The Defect

The Defect is a sentient robot returning in Slay the Spire 2 and is one of the more complicated characters in the game. Where most builds in the game deal damage and gain Block through playing cards, the Defect does most of its work through Orbs which trigger automatically at the end of each turn.

We don’t know a lot about how the Defect will play or change in the sequel since it was the last of the five characters to be revealed, confirmed only in the Early Access date announcement trailer. With only two weeks between the trailer and release, we don’t think there will be much revealed until players get their hands on the game come March 5.

Defect Cards

View all Defect cards revealed

All you basically need to know is that there are four Orb types. Lightning deals damage to a random enemy each turn, Frost generates Block. Dark builds up energy which can be evoked by a card, and Plasma generates extra energy. You basically add Orbs to your queue to have them trigger at the end of each turn or Evoke them for more powerful effects. There’s a constant push and pull between letting Orbs passively tick or cashing them in for an immediate effect. The added layer is that you can also gain or lose Orb slots from your cards and you only start with three so there’s a balancing act there as well.