Slay the Spire 2 Act 1 Events — Every ? Node Choice That Matters

Question-mark nodes are where Slay the Spire 2 runs are quietly won or lost. Act 1's event pool is full of cheap upgrades — a free pet, a card upgrade, a combat you cannot lose anything in — and it also contains the single best card-removal opportunity in the game. Here is every early event worth knowing, and what to pick.

Act 1 events that are (almost) always worth it

Byrdonis Nest

• Incubate the egg at your campsite → you gain a pet plus a 0-cost attack card. The attack is a genuine early-game workhorse and the pet is free value. This is the default pick.
• Eat it → a small heal. You ate a potential companion. Don't.

Sapphire Seed

• Eat it → heal and randomly upgrade one card in your deck. Reliable, immediate, good.
• Plant it → a delayed payoff from a later event, less consistent. Take the sure thing in Act 1.

The Sunken Statue

• Pull the sword → you get a stone-bound sword that grows into a kingly blade: it gains +3 Strength per combat after enough elites are slain. Strong if you can fight elites anyway — and you should be fighting some.
• Walk away → nothing lost, nothing gained.

Brain Leech

• Let it latch on → add one card of your choice from a pool to your deck. A free pick near the start of a run is enormous, even with the parasite attached.
• Shoo it away → no gain.

Relic Trader

Swaps one of your relics for a new one. The trade is random, so evaluate honestly: trading a dead relic for anything is great, trading your engine for a mystery is not.

The Fake Merchant

If you carry a throwable potion, you can fight it — beating the impostor pays out a pile of gold plus a relic. No throwable potion? Just leave.

Card removal: the single best Act 1 purchase

One recurring Act 1 event lets you remove a card from your deck for 75 gold. In the current economy that is the cheapest, most reliable deck-thinning in a run, and it is close to an instant pick — a slimmer deck means your real cards show up more often. Our deck-thinning guide explains why this matters so much.

Act 1 gamble events

Luminous Choir

• Pay gold → a random relic. Good when your wallet is healthy; relics compound.
• Remove two cards + receive a spore card → the added card is a dud; skip this branch.

The Round Tea Party

• Drink → full heal plus a royal venom relic that drains 4 HP after every combat. Powerful, but the upkeep tax gets scarier the longer your run goes.
• Refuse → no downside.

The Lost Wisp

Grants an AOE ability card, but attaches a decay-flavored drawback. Take it if your deck needs board wipes and you can afford the downside; otherwise leave.

Battleworn Dummy (don't miss this one)

A combat event: fight a 75 HP training dummy with 3 turns to deal as much damage as possible. Winning pays gold and a relic; failing costs nothing. Fight it every single time — it is the only truly free lottery ticket in the spire, and it doubles as a DPS check for your deck.

Priorities by act

• Act 1: removal, heals, safe upgrades. Take the egg, the seed and the statue; skip risky HP-gambling events.
• Act 2: your deck has a shape now, so gamble selectively — relic trade-ins and combat events pay off once your engine works.
• Act 3: grab every last fixed upgrade (the dummy, mask tombs, knowledge events) and shore up your deck's one missing piece.

Universal rule: below half health, never gamble on HP-loss events; a dead run collects no relics.

Keep reading:

• Deck Thinning Guide
• Map Room Types and Route Planning
• Beginner's First Run Guide