The Trigger-Read Rule
The single most important relic skill: pick relics your weapon can trigger often. Read the trigger first — Co-op Power, Co-strike, Critical Hit, Missiles, Blasts, team defense, stat conversion, elite damage, boss value, or sustain — then upgrade the effects that define your run. Save Bones when a relic is only off-plan filler.
Relic Paths (1.0)
Action, Boost & Duo Relics
- Action Relic — triggers from a specific player action (dash, light/heavy attack, ability, Co-op Power). Usually the best first pick; it gives your run a clear Path direction.
- Boost Relic — improves a Path you already have active. Strong after your first Path is online; weak without it.
- Duo Relic — combines two Paths once you have relics from both. Powerful, but only chase it after your base build works.
Relic Wishing & Bones
- Wishing — target a specific relic you want on future runs; it becomes more likely to appear.
- Rerolls — spend Bones to reroll on the selection screen.
- Rarity upgrades — Bones upgrade a relic's rarity tier during selection or in inventory.
- Dismantling — if a relic doesn't fit, dismantle it rather than carrying dead value.
- Relic Tokens — currency for Wishing targets.
Relic progress changes future runs: when a new relic becomes available, your later Path choices and Wishing targets open up. Build context: Builds & Perk Trees →
FAQ
What is the best relic for a first run?
A high-frequency trigger on your starting weapon's best stat — usually a critical-hit or action relic — because first runs fire the trigger constantly and need every bit of uptime. Skip duo relics until you run with a regular squad, and skip the scaling paths until the builds page's realm context makes their payoff legible.
Wishing, Bones and the economy
Relic Wishing trades Bones for direction: it converts a generic relic pool into a targeted one, which matters most in the mid-run when your build needs one specific trigger to come online. Spend Bones on wishes when the run is healthy and on contingency when it is not — the same currency is the run's emergency fund, and the ratio is a read of how the lobby is going.
Duo relics and the co-op contract
Duo relics pay both holders when both play their half, which makes them the multiplayer layer of the relic system: they reward the squad discipline the multiplayer page preaches. The honest caveat is lobby variance — in a random 33, some duos never meet. Take a duo relic when you are running with a regular squad, and take a self-sufficient action relic when you are not.
Trigger frequency beats trigger power
The trigger-read rule has a corollary: a modest relic with a high-frequency trigger out-damages a spectacular relic your weapon fires once a run. Count the trigger events in a normal five minutes of play — critical hits, co-op hits, missiles — and pick from the relic paths accordingly. The wishing system lets you chase specifics, but the read comes first.