Dark Build — Slay the Spire 2 Build Guide

Stack Dark orbs and unleash them at the perfect moment — the boss-killing route.

Dark — the Boss Killer

Play pattern: the most reliable way to kill single-target fights. A Dark Orb grows by 6 damage every turn it sits, so bank Block, let one Dark Orb cook to 50–100 damage behind your Frost, then multi-Evoke it — Dualcast on a cooked Dark Orb one-shots bosses.

Core cards:

Card	Cost	Effect	Why it earns a slot
Darkness	—	Channels Dark Orbs (each grows +6 damage per turn)	"Probably the single best card for killing bosses"; two copies reach ~50 damage quickly
Shadow Shield	—	Great Block with Dark synergy	Keeps you alive while the Orb cooks
Loop	—	Triggers your rightmost Orb's passive each turn	Stacked with Darkness, it accelerates the cooking; still great with Frost
Dualcast	1	Evoke your rightmost Orb twice	The starting card becomes the finisher — one mana, two Evoke triggers
Quad Cast	—	Evokes one Orb four times	"If you have dark orbs, just take this" — quadruple-casting a 50-damage Dark Orb one-shots a boss
Multi-Cast	—	Evoke one Orb repeatedly	A fine finisher with Focus, spare Plasma or Dark — niche elsewhere
Capacitor	—	More Orb slots	Extra slots let Darkness cook behind your Frost without being pushed out

Relics: Runic Capacitor (the material explicitly recommends it "if you have a lot of Frost or Dark") and Gold-Plated Cables.

How to pilot it: the opposite discipline: don't spam Orbs — every Channel pushes your cooking Dark Orb forward. Buy enough slots to let it sit, or time your Orb plays carefully. Block up, wait, cash in.

Strengths and weaknesses: the most dependable boss and Elite answer in the kit; slow by design, and Dark Evokes hit the lowest-HP enemy first — clear minions first.

Related

• Defect build hub — all archetypes overview
• Builds Overview
• Defect card table
• Card Tier List