Vampire's Coffin
Prioritize relics that open permanent systems. Polentir, Grim Grimoire, and Stardust Anvil each remove a different early-game bottleneck.
Practical decision
Combo Stack comes from the tutorial and enables ascending-cost multipliers. GameSpot lists Gem Hammer in Mad Forest and describes it as the relic that lets cards receive gems. Together they establish the two systems every later route builds on: card order and card customization.
Practical decision
After clearing Mad Forest, Furious Forest is worth prioritizing because Polentir opens the Fortune Teller's Arcana tent. This is the route for players whose card pool is functional but lacks a run-wide rule that ties colors, defense, or Crawler triggers together.
Practical decision
Clear Inlaid Library to reach Library West Wing, then take Grim Grimoire. It adds discovered Evolution and Union information to the pause menu and shows which recipe pieces are already in the deck. This is the best route when runs fail through planning blindness rather than raw stats.
Practical decision
Teeny Bridge is a combat-heavy detour, but Stardust Anvil opens the Blacksmith's Workshop. That turns gems and sockets from passive loot into a controllable progression system. Prioritize it after basic recipe reading is solved and card customization becomes the next ceiling.
Practical decision
Cannot remember recipes: Grim Grimoire. No Arcana system: Polentir. Need gem-slot control: Stardust Anvil. Getting lost on maps: Guiding Light or Milky Way Map. Relic order is useful when it names the missing system; a single universal list is less valuable than that diagnosis.
