The Silent is the second playable character in Slay the Spire. A rogue huntress with a taste for revenge, this character uses poison and daggers to slash her way to victory. Use her skills strategically and you’ll be climbing the Ascensions of this roguelike in no time. We’ll show you how.
In our last article, we discussed the best Ironclad builds. Unlike the Ironclad, who has plenty of healing opportunities that allow him to be more aggressive, the Silent tends to have a more defensive playstyle. Not only does she have plenty of strong skills at her disposal, but she also has ways to weaken enemies, taking less damage.
However, her passive approach doesn’t make her any less deadly. In this guide, we’ll go through the best Silent builds in Slay the Spire and learn how to maximize their potential. Keep in mind that you can’t force a build in this game; instead, you build around the cards and relics that the game offers you.
The most common Silent archetypes include Poison, Shiv, and Discard. There are also some lesser-known builds that are more difficult to play, but offer incredible results. We’ll check those out further down the article.
Poison Build
We are starting off strong with the Poison build. Poison in Slay the Spire does damage over time, and while it may take a few turns to set up, a Silent Poison build can quickly scale out of control and deal thousands (yes, THOUSANDS) of damage per turn. Here’s how to do it.
Key Cards
The base of this build are cards that apply poison to enemies, like Deadly Poison, Bouncing Flask, and Poisoned Stab. The more poison you stack on enemies, the more damage they take each turn, following this formula: N*(N-1)/2, where N is the amount of poison they have. For example, if the enemy has 10 stacks of poison, they take (10 x 9)/2 =90/2 = 45 total damage (over time).
Keep in mind that poison builds tend to struggle with AOE damage, because you have to spread the poison out to multiple enemies. Cards that help with this are Noxious Fumes, Crippling Cloud, and most importantly – Corpse Explosion. Since it’s a rare, you can’t really count on getting it every run, but Corpse Explosion single-handedly solves all AOE problems and even hard-counters some bosses (like Donu & Deca).
Finally, the key to scaling poison damage is Catalyst. Once you’ve applied enough poison to an enemy, use Catalyst to double (or TRIPLE if it’s upgraded) the number (bonus points for using Burst on it!). This card is crucial for poison builds and getting it should be a priority – if you don’t have it, make sure to visit a lot of shops and fight as many enemies as possible for card rewards.
Pro tip #1: Nightmare + Catalyst
Want to take your poison stacks to the next level? Let me introduce you to the overpowered combo of Nightmare + Catalyst. Nightmare is a utility card that many beginner players avoid (it’s expensive and doesn’t offer value immediately), but it can enable some truly insane builds.
Namely, playing it to duplicate Catalyst ensures you take down bosses in record time, since it allows you to triple their poison multiple times per fight. However, playing it requires some deck manipulation, since you have to draw both cards at the ideal time. Well-Laid Plans helps tremendously, and also extra draw (via cards or relics).
Pro tip #2: Artifacts and debuffs
Some enemies and bosses start with Artifacts, which negate the next debuff you apply to them (including poison). Make sure to find ways to purge artifacts ASAP, for example by applying weakness before you poison them. Bouncing Flask is great against artifacts since it applies poison multiple times, purging them in the meantime.
On top of that, some bosses will REMOVE all stacks of poison at certain points. (The Champ and Time Keeper once their HP is at 50%, the Awakened One after phase one). It’s important to adequately prepare for this, either by scaling the poison to kill them before they remove all debuffs or by keeping your enablers (Catalyst) until the moment is right.
Synergistic Relics
Some of the relics that can help get your Silent Poison Build off the ground are Snecko Skull, the Specimen, and Twisted Funnel (shop exclusive). Snecko Skull in particular can be game-changing, since it increments ALL poison you apply by 1. It goes great with Bouncing Flask, Noxious Fumes, and Envenom (which we’ll discuss in more detail in the hybrid category).
The Specimen helps with AOE, while Twisted Funnel helps purge artifacts and gets your poison off the ground as soon as the fight starts. Other than these, relics that offer block are also very helpful for Poison builds, since they require a set up. Block relics give you some leeway and prevent you from taking too much damage while you stack poison.
Shiv Build
Another popular choice for players of all levels is the Shiv build. Shivs are free, low-damage cards that may seem underwhelming at first. However, use relics and other cards to enable them and watch the enemies fall in record-time.
Here’s what you need to look out for.
Key Cards
There are so many cards that go well in a Shiv build, so let’s talk offense and defense. For offense, Accuracy is an easy choice, and so is Terror. When it comes to attacks, you can’t go wrong with Choke and Finisher. A Thousand Cuts is great for AEO, even if it seems like chip damage at first – it adds up.
Defense-wise, After Image is pretty much the only card that scales directly with Shivs. You need to find other ways to block, like Backflip and Dodge and Roll. As we’ll mention, Kunai is a great relic here, since it scales your Dex and improves all your blocks.
Finally, the single most important card in a Shiv deck is Blade Dance. Pair it with a Burst and you can easily play 10+ Shivs per turn. Also, just FYI, Infinite Blades is not that great, there are better ways to generate Shivs.
Synergistic Relics
Shuriken and Kunai are game-changers in a Shiv build since they offer much-needed scaling. The more Shivs you play, the more Strength/Dexterity you gain. Getting one of these relics early in your run is a good indicator that you should be running a Shiv-focused deck.
Other helpful relics include Ornamental Fan that can give you a lot of block passively, Nunchaku for energy and Wrist Blade that increases the damage of all zero-cost attacks. Similarly, relics that increase your strength (Girya and Vajra) are also really good for this type of build.
Pro tip #3: Hybrid: Envenom + Shivs
If you like to mix and match archetypes, Envenom in a Shiv deck can be really strong. Add in a Sadistic Nature and you’ll easily be doing 15+ damage for every Shiv you play. Finish enemies off with an upgraded Catalyst.
Pro tip #4: Watch out for Time Keeper
Unfortunately, one boss really counters the Shiv Build for the Silent, and that’s the Time Keeper. The Time Keeper allows you to play a max of 12 cards per turn, at which point it ends your turn and gains strength.
Of course, you’re not going to get the Time Keeper on every run. But on Ascension 20, you have a 66% chance of encountering it, so you have to be prepared. Luckily, it’s not impossible to beat it with a Shiv deck, you just have to find additional ways to deal with it, either by scaling your Shivs even more or by building enough block to weather the storm.
Discard Build
A discard build can be really fun and, similarly to a Shiv deck, allows you to play a lot of cards per turn. The quick explanation is – you draw cards, discard the ones you don’t want this turn, and play your enablers to slowly slay enemies.
Key Cards
Key cards to look out for are Sneaky Strike, Dagger Throw, and Eviscerate for damage, Tools of the Trade and Acrobatics for draw, and Tactician for extra energy. Calculated Gamble gives you an opportunity to “replay” a bad hand, while simultaneously triggering any discard effects you may have. In general, discard decks make great hybrids since they offer a lot of deck manipulation.
Synergistic Relics
While you don’t need any specific relics to make this build work, there are some that can add great value to your overall deck. These include Tingsha, Hovering Kite, and Tough Bandages that offer direct benefits with discards (damage, energy, and defend, respectively). Runic Pyramid allows you to keep your enablers until you need them, while Bag of Preparation gives you extra draw on turn one for faster setup.
Other Slay the Spire Silent Builds
We’ve talked about the most popular builds for the Silent character, now let’s move onto others that, while not as common, can be infinitely more powerful if you can pull them off.
Next-Turn Build
The Silent has an interesting build that allows you to set up an insane burst damage potential…. next turn. Cards like Outmaneuver, Setup, and Phantasmal Killer are a must for this type of deck. Well-Laid Plans helps you set up the perfect turn, and you can keep your enablers until you need them (whether you’re playing poison, shivs, or anything in-between).
Pros:
- High burst damage if properly set up
- Flexible deck that allows you to wait for the perfect moment
- Synergizes with a lot of different strategies
Cons:
- Can be slow since it requires a few turns of setup
- Difficult to execute
Potion Build
Another extremely fun Silent build (that can also be insanely overpowered) is playing with potions! Alchemize is a Silent rare that enables some really strong combos with Burst and Nightmare, allowing you to play multiple potions per fight. Again, Well-Laid Plans allows you to set up the perfect turn.
This build can be somewhat relic-dependent so it’s difficult to pull off often. But when all the pieces come together, it’s really strong. Relics to keep an eye out for are White Beast Statue, Toy Ornithopter, Potion Belt, and Sacred Bark.
Pros:
- Very fun archetype that few players play around
- Goes well with Shiv build due to Strength scaling
- Versatility – potion builds are strong against most/all enemies
Cons:
- RNG-dependent, you can’t control what potions you get
- Somewhat relic-dependent
- Potion slots are limited
Grand Finale Build
I’m going to be honest with you: In the 5+ years of playing this game, I’ve never made a Grand Finale work (at least not on purpose). The key to a Grand Finale build is insane deck manipulation that allows you to play Grand Finale consistently. The Runic Pyramid relic or Well-Laid Plans are a must for this deck, so you can keep Grand Finale in your hand until it’s ready to be played.
Other enablers are draw/discard cards like Prepared and Acrobatics.
Another possible way to play Grand Finale is to simply cut your deck down so you literally never have any cards in your draw pile (usually that’s five total cards in your deck). However, you can’t reliably do that most runs since there aren’t that many removal opportunities.
Pros:
- Fun, satisfying puzzle-solving type of deck
- High damage consistently
Cons:
- Extremely difficult to set up
- Weak to enemies that add cards to your deck
- The damage doesn’t scale well into the late game
Final Thoughts on Silent Builds
To sum up, the Silent may be less attack-focused than Ironclad, but that doesn’t make her any less powerful. Whether you want to apply hundreds of poison or slowly shiv your enemies, there are many ways to scale your damage out of control with this character. In this guide, we’ve discussed the most powerful cards and which relics you should keep an eye out for.
As always, the more you play, the more you’ll notice these little synergies that come up. Potion up and let’s get to Slaying the Spire!
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