Defect Builds
The 5 main Defect builds, ranked from strongest to weakest. Jump to any build for its core cards, supporting cards, and key relics.
Rankings weigh how quickly each build comes together, how far it scales and how well it holds up at high Ascension, checked against the current game data. Early Access balance changes often, so watch the version notes.
Which Defect build is best?
SFrost Focus Orbs
Stack Focus and extra Orb Slots so your Frost orbs hand out enough Block to outlast anything.
How it plays
Grab Glacier and Coolheaded early to start Channeling Frost, then add slots with Capacitor or Modded and Focus with Defragment and Hotfix. Once the passive Block covers enemy attacks, your remaining orbs and a few Evoke cards finish fights.
Why S tier
Frost is the Defect's most dependable plan: Glacier and Coolheaded Channel Frost cheaply, and every point of Focus from Defragment or extra slot from Capacitor raises the Block you get each turn without spending more Energy. It holds up in long fights and at high Ascension, and its pieces are easy to find in most runs, so it ranks above the Claw deck, which hits harder but depends far more on drawing specific cards.
Strengths
The most reliable defense the Defect has, and it scales on its own; great in long fights and at high Ascension.
Weaknesses
Kills slowly and is fragile until Focus and slots come online; permanent Focus cards are rare.
Version notes
- Synchronize gives 2 Focus per unique Orb and Exhausts in the live version (v0.107.1). In the beta (v0.111.0) it gives only 1 (2 upgraded) per unique Orb, but no longer Exhausts, so it becomes a repeatable, smaller boost.
- In the live version (v0.107.1), Hyperbeam permanently loses 3 Focus, which works against this build. In the beta (v0.111.0) the Focus loss lasts only this turn (damage drops from 28 to 24), so it becomes a usable AoE finisher here.
Core cards
Support cards
Key relics
Data Disk
Start each combat with 1 Focus.
Gold-Plated Cables
Your rightmost Orb triggers its passive an additional time.
Runic Capacitor
Start each combat with 3 additional Orb Slots.
Emotion Chip
If you lost HP during the previous turn, trigger the passive ability of all Orbs at the start of your turn.
Cracked Core
At the start of each combat, Channel 1 Lightning.
AClaw Zero-Cost
Spam 0-cost attacks, led by Claw, whose damage grows every time any Claw is played.
How it plays
Take Claw and cheap cycling like Scrape and FTL, and keep the deck thin. Feral returns a 0-cost attack to your hand each turn, and All for One pulls every 0-cost card back from the discard pile for a huge turn.
Why A tier
Claw is a common 0-cost card, but the deck only reaches its peak, the highest damage the Defect can deal, once Feral and All for One show up, and it gets very little Block along the way. That makes it stronger than Frost at its best but much less consistent, so it sits one step lower at A.
Strengths
The highest damage ceiling of any Defect deck, and it needs no Focus at all.
Weaknesses
Depends on specific uncommons and rares like All for One and Feral; light on Block and falls apart in a bloated deck.
Version notes
- Momentum Strike deals 10 damage (13 upgraded) in the live version (v0.107.1) and 11 (15 upgraded) in the beta (v0.111.0).
Core cards
Support cards
Key relics
Unceasing Top
Whenever you have no cards in Hand during your turn, draw a card.
Shuriken
Every time you play 3 Attacks in a single turn, gain 1 Strength.
Kunai
Every time you play 3 Attacks in a single turn, gain 1 Dexterity.
BLightning Power Engine
Channel a steady stream of Lightning, largely by playing Powers, and let passives and Evokes grind enemies down.
How it plays
Use Ball Lightning and Tempest for early damage. Later, Storm, Subroutine and Creative AI turn every Power you play into Lightning or extra value, while Thunder adds damage on each Lightning Evoke.
Why B tier
Ball Lightning and Tempest give good early damage, and Storm plus Subroutine turn each Power you play into Lightning and refunded Energy. But Lightning adds no defense, and the turns spent setting up Powers leave you open to big hits, so it falls behind Frost in long fights and behind Claw in raw damage: B.
Strengths
Fast damage in hallway fights and good pressure on groups; the Power engine snowballs in long fights.
Weaknesses
Little built-in Block, and setup turns spent playing Powers are risky against hard-hitting enemies.
Version notes
- Thunder deals 6 damage (8 upgraded) per Lightning Evoke in the live version (v0.107.1); the beta (v0.111.0) raises it to 8 (11 upgraded).
Core cards
Support cards
Key relics
Cracked Core
At the start of each combat, Channel 1 Lightning.
Data Disk
Start each combat with 1 Focus.
Gold-Plated Cables
Your rightmost Orb triggers its passive an additional time.
BDark Orb Burst
Charge Dark orbs over several turns, then Evoke them for one enormous hit.
How it plays
Channel Dark with Darkness, Shadow Shield or Null and let it grow, speeding it up with Loop. Cash out with Multi-Cast, Dualcast or Shatter, ideally after a Focus spike from Synchronize.
Why B tier
Dark orbs charged with Darkness or Loop and released by Multi-Cast give the Defect its biggest single hit, which makes bosses much easier. But the charge-up takes several turns, most of the damage lands on one target, and it leans on rares like Multi-Cast, so it works better as the finisher of an orb deck than as a full plan, which puts it at B.
Strengths
The best single-target burst the Defect has; excellent against bosses.
Weaknesses
Weak against groups of enemies and needs a few turns to charge up.
Version notes
- In the beta (v0.111.0), Shatter gains Exhaust, so you get one mass Evoke per combat; in the live version (v0.107.1) you can reuse it.
- Null applies 2 Weak (3 upgraded) in the live version (v0.107.1) but only 1 (2 upgraded) in the beta (v0.111.0).
- The Synchronize Focus spike before a big Evoke is half as large in the beta (v0.111.0): 1 per unique Orb instead of 2.
Core cards
Support cards
Key relics
Symbiotic Virus
At the start of each combat, Channel 1 Dark.
Gold-Plated Cables
Your rightmost Orb triggers its passive an additional time.
CStatus Engine
Fill your deck with Status cards on purpose and turn each one into orbs, draw or damage.
How it plays
Pick up generators such as Gunk Up, Overclock and TURBO, then payoffs like Trash to Treasure, Smokestack, Iteration and Rocket Punch. Flak Cannon and Compact clear the clutter later on.
Why C tier
Each piece is fine on its own, but the deck only works once several uncommons and rares such as Trash to Treasure, Smokestack and Iteration are all in place; until then, the Status cards from Gunk Up and Overclock just clog your hand. It needs more setup and is less consistent than any other Defect plan, especially at high Ascension, so it ranks C.
Strengths
Turns drawbacks into scaling, and TURBO and Overclock give cheap Energy and draw.
Weaknesses
Needs several specific uncommons and rares; without the payoffs your hand clogs with Burn and Void.
Version notes
- In the live version (v0.107.1), creating a Status card makes Rocket Punch cost 0 until played. In the beta (v0.111.0) each Status only reduces its cost by 1.
- Upgrading Trash to Treasure makes it Innate in the live version (v0.107.1); in the beta (v0.111.0) the upgrade reduces its cost by 1 instead.
Core cards
Support cards
Want every Defect card rated individually, not just the ones in these builds?
Defect Card Tier List →