Slay the Spire 2 ditches the old boss relics for powerful boons from the Ancients. These boons can range from straightforward power spikes like new relics or ways to manipulate your deck. Yet it can also offer something entirely different, like temporary Wax Relics or the Golden Compass that etches a special path on the map.
The Golden Compass special path isn’t a tangible reward that’s easily weighed upfront, yet it might just be what you need to get your run back on track.
What does the Golden Compass do in Slay the Spire 2?
The Golden Compass is an Ancient Relic, obtainable only through Tezcatara at the start of Slay the Spire 2’s second act. Choosing the Golden Compass replaces the Act 2 map with a single special path. This removes the burden of pathing through floors, as the Golden Compass creates a single linear route for you.
One underrated aspect of this is that it minimizes the bickering and reduces the obscene drawings in Slay the Spire 2’s new coop mode. Removing the biggest point of contention in multiplayer sessions is a huge timesaver (but don’t let your friends know that). Instead, what you’ll tell them is that the Golden Compass creates a challenging path towards Act 2’s boss, while simultaneously giving enough rest sites for players to breathe.
In my run, the Golden Compass special path gave me balanced two regular combat encounters, one random room, two elites, and four rest sites before the boss. That’s too many rest sites for my taste, but at least it satisfies my bloodlust for at least two elites per Act.
The Golden Compass special path is a reward in and of itself. Through my testing, it doesn’t increase card rewards, gold gained, and quality of relics. It doesn’t even include a bonus at the end after completing the special path.
Is it worth picking up the Golden Compass?
In a game like Slay the Spire 2, where every suboptimal choice can bloat your deck and haunt you in later encounters, is it really worth going through the Golden Compass special path? While it was a relaxing experience to ascend floors without thinking of the next step, it isn’t a choice I’ll ever go for again.
The first thing decent Slay the Spire players do at the start of each Act is open their maps. There will almost always be a great path with a good mix of elites, encounters, and shops. The Golden Compass creates an easier route that also means missing out on potential rewards, relics, or events to empower your deck.
Instead of taking the easy way out, consider some of the other possible upgrades from Tezcatara instead:
- Yummy Cookie upgrades four cards. Four upgraded cards that will make future combat encounters much smoother.
- Toasty Mittens exhausts the top card of your draw pile, then gives you one strength. This relic is just made for Ironclad or for Silent, rocking multiple ways to create shivs.
- Nutritious Soup enchants all strikes, synergizing with the new relic that empowers cards with strike.
- Storybook adds one Brightest Flame to your deck. This 0-cost skill card gives you energy and draw at the cost of 1 max HP. A great card for Regent, who sorely needs more draw and energy.
Really, the only niche I can see for choosing the Golden Compass over any of the other choices is that you somehow picked up many relics that activate on Rest Sites or when you’re happy with your deck that can afford the easy route through the second act.
However, for now, the Golden Compass needs a touch more incentives to make it competitive with the other options. Besides, you’ll need to challenge more elites to unlock more Epochs for the roster.
