Slay the Spire 2 Best Relics: Tier List & Strategy Guide (2026)

S Snecko Eye — +2 card draw per turn. Randomizes all card costs.

When to take: Your deck has multiple 2-3 cost cards (Demon Form, Corruption, Bludgeon, Wraith Form). Average deck cost is 1.5+. You have card draw to compensate for bad rolls. When to SKIP: Your deck is full of 0-1 cost cards (Shiv build, Claw deck, Defect 0-cost). Snecko makes cheap decks worse, not better.

The math: Snecko randomizes costs to 0-3 uniformly. If your average card cost is ≥1.5, Snecko saves energy. If it's ≤1.0, Snecko costs energy. Every deck has a Snecko breakpoint — learn yours.

S Cursed Key — +1 energy per turn. Gain 1 Curse when opening a non-boss chest.

When to take: Almost always. The downside (1-2 Curses per act) is minor compared to +1 energy every turn. Skip chests if you have no removal. When to SKIP: You already have 2+ Curses, or Du-Vu Doll (the Curse synergy relic) isn't in play.

S Coffee Dripper — +1 energy per turn. Can no longer Rest at campfires.

When to take: You have reliable non-Rest healing: Burning Blood (Ironclad starting relic), Reaper, Self Repair (Defect), Meat on the Bone, Blood Vial, Meal Ticket. If you haven't Rested in 3+ campfires, Coffee Dripper is free energy.

When to SKIP: You're below 50% HP and have zero alternate healing. Don't suicide for energy.

S Runic Pyramid — Retain your hand at end of turn. No longer discard.

When to take: Your deck has setup cards (Demon Form, Corruption, Wraith Form) that you need to play on specific turns. Well-Laid Plans is unnecessary. Excellent with Sneaky Strike and Flexible archetypes.

When to SKIP: Your deck generates status cards (Wounds, Burns, Dazed) or you already have card-draw problems. Pyramid fills your hand with junk if you can't cycle through it.

A Philosopher's Stone — +1 energy. Enemies gain +1 Strength.

+1 Strength seems scary, but it translates to ~2-3 extra damage per enemy attack. That's blockable. The energy is permanent. Take this 95% of the time. Only skip against multi-hit enemies (Book of Stabbing, Byrds) if your block engine is weak.

A Fusion Hammer — +1 energy. Cannot upgrade cards at campfires.

Take if you've already upgraded your key cards (3-4 upgrades done) OR you have Apotheosis. Skip early Act 1 when nothing is upgraded and you haven't found your core cards yet.

A Astrolabe — Transform 3 cards. Upgrade them.

Free deck improvement with zero downside. Transform 3 Strikes into potentially game-winning rares. Best boss relic swap from Neow. Always a safe pick.

B Pandora's Box — Transform ALL Strikes and Defends.

Highest-variance boss relic. Can give you a perfect deck (5+ rares) or a disaster (no attacks, no block). Only take if you can afford to lose your basics and have a shop / event for card removal soon. Gambling relic — sometimes worth it, sometimes game-ending.

S Dead Branch — Whenever a card is Exhausted, add a random card to your hand.

Why it's S-Tier: With Corruption (Ironclad), every skill adds a random card. You generate 10-20 extra cards per turn. With Necrobinder's minion exhaust effects, it's similarly broken. Without exhaust synergies, it's A-Tier — random cards are worse than the cards you put in your deck.

S Incense Burner — Every 6 turns, gain Intangible (all damage reduced to 1) for 1 turn.

Why it's S-Tier: If you time it correctly, you can face-tank Hyperbeam (45-50 damage), the Heart's multi-hit (45-67), and any massive boss attack for 1 damage. The counter persists between fights — you can pre-stack it by delaying turns. The single best defensive relic in the game for skilled players.

S Tough Bandages — Gain 3 Block whenever you discard a card.

Why it's S-Tier: On Silent, this is essentially After Image for free. Calculated Gamble discarding 7 cards = +21 Block. Tough Bandages alone solves Silent's block problem for the entire run.

S Wrist Blade — 0-cost Attacks deal +4 damage.

Why it's S-Tier: On Silent Shiv builds, this doubles dps output. 10 Shivs go from 40 damage to 80+. With 2 Accuracies, they hit for 16+ each — 160 damage from free cards. The highest single-relic damage multiplier in the game.

A Vajra — Start each combat with +1 Strength. Simple, unconditional power. Early-game MVP, scales well into the late game with multi-hit attacks. Never a wrong pick.

A Mummified Hand — Playing a Power reduces a random card's cost to 0 this turn. In Power-heavy decks (Defect with Creative AI, Ironclad with Corruption + FNP + Dark Embrace), this generates massive energy efficiency.

A Shuriken / Kunai — Every 3 Attacks: +1 Strength / +1 Dexterity. With Shiv, multi-hit, or Claw decks, you can trigger these 2-3 times per turn. Free stats that add up to +5/+5 in long fights.

A Pen Nib — Every 10th Attack deals double damage. With careful planning, your 10th attack can be a Heavy Blade at 50 Strength (200 → 400 damage). Free damage multiplier that costs nothing if you track it.

A Sundial — Every 3 times you shuffle your draw pile, gain 2 energy. Essential for thin-deck strategies and infinite combos. Triggers 2-3 times per fight in 15-card decks.

A Torii — Reduce any unblocked attack damage ≤5 to 1. Hard-counters multi-hit enemies (Book of Stabbing, Byrds, Heart). Turns 6×3 damage into 1×3 damage. One of the best defensive relics.

A Orange Pellets — Playing an Attack, Skill, and Power in the same turn removes all debuffs. The only way to cleanse the -1 Draw/-1 Energy from the Heart's turn 1 debuff. Also removes Weak, Vulnerable, Frail, and negative Strength/Dexterity. Utility relic with an absurdly high ceiling.

Brimstone — +2 Strength per turn, but enemies gain +1 Strength. At Ascension 15+, enemy damage is already high. Brimstone accelerates their scaling. Fine on A0-A10, borderline suicide on A15+ against multi-hit enemies. Take only if you can end fights in 3-4 turns.

Ectoplasm — +1 energy. Can no longer gain Gold. Gold buys card removal, potions, relics, and key cards at shops. Ectoplasm removes an entire strategic dimension from your run. Only take if you're 0 gold and the other boss relics are worse. Even then, consider skipping.

Sozu — +1 energy. Can no longer obtain potions. Potions win boss fights. No potions means no Ghost in a Jar for the Heart, no Fairy for survival, no Flex Potion for burst. Experienced players value potions highly — Sozu is much worse than it looks.

Runic Dome — +1 energy. Can no longer see enemy intents. For beginners: never take this. For experts: still think twice. Missing enemy intents means you can't tell when Hyperbeam or the big Slam is coming. The only time this is correct is when your deck generates so much passive block (Corruption + FNP, Frost orbs) that you block everything regardless.