There are 287 relics in Slay the Spire 2’s Early Access build — and a meaningful portion of them will lose you the run if you take them at the wrong moment. STS2’s relic pool is roughly three times broader than the original game’s, split across Common, Uncommon, Rare, Ancient, Shop, and Event categories, with five character classes each responding differently to the same pickup.
This tier list ranks every relic by win-rate contribution across all five classes in the current EA meta. At the top, 18 relics are worth taking almost unconditionally — they improve any build in any act. At the bottom, a small group of high-profile relics with punishing downsides will dismantle runs that were otherwise on track. In between, the right pick depends on your class, current deck size, and which act you’re entering.
For full system context — deck construction, act structure, and how relics fit into the broader run — see our Slay the Spire 2 guide. For card pairings that amplify these relics, check our STS2 best cards tier list.
Verified against STS2 Early Access, April 2026. Tier positions will shift with patches.
How We Ranked Every Relic in STS2
STS2 launched on Steam Early Access on March 5, 2026, with 287 relics distributed across six rarity categories. This list ranks general relics — Common, Uncommon, Rare, Shop, and Event — by win-rate contribution across all five classes. Ancient relics (offered by NPCs at Acts 2 and 3) replace the boss relic system from the original game and are evaluated in their own section below, since you choose between three options rather than receiving one from a combat reward.
Three factors drive most relic evaluations in STS2:
- Energy generation or preservation — relics that add or save energy improve every single turn across the run
- Passive scaling — relics applying Weak, dealing AoE damage, or generating Block without card plays compound their value across every fight in every act
- Durability awareness — new to STS2, some relics only trigger a limited number of times per combat. A Durability 1 relic does far less total work against a 6-turn boss fight than it did against a 2-turn hallway fight. Always check the Durability stat in the tooltip before picking
The new status effects introduced in STS2 — Corrosion (drains HP over turns) and Pierce (bypasses Block) — also elevate relics that provide flat HP gain or HP-loss reduction above their STS1 equivalents.
S-Tier Relics — Take These Every Run
These 18 relics deliver consistent value regardless of class, build archetype, or act. Pick any of them without needing a pre-existing synergy in your deck first.
| Relic | Effect | Why It’s S-Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Cream | Unspent energy carries over to the next turn | Eliminates wasted energy entirely; turns a single-card turn into a setup for an explosive follow-up turn |
| Gambling Chip | At combat start, discard any cards and redraw | Fixes bad opening hands every single fight — the most effective anti-variance tool in the game |
| Bag of Preparation | Draw 2 extra cards at the start of each combat | More options before the enemy acts; universally valuable at any deck size above 12 cards |
| History Course | At the start of your turn, play a copy of your last played Attack or Skill | A free card play every single turn — one of the highest passive value mechanics in the current EA build |
| Razor Tooth | Every time you play an Attack or Skill, upgrade it for the rest of combat | Every card play improves the played card mid-fight — cumulative upgrade value across 5+ turn combats is enormous |
| Lizard Tail | Survive a killing blow at 1 HP (once per run) | A free continue at the moment it matters most; most valuable mid-run when full healing is unavailable |
| Mercury Hourglass | Deal 3 damage to all enemies at the start of your turn | Passive AoE requiring no card plays — free 9 damage per 3-turn combat, compounding in multi-enemy fights |
| Red Mask | All enemies start each combat with 1 Weak applied | Every attack deals 25% more damage from Turn 1 with zero setup, across every fight in the run |
| Mango | Gain 5 Max HP | Permanent HP increase; compounds across the full run and provides direct Corrosion and Pierce resilience |
| Molten Egg | Whenever you obtain an Attack card, it’s automatically upgraded | Every future Attack pickup arrives stronger; strongest on Ironclad but valuable on any Attack-heavy build |
| Toxic Egg | Whenever you obtain a Poison card, it’s automatically upgraded | Near-mandatory for Silent — every Poison card pickup immediately becomes more potent |
| Tuning Fork | Whenever you obtain a Skill card, it’s automatically upgraded | Broadest egg coverage; valuable on any Skill-heavy build across all five classes |
| Anchor | Start each combat with 10 Block | Consistent front-loaded defence every fight without using a card play |
| Horn Cleat | At the start of Turn 2 of each combat, gain 14 Block | Significant free Block every combat regardless of hand quality or draw order |
| Gorget | Start each combat with 4 Block | Small per-fight value that adds up to meaningful aggregate defence across 50+ rooms in a full run |
| Ghost Seed | While you have no potions, gain 2 Dexterity | Each enemy attack hits for 2 less damage; scales significantly against multi-attack enemies and bosses |
| Mr. Struggles | Whenever you lose HP in combat, gain 3 Block next turn | Reactive block engine — strongest against multi-hit attacks and Corrosion damage ticks |
| Funerary Mask | At the end of your turn, gain 1 Block for each card in hand | Passive block that scales with hand size; S-tier on Necrobinder, strong on any hand-retention build |
Three relics that change how you approach every turn: History Course gives you a free copy of your last Attack or Skill at the start of each turn — effectively a permanent free card play that compounds across every combat in the run. Razor Tooth upgrades every Attack or Skill you play for the rest of that combat — a 5-card combat hand becomes a progressively stronger set with each play. Ice Cream converts conservative turns into setup for explosive follow-ups, enabling combos that weren’t possible with a fixed per-turn energy budget.
Two near-S-tier relics worth noting: Paper Phrog (enemies with Vulnerable take 75% more damage instead of 50%) and Tungsten Rod (all HP loss reduced by 1) both rank S-tier in several community analyses. Mobalytics places them in high A-tier; treat them as S-tier on any build with a Vulnerable source or in high-Ascension runs where chip damage compounds aggressively.
A-Tier Relics — High Value With Moderate Synergy
A-tier relics are strong but either require a specific build to reach their ceiling or are narrower in application than S-tier universals. The best A-tier relics approach S-tier on the right class.
| Relic | Effect (Brief) | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper Phrog | Vulnerable = 75% bonus damage (up from 50%) | Any build with a Vulnerable source | S-tier on Vulnerable-focused builds; A-tier without a reliable Vulnerable applier |
| Tungsten Rod | All HP loss reduced by 1 | All classes, especially Necrobinder | Strongest on classes that take frequent chip damage; near-S at high Ascension |
| Lantern | +1 Energy on Turn 1 | All classes | Strong early; diminishes when deck plays out fast on later turns anyway |
| Mummified Hand | Playing a Power makes a random card cost 0 | Power-heavy builds | Near-S on Ironclad or Defect Power builds; irrelevant with few Powers |
| Ornamental Fan | Gain 4 Block for every 3 Attacks played in a turn | Attack-heavy builds | Free Block in aggressive builds; weak in control or Power-focused decks |
| Phylactery Unbound | Enhances Necrobinder summon generation | Necrobinder | Approaches S-tier on Necrobinder; near-useless on other classes |
| Infused Core | Channel 3 Lightning at the start of each combat | Defect | Near-mandatory for Defect Lightning builds; weak off-class |
| Data Disk | Start each combat with 1 Focus | Defect | Every Focus point multiplies passive orb output; strong at any stack level |
| Runic Capacitor | +3 Orb slots | Defect | Creates large orb boards required for Defect’s late-game dominance |
| Ring of the Drake | Draw 2 cards at the start of your first 3 turns | Silent | Strong early-combat card advantage; tapers off in very short fights |
| Tingsha | Discard a card — deal 3 damage to a random enemy | Silent | Pairs with Tough Bandages for the full discard engine — see Relic Stacking below |
| Tough Bandages | Discard a card — gain 3 Block | Silent | The defensive partner to Tingsha; either alone is A-tier, both together push toward S |
| Mini Regent | Generate Stars passively between turns | Regent | Enables the late-combat Star explosion that defines Regent’s win condition |
| Undying Sigil | Enhances Necrobinder HP threshold mechanics | Necrobinder | Widely considered near-mandatory by current EA Necrobinder players |
The strongest A-tier pair in the current meta: Tingsha + Tough Bandages on Silent. Each discard triggers both relics simultaneously — 3 damage from Tingsha and 3 Block from Tough Bandages from the same action. A Silent deck cycling 4 to 6 discards per turn generates 12 to 18 passive damage and 12 to 18 passive Block before any card effects resolve. Add Paper Phrog and the Tingsha damage hits Vulnerable targets at 75% bonus — a combination that outscales almost any single relic in the game.
B and C-Tier Relics — Situational but Playable
B-tier relics work well in most runs but require at least one condition to deliver meaningful value. C-tier relics need specific deck compositions or card combinations to justify taking over an alternative.
B-tier highlights:
- Akabeko — first Attack each combat deals 8 extra damage. Useful in Acts 1 and 2; loses impact against high-HP bosses where fights run long past the first attack
- Bag of Marbles — apply 1 Vulnerable to all enemies at combat start. Strong baseline, but drops in value if you already have Paper Phrog or another reliable Vulnerable source
- Kunai — gain 1 Dexterity after playing 3 Attacks. Slow accumulation but permanent; strongest on dedicated Attack builds across full runs
- Blood Vial — heal 2 HP at the start of combat. Trivial per fight, but across 50+ rooms the aggregate becomes relevant, especially on Necrobinder’s lower HP base
- Emotion Chip — gains Focus whenever an orb evokes; B-tier broadly but A-tier in a Defect Focus stack
C-tier examples:
- Spoon — skip one rest site heal for a different reward. Only valuable when you’re consistently arriving at rest sites near full HP — which is not the typical run state past Act 1
- War Paint — upgrade 2 random Skill cards. Random upgrades have high variance; the cards you need upgraded most are often not the ones selected
- Relics that apply effects conditional on specific card counts or exact hand states (play exactly 4 cards, have exactly 1 card in hand) land here — ceiling is high, floor is near-zero
The dividing line between B and C: B-tier relics have clear value even when their trigger condition fires minimally. C-tier relics require either very high-density execution or specific card packages to justify taking them over an alternative in the same reward screen.
D-Tier Relics and Traps — Skip These
Three relics rank in official D-tier because their effects are too conditional to contribute reliably. The greater danger is the high-profile energy trap relics — those that look like upgrades but cost you the run.
Official D-tier (current EA meta):
- Bing Bong — effect triggers too conditionally across a full run to matter; most runs will barely see it fire
- Book of Five Rings — requires winning 5 consecutive combats without picking up cards; the opportunity cost is too high for the payoff at normal run pacing
- Regalite — provides a minor persistent effect that any B-tier relic outclasses in practical impact across the run
High-profile trap relics — read before picking:
| Relic | The Trap | Why It Ends Runs |
|---|---|---|
| Runic Dome | +1 Energy per turn, but you cannot see enemy intent | Losing intent information — knowing whether to Block or attack — costs more than 1 Energy gains. You block into non-attacking turns, attack into Thorns, and misjudge burst damage windows. Experienced players lose runs to this at Ascension 10 and above. |
| Sozu | +1 Energy per turn, but you can no longer obtain potions | Potions provide emergency healing, boss burst damage, and panic-save options. Trading all of that for 1 Energy fails the expected value math in any high-HP encounter. |
| Busted Crown | Extra Energy per turn, but draw 2 fewer cards each turn | Losing card draw guts hand consistency. In STS2 with five classes requiring reliable card combinations, the penalty is even more severe than in STS1. |
| Philosopher’s Stone | Extra Energy per turn, but enemies gain Strength every 3 turns | Enemies scale into you faster than your extra energy can scale the damage race. The longer any fight runs, the worse the maths become. |
| Glass Cannon | Doubles all incoming damage | One miscalculation in any Elite or Boss fight ends the run. No build benefits enough to justify the risk at any Ascension level. |
The energy trap pattern is the most common way skilled players lose STS2 runs: relics offering +1 Energy with a punishment feel like upgrades but demand perfect play to break even. Unless your deck ends fights within 3 to 4 turns before the downside fires, these relics are run-enders at Ascension 10 and above.
Ancient Relics — The Boss Relic System, Completely Redesigned
STS2 replaces the original game’s boss relics with Ancients — special NPCs encountered at act transitions who each offer three blessing choices. The evaluation framework shifts: you’re not deciding whether to take a relic, you’re choosing which of three options fits your current run best.
Act 2 Ancients:
| Ancient | Best Option | Skip If… |
|---|---|---|
| Orobas (card selection) | Glass Eye — 2 Common + 2 Uncommon + 1 Rare card immediately | Your deck is already built and you don’t need bulk card options mid-act |
| Pael (energy) | Pael’s Tears — unspent energy converts to bonus energy next turn | Your deck plays its full hand every turn and rarely has leftover energy |
| Tezcatara (aggression) | Toy Box — 4 Wax Relics for immediate power burst through Act 2 | You need permanent Act 3 strength more than Act 2 tempo |
| Darv (transformation, both acts) | Runic Pyramid — hand doesn’t discard at turn end | Your hand composition becomes a problem if cards carry over; verify your deck handles this before picking |
Act 3 Ancients:
| Ancient | Best Option | Skip If… |
|---|---|---|
| Nonupeipe (utility) | Brilliant Scarf — free fifth card drawn each turn | You’re already drawing more cards than you can play per turn |
| Tanx (aggression) | War Hammer — upgrade 4 cards after each Elite defeat | Your deck is already fully upgraded heading into Act 3 |
| Vakuu (high-risk) | Fiddle — draw 2 extra cards per turn, no manual draw | Your deck needs the flexibility of choosing when to draw rather than having it forced |
Wax Relic strategy (Tezcatara’s Toy Box): Toy Box grants four Wax Relics that melt from the leftmost slot every 3 combats. The critical rule: place your weakest desired pick first (it disappears soonest) and your strongest pick last (it survives into Act 3). Best Wax Relic picks are those that leave permanent benefits even after melting — Frozen Egg (auto-upgrades any Power card obtained), Whetstone (immediately upgrades 2 random Attacks), and Prayer Wheel (normal enemies grant bonus card rewards). Never build your core engine around a Wax Relic’s continued presence: it will melt at the worst possible moment in Act 3.
In terms of overall power ceiling: Ancient blessings provide the highest raw impact in STS2 — the system replaced boss relics precisely to deliver more decisive mid-run swing moments. Shop relics are consistent and targetable (you see the full inventory before spending gold), making them ideal for filling specific gaps. Event relics are high-variance — a handful are extraordinary, most are mediocre, and several (including trap effects equivalent to D-tier pickups) are worth declining entirely.
Per-Class Relic Synergy Guide
The same relic can be S-tier on one class and C-tier on another. This table maps priority relics for each class and explains the core synergy mechanism — not just a list of names. For deeper build context, see the Ironclad build guide and Silent build guide. For the other three classes, see the Necrobinder build guide and Regent build guide.
| Class | Priority Relics | Core Synergy | Relic to Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ironclad (80 HP) | Molten Egg, Red Skull, Self Forming Clay, Demon Tongue, Mummified Hand | Molten Egg auto-upgrades every Attack pickup, feeding Ironclad’s Strength-scaling engine. Self Forming Clay rewards high-Block turns with stacked Block growth. Mummified Hand triggers free 0-cost cards on Power plays — strong in Ironclad’s Power-heavy builds. | Sozu — Ironclad relies on potions for boss burst damage; removing them creates dangerous output gaps in key fights |
| Silent (70 HP) | Tingsha, Tough Bandages, Toxic Egg, Ring of the Drake, Paper Phrog | Discard engine: each discard fires Tingsha (3 damage) and Tough Bandages (3 Block) simultaneously. Toxic Egg auto-upgrades every Poison pickup, accelerating the stack to lethal levels faster. Paper Phrog converts any Vulnerable application into a 75% damage bonus. | Tuning Fork — Ironclad and Defect benefit more; Silent’s core card package has fewer Skills, reducing the upgrade trigger rate |
| Defect (75 HP) | Data Disk, Infused Core, Runic Capacitor, Gold Plated Cables, Emotion Chip | Every Focus point increases the passive output of all orbs simultaneously. Infused Core channels Lightning from Turn 1 of every combat. Runic Capacitor creates the large orb boards required for late-game scaling. Emotion Chip adds Focus whenever an orb evokes, making the stack self-amplifying across long fights. | Mummified Hand — Defect’s core build typically uses few Power cards, making the random 0-cost trigger fire rarely |
| Necrobinder (66 HP) | Funerary Mask, Phylactery Unbound, Undying Sigil, Bone Flute, Charon’s Ashes | Funerary Mask generates Block from hand size at turn end, keeping the Necrobinder alive while the summon loop scales. Phylactery Unbound sustains summon generation when cards don’t cooperate. At 66 HP — the lowest base in the roster — the Necrobinder is the most relic-dependent class: a bad relic can cascade into a lost Act 2 far faster than on other classes. | Glass Cannon — at 66 HP, doubling all incoming damage is a death sentence in any multi-hit encounter or boss fight |
| Regent (75 HP) | Mini Regent, Lunar Pastry, Galactic Dust, Divine Destiny | Mini Regent generates Stars passively between turns, enabling the late-combat Star explosion that defines Regent’s win condition. Lunar Pastry and Divine Destiny amplify Star-based scaling at the turns they matter most. | Runic Dome — Regent requires precise intent reading to correctly sequence Star generation and spending turns; losing intent visibility breaks the class’s timing model entirely |
Funerary Mask illustrates the class-dependency dynamic clearly: it ranks S-tier for Necrobinder (where it enables the core summon-and-block engine) and drops to C-tier on every other class where it does nothing relevant to the win condition. The S-tier table ranks relics by average contribution across all five classes — individual class performance diverges significantly from those averages.
When to Skip an S-Tier Relic
The S-tier list ranks by average performance across all five classes and all run states. There are specific situations where declining an S-tier offer is the correct play:
Skip Gambling Chip if your deck is 12 cards or fewer and all cards contribute. A thin, well-curated deck draws its whole opening hand consistently without variance. You’ll never need a mulligan, making Gambling Chip a neutral pickup that displaces a relic with actual value for your current run state.
Skip Bag of Preparation with a 10 to 12 card deck. Drawing 2 extra cards on Turn 1 is powerful when hand variance is high. With a 10-card deck, you’re already drawing close to your full hand each turn. The extra cards provide marginal improvement and can force awkward plays when the entire hand is already strong.
Skip Ice Cream if you’re running a full 0-cost deck. If nearly every card costs 0 energy, unspent energy at turn end is already rare. A defensive relic, an egg, or a scaling option outperforms it in that specific build state.
Skip Molten Egg on a Skill- or Power-heavy build. Molten Egg upgrades Attack cards on pickup. If your deck is primarily Skills and Powers, most future card pickups won’t trigger it. Tuning Fork does the same job for Skills — take whichever egg matches your deck’s actual card type distribution.
Skip class-specific S-tier relics on off-classes. Funerary Mask, Phylactery Unbound, Toxic Egg (Silent-focused), Molten Egg (Ironclad-focused), and Infused Core (Defect-specific) earn their tier ranking because of what they do on their intended class. On other classes, they contribute nothing. Taking Funerary Mask as Ironclad wastes a relic slot that Tungsten Rod or Lizard Tail would fill far more effectively.
Skip Ghost Seed on a potion-heavy build. Ghost Seed’s +2 Dexterity only activates when you have no potions. If your run strategy involves holding 2 to 3 potions at all times for key fights, Ghost Seed will rarely trigger and functions as a dead relic slot.
The general principle: an S-tier relic earns its rank because it solves a problem that most builds face — variance, energy inefficiency, incoming damage, or scaling gaps. The correct case to skip it is exactly when your run has already solved that problem through cards, deck size, or class mechanics.
Relic Stacking: Three Combinations Worth Building Around
Most relics are designed to function independently, but three combinations create synergy significant enough to reshape how you draft the rest of your run.
Combination 1: Silent Discard Engine (Tingsha + Tough Bandages)
Every discard triggers both relics simultaneously: 3 damage from Tingsha and 3 Block from Tough Bandages. A Silent deck cycling 4 to 6 discards per turn generates 12 to 18 passive damage and 12 to 18 passive Block before any card effects resolve. Add Paper Phrog and the Tingsha damage hits Vulnerable targets at 75% bonus. This combination is the primary reason Silent is considered the most relic-synergistic class in current EA — each relic is individually A-tier, together they push toward S.
Combination 2: Defect Focus Stack (Data Disk + Infused Core + Emotion Chip)
Data Disk starts each combat with 1 Focus. Infused Core channels 3 Lightning at combat start. Each Focus point increases the passive output of every orb in your slots simultaneously. With 5 orb slots via Runic Capacitor and 2+ Focus, your orb board generates meaningful damage before you play a single card. Emotion Chip adds Focus whenever any orb evokes — making the stack self-amplifying across long boss fights. Each of these three relics is independently worth picking on Defect; together they create an engine that few other builds in STS2 can match for late-game passive scaling.
Combination 3: Regent Star Explosion (Mini Regent + Lunar Pastry)
Mini Regent generates Stars passively between turns; Lunar Pastry amplifies the effect of Star-based actions. Regent’s win condition is reaching a critical Star count and converting it into a burst turn. Both relics push toward that threshold earlier in the fight and make the conversion more decisive when it fires. Either relic is A-tier independently on Regent; together they define the explosive late-combat turns that carry Regent through Act 3 bosses.
Durability check before stacking: Before committing to a relic combination, verify that neither relic has a Durability cap preventing it from firing every time its condition occurs. A Durability 1 relic in a combination built around 6 triggers per combat delivers 1/6th of expected output against a boss. Check the Durability stat in the tooltip before assuming stacking will function as modelled.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best relics in Slay the Spire 2?
Ice Cream, Gambling Chip, and Bag of Preparation are the safest universal S-tier picks — they improve every run regardless of class or build. History Course (free card copy each turn) and Razor Tooth (upgrades every Attack or Skill you play mid-combat) are among the highest-ceiling S-tier relics in the current EA build. Lizard Tail is the strongest single-relic safety net for surviving a run-ending mistake.
Which class benefits most from relics in STS2 Early Access?
Silent’s discard engine (Tingsha + Tough Bandages) and Defect’s Focus stack are the two most relic-amplified archetypes in current EA. Necrobinder is the most relic-dependent — its win condition breaks without the core summon-generating relics (Funerary Mask, Undying Sigil, Phylactery Unbound). At 66 HP, the Necrobinder also has the least margin for relic mistakes.
Should I always take an Ancient’s blessing in Act 2?
Yes — you always receive one Ancient encounter per act transition. The decision is which of the three options fits your current run. Pael’s energy relics are the most universally applicable Act 2 choice. Tezcatara’s Toy Box (four Wax Relics) is worth taking when you need immediate power injection, but you’re trading permanent Act 3 strength for temporary Act 2 burst — factor this into the decision based on your run’s current Act 3 readiness.
What relics should I always avoid?
Runic Dome, Busted Crown, and Glass Cannon are the most dangerous pickups. Each provides an energy or card buff paired with a penalty that ends runs at higher Ascension. Sozu is a strong candidate to add to this list for any class that relies on potions for boss burst damage or emergency healing.
How does Durability change relic evaluation?
Durability caps the number of times a relic can trigger per combat. Before picking a relic with Durability, calculate how many times it will realistically fire in a typical boss fight. A relic that triggers once against a boss that takes 6 turns delivers far less total value than it appeared to in 2-turn hallway fights. Always check the Durability value in the in-game tooltip before committing to a Durability-limited relic as a core strategy piece.
Do Wax Relics last long enough to matter?
Yes, if you choose Toy Box early in Act 2. Four relics melting over 3 combats each provides significant power through most of Act 2, with the strongest pick surviving into Act 3 if chosen last. The critical constraint: never build your deck’s core engine around a Wax Relic’s continued presence. Pick Wax Relics that leave permanent benefits after melting (Frozen Egg, Whetstone, Prayer Wheel) and treat the temporary power as a bonus rather than a foundation.
Sources
- Slay the Spire 2 Relic Tier List — Mobalytics
- Slay the Spire 2 Ancients Guide — Mobalytics
- Slay the Spire 2: Wax Relics Explained — Game Rant
- Slay the Spire 2 Best Relics: Every Relic Tier Listed and Ranked — SlashSkill (slashskill.com/slay-the-spire-2-best-relics-every-relic-tier-listed-and-ranked/)
- STS2 Relic Effects Database — Untapped.gg (sts2.untapped.gg/en/relics)