Philosopher's Stone is an Ancient relic that gives +1 Energy at the cost of granting every enemy +1 Strength. In STS1 enemy Strength +1 was considered a relatively light downside, but in STS2 enemy damage scaling differs so opinions split.
Impact of Enemy Strength +1
- Strength +1 adds +1 damage to every enemy attack. The difference on a single hit is tiny, but it accumulates in long fights
- Multi-hit enemies (for example a 3-hit attack becomes +3 damage per turn) are disproportionately affected
- Boss fights tend to drag on, so cumulative damage can no longer be ignored
- Against Act 3 bosses with already-huge attacks the +1 is relatively small
- Weak reduces enemy damage by 25 percent, so having Weak access massively shrinks the downside
Energy +1 Relic Comparison
| Relic |
Drawback |
Evaluation |
| Philosopher's Stone |
All enemies get Strength +1 |
Acceptable in Block-heavy decks |
| Ectoplasm |
Cannot gain gold |
Judged by shop dependence |
| Velvet Choker |
Cap of 5 card plays per turn |
Light for high-cost decks |
| Sozu |
Cannot gain Potions |
Judged by Potion dependence |
Character Rating
| Character |
Rating |
Comment |
| Ironclad |
B+ |
High HP absorbs the +1 damage easily. A Strength build widens the damage gap |
| Silent |
B |
Plenty of Weak sources effectively cancels enemy Strength +1. Keep Weak up with Footwork and knives |
| Defect |
B+ |
Frost Orb Block covers the extra +1 with no trouble |
| Necrobinder |
C+ |
Minions take damage too, so +1 Strength eats into minion durability |
| Regent |
B |
Plentiful Block cards make +1 damage easy to swallow |
