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Contenido ocultoVerificado March 17, 2026

Guía del jefe secreto mercader

Cómo activar el combate oculto contra el jefe Mercader Falso en Slay the Spire 2: la cadena completa de la Poción Inmunda, estrategia del combate y la reliquia exclusiva Alfombra del Mercader???.

Slay the Spire 2 oculta un combate de jefe secreto detrás de una cadena de eventos de dos pasos. Si encuentras una Poción Inmunda en el evento del Correo de Pociones y luego se la lanzas al Mercader Falso en una sala Desconocida posterior, el Mercader te ataca. Ganar el combate recompensa 300 de oro, todas las reliquias falsificadas del inventario del Mercader, y la exclusiva reliquia Alfombra del Mercader??? — la única forma de obtenerla en todo el juego.

Esta guía cubre la cadena de activación exacta, la mecánica del combate contra el jefe y por qué el combate casi siempre merece la pena cuando se presenta la oportunidad.

Nota de verificación

Verificación cruzada con guías de Kotaku, NeonLightsMedia, TheGamer, TPoseGaming y GamerBlurb sobre el Mercader Falso. Cadena de activación, recompensas y lista de reliquias falsificadas confirmadas por múltiples fuentes independientes.

Resumen rápido

Esta guía se centra en una pregunta práctica concreta, para que puedas consultarla durante una partida sin tener que leer un resumen general.

Si la respuesta depende de una mecánica, un sistema de personaje o un parche reciente, los enlaces relacionados te indican qué consultar a continuación.

Úsala como referencia rápida durante la partida, no como enciclopedia.

Si la decisión implica una mecánica o un sistema de personaje, consulta también las páginas relacionadas.

Los cambios de equilibrio pueden alterar las recomendaciones: comprueba las páginas de actualizaciones.

Step 1: Find the Potion Courier event

The Potion Courier is an Unknown room event where you find a courier collapsed on the ground with a batch of foul-smelling potions and a note addressed to a merchant. You are given two choices: take 3 Foul Potions, or take 1 random Uncommon Potion.

Always take the 3 Foul Potions if you plan to trigger the secret boss. One Foul Potion is consumed to start the fight, and the remaining two are usable in combat (they deal 12 damage to all enemies and 12 damage to you). Even if you never find the Fake Merchant, Foul Potions still function as cheap AoE damage items — they are not wasted.

  • The Potion Courier event can appear in any act as an Unknown room event.
  • The event is random — you cannot force it to appear. Multiple runs may pass without seeing it.
  • Foul Potions occupy potion slots. If your potion belt is full, you may need to use or discard an existing potion first.
  • The Foul Potion deals 12 damage to ALL characters in combat, including you. Plan accordingly if you use the spares in regular fights.

Step 2: Find the Fake Merchant

The Fake Merchant appears as an Unknown room event in Act 2 or Act 3. The event looks like a normal shop, but the merchant's rug has a visible "For Sale" tag and all relics on display have "???" appended to their names. These are knockoff relics — weaker versions of real relics at roughly one-quarter of the normal shop price.

Without a Foul Potion, you can only buy knockoff relics at their discounted prices and leave. The knockoff relics are functional but weaker: Orichalcum??? grants 3 Block at end of turn (real: 6), Happy Flower??? grants energy every 5 turns (real: every 3). Buying them is rarely worth the gold.

  • The Fake Merchant event is separate from normal shops on the map. It appears in Unknown rooms, not shop nodes.
  • Knockoff relics available include: Heart of Iron???, Anchor???, Venerable Tea Set???, Strike Dummy???, Lee's Waffle???, Blood Vial???, and Orichalcum???. Each is a weaker copy of the original.
  • If you see the Fake Merchant without a Foul Potion, note it for future runs. The event exists in the event pool and can appear again.
  • Do not waste gold buying knockoff relics. If you have a Foul Potion, you get all of them for free by winning the fight.

Step 3: Throw the Foul Potion to trigger the fight

When you have a Foul Potion in your inventory and encounter the Fake Merchant, an additional option appears: throw the Foul Potion at the Merchant. Selecting this option consumes one Foul Potion and initiates a combat encounter against The Merchant???.

The fight cannot be triggered any other way. If you sold or used all three Foul Potions before finding the Fake Merchant, the opportunity is lost for that run.

  • Throwing the Foul Potion is not reversible. Once you choose to throw it, the fight begins immediately.
  • The fight uses your current deck, potions, and relics — there is no special preparation phase.
  • Remaining Foul Potions (you started with 3, used 1 to trigger) can be used during the boss fight itself for 12 AoE damage.

Boss fight: The Merchant???

The Merchant??? has approximately 165 HP and fights at roughly the difficulty of an Act 3 elite or an easy boss. The Merchant attacks for 9-20+ damage per turn and has no complex phase transitions or instant-death mechanics. This is a straightforward damage race with moderately high incoming damage.

Compared to Act 3 elites like the Mecha Knight (300 HP, Artifact stacks, Strength scaling), the Merchant??? is significantly easier. Most decks that have reached Act 2-3 can handle this fight without major risk.

  • Treat the fight like an elite encounter. Block on heavy attack turns, deal damage on lighter turns.
  • Use your remaining Foul Potions during the fight. Two Foul Potions deal 24 damage to the Merchant (and 24 to you). At 165 HP, that is roughly 15% of the boss's health for free.
  • The self-damage from Foul Potions (12 per use) is manageable if you have 40+ HP. If you are below 30 HP, consider whether the self-damage is worth the extra burst.
  • Standard combat potions (Fire Potion, Strength Potion, Block Potion) are effective here. The Merchant has no special resistances or immunities.
  • There is no turn timer or anti-stall mechanic. Defensive decks can take their time.

Rewards breakdown

Defeating The Merchant??? is one of the most rewarding single encounters in the game. You receive three categories of rewards: gold, relics, and a card reward.

  • 300 gold: A massive payout. For context, a typical elite fight yields 30-40 gold. This single fight equals 8-10 elite fights worth of gold.
  • All knockoff relics: Every relic the Merchant was selling (4-6 knockoff relics) is added to your inventory for free. While each individual knockoff is weaker than its real counterpart, 4-6 free relics add up to significant combined value.
  • Merchant's Rug??? relic: The exclusive relic. The Merchant's Rug??? has no gameplay effect — it does nothing. Its only purpose is Compendium completion. This relic cannot be obtained any other way.
  • Standard card reward: You receive a normal post-combat card reward screen with upgraded card options.
  • Total value: 300 gold + 4-6 relics + exclusive relic + card reward. No other single encounter in the game gives this much loot.

100% completion significance

The Merchant's Rug??? is required for full Compendium completion. Because the relic can only be obtained through this specific event chain, completionists must successfully execute the Potion Courier into Fake Merchant into Foul Potion throw sequence at least once.

The Merchant's Rug??? is a callback to the original Slay the Spire, where the Merchant's rug was famously not for sale. In STS2, the bootleg Merchant displays a rug with a "For Sale" tag, and defeating him makes the rug yours — the punchline to a joke that started in 2017.

  • The Compendium tracks all relics you have obtained across all runs. The Merchant's Rug??? slot remains empty until you complete the event chain.
  • Because both events (Potion Courier and Fake Merchant) are random, it may take many runs before both appear in the same run. There is no way to guarantee the chain triggers.
  • Co-op runs can also trigger the event chain. Both players receive the rewards.

FAQ

¿Qué pasa si uso todas mis Pociones Inmundas antes de encontrar al Mercader Falso?

El combate no puede activarse sin una Poción Inmunda. Si usaste o descartaste las tres, el evento del Mercader Falso se convierte en una tienda normal de reliquias falsificadas sin opción de combate. Guarda al menos una Poción Inmunda si quieres intentar el combate secreto.

¿La reliquia Alfombra del Mercader??? es realmente útil?

No. La Alfombra del Mercader??? no tiene efecto de juego. Existe únicamente para completar el Compendio y como trofeo. No ocupa un espacio significativo de reliquia en términos de impacto en el juego — simplemente rellena la entrada de la colección.

¿Puede aparecer el Mercader Falso en el Acto 1?

Según los informes de la comunidad, el evento del Mercader Falso aparece en salas Desconocidas de los Actos 2 y 3. El evento del Correo de Pociones que da las Pociones Inmundas puede aparecer en cualquier acto, así que obtener la poción pronto y guardarla hasta el Acto 2-3 es la secuencia prevista.