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Slay the Spire 2 Event Guide: Every ? Room, Best Choices & Outcomes

❓ Event Reference · Updated May 23, 2026 · 16 min read

Table of Contents

1. How Events Work & Risk Framework 2. Act 1 Events (Floors 1–16) 3. Act 2 Events (Floors 17–33) 4. Act 3 Events (Floors 34–50) 5. Special & Character-Specific Events 6. How Events Change at A15+ 7. Event Priority Tier List 8. 10 Event Decision-Making Tips

1. How Events Work & Risk Framework

? rooms appear as grey question marks on the map. Stepping on one triggers a random event from that act's event pool. Events can give you cards, relics, gold, Max HP, card removal, card transforms, or nothing — sometimes they are actually fights in disguise.

The Event Evaluation Framework

Before making any event choice, evaluate it against these four categories:

🔵 Key Concept: Events in STS2 follow the same act-based pool system as STS1. Each act has its own pool of events. Act 2 has the most powerful events; Act 1 events are generally weaker but safer.

2. Act 1 Events (Floors 1–16)

🐀Big Fish / Mushroom Event

A large creature offers a trade. You can fight it for a relic or take a less rewarding safe option.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Fight it if you have at least 2 attack cards added to your deck. The relic is almost always worth the HP loss in Act 1. Only skip if you're below 25 HP.
⚠️ SITUATIONAL
Taking the safe option is fine if you're about to face an elite and can't afford HP loss.

Usually Take Fight unless low HP. Relic reward outscales HP cost.

💎Golden Idol

Find a Golden Idol in a wall. You can take it (gain a Curse — Injury), or leave it.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Take it. The Golden Idol is a Curse, but it enables the Forgotten Altar event in Act 2 which gives you Bloody Idol (heal 5 HP whenever you gain gold). That's arguably the best event chain in the game. Remove the Injury later.
❌ AVOID
Leaving it is only correct if you have no card removal options and can't afford a Curse.

Always Take Enables the best Act 2 event chain.

👻Dead Adventurer

Find a dead adventurer. You can search the body — high chance of Loot (gold + relic), small chance of fighting a Lagavulin.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Search the body if you're above 35 HP. The gold and relic from Loot far outweigh the risk. Even the Lagavulin fight is winnable if you have attacks.
⚠️ SITUATIONAL
Skip if below 30 HP. The Lagavulin fight will kill you at low HP with no attack cards.

Usually Take Risk if HP > 35. Skip if low HP and weak deck.

🪙Wing Statue / Sssserpent

A serpent offers gold in exchange for HP loss, or a Curse (Doubt) in exchange for gold.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Take gold for HP if you have sustain (Ironclad's Burning Blood) or are at high HP. 175 gold for ~20 HP is a good rate in Act 1.
❌ AVOID
Never take the Curse for gold. Doubt gives you Weak every turn, which is one of the worst curses.

Situational HP for gold OK if you can recover. Never take the Curse.

🔥Living Wall

A wall offers to transform a card or remove a card for a cost (gold or HP).

✅ RECOMMENDED
Transform a Strike or Defend. Transforming removes the old card and gives a random one — always an upgrade over Starter cards. Card removal is also always good.

Always Take Transform Strikes. Card removal is never bad.

📜Scrap Ooze

Dig through ooze for a relic. Each dig has a chance to give the relic or deal damage.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Dig until you get the relic or reach ~15 HP remaining. The expected value is positive — you usually get the relic within 3-4 digs. Stop earlier if you have an elite next.

Dig Smart Get the relic, but don't die for it.

3. Act 2 Events (Floors 17–33)

👻Council of Ghosts / Apparitions

Gain 5 Apparition cards (Ethereal, 1-cost: gain 1 Intangible). Lose 50% Max HP.

✅ RECOMMENDED
This is one of the strongest events in the entire game. 5 Intangible turns make you nearly invincible. Take this with almost any deck. The Max HP loss looks scary, but Intangible is worth far more than 50% of your HP pool. Exception: Don't take it if you have below 35 Max HP — you'll be too fragile.
⚠️ SITUATIONAL
Skip if you have a consistent block engine (Frost Defect, Barricade Ironclad) and value the Max HP more than the safety net.

Almost Always Take Arguably the best event in the game. Only skip at very low Max HP.

📖Ancient Writing

Choose: Upgrade all Strikes and Defends, or remove a card from your deck.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Remove a card in almost every case. Removing one Strike permanently improves every future draw. Upgrading Strikes is temporary value diluted by future card additions. Only upgrade all if you're a very new player with 5+ Strikes still in deck and Survival is your priority.

Remove a Card Removal > temporary upgrades.

📚Library

Read a book: Heal 20% HP, or choose 1 of 3 cards to add to your deck.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Take the card if any of the three options meaningfully improve your deck. Heal 20% is the safe fallback if the cards are bad.

Situational Card if good, heal if not.

🏟️Colosseum

Fight two consecutive elite-level encounters for two relics and large gold reward.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Fight both if your deck is strong and you're above 50 HP. Two relics + gold is an enormous power spike. If you can only handle one fight, you still get one relic.
⚠️ SITUATIONAL
Skip entirely if weak. The second fight is against Taskmaster + 2 Slavers — a combo that kills unprepared decks.

Situational Strong deck = free relics. Weak deck = run over.

🧛Vampires (?) / Blood Vial

Trade all Strikes for Bite cards (1-cost: deal 7 damage, heal 2 HP). Lose 30% Max HP. Requires Blood Vial relic.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Take if you still have 4+ Strikes. Bites are a massive upgrade — they give sustain on every attack. The Max HP loss is offset by the healing. Particularly good on Ironclad (synergy with Strength) and fragile characters who need sustain.
⚠️ SITUATIONAL
Skip if you've already removed most Strikes (1-2 Bites isn't worth 30% Max HP) or if your deck is curse/status heavy.

Take with 4+ Strikes Excellent sustain event.

🙏Forgotten Altar

Requires Golden Idol. Trade Golden Idol for Bloody Idol (heal 5 HP whenever you gain gold).

✅ RECOMMENDED
Always take this trade. Bloody Idol is one of the best relics in the game. Every gold pickup (including from fights) now heals you. This single relic can sustain you through entire acts.

Always Take The entire reason you took Golden Idol in Act 1.

🔔The Mausoleum

Open a coffin: gain a random Curse, or gain a random Relic at HP cost.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Take the relic. A random relic + HP cost is usually worth it unless you have an elite next. Never take the Curse.

Take Relic Never take the Curse.

4. Act 3 Events (Floors 34–50)

🌺Mind Bloom

Three choices: Fight an Act 1 boss for a rare relic, upgrade all cards (no downside), or heal to full HP with a curse.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Fight the boss is almost always correct. A rare relic + gold + card reward is the highest-value choice. Upgrading all cards is safe and good if your deck is fully built. Heal + Curse is a desperation move for when you'll die otherwise.

Fight Boss Best value. Upgrade all if boss fight is risky.

🌀Sensory Stone

Add a colorless card to your deck from a choice of 3.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Take the best colorless card. Apotheosis (upgrade all cards), Master of Strategy (draw 3, 0-cost), and Panache are premium picks. If all 3 are bad, skip.

Usually Take Colorless pool has game-winners.

🌑Winding Halls

Two choices: become Writhing (lose 18 Max HP) and remove 2 cards, or gain Madness curse permanently.

✅ RECOMMENDED
Remove 2 cards at the cost of Max HP. Removing 2 Strikes/Defends in Act 3 is worth the HP cost. The curse option is terrible.

Remove 2 Cards Worth the HP cost in Act 3.

⚱️Falling

Lose a random card (forced removal from a choice of Attack, Skill, or Power).

❌ DANGEROUS
This event can brick your run. You must choose a card type to lose, but the game picks which specific card. If you have one key Attack and the game targets Attacks, you might lose your win condition. If you have a "useless" card of the targeted type, you might trade it for a card you need. Evaluate very carefully.

Dangerous Can lose win conditions. Avoid late Act 3 ? rooms on critical decks.

5. Special & Character-Specific Events

Some events only appear under specific conditions or for specific characters:

Character-Specific Events

Shrine Events (No Downside)

6. How Events Change at A15+

At Ascension 15, the game applies "Unfavorable Events" — many events gain negative outcomes or have reduced rewards. This fundamentally changes event evaluation:

⚠️ A15+ Event Strategy Shift: At A15+, ? rooms become significantly worse. You should path toward more hallway fights and fewer events. The predictable card reward from a fight is now often better than the risk of a nerfed event.

Most Impacted Events at A15+

Events That Remain Strong at A15+

7. Event Priority Tier List

S-Tier (Run-Defining — Always Take the Best Option)

A-Tier (Very Strong — Almost Always Take)

B-Tier (Good Value — Take Most of the Time)

C-Tier (Situational — Evaluate Carefully)

D-Tier (Avoid Unless Desperate)

8. 10 Event Decision-Making Tips

  1. Know the act pools. Different acts have different events. Act 2 has the best events — prioritize ? rooms there.
  2. HP is a resource, not a score. Spending 20 HP for a relic that saves you 50 HP over the run is a winning trade. Be aggressive with HP spending.
  3. Curses are almost never worth it. With very few exceptions (Golden Idol as setup), don't take Curses from events. They permanently weaken every future draw.
  4. Transforms are underrated. Turning a Strike into a random card is almost always positive. The average card in any character's pool is better than a Strike.
  5. Card removal is the safest choice. When in doubt, pick the option that removes a card. Thinner decks are stronger decks.
  6. Don't gamble when you're ahead. If your deck is strong and you're at full HP, don't take risky event options. Preserve your advantage.
  7. Do gamble when you're behind. If your deck is weak, take the riskier option. The safe route leads to a slow death anyway.
  8. Check your map before choosing. If there's a campfire next, you can afford more HP loss. If there's an elite, be conservative.
  9. At A15+, events lose value. Adjust your pathing: fewer ? rooms, more hallway fights.
  10. Apparitions wins runs. If you see Council of Ghosts, take the 5 Apparitions unless you are below 35 Max HP. It's that simple.

? rooms are powerful but mysterious. Learn when to visit them in our Map Pathing Guide.