The Defect Class

Is The Defect good in Slay the Spire 2?

In Slay the Spire 2, The Defect is one of the five classes you can climb the spire with, beginning each run at 75 HP. Its identity: An automaton eternally modifying itself to survive. Deploys Orb technology when it must fight. It’s among the tougher classes to win with at the moment, posting a 8.8% win rate below the field.

Over 4572 tracked runs its win rate sits at 8.8%, 5.0% short of the 13.8% all-class average. On average its runs climb to floor 20.2. Expect about a 22-minute run, finishing with some 21.3 cards and 7.4 relics.

The standout card in its decks is Apotheosis, which wins 62.5% of the runs it appears in. Another high performer is Apparition, winning 60.0% of its runs. On the relic side, History Course has been its strongest pickup, posting a 86.4% win rate. Winning runs tend to finish with around 4 HP to spare, near ascension 6.6.

Across those runs it banked 396 wins against 4082 deaths and 94 abandons. Its most common run-ender is Kaiser Crab Boss, which closes out 3.6% of its runs. See the best cards, relics, and biggest threats below for a full read on how to climb with The Defect.

Best Cards for The Defect

Ranked by win rate, The Defect performs best with the cards Apotheosis (62.5%), Apparition (60.0%), and Beat Down (50.0%).

Apotheosis62.5%0.7% of runsApparition60.0%0.4% of runsBeat Down50.0%0.2% of runsBeacon of Hope50.0%0.2% of runsHuddle Up50.0%0.3% of runsPrep Time50.0%0.3% of runs

Based on small samples — treat these as early signals, not final verdicts.

Best Relics for The Defect

The relics with the best win rate for The Defect are History Course (86.4%), Iron Club (71.4%), and Delicate Frond (64.3%), each shown with its win rate.

History Course86.4%0.5% of runsIron Club71.4%0.6% of runsDelicate Frond64.3%0.3% of runsSignet Ring63.6%1.0% of runsJewelry Box62.5%0.7% of runsDistinguished Cape60.0%0.4% of runs

Based on small samples — treat these as early signals, not final verdicts.

Gold Curve: The Defect

Winning The Defect runs hold 259 gold at floor 45 while runs that died hold 194, a difference of 64.

• Winning runs 259 gold at floor 45
• Runs that died 194 gold at floor 45

Average gold in hand at each checkpoint floor, comparing {name} runs that went on to win with runs that died. Floors are sampled every fifth map point.

A floor only appears once at least 10 recorded runs reached it, so the chart stops where the data thins out — not where runs end.

Deck Size Curve: The Defect

At floor 45, winning The Defect runs are running 34.4 cards against 33.2 for runs that died.

• Winning runs 34.4 cards at floor 45
• Runs that died 33.2 cards at floor 45

Running deck size at each checkpoint floor — the starting deck plus cards gained, minus cards removed.

Rest Site Choices

Across every recorded rest site, Smith leads on 58240 uses at 21.6%, with Heal next on 57079 uses at 19.3%.

Rest-site decisions are recorded across every class, not only The Defect, because the choice itself is class-independent.

The bars show how often each option is taken. A win rate is only shown for the options with enough runs behind them — Smith and Heal; everything below them is reported as counts.

Mend is left out entirely: every recorded use of it comes from a co-op run, and co-op runs win far more often for reasons that have nothing to do with the rest choice, so its win rate would be misleading next to the others.

Potion Picks

Ranked by pick lift, Foul Potion leads at +10.1% with 80.4% of its offers taken, followed by Potion of Doom at +9.7%.

Foul Potion80.4%Pick lift +10.1%2346 offers

Potion of Doom49.9%Pick lift +9.7%1327 offers

Fairy in a Bottle59.1%Pick lift +8.5%1463 offers

Orobic Acid53.4%Pick lift +7.4%1454 offers

Energy Potion51.9%Pick lift +5.1%9156 offers

Fruit Juice58.7%Pick lift +5.1%1433 offers

Potion offers are recorded across every class. Ranked by pick lift rather than raw win rate.

Pick rate when offered counts offers, not runs: out of every time the game put this in front of a player, how often it was taken. It is not the same number as the share of runs that end up containing it.

Pick lift is the sample-adjusted gap between runs that took the option and runs that passed on it. It is the fair way to rank choices, because raw win rates put the smallest samples on top.

The Defect Details

Starting at 75 HP and 99 gold, The Defect averages floor 20.2 per run with roughly 21.3 cards by the end.

An automaton eternally modifying itself to survive. Deploys Orb technology when it must fight.

What Ends The Defect Runs

Runs as The Defect end most often against Kaiser Crab Boss (3.6%), Knowledge Demon Boss (3.1%), and Phantasmal Gardeners Elite (2.6%) — the share of its runs each accounts for is shown.

• Kaiser Crab Boss3.6% of runs
• Knowledge Demon Boss3.1% of runs
• Phantasmal Gardeners Elite2.6% of runs
• The Insatiable Boss2.6% of runs
• Infested Prisms Elite2.6% of runs

See Also

Keep exploring Slay the Spire 2 tier lists and stats below.