Curios are equippable relics that grant passive effects. They are the cheapest way to patch a specific weakness in a build, and because swapping them is free they reward re-checking the slot before a boss you are stuck on.
Getting the most
- Slot Curios that reinforce your plan — Focus, survivability, or your damage type.
- Vessels charge as you deal and take damage; spend them on burst or utility.
- Some Curios are hidden in the world or reward exploration — cast around meditation spots.
- Re-equip freely at shrines to tailor loadouts per boss.
Synergy ideas
- Pair a Focus-on-hit Curio with a Smash build for near-constant charged Heavies.
- Stack survivability Curios while learning a wall boss, then swap to damage.
- Match a Vessel's effect to your opener — a stagger Vessel sets up a free combo.
- Read every new Curio; a single passive sometimes hard-counters a specific boss.
Vessel timing
- Vessels charge as you fight — bank one for a boss's dangerous phase or a Break.
- Match a Vessel's effect to your opener; a stagger sets up a free charged Heavy.
- None of the four Vessels heals: the Fireproof Mantle gives burn immunity and the Wind Tamer a burst of damage reduction — lifelines in the long gauntlet fights.
- Swap Curios and Vessels freely at shrines to fit each boss.
How to use the slots
Fix the thing that kills you
Poison, fire, burst damage — if one thing keeps ending attempts, there is usually a Curio that blunts it.
Otherwise, feed the build
With no specific problem, take whatever improves your damage window. Generic stat boosts are the weakest option.
Re-check before each boss
It costs nothing. A Curio that was perfect in Chapter 2 is often dead weight by Chapter 5.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 5 September 2026 and re-checked on 26 September 2026 against the guides of Game8, Gamer Guides, PowerPyx, Vandal and Fextralife. Named Curios include the Cat Eye Beads (a small Critical Hit Chance boost), Maitreya's Orb (survive an otherwise-fatal hit once you've landed enough of your own) and the Snow Fox Brush (longer Transformations), and a third Curio slot opens after defeating the Yin Tiger; the total is disputed — 36 in the base game plus one Digital Deluxe-exclusive Curio by Vandal's and one other count, 41 by another — so treat any single total as approximate. What is still unverified is the only thing reading cannot settle — nobody here has played it.