Best Necrobinder Build in Slay The Spire 2

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Slay The Spire 2 Necrobinder Build Feature

Published Mar 27, 2026, 10:28 AM EDT

Laurence is an avid writer, gamer, and traveller with several years of journalistic writing experience under his belt. Having helped create a student-focused magazine at university, he is keen to reach the gaming community with his guides and game reviews.

Whether it's trudging through the world of Elden Ring, or grinding out raids in Old School Runescape, Laurence is always up for a challenge. However, in real life, his current challenge is learning how to speak Spanish and cooking authentic Mexican cuisine.

Slay The Spire 2 is here, and with it comes a flaming-hot, death-defying Necromancer, hellbent on taking down the Architect, who now resides at the top of the Spire.

At first glance, this character might not seem that strong. She has pretty poor starting health, and her combos can be pretty mind-boggling if you don’t know what you’re doing. But over time, as you get used to the new card mechanics, players soon start to realise that the Necrobinder is a real force to be reckoned with.

At first, I started playing Doom builds because they seemed the simplest. And then I tried Soul builds, Osty builds, Ethereal builds, High-Cost Card builds, everything under the sun, as I climbed towards Ascension 10. However, as I got higher, I realised I was overcomplicating things. Sometimes simple is good.

Today, let’s take a look at how to play the Doom archetype and how to make it work on those high Ascension levels.

Build Overview

Doom Mechanics

If you’ve ever played a Poison Build with the Silent before, then you won’t have much trouble adapting to the new Doom Mechanic.

The way it works is that you build up Doom stacks on the opponent over time. Once that number reaches the current Hitpoints of the target, at the end of their turn, they are pulled down into the void.

Slay The Spire 2: Best Silent Build

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

The first thing you need to get used to is that, unlike Poison, this death effect happens at the end of the turn rather than before the enemy strikes, meaning you still need to defend yourself even if you know the enemy is about to die.

In addition, because Doom has no effect on the opponent initially, the debuff numbers and effects are a lot higher than Poison, allowing you to reach higher stacks more easily.

Strength vs Consistency

Now, the question you might be asking is, Is this the strongest Necrobinder build? And the answer to that question would be, almost certainly not. But of course, the more important question is, how consistent is this build? Very.

I’ve played Hang decks before, or Enchanted Scythe and Eradicate builds. And they’re incredibly strong, but the combinations of cards and relics needed to get them online very rarely come along. This guide is all about building consistently strong decks, rather than powerful meme builds.

When you’re climbing into higher Ascendancies, you’ll start to realise the Spire punishes stupid decisions more and more often. You need to build your deck for the next fight, not the one that comes further down the line.

And the great thing about this deck is that, while there are powerful rare cards that enhance the build, you don’t actually need them to make the deck work. If you watch the video above against A7 Doormaker, you’ll see that I don’t have Reaper Form, Oblivion, End of Days, or Time’s Up. All you need are a good few common and uncommon cards, and you’re set. So let’s get into the sauce.

Key Cards

The Doom Package

The good thing about this archetype is that it has quite a lot of support, meaning that even in Act 1, you’re bound to run into quite a few Doom cards. Let’s take a look at some of the staples that you’ll pretty much always want to add to your deck.

Card Name

Rarity

Description

Blight Strike

Negative Pulse

Scourge

Death’s Door

Deathbringer

Countdown

No Escape

Time’s Up

Oblivion

End of Days

Common	Blight Strike does a bit of damage while inflicting Doom on your enemy based on how much damage you deal. If you inflict Vulnerable, or have some extra strength, this works wonders.
Common	This gives you a nice bit of block while inflicting Doom on all enemies. Great for keeping you alive and perfect for fights with multiple enemies.
Common	This isn’t the strongest card, but if you don’t have Soul generation and need a bit of card draw, you can’t go wrong here.
Uncommon	This card is stupidly good. Even by itself, it gives you 6 block, but if you’ve already inflicted Doom this turn, you get triple! Paired with something like Countdown, which auto-applies Doom, you’ll basically always get at least 18 block for 1 energy.
Uncommon	This applies 21 Doom to all enemies while inflicting Weak. Great if you’re in a pinch and need to reduce incoming damage across the board.
Uncommon	This automatically inflicts 6 Doom on your opponents at the start of each turn. Similar to Noxious Fumes, not the most powerful card, but great if you have a more long-winded control-oriented build.
Uncommon	I would argue this is the best card in the whole deck, with power equal to a rare. This is your Boss killer. It applies 10 Doom for 1 energy, then 5 more Doom for every 10 Doom already on the target. When you get to the larger Doom stacks, suddenly it becomes easy to inflict 50+ Doom with every use of this card. Multiple copies are wonderful.
Rare	This deals damage equal to the Doom stacks on the opponent. Simple and strong.
Rare	For 0 energy, you can apply 3 Doom every single time you play a card. This is great in the late game, when you have a lot of energy generation and card cycle.
Rare	This applies 29 Doom to all enemies and immediately culls them if the Doom reaches their health threshold. This is very expensive; however, it can be amazing against multiple enemies, such as the Elite Worms in Act 1 or the Biting Books in Act 3.

I haven’t mentioned every single Doom card here, as I don’t think you always need to take them. It all depends on your deck at the time of choosing. Personally, I don’t think Shroud or Reaper Form are essential cards, but if you can afford to play them without slowing down your build, then go for it.

Necrobinder Necessities

Now, just because you want to play Doom doesn’t mean you should disregard other cards. Slay The Spire 2 often punishes those who rely too fully on 1 type of effect, so try to diversify.

First off, try getting some kind of Soul generation, with cards like Grave Warden, Capture Spirit and Seance. This will give you a good amount of card draw, allowing you to cycle through your deck and giving you your core cards more frequently.

Slay the Spire 2: Best Ironclad Build

Judge your successes by the sacrifices made to achieve them.

In addition, remember that this is primarily a Defensive-Control deck, meaning you’re not going to be attacking as often. This means you can run cards like Friendship and Shared Fate that reduce your Strength without affecting your output that much.

And of course, as with most characters, you want your turns to be as long and impactful as possible, so make sure you have a good chunk of energy generation with cards like Wisp, Borrowed Time, or Neurosurge. The best decks have quite a few ways to both deal damage and protect themselves, so keep these in mind when picking out your cards.

Righteous Relics

If you see any relics that directly relate to the Necrobinder, chances are they’re going to be pretty amazing; however, it's also worth picking up anything that helps you survive for longer. Let’s take a look at some must-picks:

Book Repair Knife: Heals you when creatures die from Doom. A very nice pick up.
Funerary Mask: This automatically adds 3 Souls to your deck each combat. Souls don’t bloat, as they cost 0 energy, so these are always good to have, especially if you have Soul-Synergy.
Ivory Tile: Necrobinder has a lot of high-cost cards, so this will help extend your turn after playing them.
Undying Sigil: This is a bit situational, but it’ll help you survive and allow you to focus on outputting Doom instead of defending.
Unsettling Lamp: This doubles your first instance of Doom applied in each combat.

On top of this, anything that either gives you free block, free energy, Max HP or card draw is pretty fantastic here. Make sure you get more Max HP either through relics or mid-run events, as Necrobinder can be horribly squishy at times. This will help you heal more at rest sites, too!

You can also grab potions which inflict Doom, too. Save these for an Elite or a tricky Boss.

Blessings from the Ancients

Getting the right blessings from the Ancients can often make or break a run. You really just need to hope that you get something that benefits you, build, or at least something that trims your deck down a bit.

There isn’t really a bad option from Neow, as this build is very flexible. If you’re struggling to choose, you can’t really go wrong with more cash, more Max HP and getting rid of some strikes. We want to survive as long as possible here, so keep that in mind.

In Act 2, you should search out some of these buffs:

Orobas: Because we have a lot of skills, Electric Shymp is great here, with something like Deathbringer or End of Days. Radiant Pearl can also be good if you have a lot of high-cost cards.
Pael: You can never go wrong with some Relax in your deck. However, if you want more energy, try Flesh or Tears.
Tezcatara: Brightest Flame is always good. Try not to use it more than once per fight, though. Toy Box and Biiig Hug can also be great here.

In Act 3, look out for the following:

Nonupeipe: If you’re broke or feeble, grab Looming Fruit or Signet Ring. However, if you need energy, Antler is pretty free! Apotheosis is also great, depending on how many of your cards are already upgraded.
Tanx: Spiked Gauntlets are great here, as well as Throwing Axe. If you need more HP, go for Meat Cleaver and focus on getting as many rest sites as possible.
Vakuu: Necrobinder has a lot of great powers, so Jewelled Mask is an easy pickup. In addition, Distinguished Cape will allow you to last longer, so you can build up your Doom stacks.

Your Ancient choice is always going to depend on the current state of your deck, so realistically, there’s no wrong choice here. Adapt and overcome. With this information at your side, you’ll be able to hit Ascension 10 without a problem!