Frozen Core

Frozen Core is a boss relic exclusive to the Defect. It replaces the starter relic Cracked Core and causes the Defect to channel 1 Frost orb whenever an orb slot would be empty at the end of a turn, instead of receiving 1 Lightning damage. It is automatically obtained when the Defect defeats the Act 1 boss.

Frozen Core transforms the Cracked Core penalty — taking 1 Lightning damage — into a beneficial trigger. Whenever you end your turn with an empty orb slot, rather than being punished you instead gain a Frost orb, which provides Block when evoked and generates passive Focus-based Block each turn while slotted. This makes it rewarding to intentionally leave orb slots open, and it pairs well with builds that cycle orbs quickly through cards like Glacier, Defragment, or Consume. On Frost-focused defensive builds, Frozen Core can generate a steady stream of Block from nothing. The relic loses value on builds that always fill their orb slots, but for most Defect strategies that don't permanently maximize capacity, it provides consistent free Block generation that compounds over longer fights.