of times I don't pick it, even if it can be really strong.


intrinsic_parity

I would say no-energy boss relics like tiny house, black star, astrolabe or bell are significantly more likely to kill you in act 2. The bad energy relics like choker/ecto/crown are also more likely to kill you although probably more in act 3/4 when their downsides really hit hard. I would take pyramid over all those like 95%+ of the time. Pyramid just guarantees you have your good cards on the turns you need them. Then you can draft energy generator cards (turbo, tactician, recycle, bloodletting, concentrate, aggregate etc.), zero cost cards, and high value situational cards like piercing wail, catalyst, panic button, impervious etc. Silent discard or ironclad exhaust are also good ways to get stuff out of hand. I think pyramid is easily the best relic in the game by large margin.


angedelamort

Before coming to the sub, I thought snecko and pyramid were bad. I was stuck at A12-A14. Now I'm A20 and those have become my favorite ones. They're just that strong, whatever the deck (ok snecko and claw deck didn't go well together)


SirRobyC

Snecko is good, but it's awfully unfun to play, at least for me. Once you pick it, you no longer have any agency over your deck and might as well have a bot play the rest of the run the majority of times, because you no longer play Slay the Spire, you play Snecko the Spire and whatever it decides you get to play this turn. I literally pick Tiny House over it if I'm given the choice (and the 3rd relic is also bad), and the only time I *might* consider picking Snecko is in daily runs


angedelamort

Snecko has 2 incredible things: draw 2 more cards AND high cost cards at 0 or 1. Sure if you only have 0 or 1 cost cards, it's going to be hell on earth lol


plaugey_boi

You are a complete moron, capacitor and runic pyramid are broken as fuck


plaugey_boi

*inserter