Slay the Spire Silent Guide: Best Cards, Builds, and Tips

Your Ultimate Guide to the Silent in Slay the Spire

the Silent character ingame in Slay the Spire, and an artistic picture of the Silent in Slay the Spire.

The Silent is the second of four playable characters in Slay the Spire. She is a cunning assassin with deadly poisons, rapid attacks, and discard mechanics, making her an excellent choice for players who prefer an “assassin-like” playstyle. Compared to other characters in Slay the Spire, she and the Ironclad are the best characters to play for beginners.

In this guide, we’ll explore the Silent’s various builds, best cards, upgrades, and other helpful tips to aid you in mastering this lethal character and emerging victorious in Slay the Spire.

Related Content:

Ironclad Guide

Silent Best Cards

First, let’s go over some of the best cards for the Silent.

slay the spire silent guide best cards
A Strike and Defend combined for one energy? Yes, please.

Note: Each playthrough of Slay the Spire is different, so just because a card is deemed “the best”, doesn’t mean should take 5 copies of that card.

With that being said, let’s start this Slay the Spire Silent guide off by going over some of the best cards to look out for during your playthroughs:

Shiv

slay the spire silent guide Shiv

This first card in this list is misleading. Shiv is a 0-cost attack that deals 4 damage and is then exhausted from your deck. Please note that Shiv cannot be acquired directly by the Silent class, but can only be generated through the use of other cards belonging to the Silent, like Blade Dance and Cloak and Dagger.

The reason Shiv is included in this list is to familiarize yourself with this card, (if you haven’t already).

A lot of cards in this guide are based on playing Shivs. The “Shiv” build is by far the easiest and most consistent build for the Silent. You’re going to be seeing this card a ton.

Upgrade

When upgraded, Shiv’s damage is increased from 4 to 6. However, you don’t need to worry about this since you cannot add Shivs to your deck.

The only semi-consistent ways to obtain upgraded Shivs are by obtaining them with the Cunning Potion or by upgrading Shivs in your hand with the Blessing of the Forge Potion. There are a few more fringe cases to get upgraded Shivs, but you most likely won’t ever run into those cases.

Neutralize

slay the spire silent guide Neutralize

Neutralize is a strong, cost-effective card. Not to mention it is one of the cards in the Silent’s starting deck; you get this card every time you play as the Silent.

The main reason this is a strong card is due to its ability to apply the “Weak” debuff to enemies, which reduces the damage they deal by 25%. This effect can be crucial in mitigating damage taken by the player’s character and increasing their chances of survival. Weak is probably the best debuff to inflict on an enemy.

Also, Neutralize costing 0 allows you to play it every turn you have it. This synergizes well with relics where you need to play lots of attacks per turn, like a Shuriken or a Kunai.

Upgrade

When upgraded, the damage for Neutralize goes up from 3 to 4, and the “Weak” debuff inflicted increases to 2 from 1. You should get this upgrade for the Weak increase alone. I wouldn’t upgrade this over game-winning cards like Wraith Form or Well-Laid Plans, but you should upgrade Neutralize eventually.

Survivor

slay the spire silent guide guide Survivor

Survivor is a very strong card. Gaining 8 block for one mana is solid. Not to mention that Survivor, like Neutralize, is also in the Silent’s starting deck.

This is an especially good card early on in playthroughs, mostly because the discard mechanic doesn’t impact you as much.

slay the spire silent survivor in hand
You don’t have enough energy to play every card in your hand, so discarding 1 card doesn’t impact anything

If you think about it, you draw 5 cards every turn, and you only have 3 energy to use. Since all of your starting cards are 1 energy or less, you will always have cards left over that you can’t play. Just target those unused cards with Survivor.

Try to pick up a Tactician if you see one, targeting that with Survivor is an excellent play.

Upgrade

When upgraded, Survivor’s block gain is increased from 8 to 11. This is a big upgrade and one worth pursuing early. It’s statistically better than two defends combined, for only one energy.

Acrobatics

slay the spire silent guide Acrobatics

Acrobatics is a card that should be picked up in the late game, rather than early on. Its effects are pretty simple, draw 3 cards, and then discard one card.

Obviously, this card has great synergy with other cards that trigger effects when discarded, like Tactician.

Acrobatics feels a bit clunky to play when you only have 3 energy; you spend 1 energy on just drawing cards, rather than blocking or attacking. Don’t pick up more than one or two of these. I’d rather pick up a Backflip over this.

Upgrade

When upgraded, Acrobatics draws 4 cards instead of 3. This is a decent upgrade, but you’d be better off upgrading other cards before this one.

Backflip

slay the spire silent guide Backflip

Great card and fits into any build. Gaining 5 block and drawing 2 cards is very strong, especially for one energy. The card draw makes this card relevant in the later stages of a run.

Upgrade

When upgraded, Backflip’s block gain is increased from 5 to 8. Not a game-changing upgrade, but a very good option.

Blade Dance

slay the spire silent guide Blade Dance

Blade Dance is AMAZING. It is essential for any “Shiv” build, and great for almost any other build. For only 1 energy, you add 3 Shivs to your hand, which are 0-cost attacks that deal 4 damage each. Dealing 12 damage for 1 energy is crazy good.

Picking this card up early on in a run can help build up a great deck. This is a must-grab card for any build. Its power level grows even more with Shiv

Upgrade

Upgraded, Blade Dance now adds 4 Shivs to your hand. It now deals a total damage of 16 instead of 12. This is an excellent upgrade, and one worth pursuing ASAP.

Cloak and Dagger

Cloak and Dagger in Slay the Spire

Cloak and Dagger is another great card for the Silent. For 1 energy, you gain 6 block and add a Shiv to your hand. This card is a great option for building up Shivs and blocking at the same time. This is basically the Silent’s version of Iron Wave.

Upgrade

When Cloak and Dagger is upgraded, the number of Shivs added to your hand is increased from 1 to 2, making it an even better dual-purpose option. Dealing 8 damage and gaining 6 block for 1 energy is very solid. This upgrade is worth considering if you have the opportunity.

Piercing Wail

slay the spire Piercing wail card

Every great Silent build contains at least 1 or 2 copies of Piercing Wail. This card decimates any enemies that utilize multi-attacks or fights with 3+ enemies. Playing a couple of copies can make the Heart boss fight much easier.

The card is extremely unique as it’s the only card in the game that reduces strength to ALL enemies.

However, you should avoid taking more than 2 copies, as it becomes very clunky in some fights. The main issue is that the card doesn’t scale with any other card. Plus, it is a weak play when enemies are using large, singular attacks; it’s effectively adding 6 block to your character for each enemy (which isn’t very powerful).

Not to mention, this card combined with the Thorns relic rips through all multi-attack enemies.

Upgrade

Upgraded Piercing Wail increases the strength reduction to enemies from 6 to 8. Nothing complicated here, just a very solid upgrade. Look to upgrade this when possible.

Dagger Throw

slaythespiresilentdaggerthrow card

Dagger Throw is a very reliable card and a great addition to any deck. Looking at its base stats, dealing 9 damage for 1 mana is awesome. Additionally, you get another card draw, which allows you to cycle through your deck and find potential answers to situations.

On top of the solid damage and card draw, Dagger Throw works great with Discard cards like Tactician. The Discard effect also be used on negative cards, like a Burn or a Wound, and remove them from your hand.

Upgrade

Upgraded Dagger Throw increases the damage dealt from 9 to 12, which is minor. This is an average upgrade; nothing noteworthy. Unfortunately, the upgrade doesn’t impact the amount of cards drawn or discarded. You should look at other cards to upgrade first.

Dagger Spray

slaythespiresilentdaggerspray card

The Silent class lacks decent non-Rare AOE cards. Luckily, Dagger Spray is the exception. Adding this card benefits most decks, even in the late game.

This card steamrolls like crazy once you get strength buffs. Not only does the card hit all enemies, but it hits twice. Any strength buff you receive is essentially doubled.

It easily clears minions and small enemies in any encounter.

Upgrade

When upgraded, Dagger Spray’s damage increases from 4 to 6. It may not seem like a lot, but this increase scales beautifully when fighting multiple enemies.

An upgraded Dagger Spray deals a total damage of 12 to each enemy for only 1 mana. The value of this card is excellent in fights with more than 1 enemy. This is not a #1 priority upgrade, but it should be high on the list.

Accuracy

slaythespiresilent accuracy card

Any Silent build that includes Shivs needs Accuracy. Shivs are one of, if not the best Silent builds. Accuracy effectively doubles the damage dealt by Shivs.

This card alone does not transform a bad build into a good one. Rather, it turns a good build into a great one.

It goes without saying to avoid this card if you don’t have anything to generate Shivs. The only downside to the card is its reliance on having other Shiv cards to work.

Upgrade

Upgraded Accuracy increases additional Shiv damage from 4 to 6. If you picked up this card, you likely have other Shiv cards in your build, making this a worthwhile upgrade. In essence, this upgrade increases the additional damage from 100% to 150%.

Well-Laid Plans

slaythespiresilentwelllaidplans card

Holy crap this card is only an Uncommon?! It’s better than most Rares. Well-Laid Plans is an absolute powerhouse.

Being able to Retain cards in your hand is absurdly powerful. It gives you insane flexibility. Retaining cards also does not affect how many cards you draw next turn; you hold an extra card in your hand.

Well-Laid Plans allow you to hold any situational cards indefinitely until you need to use them. Retaining a Blur or a Piercing Wail until you need it is priceless. It’s also perfect for setting up big combos.

Additionally, think of keeping 1 card in hand as having one less card in your deck to draw. Even if you keep a Wound in hand, it’s one Wound you don’t shuffle back into your deck.

It’s hard to understand how good this card is until you use it yourself. This is one of, if not THE best card in the entire game.

Upgrade

Upgrading Well-Laid Plans increases the amount of cards you can retain from 1 to 2. Is this a good upgrade? Well, what happens when you take one of the best cards in the game, and double its effectiveness?

Yeah, this is insane. UPGRADE. THIS. IMMEDIATELY.

Blur

The Blur card in Slay the Spire

Blur is a card that gets me excited when I see it. You gain 5 block, and get the awesome effect of not having block removed at the start of your next turn. Grabbing 2 or 3 copies of this will surely boost your build.

What makes this card work so well is its cost. 1 Energy is not a lot to spend. The Silent class is constantly cycling through cheap cards, so Blur fits perfectly in that archetype. Silent also has access to a plethora of block cards, which makes Blur even more effective.

Blur is even better when you have the Footwork Power.

Upgrade

The upgraded version of Blur increases the block gain from 5 to 8. Very underwhelming in my opinion. A block increase of 3 is nothing to get excited over. You don’t need to upgrade this card; only do so when you have nothing better to upgrade.

Crippling Cloud

The Crippling Cloud card in Slay the Spire

Crippling Cloud is really strong and fits into most decks. It’s a strong AOE card that applies Poison and Weak to all enemies. It works best in hallway fights against more than one enemy.

The Exhaust effect is also beneficial. It’s not ideal to play this more than once; 2 mana is expensive and you’ll want to be cycling through other, more effective cards.

A must-have for any Poison build.

Upgrade

The upgraded version of Crippling Cloud increases the Poison applied from 4 to 7. Given it almost doubles the amount of Poison applied, this is a very solid upgrade. If it also increased the amount of Weak applied, it would be an auto-pick for upgrading. However, the upgrade is still worth getting due to the amount of Poison applied.

Footwork

The Footwork cards in Slay the Spire

This card may not seem like much, but it’s incredibly good. In a vacuum, Footwork increases the amount of block gained from cards by 2. The Silent has access to a huge library of block cards, and Footwork boosts the effectiveness of said cards.

1 Energy is cheap, so it’s easy to play. It makes cards like Blur even more effective.

I know I’m going to have a good run when I see this card on Floor 1. It’s a very basic effect, but it’s so good.

Upgrade

Footwork, when upgraded, increases the Dexterity gain from 2 to 3. This is one of the better upgrades out there, and you should seek it out.

Noxious Fumes

Noxious Fumes card in Slay the Spire

Noxious Fumes…is awesome. In a nutshell, this card adds 1 Poison to each enemy at the start of your turn (It applies 2 Poison, and 1 Poison is lost at the end of each turn, so that equals a net of 1 Poison added).

Each turn, Poison is reduced by 1. With Noxious Fumes, this effect is more-or-less negated. Make sure you play it as soon as you can. The earlier you play it, the more Poison buildup on enemies. The longer the fight, the more Poison applied to enemies.

One under-the-radar effect of this card is that it uses up Artifacts on enemies. At the start of each turn, it will inflict Poison on each enemy, OR it will use up one of their Artifacts; both are equally good.

Noxious Fumes works well even if you don’t have any other Poison cards. Adding this to a block build is super effective; play defensively and let Poison do the work.

Upgrade

Upgrading Noxious Fumes is essential and absolutely necessary. When upgraded, the amount of Poison applied each turn increases from 2 to 3. When you consider that this “adds 1 Poison to enemies each turn” (net outcome), upgraded, this is increased to 2 Poison each turn.

The effectiveness of the card is doubled when upgraded. This is one of the best upgrades in the game.

Tactician

The Tactician card in Slay the Spire

The Silent has a lot of cards with Discard mechanics. Tactician is one of those cards that synergizes with said mechanics. This card is a MUST-HAVE in the early game since it pairs perfectly with Survivor; which is in the Silent’s starting deck. It’s also great when paired with Dagger Throw.

You should NOT take Tactician in every build; if you have little to no discard cards, it’s useless, not to mention Unplayable.

Tactician will never win you games, but it will give you lots of tempo early, which can snowball into the late game.

Upgrade

When upgraded, Tactician’s Energy gain is increased from 1 to 2. This is a good upgrade, but often it seems to be overkill. I’ve found that adding 2 extra energy isn’t necessary, as I’ve run out of cards to play.

Still, it’s a decent upgrade. Pursue this if you’ve upgraded all other priority cards.

Adrenaline

The Adrenaline card in Slay the Spire

Adrenaline is great and fits into any deck. It feels like you’re giving your character a power boost for a turn. Drawing 2 cards and gaining 1 Energy, for free, gives you lots of tempo if used early in the game.

Adrenaline should be used as a supplement to a deck build; you shouldn’t build your entire deck around it (not sure how you would do that anyway…)

Upgrade

When upgraded, Adrenaline’s Energy gain is increased from 1 to 2. It’s a good upgrade that gives you a little more flexibility with what cards you play. Not a needed upgrade by any means, but still solid.

Alchemize

The Alchemize card in Slay the Spire

Alchemize ranges from being good to INSANE. You could get a decent potion, or you could get something broken like Fairy in a Bottle or Ghost in a Jar. There are some instances where this helps you win a run.

Potions are often undervalued by new players. They give you a crazy amount of value and are key to beating bosses/elites.

If you are a savvy player and can resist using potions, you can build up a stockpile and max out your slots. Once maxed, you have the privilege of using 1 potion every encounter and always have maxed slots. Just make sure that you use the potion before playing Alchemize! Plus, there is a chance you get an extra potion as a reward from each encounter.

Upgrade

Upgraded Alchemize reduces the cost of the card from 1 to 0. This is an awesome upgrade and one of my personal favorites. 0 mana makes the card much more playable, as it won’t take away options to play other cards.

It feels great to snap your fingers and get a free potion.

Burst

The Burst card in Slay the Spire

Burst makes all of Silent’s awesome Skills and makes them even better. It works well with any Skill honestly. Works great with Blade Dance, works great with Cloak and Dagger, and works great with Deadly Poison. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Skill that Burst doesn’t work well with.

Burst is super strong in any Poison build. I highly recommend using Burst with Alchemize if given the chance.

Still, you need good Skills for Burst to truly shine. For example, there’s nothing wrong with using Burst with a Defend, but it feels like a waste.

Fortunately, (as shown in this article), the Silent has plenty of great Skills to look for.

Upgrade

Burst’s upgrade allows you to play your next 2 Skills twice. Pretty self-explanatory. This is a good upgrade and one worth pursuing.

Corpse Explosion

The Corpse Explosion card in Slay the Spire

Corpse Explosion is a phenomenal card. The AOE damage it deals upon an enemy’s death can easily one-shot every other enemy. The enemy doesn’t even need to die from Poison for the effect to trigger. Use this on an enemy that’s about to die for HUGE AOE damage.

If I ranked these cards based on how satisfying their effect is, Corpse Explosion would be easily #1 on the list. And yes, its effect is crazy good, but it can be cumbersome to play. 2 Energy is a huge cost for something that doesn’t immediately affect the encounter (unless the enemy would die that turn).

This is the BEST card in the game for encounters with multiple enemies; it’s Donu and Deca’s worst nightmare. On the flip side, this card sucks in encounters against only 1 enemy.

Nonetheless, every build benefits from Corpse Explosion, so keep an eye out for it.

Upgrade

When upgraded, Corpse Explosion’s Poison applied is increased from 6 to 9 (nice). Sure, applying 9 Poison instead of 6 is better, but that’s not the reason you play this card. The main effect of the card remains the same; a little extra Poison won’t make much of a difference.

This upgrade is not necessary and should only be pursued if you have no better cards to upgrade.

Die Die Die

The Die Die Die card in Slay the Spire

The value of playing Die Die Die is wild. For the low cost of only 1 Energy, you deal 13 damage to all enemies. This card DEMOLISHES minions and small enemies. Getting this card early sets you up for a great run.

Unrelated to this, but Die Die Die fits perfectly as a Silent card. Throwing daggers at everything on the screen fits so well thematically with the class.

The only drawback of this card is that it Exhausts after playing, but that’s expected with super-powerful cards like this. You could argue that the Exhaust effect is good; playing this card again would assume that you’re facing a high-health enemy, which isn’t a good situation for Die Die Die.

Upgrade

Die Die Die gains 4 additional damage when upgraded, now allowing the card to deal 17 damage to all enemies. This upgrade takes a really good card and makes it even better. You can’t go wrong with this upgrade.

Wraith Form

Wraith Form card in Slay the Spire

Last, but certainly not least, we have Wraith Form. This card is crazy good; we even have an article about how awesome Wraith Form is.

Wraith Form is incredibly strong. When activated, the card grants you 2 turns of Intangible status, which means they only take 1 damage from enemy attacks. After the 2 turns are up, you lose the Intangible status and proceed to lose 1 Dexterity at the end of every turn, which reduces the amount of block gained by 1.

With that being said, 3 energy is a lot to pay. Assuming you have the normal amount of 3 energy, you are dedicating your entire turn to just playing this card, if you choose to do so. However, you are potentially negating a ton of damage by playing it, since you are granted 2 Intangible, which sometimes makes it worthwhile to play.

The key is to play it when you know there are roughly 2 to 3 turns of combat left. When playing against bosses, players who understand the phases well enough can make an educated guess on how long each fight will take.

It should be noted that playing this card TOO early will lead you to an early death. Nonetheless, it’s an excellent card. Grabbing more than 1 copy can also be beneficial.

Secret Tip: You can counter the “Lose 1 Dexterity” debuff if you have an Artifact.

Upgrade

When upgraded, Wraith Form’s Intangible gain is increased to 3 from 2. There are essentially 2 upgrades built into 1; you get an extra turn of invulnerability, AND you delay your dexterity loss by another turn. It’s a massive upgrade.

Silent Builds to Consider

Next in our Silent Guide, let’s go over some potential builds to consider.

A Silent build containing lots of great cards in Slay the Spire
Well-Laid Plans is a must-have for every build.

Shiv Build

The most consistent build for the Silent is the Shiv build. You can call this the “official build recommendation” for this Silent guide. As the name suggests, this build focuses on generating lots of Shivs to throw at enemies.

What makes this build so accessible is the fact that the core cards are Commons; Blade Dance and Cloak and Dagger. Blade Dance adds 3 Shivs to your hand, which nets 12 damage in total (16 if upgraded), for only 1 Energy. Cloak and Dagger gives you both block and a shiv for 1 Energy. I love both of these cards, and they get even better if you can find an Accuracy along the way.

Showcasing a Shiv Build for the Silent in Slay the Spire
Blade Dance is the most important card for a Shiv build.

Once you have a good amount of Shiv-producing cards, try to stock up on defensive cards that add lots of block, like Blur or Backflip. If you can find After Image, grab it; it’s a perfect card for this archetype.

Outside of the cards previously mentioned, there aren’t a lot more cards that synergize or produce Shivs reliably. Infinite Blades is underwhelming; adding 1 Shiv to your hand each turn feels weak compared to other cards.

Relics to look out for are Wrist Blade (Attacks that cost 0 Energy deal 4 additional damage), Shuriken (Every time you play 3 Attacks in a single turn, gain 1 Strength.), Kunai (Every time you play 3 Attacks in a single turn, gain 1 Dexterity.), and Ornamental Fan (Every time you play 3 Attacks in a single turn, gain 4 Block.). All of these are excellent given the card-spamming nature of Shiv builds.

Surprisingly, there are a couple of Poison cards that fit well in Shiv builds. Envenom synergizes well, as you are constantly using small, damaging attacks. Noxious Fumes is also great because…well…it’s great in any deck. Same with Corpse Explosion.

Poison Build

The other reliable build for the Silent is a Poison build. This is a fun build, but a little more difficult to pull off than the Shiv build.

The holy grail cards for Poison builds are Noxious Fumes and Corpse Explosion. Noxious Fumes ensures that all enemies are slowly being Poisoned more and more each turn. This Poison stacks up fast in longer fights.

A Poison build for the Silent in Slay the Spire
With Noxious Fumes, Poison starts to stack up relatively fast.

Noxious Fumes is also perfect for stripping away Artifacts from enemies, leaving them vulnerable to other debuffs.

Corpse Explosion doesn’t synergize as well as Noxious Fumes in Poison builds, but its main effect is so good that you HAVE to try and grab it; it just happens to also apply Poison in addition to this.

Both are excellent cards, and both also work well in non-Poison builds. Crippling Cloud is also a great card that provides some breathing room in fights. Having a copy in your deck can never hurt you.

If you have the privilege of getting either the Snecko Skull or The Specimen Relic, the sky’s the limit for your Poison build. Whenever you apply Poison, Snecko Skull will apply 1 additional Poison. You will apply even more Poison to enemies, especially with Noxious Fumes. The Specimen transfers Poison from one enemy to another when it dies…which is REALLY, REALLY good.

Other solid Poison cards to look out for are Poisoned Stab and Deadly Poison. A sneaky good card to grab is Bane; it’s usually an automatic 14 damage for 1 Energy; a good value.

Make sure to upgrade Deadly Poison when you can; Spending 1 Energy to inflict 5 Poison feels VERY weak. Upgrading it will up the Poison from 5 to 7, which is huge. If you do the math, the base version of the card deals 15 total damage (5+4+3+2+1). Upgraded, it deals 28 total damage. 28 damage for 1 mana is bonkers!

Catalyst is an interesting card. It’s very much a “win-more” card in Poison builds. Don’t grab it if you don’t have a decent amount of Poison cards. Doubling (or Tripling if upgraded) the amount of Poison on an enemy can be ludicrous (even more so with Burst). It’s a waste to use this when the Poison counter is in the single digits or teens; waiting until the late game to play this is ideal. Well-Laid Plans allows you to hold this until you need it.

Envenom is a card that you assume would be good in a Poison build. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Poison decks feature a lot of…(wait for it)…Poison, which isn’t direct damage. Poison damage doesn’t trigger Envenom. It surprisingly fits better in a Shiv build, as you are constantly spamming multiple, 0-cost Shivs each turn.

Also, be careful when using Poison against the Lagavulin when it’s sleeping; you will wake it up and the battle will start.

Silent Tips

Finally, in our Silent guide, let’s go over some tips to follow for success.

Choosing to either Rest or Smith at a rest area in Slay the Spire
You want to get the full value of Resting, not “over-healing”. Smith whenever you don’t get this full value.

To Rest or Smith at Resting Sites?

A general rule of thumb for Slay the Spire; always rest at rest sites if you cannot fully heal back to your max HP. This also applies to the Silent character, although you want to be more risky with her builds. A good build has you Smithing more than Resting (unless you NEED to Rest).

Some good cards to upgrade early are Neutralize and Survivor. Both of these are great for gaining tempo in the early game.

When given the chance, you need to upgrade your “game-winning” cards like Wraith Form and Well-Laid Plans.

Hunt Elites (within reason)

The map icon for an Elite encounter in Slay the Spire

Late-game success in Slay the Spire relies heavily on which Relics you get. What is the most reliable way to get Relics? Beating Elites. Every Elite you beat will give you a Relic.

Unless you are late into Act 3, keep an eye out for Slaver’s Collar and Black Star.

Finding the Slaver's Collar in a chest in Slay the Spire
Slaver’s Collar and Black Star are both excellent for hunting Elites

New players tend to shy away from Elite encounters, fearing that they will take too much damage or even die. Experienced players go out of their way to hunt Elites, but the best players know when they should and shouldn’t fight Elites.

It’s all about knowing your deck’s capabilities, and which Elites are good and bad matchups.

Remove Strikes from your deck

Basic Strike and Defend cards are well known as being weak and underwhelming. This is especially true for Strikes as the Silent class. In general, block cards fit better into the Silent’s archetypes than direct damage cards do.

Let me be clear by saying this does NOT mean you should remove 5 Strikes in a row from your deck; you should also be removing some Defends in the process. However, if its a 50/50 decision between removing a Strike and a Defend, take out the Strike.

Prepare for “The Time Eater” boss

The Time Eater boss in Slay the Spire

The second you reach Act 3, you need to look at the Boss you will eventually face. If you see a big clock, it’s time to stock up on cards and relics to support the fight. Remove as many Strikes and Defends as you can from your deck.

The Time Eater is the bane of Silent’s existence. Its main ability, Time Warp, is described as follows: “Whenever you play 12 cards, ends your turn and gains 2 Strength. (Carries over between turns.)“.

You need to be constantly paying attention to this card timer. NEVER leave the timer at 10 or 11 when you end your turn. You are set up for failure on your next turn, as you will only be able to play 1 or 2 cards before Time Eater ends your turn.

Not to mention, once its HP falls below 50%, it will use Haste the next turn. Haste heals back to 50% AND removes all debuffs. This is a huge blow for Poison builds, as you will need to build up your Poison counter again. Luckily, it can only use Haste once; no need to worry about it being spammed constantly.

Shiv builds struggle the most against Time Eater, as your deck relies heavily on playing multiple, 0-cost cards each turn. To counter this as much as possible, your Shivs will need to deal more than 4 damage each. Keep an eye out for Accuracy.


It’s important to keep in mind that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to playing the Silent in Slay the Spire (or any character for that matter). The best way to truly master Silent is through practice and experimentation. Try out different cards, builds, and strategies to see what works best for you. With time and experience, you’ll become a skilled Silent player and conquer the Spire in no time. Now go throw some daggers and poison your foes!

For those wanting to climb the Spire with the Ironclad, check out our guide for the Ironclad.

Avatar of Ethan Floyd
Ethan is the founder of Shark Games and oversees all site content. He's been a dedicated (mainly PlayStation) gamer for over 15 years, netting him over 4000 Trophies; 25 of which are Platinum. Over these countless hours, he has developed a passion for both digital card games and story-driven adventure games. He's reached the "Legend" rank in both Standard and Wild modes in Hearthstone. God of War Ragnarok is his favorite game of all time, and he's 100% completed every game in the Ratchet and Clank franchise (except for the garbage ones on handhelds). He also sucks at League of Legends.