Slay the Spire 2 Ancients: All 8 and How to Unlock Them

Every Act in Slay the Spire 2 starts with a character stepping forward and offering you 3 relics to choose from. These are the Ancients. Unlike STS1’s boss relic system, you can’t skip the choice. You have to pick one, every time.

Most Ancients also need to be unlocked through the Timeline before they’ll show up in your runs. This guide covers all 8, what each one offers, and what you need to do to unlock them.

How Ancients Work

Ancients are unlocked through the Timeline via Epochs, STS2’s meta-progression system. Your first run unlocks Neow. After that, each new Ancient unlocks by hitting specific milestones: playing runs with certain characters, accumulating score, or encountering other Ancients first. If you want the full breakdown of what each Epoch unlocks and when, check our Slay the Spire 2 Epochs guide.

Each Ancient has their own relic pool. You’re always shown 3 options drawn randomly from that pool. Some Ancients have conditional offers where certain relics only appear based on your current deck state.

Act 1 Ancients

Neow

• Unlock: Complete your first run
• Always appears at the start of Act 1 from your second run onward
• Pool split into Curse relics (with downsides) and Positive relics (no downsides)
• You always get one Curse offer and two Positive offers

Neow: Curse Pool

• Cursed Pearl: Upon pickup, receive Greed. Gain 333 Gold
• Hefty Tablet: Choose 1 of 3 Rare cards to add to your Deck. Add 1 Injury to your Deck
• Large Capsule: Upon pickup, obtain 2 random Relics. Add an additional Strike and Defend to your Deck
• Leafy Poultice: Upon pickup, Transform 1 of your Strikes and 1 of your Defends and lose 12 Max HP
• Precarious Shears: Upon pickup, remove 2 cards from your Deck and take 16 damage
• Scroll Boxes: Upon pickup, lose all Gold and choose 1 of 2 packs of cards. Each pack contains 1 random Uncommon and 2 random Commons
• Neow’s Bones: Upon pickup, gain 2 random Neow Relics. Add 1 random Curse to your Deck
• Silver Crucible: The first 3 card rewards you see are Upgraded. The first Treasure Chest you open is empty (not available in Multiplayer)

Neow: Positive Pool

These relics are always in the pool:

• Booming Conch: At the start of Elite combats, draw 2 additional cards
• Lead Paperweight: Upon pickup, choose 1 of 2 Colorless Cards to add to your Deck
• Lost Coffer: Upon pickup, gain 1 card reward and procure 1 random Potion
• Neow’s Torment: Upon pickup, add 1 Neows Fury to your Deck
• Phial Holster: Upon pickup, gain 1 potion slot and procure 2 random Potions
• Winged Boots: You may ignore paths when choosing the next rooms to travel to 3 times

These relics are excluded from the pool if their paired Curse relic is currently being offered:

Relic	Excluded if…
Golden Pearl: Upon pickup, gain 150 Gold	Only if Cursed Pearl is not being offered
Arcane Scroll: Upon pickup, obtain a random Rare Card	Only if Hefty Tablet is not being offered
New Leaf: Upon pickup, Transform 1 card	Only if Leafy Poultice is not being offered
Precise Scissors: Upon pickup, remove 1 card from your Deck	Only if Precarious Shears is not being offered
Lava Rock: The Act 1 Boss drops 2 Relics	Only if Large Capsule is not being offered
Small Capsule: Upon pickup, obtain a random Relic	Only if Large Capsule is not being offered

One of the following is added (not both):

• Nutritious Oyster: Upon pickup, raise your Max HP by 11
• Stone Humidifier: Whenever you Rest at a Rest Site, raise your Max HP by 5

One of the following is added (not both):

• Neow’s Talisman: Upon pickup, Upgrade 1 of your Strikes and 1 of your Defends
• Pomander: Upon pickup, Upgrade 1 card

Only added in Multiplayer:

• Massive Scroll: choose 1 of 3 Multiplayer Colorless Cards

Act 2 Ancients

One of three Ancients randomly appears at the start of Act 2.

Orobas

• Unlock: Play a run with every character
• Offers 1 relic from each of his 3 pools
• Touch of Orobas replaces your starter relic with an upgraded Ancient version (e.g. the Regent’s Crown of Stars becomes Divine Destiny, doubling starting Stars from 3 to 6)

Pool 1

These relics are always in Pool 1:

• Electric Shrymp: Upon pickup, Enchant a Skill with Imbued
• Glass Eye: Upon pickup, obtain 2 Common card rewards, 2 Uncommon, and 1 Rare
• Sand Castle: Upon pickup, Upgrade 6 random cards

One of the following is added to Pool 1 (not both):

• Prismatic Gem (33%): Gain Energy at the start of each turn. Card rewards now contain cards from other colors (but not Colorless cards)
• Sea Glass (67%): See 15 cards from another character. Choose any number of them to add to your Deck

Pool 2

• Alchemical Coffer: Upon pickup, gain 4 potion slots filled with random Potions
• Driftwood: You may reroll each card reward once
• Radiant Pearl: At the start of each combat, add 1 Luminesce into your Hand

Pool 3

• Archaic Tooth: Upon pickup, Transform a predetermined one of your Starter Cards into an Ancient version
• Touch of Orobas: Upon pickup, replace your Starter Relic with an upgraded version

Pael

• Unlock: Via Timeline progression
• Offers 1 relic from each of 3 pools
• Some relics are conditional based on deck state

Pool 1

• Pael’s Flesh: Gain an additional Energy at the start of your 3rd turn, and every turn after that
• Pael’s Horn: Upon pickup, add 2 Relax to your Deck
• Pael’s Tears: If you end your turn with unspent Energy, gain an additional 2 Energy next turn

Pool 2

Relic	Notes
Pael’s Wing: You may sacrifice card rewards to Pael. Every 2 sacrifices, obtain a Relic
Pael’s Claw: Upon pickup, Enchant all Defends with Goopy	Only offered if you have at least 3 Enchantable Defends
Pael’s Tooth: Upon pickup, remove 5 cards from your Deck. After each combat, randomly add 1 back Upgraded	Only offered if you have at least 5 removable cards
Pael’s Growth: Upon pickup, Enchant a card with Clone. Allows you to duplicate every card with Clone on it at a Rest Site	Half as likely to be offered as every other relic in this pool

Pool 3

Relic	Notes
Pael’s Blood: At the start of your turn, draw 1 additional card
Pael’s Eye: The first time each combat you end your turn without playing cards, Exhaust your Hand and take an extra turn
Pael’s Legion: Doubles Block gained from a card, then goes to sleep for 2 turns	Only offered if you do not have access to a pet (no Byrdpip or Byrdonis Egg)

Tezcatara

• Unlock: Via Timeline progression
• Themed around Strikes and fire
• Offers 1 relic from each of 3 pools

Pool 1

• Nutritious Soup: Upon pickup, Enchant all Strikes in your Deck with Tezcataras Ember
• Very Hot Cocoa: Start each combat with an additional 4 Energy
• Yummy Cookie: Upon pickup, Upgrade 4 cards

Pool 2

• Biiig Hug: Upon pickup, remove 4 cards from your Deck. Whenever you shuffle your Draw Pile, add a Soot into your Draw Pile
• Seal of Gold: At the start of your turn, spend 5 Gold to gain 1 Energy
• Storybook: Upon pickup, add 1 Brightest Flame to your Deck
• Toasty Mittens: At the start of your turn, Exhaust the top card of your Draw Pile and gain 1 Strength

Pool 3

• Golden Compass: Upon pickup, replace the Act 2 Map with a single special path
• Pumpkin Candle: Gain Energy at the start of each turn. Extinguishes at the start of Act 3
• Toy Box: Upon pickup, obtain 4 Wax Relics. Every 3 combats, your left-most Wax Relic will melt away

Act 3 Ancients

One of three Ancients appears at the start of Act 3.

Nonupeipe

• Unlock: Via Timeline progression
• Offers a random selection of 3 relics from the list below
• Beautiful Bracelet only appears if you have at least 4 Swift-Enchantable cards

Pool

• Blessed Antler: Gain Energy at the start of each turn. At the start of each combat, shuffle 3 Dazed into your Draw Pile
• Brilliant Scarf: The 5th card you play each turn is free
• Delicate Frond: At the start of each combat, fill all empty potion slots with random Potions
• Diamond Diadem: Whenever you play 2 or fewer cards in a turn, take half damage from enemies on their next turn
• Fur Coat: Upon pickup, mark 7 random combats. Enemies in those rooms have 1 HP
• Glitter: Enchant all card rewards with Glam
• Jewelry Box: Upon pickup, add 1 Apotheosis to your Deck
• Looming Fruit: Upon pickup, raise your Max HP by 31
• Signet Ring: Upon pickup, gain 999 Gold
• Beautiful Bracelet: Upon pickup, choose 3 cards in your Deck. Enchant them with Swift 3 (requires 4+ Swift-Enchantable cards)

Tanx

• Unlock: Via Timeline progression
• Offers a random selection of 3 relics from the list below
• Tri-Boomerang only appears if you have at least 3 Attacks Enchantable with Instinct

Pool

• Claws: Upon pickup, Transform up to 6 cards into Maul
• Crossbow: At the start of your turn, add a random Attack into your Hand. It costs 0 Energy this turn
• Iron Club: Every 4 cards you play, draw 1 card
• Meat Cleaver: You may remove 2 cards from your Deck and gain 9 Max HP at Rest Sites
• Sai: At the start of your turn, gain 7 Block
• Spiked Gauntlets: Gain Energy at the start of each turn. Powers cost 1 more
• Tanx’s Whistle: Upon pickup, add 1 Whistle to your Deck
• Throwing Axe: The first card you play each combat is played an extra time
• War Hammer: Whenever you kill an Elite, Upgrade 4 random cards
• Tri-Boomerang: Choose 3 Attacks in your Deck. Enchant them with Instinct (requires 3+ Attacks Enchantable with Instinct)

Vakuu

• Unlock: Play a single run with all characters and beat Act 3 at least once
• Offers 1 relic from each of 3 pools
• His relics are powerful but come with significant tradeoffs

Pool 1

• Blood-Soaked Rose: Upon pickup, add 1 Enthralled to your Deck. Gain Energy at the start of each turn
• Fiddle: At the start of each turn, draw 2 additional cards. You may not draw cards during your turn
• Whispering Earring: Gain Energy at the start of each turn. Vakuu plays your first turn for you

Pool 2

• Distinguished Cape: Upon pickup, lose 9 Max HP. Add 3 Apparitions to your Deck
• Preserved Fog: Upon pickup, remove 3 cards from your Deck. Add 1 Folly to your Deck
• Sere Talon: Upon pickup, add 2 random Curses (from a certain pool) and 3 Wishes to your Deck

Pool 3

• Choices Paradox: At the start of each combat, add 1 of 5 random cards into your Hand. Add Retain to the chosen card
• Jeweled Mask: At the start of combat, put a random Power from your Draw Pile into your Hand, it’s free to play
• Lord’s Parasol: When you encounter the Merchant, immediately obtain EVERYTHING he sells
• Music Box: Create an Ethereal copy of the first Attack you play each turn

Act 2 or Act 3

Darv

• Unlock: Encounter all other Ancients at least once
• The only Ancient who can appear in either Act 2 or Act 3
• His pool is made up entirely of STS1 boss relics repurposed for STS2. Boss relics no longer drop from boss chests
• 50% chance you get 3 relics from Pool 1; 50% chance you get 2 from Pool 1 and Dusty Tome from Pool 2

Pool 1

These relics are always available in Pool 1:

• Astrolabe: Upon pickup, Transform 3 cards, then Upgrade them
• Black Star: Elites drop an additional Relic when defeated
• Calling Bell: Upon pickup, obtain 1 Curse of the Bell and 3 Relics
• Empty Cage: Upon pickup, remove 2 cards from your Deck
• Runic Pyramid: At the end of your turn, you no longer discard your Hand
• Snecko Eye: At the start of your turn, draw 2 additional cards. Start each combat Confused
• Pandora’s Box: Transform ALL Strikes and Defends (disabled in Draft, Sealed Deck, Insanity Custom Mode)

One of the following is added when in Act 2:

• Ectoplasm: You can no longer gain Gold. Gain Energy at the start of each turn
• Sozu: Gain Energy at the start of each turn. You can no longer obtain Potions

One of the following is added when in Act 3:

• Philosopher’s Stone: Gain Energy at the start of each turn. ALL enemies start combat with 1 Strength
• Velvet Choker: Gain Energy at the start of each turn. You cannot play more than 6 cards per turn

Pool 2

• Dusty Tome: Upon pickup, obtain an Ancient Card (Corruption, Wraith Form, The Sealed Throne, Forbidden Grimoire, or Biased Cognition depending on your character). The card comes upgraded by default