🐳 Neow's Blessing Tier List: Best Starter Bonuses for Every Character
📅 Updated Jun 3, 2026 · ⏱️ 10 min read · 🏷️ Tier List v0.106.1
How Neow's Blessing Works in STS2
At the start of each run, Neow offers 4 options (2 if you died in Act 1 on the previous run). Bonuses are grouped into:
- Positive-only (no downside): Small but safe bonuses
- Risk/reward (with downside): Big bonus + penalty (lose HP, curse, gold)
- Boss relic swap: Trade your starter relic for a random boss relic — highest variance pick
S-Tier — Always Take These
| Bonus | Best Character | Why It's S-Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Transform 2 cards | All characters | Removes 2 Starter cards + gives 2 random cards. Always increases deck quality. No downside. |
| Remove 2 cards | Silent, Defect | Slims deck to 8-9 cards. Defect can remove 2 Strikes for immediate orb consistency. |
| Rare card choice | Ironclad (Corruption), Silent (Wraith Form), Defect (Echo Form) | High-rolling a build-defining rare wins runs. Even a mid-roll rare is better than a Strike. |
| 250 Gold (lose 50% HP) | Ironclad, Necrobinder | With Burning Blood heal, 250g buys a rare relic or 2-3 early cards. Worth the HP. |
| Boss relic swap | Defect (Cracked Core → Energy relic), Silent (Ring → 4th energy) | Highest win-rate option on high-ascension. Defect gets +1 energy, Silent gets a better relic. |
A-Tier — Strong, Reliable
| Bonus | Best Character | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Common relic | All | Data Disk on Defect, Vajra on Ironclad — high-rolling a damage relic trivializes Act 1. |
| Choose a Rare colorless card | Ironclad (Apotheosis!), Silent | Apotheosis is worth any downside. Hand of Greed funds the entire run. |
| Upgrade a card | Defect (Zap → 0-cost!), Silent (Neutralize+) | Zap+ is a free 0-cost Lightning Orb. Neutralize+ applies 2 Weak for 3 turns. |
| Max HP + (lose gold) | Regent, Necrobinder | Early gold is less important without strong Act 1 shops. HP buffer is always valuable. |
| 3 potions | Ironclad, Silent (elite hunting) | 3 potions enable 2-3 elite fights in Act 1. High-roll a Fire Potion → free elite kill. |
B-Tier — Situationally Good
| Bonus | When to Take |
|---|---|
| 100 Gold | If no strong options and you have an early shop |
| Rare relic (lose 30% HP) | Only on Ironclad with sustain, or if you high-rolled max HP from previous run |
| Random card upgrade | Worse than guaranteed upgrade. Only if the other options are terrible. |
| Card removal | Single removal is mediocre. Take Transform 2 instead. |
C-Tier — Usually Skip
| Bonus | Why It's Bad |
|---|---|
| Max HP + (no downside) | +7 Max HP is worth ~1/3 of a relic. Minimal impact. |
| Enemies in first 3 combats have 1 HP | Fun meme pick. Saves ~15 HP. Doesn't scale into the run at all. |
| Random common card | Usually worse than starter cards. Adds deck bloat without removing anything. |
D-Tier — Never Take These
| Bonus | Why It's Terrible |
|---|---|
| Lose Max HP + rare relic (lose gold + curse) | Triple penalty for one rare relic. Too much downside. Even on Ironclad. |
| Random curse + Gold | Curse in deck = dead draw every cycle. Not worth 175g unless you have an immediate shop. |
Per-Character Neow Priority
Ironclad
1st choice: Boss relic swap (high-roll energy relic). 2nd: Rare card (Corruption/Offering). 3rd: 250 Gold penalty. Burning Blood sustain makes HP penalties safer.
Silent
1st choice: Transform 2. 2nd: Remove 2 (dump 2 Defends). 3rd: Boss relic swap (Ring of the Snake isn't that good). Silent values deck quality over brute force.
Defect
1st choice: Boss relic swap (Cracked Core → energy). 2nd: Upgrade a card (Zap+). 3rd: Rare card. Defect's starter deck is weak — any improvement helps.
Necrobinder
1st choice: Rare card. 2nd: Transform 2. 3rd: Max HP +. Necrobinder's power spikes come from minion cards — finding one early snowballs.
Regent
1st choice: Transform 2 (trim the complex starter deck). 2nd: Rare card. 3rd: Max HP +. Regent's starter deck is the largest — trimming is essential.