I genuinely did not expect to lose three hours on a Tuesday night just theorycrafting relic picks. But that is exactly what Slay the Spire 2 does to you. Since Mega Crit dropped the game into Steam Early Access on March 5, 2026, I have burned through dozens of runs across every character, and the single lesson that separates a clean clear from a devastating loss is almost always the same: relic decision-making.
Slay the Spire 2 launched with over 250 relics spanning Starter, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Shop, Ancient, and Event rarities, and knowing which ones to grab, which to walk past, and which will quietly brick your entire run is the core skill the game is actually testing. This guide breaks down the Slay the Spire 2 best relics, how to think about prioritization across acts, what the new mechanics change about relic evaluation, and which relics are character-dependent traps dressed up as power picks.
Whether you are three runs deep or climbing into Ascension territory, this is the relic reference I wish I had on day one.
What Makes a Relic Good in Slay the Spire 2
Before we rank anything, it helps to understand what “good” actually means in this game. Relics can give small passive buffs like extra Max HP or starting Block every combat, but the most impactful ones completely alter how you play and actively incentivize you to build your deck around them.
The best relics share a few traits. They are either unconditional (they fire every combat without any setup), multiplicative (they scale with your deck’s existing power), or enabling (they unlock archetypes that would otherwise be impossible to run). A relic that requires you to hit a very specific condition every fight is far weaker than it looks on paper, especially in Act 3 and beyond where boss mechanics punish passive strategies.
Knowing which relics to prioritize can be the difference between a win and a total loss. That is not hyperbole. I have had runs where a single wrong relic pickup in Act 1 cascades into an Act 2 elite encounter I simply cannot survive.
New Mechanics That Change Relic Evaluation
Slay the Spire 2 is not the original game with a new coat of paint. Several new systems fundamentally change how you should read and evaluate relics.
Durability
Several relics in STS2 now have limited uses per combat called Durability, meaning they cannot fire indefinitely in a single fight. Always factor this in when evaluating relics that look powerful on paper. A relic that blocks 8 damage but only triggers twice per combat is far weaker against a boss than it is against a corridor enemy. A shield generator that shuts off after three turns is basically useless against a boss with a massive health pool.
When you see a relic with a Durability value, mentally calculate how many times it will actually fire in your average boss fight. If the answer is two or fewer, the relic is probably not worth prioritizing unless the effect is enormous.
Corrosion and Pierce
Corrosion reduces your max HP each turn and cannot be blocked, while Pierce ignores Block entirely, making defensively-oriented relics significantly less reliable in specific encounters. These mechanics mean Block-generation relics need to be evaluated against whether your current act has encounters that simply bypass Block. In a Pierce-heavy section, a relic that gives you 6 starting Block every combat is a lot less exciting.
The Soulbound Mechanic
Slay the Spire 2 also introduces the Soulbound mechanic. Cards with this effect cannot be removed from the deck once acquired, which can complicate strategies that rely on small deck sizes. This is directly relevant to relic evaluation: any relic that rewards small, tight decks becomes riskier if you have picked up Soulbound cards without realizing it. Always check your deck composition before committing to a “thin deck” relic.
Wax Relics
STS2 introduces a new type of temporary relic called Wax Relics, obtained from Tezcatara’s Toy Box in Act 2. These function like standard relics but degrade over time. More on these in their own section below because their evaluation logic is completely different from permanent relics.
S-Tier Universal Relics You Should Almost Always Take
These are the relics I pick up without hesitation on essentially any character, any build. They provide consistent value with no conditional caveats.
Bag of Preparation
Bag of Preparation draws 2 extra cards at the start of each combat. This sounds simple, and it is. But the compounding value of seeing two additional cards every single fight is staggering across a full run. More cards means more choices, more damage, and better opening hands against elites where your first turn often determines whether you survive. On every character, extra draw is almost never wrong.
Astrolabe
Astrolabe transforms and upgrades 3 cards on pickup, providing an instant power spike that immediately fixes a weak deck. The value is front-loaded, which means it is strongest when grabbed early. If you are entering Act 2 with a deck full of basic Strikes and Defends, Astrolabe is about as close to a miracle pickup as this game offers. The transformation is random, but the upgrade on all three is guaranteed, and that alone is worth it.
Toxic Egg
The Toxic Egg is a Rare-grade relic that upgrades any skills you add to your deck from the point you pick it up. Every skill you add after acquiring it is automatically upgraded, and skills are some of the most important cards in Slay the Spire 2. If you are in Act 1 and see this relic, take it. Full stop. The Frozen Egg does the same with power cards, while the Molten Egg permanently upgrades any new attack cards. All three egg relics are exceptional, but Toxic Egg edges ahead because of how broad and consistently valuable skills are across every character’s kit.
Lantern
Lantern starts each combat with an additional Energy. Energy is the foundational resource of the entire game. One extra Energy on turn one, every single combat, is not a small bonus. It is enormous. It lets you play one more card per turn on average, which compounds across every fight in a run. Lantern belongs in the conversation for best relic in the game, full stop.
Mummified Hand
Mummified Hand makes a random card in your hand free to play whenever you play a Power card. This means you can still perform an action like blocking while setting up your Powers. In the best-case scenario, it lands on a very expensive card, or even another Power, meaning you can play yet another free card. The value ceiling on Mummified Hand in a Power-heavy deck is absolutely broken. Even on decks with just a handful of Powers, the baseline floor of getting one free card mid-setup rotation is excellent.
A-Tier Relics Worth Strong Consideration
These relics are strong but slightly more conditional than the S-tier picks. They are still high-priority grabs in most situations.
| Relic | Effect | Best On |
|---|---|---|
| Festive Popper | Deals 9 damage to all enemies at combat start | Any character |
| Strawberry | Increases Max HP by 7 on pickup | Early Act 1 |
| Permafrost | Gains 6 Block first time you play a Power each combat | Power builds |
| Tungsten Rod | Whenever you lose HP, lose 1 less | Ironclad, tanky builds |
| Paper Phrog | Enemies with Vulnerable take 75% more damage instead of 50% | Attack builds |
| Ruined Helmet | First time you gain Strength each combat, it is doubled | Strength builds |
Festive Popper is a quiet overperformer. Nine unconditional damage to all enemies at the start of combat chunks down grouped fights in Act 1 and Act 2 significantly and saves you cards you would have spent clearing weaker enemies. Strawberry is worth taking almost any time you see it in Act 1 because Max HP is a resource and more HP gives you more room to take aggressive paths through elites.
Ruined Helmet in combination with any Strength-stacking card like Inflame is a genuinely scary setup. You play Inflame for 2 Strength, the relic doubles it to 4, and your next attack immediately benefits. On the Ironclad specifically this is one of the strongest relic-card pairings available.
Best Character-Specific Relics by Class
Not every relic is for every character. Grabbing a character-specific relic on the wrong class is a waste of a slot, and this is one of the most common mistakes I see in newer player runs.
Ironclad
Demon Tongue and Self-Forming Clay are the top Ironclad-specific picks. Self-Forming Clay gives 3 Block next turn whenever you lose HP in combat, while Demon Tongue heals HP equal to the amount you lost the first time you take damage on your turn. These two relics reinforce the Ironclad’s core identity: his kit is built on burst offense, sustainability, and the Exhaust mechanic, with the highest starting HP of 80 and a passive relic that heals 6 HP after every combat, making him designed to be aggressive and use attrition to his advantage.
Black Blood upgrades Burning Blood to heal 12 HP when combat ends, and this upgrade is absolutely worth looking for as a boss relic in Act 1. The difference between 6 HP and 12 HP per combat healed compounds massively across a 30-plus combat run.
Red Skull, which grants 3 Strength when your HP is at or under 50%, is a high-risk, high-reward relic that rewards experienced Ironclad players who are comfortable playing at low health and can plan around the threshold.
The Silent
Tingsha and Tough Bandages are arguably the strongest character-specific relics for The Silent in the current build. The Silent’s kit revolves around Poison stacking, Shiv generation, and card draw manipulation, so relics that amplify those mechanics are prioritized over general-purpose picks.
The Defect
Data Disk and Runic Capacitor are transformative for The Defect. The Defect’s Orb system benefits enormously from any relic that either generates Orbs faster, channels them more efficiently, or amplifies their on-evoke damage. On the Defect, extra draw means finding Defragment and Cold Snap faster, so draw relics like Bag of Preparation increase in value further on this class.
The Regent and Necrobinder
Two characters are brand new to STS2: the Regent and the Necrobinder. Generating a free Star at the end of every turn without spending any Energy is exactly the kind of passive scaling the Regent desperately needs. For the Necrobinder, extra draw finds the critical summoning cards and Bone Brew synergy pieces that hold the build together.
Relics That Look Good But Will Ruin Your Run
These relics have bitten me more times than I care to admit. Learn from my mistakes.
Velvet Choker
Velvet Choker gives you an extra Energy per turn, but limits you to only playing six cards. Taking this on a combo-heavy character like the Silent or the Defect is effectively suicide. You will constantly find yourself staring at a hand full of zero-cost cards that you are physically forbidden from playing. Skip it.
Unless you are running a deliberate low-card-play deck, Velvet Choker will hit you at the worst possible moment, typically mid-boss fight when you need one more card to close out the combat.
Brimstone
Brimstone gives you 2 Strength per turn, but every enemy also gains 1 Strength. Unless your deck is built to end fights by turn three, this will get you killed. Giving a multi-attacking Act 3 boss free scaling damage is a predictable way to throw an hour of progress.
Brimstone is only worth taking if your deck is an aggressive burst deck with multiple AoE attacks and you are confident you can end every fight before the enemy Strength accumulation matters. In most runs, it does not.
Calling Bell
Calling Bell gives you three random relics, but forces you to add a unique, unremovable curse to your deck. The three relics are random, meaning you could end up with three mediocre Common relics and a curse that shreds your draw efficiency for the rest of the run. High variance, high downside potential. Only take this if your deck can absorb a curse comfortably, which usually means you already have exhaust synergy to pitch it.
How to Prioritize Relics Act by Act
Relic valuation is not static across a run. A relic that is incredible in Act 1 may be irrelevant by Act 3, and some relics only become truly powerful once you have built around them across multiple acts.
Act 1: Consistency and Scaling Setup
In Act 1, relics that provide immediate and consistent value are the strongest choices. Rare relics tend to dramatically change the flow of a run. Prioritize relics that grant Energy or card draw.
In Act 1 I almost never skip a draw relic or an Energy relic regardless of build. The early game is about surviving elite encounters and building momentum. Relics that fix your opening hand or give you extra resources to work with every turn do the most work here.
Plan your path around elite encounters since they always drop relics. This is critical. If you can see two elites before the first boss without adding excessive HP loss risk, prioritize hitting them. Relics from elites are weighted toward Uncommon and Rare, which are the tiers where the run-defining picks live.
Act 2: Build Definition and Shop Investment
By Act 2 your build should have a clear direction. This is where you evaluate relics based on synergy rather than raw universality. A Toxic Egg is less exciting if you already have all the skills you plan to add. Now you are looking for relics that amplify what you already have.
Spend gold wisely in Act 2 because shop relics can be extremely powerful. The merchant in Act 2 often carries Rare and Shop relics that are worth budgeting for over card removals, especially if your deck is already lean.
Act 3: Power Amplification Only
In Act 3 you are optimizing for the final boss, not general survival. Relics with conditional effects are nearly worthless here unless your deck reliably triggers them. You want relics that give you consistent damage output or defensive stability across the specific encounters you know are coming.
Wax Relics: Temporary Power You Should Not Ignore
Wax Relics, obtained from Tezcatara’s Toy Box in Act 2, function like normal relics but degrade over time, losing effectiveness every few combats. The instinct is to dismiss temporary relics, but that is a mistake.
If a Wax Relic would give you a powerful effect across the next four to six combats including the Act 2 boss, it is almost certainly worth taking. You are not playing for the long run with Wax Relics. You are paying for burst power at a specific moment in the run, and if that moment includes a boss you are worried about, the value is obvious.
Evaluate Wax Relics based on how many fights remain before they expire, not on what their stats would be worth as a permanent relic.
Relic Synergy: Stacking for Broken Runs
The most efficient high-Ascension runs are not built around a single great relic. They are built around two or three relics whose effects multiply each other.
Toxic Egg combined with a skill-heavy draft means every skill you add to your deck after picking it up is permanently upgraded. If you then draft aggressively toward skills, you effectively get free upgrade actions on every card reward that contains one.
Bag of Preparation paired with Mummified Hand means more draw at combat start gives you a higher chance of opening with a Power card. Mummified Hand fires off the Power, gives you a free card, and you are already ahead on tempo before the enemy takes their first turn.
Burning Blood combined with Red Skull on the Ironclad rewards taking damage strategically. You take hits to drop below 50% HP for the Strength buff from Red Skull, then recover with Burning Blood between combats. It is a high-skill-ceiling combo that experienced Ironclad players actively build toward.
Ruined Helmet paired with Inflame on the Ironclad means doubling your first Strength gain each combat turns Inflame into effectively 4 Strength instead of 2. Pair this with Body Slam or Heavy Blade and the damage output becomes genuinely oppressive.
The key habit is reading your relic collection as a system, not a list of individual bonuses. Before each relic choice ask yourself whether this relic interacts with at least one other relic or card you already have. If yes, its value just went up significantly.
Quick Comparison Table: S and A Tier Universal Relics
| Relic | Rarity | Effect | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bag of Preparation | Common | Draw 2 extra cards at combat start | Always take |
| Lantern | Common | Start each combat with +1 Energy | Always take |
| Astrolabe | Rare | Transform and upgrade 3 cards on pickup | Take in Act 1 especially |
| Toxic Egg | Rare | Auto-upgrades every new skill added | Take as early as possible |
| Frozen Egg | Rare | Auto-upgrades every new Power added | Excellent in Power builds |
| Molten Egg | Rare | Auto-upgrades every new Attack added | Excellent in Attack builds |
| Mummified Hand | Rare | Random card costs 0 when you play a Power | Strong in Power builds |
| Festive Popper | Uncommon | 9 damage to all enemies at combat start | Very strong universally |
| Strawberry | Common | +7 Max HP on pickup | Take in Act 1 |
| Paper Phrog | Uncommon | Vulnerable increases damage by 75% instead of 50% | Attack builds |
Relics to Watch in the Evolving Meta
Rankings will be updated as Mega Crit patches the game, and the Early Access meta is still moving. A few relics that are currently hovering in A-tier are showing signs of being undervalued by the community. Permafrost, which gives 6 Block the first time you play a Power each combat, has started overperforming in Power-heavy Defect builds because the Block arrives before most Act 2 elites even attack. Watch for patch notes from Mega Crit that adjust Durability values, as that system is clearly still being tuned.
For broader deckbuilding context and how these relics slot into specific archetypes, the Slay the Spire 2 Best Starter Cards guide on TechsNGames goes deep on card-relic interactions from the very first floor.
If you enjoy the roguelike deckbuilder formula and want to explore what Slay the Spire 2 is competing with, the Mewgenics vs Binding of Isaac breakdown covers two other genre-defining titles with very different design philosophies.
FAQ: Slay the Spire 2 Relics
What are the best relics in Slay the Spire 2 for beginners?
Bag of Preparation, Lantern, and Strawberry are the three relics every beginner should prioritize. They are unconditional, require no setup, and provide real value every single combat regardless of your deck or character.
Is Toxic Egg always worth taking?
Yes, in almost every situation. The only exception is if you are in Act 3 and you have already locked in your deck and plan to add zero new skills. But if you are in Act 1 or Act 2, Toxic Egg is a near-automatic pickup.
What does Durability mean on relics in Slay the Spire 2?
Durability is a new mechanic that limits how many times a relic’s effect can trigger within a single combat. A relic with Durability 2 will fire twice in a fight, then go dormant until the next combat. Always check Durability values before evaluating how powerful a relic is against bosses.
Should I take Calling Bell?
Generally no, unless your deck has strong exhaust synergy to neutralize the curse or you are already in a dominant position and want variance. The three random relics often do not outweigh a permanent curse in your draw pile.
What are Wax Relics and should I take them?
Wax Relics are temporary relics from Tezcatara’s Toy Box in Act 2 that degrade and disappear after a set number of combats. They are worth taking if the effect is strong and you have a boss or difficult elite immediately ahead. Think of them as burst investments, not long-term power.
Are there character-specific relics in STS2?
Yes. Each of the five characters including the Ironclad, Silent, Defect, Regent, and Necrobinder has class-specific relics that only appear in their relic pools. These are usually tuned to amplify each character’s primary mechanics and should be prioritized when synergy is obvious.
What is the difference between Ancient and Event relics?
Ancient relics are extremely powerful and rare, typically acquired through specific high-risk event encounters. Event relics come from story nodes on the map and vary widely in power. Both categories tend to have unique effects not found in the standard relic pool.
Is Brimstone ever worth taking?
Only in decks built around ending fights in two to three turns maximum. If you cannot guarantee early kill speed, Brimstone’s enemy Strength buff will eventually outpace your damage and kill you against a boss.
Conclusion: The Relic Mindset That Actually Wins Runs
After dozens of runs and a truly embarrassing number of Act 3 losses I should have avoided, the throughline is always the same: the players who win consistently are not the ones who memorize the best relics, they are the ones who understand why a relic is good in context.
Bag of Preparation is excellent because draw fixes every problem. Astrolabe is excellent because upgrading three cards at once collapses the gap between a bad draft and a functional one. Velvet Choker looks good until the boss fight where you literally cannot play enough cards to survive.
Build the habit of reading your relic collection before every choice. Ask what the relic enables, what it conflicts with, and whether your current deck actually benefits or whether you are just taking it because the number looks big. That one mental check will do more for your win rate than any tier list.
For more on surviving the early acts and building a reliable deck foundation, check out the Seraphs Last Stand Best Build guide and the Diablo 4 Lord of Hatred Best Builds article for more roguelike and action RPG strategy thinking. If you are brand new to this style of game, the Mewgenics Beginner Guide is a great companion for building roguelike instincts from scratch.
Good luck on the Spire. You are going to need it.
