Defect — Slay the Spire 2 Character Guide | Spire Guide | Spire Guide

Defect

intermediate

Orb Manipulator●●●○○Moderate

Build infrastructure, let orbs do the work

Playstyle: scaler· Slow start, exponential finish

87
Cards in Pool
4
Starting Deck
6
Guides
37
Rare Cards

Core Mechanics

Lightning Orb

3 damage to random enemy/turn

Hallway fight workhorse — consistent chip damage

❄️

Frost Orb

2 block/turn

Strongest defensive engine when stacked with Focus

🌑

Dark Orb

6 damage scaling/turn

Boss killer — let it cook, then Dualcast for lethal

⚛️

Plasma Orb

1 energy/turn

Fuel for massive combo turns

Starting Deck

Defect begins each run with these 4 card types (10 total cards). Smart early picks and upgrades depend on knowing your starting deck.

Strategy Timeline

🏰

Act 1

Goal

Collect orb generation and front-loaded damage

Priority Picks

ball-lightningcold-snapcoolheadeddoom-and-gloomsweeping-beam

Upgrade Order

Zap → Dualcast → Cold Snap

Elite Tactics

Send enemies early — Ball Lightning + Dualcast handles most Elites

🌆

Act 2

Goal

Commit to Focus scaling, add AoE

Priority Picks

defragmentbiased-cognitioncapacitorelectrodynamicsglacierecho-form

Upgrade Order

Defragment → Coolheaded → Glacier

Elite Tactics

Frost orbs + Focus trivialize Book of Stabbing and Gremlin Leader

🗼

Act 3

Goal

Scale to infinity, cover weaknesses

Priority Picks

echo-formcreative-aiseekrebootcore-surge

Upgrade Order

Seek → Echo Form → Hologram

Elite Tactics

Dark orbs one-shot Giant Head. Stack frost vs Nemesis.

Archetypes & Builds

Orb-Focus Engine

beginnerDefect

Strategy

Channel orbs, stack Focus, let passive effects win. Safest and most consistent build.

Power Spam

intermediateDefect

Strategy

Flood the board with Powers. Storm turns every Power into lightning damage.

Claw / 0-Cost Spam

advancedDefect

Strategy

Thin deck cycling 0-cost cards. Claw scales with each play. High-risk, high-reward.

Relic Tier List

S

Run-defining

🔮Runic Capacitor

+3 orb slots. More orbs = more passive value every turn.

💿Data Disk

+1 Focus at start of combat. Immediate and permanent scaling.

🔌Gold-Plated Cables

Rightmost orb's passive triggers twice. Double Lightning or Frost value.

A

Strong synergy

🤚Mummified Hand

Powers played make a random card cost 0 this turn.

❄️Frozen Core

Replaces starter relic: channel 1 Frost at end of turn.

🤖Emotion Chip

Gain Focus at turn start, lose Focus when taking HP damage.

B

Situationally good

🦠Symbiotic Virus

First Power each combat is played twice.

📥Inserter

Gain +1 orb slot every 2 turns.

Common Pitfalls

Ignoring Frost Orbs

critical

One Cold Snap + Focus changes everything. Frost is the best block engine in the game.

Over-channeling without slots

high

Channeling a new orb evicts the oldest. Get Capacitor or slots from relics before stacking orbs.

Taking too many mediocre Powers

medium

Not every Power fits your deck. Heatsinks is dead without Power density. Hello World is slow.

Neglecting card draw

high

Defect has weak draw. Prioritize Coolheaded, Skim, Seek, or Compile Driver early.

Claw before it's ready

medium

One Claw is not a build. Commit to 0-cost cycling or skip it entirely.

Defect Strategy Guides(6)

Card Pool(83 cards)

All 83 cards Defect can obtain during a run, grouped by rarity.

Uncommon(26 cards)

Adaptive Strike

Adaptive Strike

A

Deal 18 damage. Add a 0 copy of this card into your Discard Pile.

All for One

All for One

A

Deal 10 damage. Put ALL 0 cards from your Discard Pile into your Hand.

Buffer

Buffer

P

Prevent the next time you would lose HP.

Consuming Shadow

Consuming Shadow

P

Channel 2 Dark. At the end of your turn, Evoke your leftmost Orb.

Coolant

Coolant

P

At the start of your turn, gain 2 Block for each unique Orb you have.

Creative AI

Creative AI

P

At the start of your turn, add a random Power into your Hand.

Defragment

Defragment

P

Gain 1 Focus.

Echo Form

Echo Form

P

The first card you play each turn is played an extra time.

Flak Cannon

Flak Cannon

A

Exhaust ALL your Status cards. Deal 8 damage to a random enemy for each card Exhausted.

Genetic Algorithm

Genetic Algorithm

S

Gain 1 Block. Permanently increase this card's Block by 3.

Helix Drill

Helix Drill

A

Deal 3 damage for each previously spent this turn.

Hyperbeam

Hyperbeam

A

Deal 28 damage to ALL enemies. Lose 3 Focus.

Ice Lance

Ice Lance

A

Deal 19 damage. Channel 3 Frost.

Ignition

Ignition

S

Another player Channels Plasma.

Machine Learning

Machine Learning

P

At the start of your turn, draw 1 additional card.

Meteor Strike

Meteor Strike

A

Deal 24 damage. Channel 3 Plasma.

Modded

Modded

S

Gain 1 Orb Slot. Draw 1 card. Increase this card's cost by 1.

Multi-Cast

Multi-Cast

S

Evoke your rightmost Orb X times.

Rainbow

Rainbow

S

Channel 1 Lightning. Channel 1 Frost. Channel 1 Dark.

Reboot

Reboot

S

Shuffle ALL your cards into your Draw Pile. Draw 4 cards.

Shatter

Shatter

A

Deal 7 damage to ALL enemies. Evoke all of your Orbs twice.

Signal Boost

Signal Boost

S

The next Power you play is played an additional time.

Spinner

Spinner

P

At the start of your turn, Channel 1 Glass.

Supercritical

Supercritical

S

Gain .

Trash to Treasure

Trash to Treasure

P

Whenever you create a Status, Channel 1 random Orb.

Voltaic

Voltaic

S

Channel Lightning equal to the Lightning already Channeled this combat.

Rare(37 cards)

Boot Sequence

Boot Sequence

S

Gain 10 Block.

Bulk Up

Bulk Up

P

Lose 1 Orb Slot. Gain 2 Strength. Gain 2 Dexterity.

Capacitor

Capacitor

P

Gain 2 Orb Slots.

Chaos

Chaos

S

Channel 1 random Orb.

Chill

Chill

S

Channel 1 Frost for each enemy.

Compact

Compact

S

Gain 6 Block. Transform all Status cards in your Hand into Fuel.

Darkness

Darkness

S

Channel 1 Dark. Trigger the passive ability of all Dark Orbs.

Double Energy

Double Energy

S

Double your Energy.

Energy Surge

Energy Surge

S

ALL players gain .

Feral

Feral

P

The first time you play a 0 Attack each turn, return it to your Hand.

Fight Through

Fight Through

S

Gain 13 Block. Add 2 Wounds into your Discard Pile.

FTL

FTL

A

Deal 5 damage. If you have played fewer than 3 cards this turn, draw 1 card.

Fusion

Fusion

S

Channel 1 Plasma.

Glacier

Glacier

S

Gain 6 Block. Channel 2 Frost.

Glasswork

Glasswork

S

Gain 5 Block. Channel 1 Glass.

Hailstorm

Hailstorm

P

At the end of your turn, if you have Frost, deal 6 damage to ALL enemies.

Iteration

Iteration

P

The first time you draw a Status each turn, draw 2 cards.

Loop

Loop

P

At the start of your turn, trigger the passive ability of your rightmost Orb.

Null

Null

A

Deal 10 damage. Apply 2 Weak. Channel 1 Dark.

Overclock

Overclock

S

Draw 2 cards. Add a Burn into your Discard Pile.

Refract

Refract

A

Deal 9 damage twice. Channel 2 Glass.

Rip and Tear

Rip and Tear

A

Deal 7 damage to a random enemy twice.

Rocket Punch

Rocket Punch

A

Deal 13 damage. Draw 1 card. Whenever you create a Status, reduce this card's cost to 0 until played.

Scavenge

Scavenge

S

Exhaust a card. Next turn, gain .

Scrape

Scrape

A

Deal 7 damage. Draw 4 cards. Discard all cards drawn this way that do not cost 0 .

Shadow Shield

Shadow Shield

S

Gain 11 Block. Channel 1 Dark.

Skim

Skim

S

Draw 3 cards.

Smokestack

Smokestack

P

Whenever you create a Status, deal 5 damage to ALL enemies.

Storm

Storm

P

Whenever you play a Power, Channel 1 Lightning.

Subroutine

Subroutine

P

Whenever you play a Power, gain .

Sunder

Sunder

A

Deal 24 damage. If this kills an enemy, gain .

Synchronize

Synchronize

S

Gain 2 Focus this turn for each unique Orb you have.

Synthesis

Synthesis

A

Deal 14 damage. The next Power you play costs 0 .

Tempest

Tempest

S

Channel X Lightning.

Tesla Coil

Tesla Coil

A

Deal 3 damage. Trigger all Lightning against the enemy.

Thunder

Thunder

P

Whenever you Evoke Lightning, deal 6 damage to each enemy hit.

White Noise

White Noise

S

Add a random Power into your Hand. It's free to play this turn.