Clerici Lifesteal Build

Build Concept

Clerici's Lifesteal build is a survival-focused "zombie build" built around HP absorption and healing. Starting from Clerici's unique passive—gaining bonus defense whenever HP is restored—the build layers Soul Eater's lifesteal on every attack and Experimental Medicine's double-healing multiplier to form an iron sustain loop. The more you get hit, the more you recover, and the more defense you stack.

Raw burst damage falls behind Arca and Pugnala, but reliability and reproducibility are second to none. The guarantee of not dying, regardless of dungeon difficulty, is a powerful asset for players at any skill level.

Clerici's Unique Ability

Clerici starts with 60 HP, 4 hand size, and 3 mana—high base HP and the widest starting hand in the roster. Her passive grants bonus defense each time HP is restored. The more healing events occur per turn, the more defense accumulates, creating a compounding loop with lifesteal effects.

Core Cards

Garlic → Soul Eater

The most important card in the build. Garlic evolves into Soul Eater by combining with Pummarola, granting lifesteal on all attacks. Damage dealt returns as HP, which then triggers Clerici's passive for additional defense. Both effects fire simultaneously on every Soul Eater play. Secure Garlic as early as possible and evolve immediately once Pummarola is available.

Pummarola

The evolution material for Soul Eater, and a standalone HP recovery card before the evolution completes. Run one to two copies. After Soul Eater is online, Pummarola continues to top off HP between combat turns.

Hollow Heart

Increases maximum HP. Clerici's base HP is already high at 60, but additional maximum HP raises the effective cap on lifesteal recovery per turn—higher max HP means more room to absorb incoming damage and recover it through Soul Eater. Stack two copies when available.

Whip → Bloody Tear (optional)

A secondary lifesteal source. Whip evolves into Bloody Tear by combining with Hollow Heart, adding another HP drain on every attack. Completing both Soul Eater and Bloody Tear creates near-infinite sustain even against high-damage bosses.

Recommended Arcanas

Experimental Medicine

Doubles all healing effects. Combined with Clerici's passive, Soul Eater's drain doubles, defense gain per recovery doubles, and the entire loop accelerates dramatically. Obtaining this arcana effectively completes the build's core. Check if it is available as Clerici's starting arcana at run selection.

Oath of Loyalty

Carries defense value across turns instead of resetting at end of turn. With armor cards accumulating and Shield Bash converting accumulated defense into damage, this arcana turns Clerici's defensive loop into a secondary offense axis. Unlocks after accumulating 2,000 total armor.

Chain Link

Preserves combo across turns for sustained multiplier growth. Soul Eater's lifesteal output scales with combo multiplier, so a high persistent combo significantly increases HP recovery per attack during long boss fights. Unlocks at combo 12 or higher.

Evolution Path

Garlic + Pummarola → Soul Eater

Highest evolution priority in the build. Complete as soon as both materials are in hand.

Whip + Hollow Heart → Bloody Tear (optional)

Secondary evolution target when resources allow. Combined with Soul Eater, the dual lifesteal sources make incoming damage effectively irrelevant in most encounters.

Target Deck Composition

Cost	Count	Key Cards
0-cost	3	Bone, Armor
1-cost	4	Garlic / Soul Eater, Pummarola, Mana Books
2-cost	3	Whip / Bloody Tear, Heavy Grimoire
3-cost	2	Finisher cards

Clerici's 4-card hand is a core strength. Avoid thinning low-cost slots too aggressively—maintain enough cards to fill the hand and keep the healing loop running every turn.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: Overwhelming survivability through the heal-and-defend compound loop, beginner-accessible stability, high effective HP ceiling with Hollow Heart stacks.

Weaknesses: No one-turn boss burst capability, occasional weak spots against concentrated single-target damage spikes, mana shortfall can prevent drawing combo openers.

Play Tips

In boss fights, delay Soul Eater plays until the combo multiplier is elevated to maximize total lifesteal per play. Keep HP topped off between waves so every boss encounter starts at full HP.

If Experimental Medicine is active, consider holding HP slightly below maximum during trash waves to deliberately trigger large defense stacks on the next recovery event. This is an advanced tactic—if incoming damage is heavy, prioritize full HP over the defense optimization.