Sephiria Relics Guide: How Relics Work, Combos, and Synergies
Learn how Sephiria relics work, including star levels, combo tags, acquisition methods, and synergy notes for building powerful loadouts.
Relics (also called artifacts) are equippable items in Sephiria that grant passive bonuses, active skills, or summon companions. Each relic occupies a slot in your inventory and can be leveled up to increase its effect. Relics are the primary way to customize your build between runs, and many of the strongest strategies in Sephiria revolve around collecting relics that share the same combo tag.
This guide covers how relics work, how to obtain them, and the key synergy notes you need to know before building a loadout.
Overview of Sephiria Relics
Every relic in Sephiria has two core attributes: a star level and one or more #tags.
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Star Level | The maximum level a relic can reach. Default level is 0. Effects scale as the level increases. |
| #Tag | Determines which combo group a relic belongs to. Collecting multiple relics with the same tag activates combo effects. |
| Constraint | Some relics require specific inventory placement or other conditions to trigger their effects. |
| Grade | Relics are categorized as Common, Advanced, Rare, Legend, or Solidarity. |
How Relics Work
Relics are passive items that activate as soon as they are placed in your inventory. The core mechanics are:
- Leveling: Relics start at level 0. You can increase their current level up to the star-level cap using enchantments and slabs. If a relic's level drops to -1 or lower, it becomes disabled.
- Combo Activation: If you have two or more relics with the same tag, the combo effect for that tag activates. Combo effects are cumulative — a 10-stack combo applies all effects from 2 through 10.
- Constraints: Some relics only work under specific conditions, such as being placed in a certain inventory slot (top, bottom, edge) or having empty spaces beside them.
- Probability-Based Effects: Some relics have a chance to trigger additional effects on attack. The trigger chance can vary depending on the weapon you are holding, even for the same relic.
Relic Grades and Rarity
Relics are divided into five grades, which roughly indicate their power level and drop rarity:
| Grade | Notes |
|---|---|
| Common | Basic relics with simple effects. Easy to obtain early. |
| Advanced | Stronger effects, sometimes with constraints or unique tags. |
| Rare | High-impact effects, often central to specific builds. |
| Legend | Powerful relics that can define a build. Some are unlocked by clearing specific chapters. |
| Solidarity | Added in patch 0.9.1. These relics have two tags and require you to activate at least one of the two combos to obtain them. Grade is Rare. |
How to Obtain Relics
Relics are obtained through several in-game methods. Based on the collected source material, the following acquisition routes are confirmed:
- Level-up rewards: Relics can appear as rewards when you gain levels.
- Artifact nodes: Specific map nodes grant relics.
- Mini-boss and boss drops: Defeating mini-bosses and bosses can drop relics.
- Merchant NPCs: Some relics, such as the Employment Contract 'Colin', can only be purchased from specific NPCs that appear in random events.
- Wishing Fountain: A resource that lets you pick from a set of relics. The base capacity of the Wishing Fountain affects how many relics you can choose from.
- Evolution: Certain relics transform into stronger versions. For example, the Discarded Gold Ring evolves into the Absolute Ring after killing 40 enemies with a special attack.
- Merchant drops: Killing a merchant NPC can drop a unique relic, such as the Warning Document.
Synergy Notes
The most important part of building a relic loadout is understanding combo tags. Here are the verified synergy notes for the major combos:
| Combo Tag | Core Effect | Best Used With |
|---|---|---|
| Precision | Increases critical hit chance and critical damage. Critical hits apply to almost all damage types, including debuffs and companion damage. | Any build. Especially strong with Ember (burn) and Dark Cloud builds. |
| Glacier | Grants Frostbite on ice damage. At 5 stacks, Frostbite becomes Freeze, dealing 500% ice damage and stunning. | Ice attribute weapons, Frost Dagger magic, and builds that apply frequent ice damage. |
| Ember | Grants Burn on fire damage. At 10 stacks, burn damage multiplier increases from 18% to 28%. | Fire Bolt, Red Snake's Eyes, Meteor Shower, and burn-focused builds. |
| Dark Cloud | Summons dark clouds that strike nearby enemies with lightning every second. At 10 stacks, attacks twice. | Leafy Leather, Cloud Seed Arrowhead, and precision stacking for critical hits. |
| Windsong | Increases attack speed. At 10 stacks, grants +15% weapon damage and +1 dash count. | Most builds. Essential for planet builds and rock elephant guardian builds. |
| Academy | Reduces magic book cooldowns and increases magic book damage. | Grimoire builds that rely on spellbooks for damage. |
| Guardian | Increases defense. At 10 stacks, grants +5% defense penetration. | Rock Elephant, shield bag, and tanky melee builds. |
| Planet | Increases planet damage and attack speed. | Dark Planet, Sheet Music 'Galaxy', and giant telescope. |
| Colleague | Increases companion damage and respawn speed. | Companion builds using summon relics. |
| Shadow | Increases evasion. | Evasion builds using broken sapphire, green uniform, and six leaf clover. |
Cross-Combo Synergies
Some combos work especially well together. Verified synergies include:
- Precision + Ember: Critical hits apply to burn damage over time, creating an infinite burn loop with Red Dew. This is a core strategy for burn builds.
- Windsong + Planet: Sheet Music 'Galaxy' makes planet attack speed scale with weapon attack speed, enabling a planet barrage build.
- Guardian + Windsong: Rock Elephant deals damage based on defense and gains extra rock spears from attack speed.
- Academy + Glacier: Frost Dagger and Arrow Rain are high-performance magic books that benefit from both combo tags.
- Dark Cloud + Precision: Dark Cloud lightning strikes can critically hit, greatly increasing damage output.
Meditation Tome and the Academy Combo
Meditation Tome is listed as a Rare artifact in the Academy combo. That makes it relevant to the sephiria meditationbook search intent, but the available source does not provide a current standalone tooltip or acquisition route for the item. Treat it as an Academy pool entry and confirm the live tooltip in-game before planning around a specific number.
For a magic-book run, use the Sephiria grimoire build and prioritize the Academy combo's cooldown and spellbook-damage effects rather than assuming Meditation Tome alone defines the build.
Uses and Selection Guide
When building a relic loadout, consider the following priorities based on your build:
| Build Type | Priority Relics | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Physical / Melee | Begonia Sachet, Silver Plate, Amulet of Power, Mark of a Warrior | Focus on physical damage and attack speed. Precision combo is a strong secondary. |
| Grimoire / Magic | Academy relics, Great Blessing, Pure White Cloak, Empty Sword Handle | Stack Academy combo for cooldown reduction. Mana management is critical. |
| Companion | Simple Contract, Golden Handbell, Alfonso's Horn, Thin Cushion | Stack Colleague combo. Mining Operation Management Armband is the strongest single summon relic. |
| Evasion / Shadow | Broken Sapphire, Green Uniform, Six Leaf Clover, Lerid's Battle Bracelet | Stack Shadow combo. Guaranteed evasion from Broken Sapphire stabilizes the build. |
| Burn / Ember | Fire Bolt, Red Snake's Eyes, Magma Bead, Red Thread, Flame Insect | Stack Ember combo and Precision for critical burn ticks. |
| Dark Cloud | Leafy Leather, Cloud Seed Arrowhead, Lightning Rod, Brain Gate | Stack Dark Cloud combo. Precision is a strong secondary for critical lightning strikes. |
Early-Game Relic Priorities
If you are unsure what to pick up early, these relics provide strong value regardless of your build:
- Golden Leaf: Increases experience drop by 10%, helping you snowball.
- Criton's Seal: Increases leaf (currency) gain by up to 50%.
- Black Tea: Increases all damage by up to 12% per mini-boss killed (max 3 stacks).
- Cold Lock: Increases all damage by up to 25% but requires two empty inventory spaces.
Evidence Gaps
The following details could not be fully verified from the collected source material:
- Exact drop rates for relics from specific bosses or nodes.
- Full list of relics introduced after patch 0.12.0.
- Specific numbers for some relic effects after the latest balance patches.
- Official acquisition routes for all Legend and Solidarity grade relics.
Community reports suggest that some relics have hidden effects (such as Pallas' Card firing larger cards), but these are not confirmed in the source material.
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