Defect Build Guide: Orb Spam

One of the classic Slay the Spire builds, the Defect's Orb spam strategy has made it to StS2 as well. Here's how the strategy works, what the key pivot points are, and how you can scale it with various cards to win your run –

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Orbs provide the Defect with passive output every turn, but you get a bigger effect if you Evoke the Orb by Channeling new ones. You can also check out

a basic overview of the Defect's Orb mechanic

before reading on, and this advanced guide will explore how you can make various builds work in the course of your run.

Sit behind an invincible wall of ice and laugh as your opponents try in vain to hurt you! Stack up a bunch of Frost Orbs and Block constantly while slowly but surely chipping away at your foes.

Because Dark Orbs always target the enemy with the lowest HP, this build suffers in fights where there are small minions and one big threat. To counter this, splash cards that provide area damage or Glass Orbs.

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Start with cards that Channel damage or Block Orbs (except Plasma) and try to get your Orb slots filled in combat as quickly as possible. Once your slots are full, keep Channeling new Orbs to take advantage of each Orb's one-time Evoke effect. If you are not Channeling Frost Orbs, you may need to add additional Block options to the deck, such as or .

Add Powers that increase the output of Orbs you are frequently Channeling. works with all non-Plasma Orbs, while other Powers give benefits to a specific Orb type. Cards like and work best with a mix of Orbs.

Frost Orbs have a low base output (two), so you'll want to improve their value somehow. , , and allow you to gain more passive Block per turn, buying you more time to execute your plans.

You can use to create free space for Channeling new Orbs while also growing a Dark Orb in the front slot. Getting your Evoke effects to line up with your Dark Orb can be tricky, so having to retrieve key cards like is very helpful.

Temporary Focus from or is best if applied every turn, so support them with good card draw. and give more slots per Orb, which is only useful if you can quickly fill up your slots.

Overwhelm your opponents with electricity! Focus on having your Orb slots provide damage constantly, while the role of Blocking is relegated to other cards. Be sure to include defensive cards for longer fights. Increase the damage of individual Lightning Orbs with , or simply Channel a ton of them with , , or . This build is of moderate difficulty.

Turn the scaling up to eleven with and/or to give you the power to outpace boss combats. and can significantly improve your Block for a key turn.

This build suffers most in fights where enemies threaten large amounts of damage very quickly. Cards like , , and can be useful alongside your Block engine, but almost any decent attack pairs well with this deck. is a surprisingly effective pairing as well because Frost cards tend to be expensive and lead to longer combats. Overall, this is one of the easiest Orb builds to execute.

Channel almighty Dark Orbs to kill bosses with ease! These Orbs deal excellent single-target damage, but only when you Evoke them. To best utilize their potential, you'll need to stack their damage by using or the secondary effect on , then Evoke the Dark Orb multiple times with or . If using the latter, look for Energy-generating cards to get a higher multiplier.