Poison Shiv Hybrid Build

Build Overview

The Poison Shiv hybrid pairs the Shiv build's massive attack spam with a Poison-on-attack power (Noxious Touch), so that every attack also stacks Poison. Throwing 5–10 Shivs a turn means stacking 1–2 Poison per hit while simultaneously triggering Bouncing Flask AoE. Add Predator (2× damage vs Weak enemies) and you punch through Block for guaranteed Poison on top of higher damage. It has more immediate damage than pure Poison and more sustained damage than pure Shiv — a true middle ground.

Tier: A

Combines the best of Shiv and Poison into a distinctive package that performs well in hallways and bosses alike. Noxious Touch (cost 2) is on the heavy side, though, and fitting Accuracy, Infinite Blades, and Noxious Touch all together chews up Energy. As a balanced build, its stable ceiling lands at Tier A.

Key Cards (required)

• Noxious Touch: a power that applies 1–2 Poison each time an attack damages HP. Throwing many Shivs stacks Poison quickly.
• Infinite Blades: auto-adds 1–2 Shivs to hand at turn start. Stable Shiv supply keeps Noxious Touch firing every turn.
• Accuracy: gives Shivs +4–6 damage. Higher per-Shiv damage means Block-piercing hits happen more often, which means more Poison.
• Bouncing Flask: deals 11–14 AoE each time you apply Poison 3 times. Shiv spam stacking Poison repeatedly triggers this for extra AoE.
• Predator: a power that doubles attack damage against Weak enemies. Pairs with Weak setup to guarantee Noxious Touch triggers while also doubling damage.

Candidate Cards

• Leg Sweep: a skill that applies Weak to a single target. Combined with Predator, post-Weak Shivs hit for 2× damage and stack Poison.
• Neutralize: a skill that applies Weak to all enemies. Lets you Weak the room then clear with Noxious Touch Shivs.
• Finisher: deals (attacks played this turn) × 6–9. The closer after a Shiv wave.
• Afterimage: 1 Block per card played. Shiv spam automatically builds Block — offense and defense in one.
• Deadly Poison: applies 5–7 Poison in one cast. More Bouncing Flask triggers and more Poison on top of Shiv spam.
• Catalyst: a power that adds additional Poison tick(s). The Poison stacked via Shiv spam then fires 2–3 times per turn for huge damage.
• Skewer: X-cost multi-hit. Fires X times and Noxious Touch piles on Poison for every hit.

Relic Synergies

• Kunai: gain 1 Dexterity every 3 attacks played on the same turn. Easy to maintain with multi-hit Shivs, giving snowballing defense.
• Shuriken: gain 1 Strength every 3 attacks played on the same turn. Stacking Strength continuously raises Shiv damage.
• Snecko Skull: a Silent-exclusive Poison relic. Every Poison application gains a bonus, so Shiv-driven Poison stacking yields big returns.
• Spooky Lamp: the first debuff card played in combat has its effect doubled. Doubles Leg Sweep or Neutralize Weak, extending Predator windows and maximizing Noxious Touch turns.
• Nunchaku: gain 1 Energy every 10 attacks played. Multi-Shiv turns routinely trigger this, leaving room for power placement or expensive cards.
• Ninja Scroll: start combat with 3 Shivs in hand. Immediate Noxious Touch-boosted damage on turn 1 and faster Bouncing Flask initial triggers.

Combat Play

Act 1

First priority: Accuracy and Infinite Blades. These stabilize Shiv supply and damage. Bring in Noxious Touch early to start stacking Poison naturally. Bouncing Flask also helps hallway AoE a lot. Early turns, use Leg Sweep or Neutralize to apply Weak, ensuring Block-pierce before firing Noxious Touch attacks.

Act 2

Predator is the key Act 2 pickup: with Weak applied, attack damage doubles and Noxious Touch is reliable. Catalyst makes Poison fire multiple times per turn, lifting ceiling damage significantly. Finisher also fits nicely as the Shiv-wave closer. Locking in "Shiv spam → Poison stack → Bouncing Flask chain → Finisher" here completes the build.

Act 3

With the build complete, every turn Infinite Blades supplies Shivs, Accuracy boosts damage, Noxious Touch auto-stacks Poison, and Bouncing Flask fires repeatedly. With Catalyst in the deck, the higher Poison grows, the more snowball damage each turn adds. Predator + Weak doubles output on top. Almost every enemy becomes manageable with room to spare.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• One action (Shiv spam) handles damage, Poison stacking, Bouncing Flask triggers, and Afterimage Block at the same time.
• Noxious Touch turns attacks into Poison application, so you do not need to spend slots on dedicated Poison cards.
• Carries immediate Shiv damage and Poison-style sustained damage, covering both short and long fights.

Weaknesses

• Placing Noxious Touch (cost 2), Accuracy (cost 1), and Infinite Blades (cost 1) drains early Energy heavily.
• Noxious Touch requires hitting HP, so against high-Block enemies without Weak setup Poison rarely lands.