I’ve had the privilege to share a couple of newcomers with you from Slay the Spire 2, both The Regent and The Necrobinder. But if I were going to write up an existing character, it would have to be my favorite, The Silent. Sure, she’s wearing skeletons and wields a knife, but she’s also incredibly powerful and very fun to play with despite the scary appearance.
Not only can The Silent poison foes, slowly killing them turn after turn, but she cycles through the deck quickly, and has Sly cards that benefit from being discarded. Even though she’s not super sturdy like The Ironclad, she more than makes up for it with sheer, unrelenting force. She’s also the only character I managed to beat that pestilential heart with in the original Slay the Spire.
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Even though she plays largely the same in the sequel, let me share some exceptional cards from her deck that make The Silent an overwhelming force of nature.
10
Expose
No Defense for You
At first glance, The Silent doesn’t look all that powerful. Both The Regent and Necrobinder have more powerful attacks by contrast. But what she lacks in sheer force, she makes up for with ferocity. A perfect example is Expose.
It costs nothing and instantly erases any defenses her opponent tries to muster. Sure, it’s Exhausted afterward, but otherwise it might be unfair. Better yet, it also makes the foe Vulnerable, meaning any damage The Silent inflicts gets increased.
My favorite part about Expose isn’t that it removes Block from foes, but that it removes Artifact, which is an incredibly annoying status that protects foes from negative statuses I love to inflict.
9
Storm of Steel
Knives for Everyone
Generally speaking, I gravitate towards cards that let me search my deck, not just ones that discard my hand. But there is a good reason that Storm of Steel is on this list. Namely, it essentially lets you transform your entire hand into Shivs, which cost zero energy.
If you have a bunch of high-cost cards in your hand, this can make it an easy decision. But my favorite part about this card is combining it with another called Envenom, which makes all The Silents’ attacks poison my foes as well as damage them.
The way to make Storm of Steel even more brutal is using it when all the cards in your hand have Sly, meaning they’ll activate even when discarded. It’s one heck of a steel tornado.
8
Bouncing Flask
Just a Drop of Poison
Though it’s not something I bring up in casual conversation, I love poisoning my foes in games. There’s something very sneaky and satisfying about hitting my enemy, hiding, and letting them slowly collapse as their body falls apart. It’s brutal, sure, but a very effective technique employed by The Silent.
Bouncing Flask is one of the better ways to poison foes, other than the aforementioned Envenom. It doesn’t cost a ton of energy, and the randomized effect can be very helpful for dealing with hordes of baddies.
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This is especially helpful when facing a solitary boss whose health you need to whittle down, especially when combined with another card that increases how much poison they have stacked on them.
7
Pinpoint
Accurate Assassination
At face value, Pinpoint doesn’t look great. It costs a ton, so even though it does great damage, it’s a bit hard to justify. But when you factor in the second effect, it’s amazing. Every Skill card played that turn reduces the energy cost of Pinpoint by one.
That means if you play a lot of cards that add Block or search through your deck, suddenly Pinpoint costs nothing for 17 damage. Upgrade it, and it’s even more ruthless.
I’ve had hands with multiple Pinpoints and several Skills before, and it usually resulted in my foe getting destroyed. This is a really fun card to build your deck around.
6
Acrobatics
Killer Moves
Earlier, I was talking about how efficient The Silent is at speeding through her deck. And with cards like Acrobatics, you start to understand that’s a feature, not a bug, of her design.
This card is a really helpful way to turn a dud hand into a deadly one, especially when you throw in a lot of Sly cards into the mix. Then it suddenly becomes a way to power through your deck and guarantee all the cards you discard work for you.
Acrobatics is far from the only card that works like this for The Silent, but it’s definitely one of the better options. Another is our next card.
5
Adrenaline
Second Wind
Adrenaline is one of those cards you want in every deckbuilder. It costs nothing, it adds energy, and it draws cards. Yes, it gets Exhausted afterward, but that’s not a big problem.
This is a card you can use if you’re not a fan of heavy discard builds and want a safer option. It’s also just inherently helpful in any deck you build for The Silent.
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Though many of The Silents’ cards aren’t very expensive, this is a safe way to make sure you can run more of the high-cost cards.
4
Envenom
Deadly Drip
Envenom is one of the best Power cards The Silent can use. I really enjoy building entire decks around it, since it makes her every attack that much more deadly.
Poison is especially helpful against foes that put up hefty shields, since it can skip past them and damage them directly. It’s a really fun card to use with zero-cost cards as well, of which The Silent has many.
Though it is a bit slow to start, Envenom has been the reason I’ve beaten the odds with The Silent more than once.
3
Assassinate
Brutal Start
Assassinate is the reason that Expose wasn’t higher up on this list. Both are very helpful, and even though Expose is technically more powerful, Assassinate is more helpful. It having Innate means that you’ll always draw it on your first turn.
This makes it a perfect setup card to weaken and damage foes, which is a very fun start to any battle. It can almost immediately down smaller enemies, and starts softening bigger ones so that The Silent can deal with them.
The only downside to this card is that it gets Exhausted, so if you’re able to make multiple copies in a run, you’ll really see the beauty of assassination.
2
Finisher
Stabby Stab
While at first blush, The Silent’s attacks don’t look all that powerful, cards like Finisher make it all come together. Every single attack you play before it makes Finisher deal more damage.
If you have a bunch of low or zero-cost attacks in hand with Finisher, it suddenly can do upwards of 50 damage in one fell swoop. And that’s before you consider how amazing this card is when upgraded.
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This is a really powerful attack, but sometimes pure offense needs to rely on an epic defense.
1
Afterimage
Can’t Touch This
Generally speaking, defense isn’t what The Silent is all about. She usually leans more into her offense. But with cards like Afterimage, you can enjoy both at once.
Once this Power is active, every single card you play adds 1 Block to The Silent. This means every attack, skill, and anything else The Silent plays gives her a shell.
Afterimage is an incredible card, especially if you manage to give it Innate. But either way, it turns this stealthy assassin into a sturdy turtle of mayhem.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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e
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op
