Slay the Spire Silent Guide: Main Strategies and Tips
Slay the Spire is not an easy game, requiring a certain level of skill and a lot of time. To complete the game you should have a good understanding of all 4 characters, their mechanics, combat tactics, understand how to assemble the strongest possible deck and what cards to use.
I initially liked playing Silent the most because of the poison mechanic. In time, I began to understand Silent’s play style better, test different cards, and discovered even more powerful combinations and synergies that I want to tell you about.
So, in this Slay the Spire Silent guide, I will try to tell you how to play on Silent, go into as much detail as possible about the character, his features, and the best strategies and decks to play with.
Furthermore, if you are a beginner in Slay the Spire or even in roguelike games, I suggest you read the Slay the Spire review to learn about the basic mechanics and essence of the game. Moreover, it may be helpful to check the article about tips for Slay the Spire, to better understand how the game works and avoid mistakes.
Silent Basic Mechanics
Like all characters, Silent has several class features. The first important plus is that he has the largest deck in the game (12 cards) at the start (one more defense card, as well as two class cards instead of one). He also has a strong starting relic – Ring of the Snake. It allows you to take two more cards at the beginning of each battle.
What’s more, Silent has some very interesting mechanics, such as poison or shivs. Furthermore, this character has the strongest discard and drawing cards mechanics.
Starting Relic
Silent’s starting relic is Ring of the Snake. It allows you to draw two more cards at the beginning of each turn. This may not seem like a very useful bonus to beginners, especially compared to relics of Ironclad or Defect, but it’s not. In my experience, this relic is very powerful, as it allows you to be more likely to find the right cards to start combat, such as After Image, Envenom, Footwork, or Accuracy.
In the future, this relic can be replaced with Ring of the Serpent, allowing you to draw 1 more card each turn. This allows you to go through your deck much faster and play strong combinations several times per battle, which is especially useful in the later stages of the game and when fighting bosses.
Poison
Among other things, the Silent character has a lot of useful cards for 0 energy, on which you can also build several strong combinations, or supplement others. These include defensive cards, cards to increase energy, discard unwanted cards from your hand, or draw cards from your deck.
However, the most interesting are attacks that cost 0, such as Slice, Backstab, Endless Agony, or Shivs (can only be obtained with other cards). Initially, they seem weak, but their damage can be increased many times over thanks to talents and artifacts.
Cards for 0 Energy
Among other things, the Silent character has a lot of useful cards for 0 energy, on which you can also build several strong combinations, or supplement others. These include defensive cards, cards to increase energy, discard unwanted cards from your hand, or draw cards from your deck.
However, the most interesting are attacks that cost 0, such as Slice, Backstab, Endless Agony, or Shivs (can only be obtained with other cards). Initially, they seem weak, but their damage can be increased many times over thanks to talents and artifacts.
How to Build a Deck on Silent?
After playing a lot of Slay the Spire, I’ve learned that every character has its own deck-building principles, but there’s still one basic one for all characters that I mentioned earlier in my Slay the Spire Tips article. Don’t pick any one deck or strategy in advance. Analyze the cards and relics that the game gives you, take the strongest of them, and start adjusting to one of the strategies as early as the second act.
Moreover, during the first act, try to take only those cards that are universal for all strategies, so as not to gain too much extra.
Versatile Cards
Silent has cards that fit several builds at once, such as Adrenalin, Burst, or Terror. Also, at the beginning, the game often gives a lot of attack cards with good bonuses, like Sucker Punch, Flying Knee, or Dagger Throw. This will allow you to accumulate a good base of cards during the first act, so you can easily defeat your enemies and pick up a few of the builds described below.
Remove Unnecessary Cards
Take every opportunity to remove unnecessary or basic cards from your deck, as it helps to draw strong cards much faster and play them more often.
If you don’t like any of the cards the game gives you, it’s better not to take any at all. Moreover, feel free to remove basic attack or defense cards, as they can be replaced with stronger counterparts.
Also, don’t forget that the Silent Relic allows you to scroll through your deck much faster and re-play strong cards, even if you don’t have a certain combination. Because of this, sometimes a good strategy is to take a few strong cards, and get rid of the rest in order to continue play strong cards and maximize your deck’s effectiveness.
Don't Miss Opportunities
From time to time, check your deck and the cards it contains. It is important to see in time the potential opportunity to collect a particular combination, or you may be lacking just a few cards for a full, strong collection. It is important to realize that you have one of the decks and start playing with a certain strategy, changing your style of play.
Powerful Silent Builds
During my time playing Silent, I tested many decks and identified some of the strongest strategies that can be used to get through the game and the Ascension levels.
These include both obvious and easy-to-use decks, as well as decks for more experienced players that can be tricky to master. The main thing is to try out different approaches to the game and unconventional decks to get a feel for your character’s strength, and you can easily master any of the described strategies for playing Silent.
1. Poison Build
Basic Cards: Noxious Fumes, Catalyst, Bouncing Flask, Poisoned Stub, Deadly Poison, Crippling Cloud, Burst.
The first and most classic strategy on Silent is based on poison mechanics. Very easy to learn and effective build. Moreover, it has many variations, so you don’t need to look for any specific cards, just find some of the list, even the simplest ones, and you can actively apply this strategy in practice.
How does poison work? You put a certain amount of poison on your opponent, and he takes damage equal to the amount of poison at the end of each turn. After that, the amount of poison is reduced by 1.
You can easily accumulate a large amount of poison on enemies in a few turns, after which it will deal a huge amount of damage to enemies, while you can weaken them, raise your defense or strengthen yourself.
Best Poison Cards
This deck has some basic cards that have the strongest effect:
- Deadly Poison: Places 5/7 poison on the enemy
- Crippling Cloud: Inflicts 4/7 poison and two weaknesses on all enemies
- Noxious Fumes: Talent that applies 2/3 poison to all enemies each turn
- Catalyst: doubles/times the amount of poison on the enemy
Moreover, Poisoned Stub is very good at the start, which does 7/8 damage and applies 3/4 poison. It’s often given at the start of the game, but don’t take too many copies of this card.
Another good addition to the poison skill is Burst, which plays your next effect twice, allowing you to apply a huge amount of poison.
One more good addition to this deck would be Nightmare, which allows you to mix 3 copies of your chosen card into your deck. This can be very useful, as many of the key cards in this deck are burned after use. Be careful with it though, as this card costs 3 energy, which will often use up all of your energy per turn.
Another interesting card for this deck is Corpse Explosion – it deals 6 poison to an enemy and also deals damage to all other enemies equal to their maximum health after their death. It’s a strong card, but you need to be able to play it in time, because it costs 2 mana.
Artifacts for this Build
There are some strongest artifacts that will help this deck play many times stronger:
- Snecko Skull: When you poison an opponent, deals 1 additional poison
- The Specimen: After an opponent with poison dies, transfers his poison to another opponent
- Twisted Funnel: at the beginning of the battle puts 4 poisons on all opponents
Since almost all cards in this deck are skills, another useful artifact is Toxic Egg, which improves all skills added to the deck.
Don't Forget About Protection
Whatever strategy you use, you should always keep defense in mind, especially if you’re playing a poison strategy.
Silent has some particularly good cards for defense:
- Footwork: a talent that gives 2/3 dexterity
- After Image: Gives 1 defense when you cast a card
- Leg Sweep: Applies 2/3 weakness to the enemy and gives 12/15 defense
- Dodge and Roll: gives 4/6 defense this turn and next
- Blur: Gives 5/8 defense, and your defense doesn’t expire until your next turn
- Escape Plan: you pick up a card, and if it’s a skill it gives 3/5 defense
The main card for defense is Footwork, which makes even the simplest defense cards much more effective (each unit of dexterity increases the armor you get from cards by 1).
One more great card is After Image (my favorite talent on Silent) since Silent often plays a lot of cards per turn and you can get a lot of defense points.
How Does a Poison Stratefy Work?
The basic principle of this deck is very simple: you need to throw the maximum amount of poison on your opponents. Mix copies of key cards into your deck, play them repeatedly, and increase the amount of poison on your opponents.
However, this strategy often doesn’t kill your opponents very quickly, as it takes several turns to inflict enough poison. For this reason, be sure to play protection cards so that your enemies cannot kill you before you play poison cards.
Try to balance when adding cards to your deck and take not only poison cards, but also cards to protect or weaken your enemies.
I’ve had many situations where I’ve built a very strong deck, but I didn’t have enough defense cards, and in the final stage of the boss battle I didn’t have enough defense to survive one more turn and finish the boss.
Alternative Poison Build for Silent
The Poison build has an alternate, which is based on attack cards. The main card in this deck is Envenom, which deals 1 poison every time you deal attack damage to an enemy. Moreover, here are some more useful cards for this strategy:
- Poisoned Stub: deals 7/8 damage and puts 3/4 poison on
- Dagger Spray: Deals 4/6 damage to all enemies twice
- Bane: Deals 7/10 damage to an enemy twice if poisoned
- Riddle With Holes: Deals 3/4 damage 5 times
A very strong addition to this deck will be the Snecko Skull relic, as you will deal not 1 but 2 poisons with each attack, making this deck twice as effective.
2. Shiv Build
Basic Cards: Cloak and Dagger, Infinite Blades, Blade Dance, Accuracy
As for me, this is the strongest strategy for Silent in Slay the Spire, although many people don’t think so. However, that’s where I got through all the 20 levels of Ascension.
The main advantage of this build is that it is based on Shiv cards, which cost 0 energy. Silent can get them into his hand using other cards. You cannot add a separate Shiv card to your deck.
The Shiv cards themselves aren’t very strong, as they only deal 4/6 damage to the enemy, but their damage can be increased many times over, and one such card for 0 will already deal 15-20 damage, or even more. With a good build you can cast up to 15 shocks per turn, which is a very high damage total.
It’s important to note that each shiv is burned after you cast it, so your deck won’t be overcrowded with them.
What’s more, there are some strong synergies in this deck, so you don’t have to have every card or artifact to successfully complete the run.
Best Cards for Shiv Strategy
This deck is based on a few cards that you need:
- Cloak and Dagger: gives 6 defense and adds 1/2 sharpening to your hand
- Blade Dance: Adds 3/4 sharpening to your hand
- Infinite Blade: Gives 1 sharpening point per turn
- Accuracy: increases damage sharpening by 4/6
That’s basically all the cards you need to be successful. If you have extra cards or curses in your deck, a good addition is Storm of Steel, which will discard all unnecessary cards and give you 1 Shiv for each one.
Another strongest card in this build would be After Image, as by casting some skills and Shivs you can easily get up to 20 armor. Add Footwork, combined with Cloak and Dagger, and you’ll be able to survive even the most powerful boss attacks.
Moreover, Burst is a good addition to the deck, since the main cards for Shivs are skills.
Useful Artifacts
Another advantage of this deck is that it plays great without any artifacts. However, there are a few relics that will complement and strengthen the deck nicely:
- Shuriken: gives 1 power every time you cast 3 attacks
- Kunai: gives 1 unit of agility when you cast 3 attacks
- Vajra: Gives 1 power at the start of your turn
- Pen Nib: Doubles the damage for every 10 attacks
- Nunchaku: Gives 1 energy after every 10 attacks
- Ornamental Fan: Gives 3 defenses when you cast 3 attacks
- Wrist Blade: Increases the damage of 0 energy attacks by 4
The first two relics on the list, Shuriken and Kinai, are especially worth looking at. In combat, you can easily cast 10 to 15 Shiv in a single turn and gain 3-5 strength or dexterity, which greatly strengthens your character.
If you manage to collect two of these artifacts at once, by the third or fourth turn during combat your character becomes almost unkillable and with huge damage.
How Does this Build Work?
The deck is very easy to realize. The basic principle of the deck is to increase Shiv damage with talent, and then you can deal a lot of damage to enemies. It’s important to mention that you don’t need to add too many copies of Cloak and Dagger or Blade Dance, as it’s much better to roll the deck a few times than to constantly get these cards. Also, don’t forget to remove other cards to play Accuracy as quickly as possible.
Universal Cards for Silent
Silent has a fair number of strong cards that will work with any game strategy and give strong positive effects. You can also build a pretty strong deck even with these cards, without the strategies above.
They’re great for the first Act, and also help you adapt as you make your way to the top of the Spire.
It’s important to mention that a deck with only these cards is unlikely to get beyond level 8-10 for Ascension, but that’s a very good result.
Adrenalin
Well-Laid Plans
In the beginning, I didn’t realize the usefulness of this card and often skipped it, but that was a mistake. This talent allows you to leave 1 card of your choice in your hand at the end of the turn, and it avoids one big problem during combat.
Often times you don’t have enough energy to play all the cards you need, and sometimes you can’t play an important talent or skill and it will discard. This card allows you to avoid such situations.
Malaise
This card is Strong against single opponents and bosses. You spend X amount of energy and impose X amount of weakness on the enemy, as well as he loses X amount of strength. This can reduce enemy damage by half or more, and you can defend against his attacks with even the most basic defense cards.
Common Attack Cards
Silent has several attack cards that are relatively equal in damage and give additional effects. You can make a pretty good deck with these cards, especially if you remove basic attack cards.
- Backstab: costs 0, initial, deals 11/15 damage to the opponent, then burns
- Quick Slash: deals 8/12 damage and gives 1 card
- Sucker Punch: Deals 7/9 damage and imposes 1/2 weakness on enemy
- Dugger Throw: Deals 9/12 damage, gives 1 card, and discards a card
- Flying Knee: Deals 8/11 damage and gives 1 energy next turn
- Poisoned Stub: Deals 5/6 damage and also deals 3/4 poison
Conclusion
Silent is the second character available in Slay the Spire, and not the easiest to learn. To master Silent, you have to make dozens of runs and try different card combinations and strategies.
However, it is very important to balance between attacks and defense, as it is more difficult for him to restore health. Also, don’t forget to improve the cards and remove unnecessary ones, as it’s especially important on Silent.
And remember that the main thing is practice. The more races you play on Silent, the more successful your next ones will be.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Best Strategy for Silent in Slay the Spire?
As for me, the best strategy is based on Shivs. However, many players choose the strategy on poison as the best build. Better to try both and choose the better strategy for you.
2. Is the Silent a Girl?
Many players notice it right away, but yes, Silent is definitely a girl.
3. What is the Ideal Deck Size?
It is impossible to answer this question precisely. It all depends on the deck, but on average try not to get more than 20 cards into the deck so that you have time to scroll through it in three terns, or even two.
4. How to Play with Grand Finale Card?
I have read a lot about a deck that is based on the Grand Finale card, but it seems to me that it is completely unplayable. In the later stages of the game, 3-4 Shiv cards will be able to deal as much damage as a Grand Finale without requiring as many conditions to play.
