Spire Codex is now on Overwolf. Get the in-game overlay with live card lookups and one-click run uploads. Learn more →Spire Codex is now on Overwolf. Get the in-game overlay with live card lookups and one-click run uploads. Learn more →An offensive playstyle for Necrobinder that focuses on burst damage and a trimmed deck to kill enemies before they overwhelm you. Tested across 6 runs with 5 wins.
This post will share a guide on playing an offensive playstyle with [[character:Necrobinder]]. This approach was developed specifically to address the defensive shortcomings of Necrobinder in the beta version. I've tested it in 6 runs so far, with 5 wins and 1 loss. I had planned to do more testing, but since another balance patch is coming on Thursday, I decided to put together this quick summary for discussion and further exploration. This playstyle aims for a small-to-medium deck, usually under 25 cards—though if you're offered strong cards, a larger deck is fine. Defense is kept to a minimum, with all other resources funneled into damage output and burst, in order to kill enemies quickly and avoid the defensive pressure of prolonged fights.
Surprisingly, Necrobinder is actually well-suited for an offensive playstyle. Her cards offer high multipliers and diverse scaling vectors. [[power:Vulnerable]] provides a 1.5x multiplier, [[Debilitate]] turns Vulnerable into 2x, [[Lethality]] is an independent 1.5–1.75x multiplier, and [[Reaper Form]] adds another independent 2x multiplier. Even with just Lethality and Vulnerable, [[Reap]] can deal 73 damage in one go, achieving a damage-to-energy ratio of 24 per energy. As for attack cards, there are many strong options like [[Eradicate]], [[Squeeze]], [[Reap]], and [[Bury]] that pair well with Lethality. Eradicate, in particular, gains extra value from Enhancements and high energy. Once the necessary pieces come together, Necrobinder can often burst for 100–200 damage, easily meeting the demands of Act 3.
Defensively, Necrobinder is very fragile. Few cards exceed 10 block per energy, and those that do often have strict conditions: [[Death's Door]] requires applying [[power:Doom]], [[Melancholy]] requires an enemy or Osty to die, [[Enfeebling Touch]] works best against multi-hit attacks. The most reliable defensive card remains [[Defy]]. Against a 25-damage attack, Defy alone blocks 12, and with Debilitate, that becomes 18. Since Debilitate is also a key piece for the offensive playstyle, the defensive strategy revolves around ensuring consistent access to Defy while minimizing or avoiding low-efficiency defensive cards that would dilute the deck.
In the beta environment, a defensive playstyle is very difficult for Necrobinder. Act 2 has enemies like the [[monster:Tunneler]]—a terrifying enemy that keeps hitting for 26 every turn unless you break through its block. Act 3 also includes threats like [[monster:Devoted Sculptor]], [[monster:The Forgotten]], and [[monster:The Lost]] that punish prolonged fights. Offensive play allows Necrobinder to kill enemies before they kill her, surviving to the next campfire.
An offensive playstyle requires a trimmed deck. This ensures not only a higher chance of drawing Defy when needed, but also faster cycling of core damage cards or combos if a single burst isn't enough to finish the fight. If using scaling finishers like [[Pull From Below]] or [[Hang]], faster deck cycling also accelerates their growth.
The four starter [[Strike]]s are essentially curses that take up space and compete for Lethality—they should be removed as soon as possible. [[Unleash]] is next, unless you're pursuing an Osty build. [[Defend]]s can be removed after Strikes and Unleash are gone, unless you have synergies like [[relic:Pael's Claw]] or [[Fasten]].
Some may wonder how trimming is possible in the beta, given the reduced number of removal events. The answer is to avoid picking weak defensive and offensive cards, prioritize card transformation events, and take fewer cards overall. When visiting shops, if nothing essential is available, buying a potion to survive elites and then spending the rest on removal is a solid approach. Under this approach, a typical deck will end up with 20–25 cards.
Until your damage reaches a certain threshold, Defy alone won't be enough. But picking cards that are essentially upgraded Defends only delays the inevitable. For Necrobinder, it's often necessary to use HP as a resource for blocking, which makes max HP events very valuable.
Resting before a boss fight to ensure you can absorb 40+ damage is often key to surviving with low HP. Events, powers, relics, and enhancements that turn Defends into supercharged versions—such as [[relic:Pael's Legion]], [[Fasten]], [[relic:Pael's Claw]], and even [[Whistle]]—are very valuable. Against single-target bosses, having a [[potion:Weak Potion]] to combine with Debilitate often buys three turns of safety.
Of course, you don't have to rely solely on Defy. Cards like [[Bone Shards]], [[Enfeebling Touch]], [[Death's Door]] (if you have [[Borrowed Time]] or [[Neurosurge]]), or [[Melancholy]] and [[Delay]] (if you can upgrade them quickly) are also worth picking.
Since offensive Necrobinder shares many cards with the [[keyword:Ethereal]] archetype—such as Defy, Lethality, and [[Fear]]—it's common to pick up a scaling finisher like [[Pull From Below]] when better damage options aren't available. [[No Escape]], on the other hand, is often skipped because Doom cards don't benefit from Lethality, Vulnerable, or Reaper Form.
Because of this overlap, [[Spirit Of Ash]] becomes a viable defensive finisher. In boss fights, Spirit of Ash combined with Ethereal cards can provide an extra 40–50 block, greatly reducing defensive pressure.
[[Pull From Below]] scales linearly with each deck cycle, but it has poor synergy with [[Friendship]] due to Friendship's [[power:Strength]] reduction. This can be mitigated by Enhancements or by upgrading both Friendship and Pull from Below. In some cases, [[Demesne]] may be a better choice than Friendship.
In short fights, Pull from Below performs reasonably well, often dealing significant damage between the first and second deck cycles. In long boss fights, however, its damage can fall short, making potions or a [[Graveblast]] to reuse Pull from Below necessary.
With a trimmed deck, the core damage card is often a single copy. Against the Door, if you can't burst for massive damage, death is almost certain. If the core damage card hasn't scaled enough to finish the Door, you may need to rely on energy generation and Soul-based card draw to play your core card multiple times within the Door's third phase. If that still isn't enough, there's another option: going infinite.
In the beta, reduced removal events make infinite loops unlikely under normal circumstances, but the Door itself creates both the possibility and necessity for infinites. The possibility comes from the Door's first-phase card-exhausting mechanic; the necessity arises when your deck's ceiling isn't high enough and the Door has eaten too many cards, leaving you with no alternative.
The infinite loop setup is simple: you need a reusable energy source and a Soul-based card draw engine. The reusable energy source can even be something that provides only 1 energy—[[Wisp]], for example, can later have its [[keyword:Exhaust]] removed via an event. The Soul-based draw options are [[Severance]] and [[Capture Spirit]]. Capture Spirit's delayed draw requires planning: either play it before entering the Door's third phase or have other draw support. Both Severance and Capture Spirit also deal damage, so once the loop is established, damage is no longer a concern.
Offensive Necrobinder is weak in the early game. If your Act 1 scaling is average, it's very common to take heavy damage from hallway fights in Act 2 due to poor draw order. To mitigate this, prioritize events that increase max HP and routes with multiple campfires. When all else fails, pray for good potions.
Since this playstyle abandons Doom cards, it struggles against multiple enemies. Good AoE Doom cards aren't taken unless obtained through transformation events. When resources are spent killing only one enemy while still needing to block the others, the fight often devolves into a prolonged struggle. The [[monster:Decimillipede]]s in Act 2 are particularly troublesome—their revival reduces the value of any non-lethal burst. However, reducing the number of enemies does help ease defensive pressure.
In Act 1, it's wise to pick up some AoE options. [[Bone Shards]], [[High Five]], and even [[Sow]] are worth considering. High Five is especially good—it provides multi-hit AoE and applies multiple Vulnerable stacks, making it valuable even in later stages. Its low base damage can be compensated with Lethality.
Written by Slow Dancer·Recommend an edit