Players have discovered a hidden mini-boss fight in Slay the Spire 2 against a fake Merchant, triggered by throwing a Foul Potion. This event requires specific encounters in Acts 2 and 3 and offers substantial gold rewards. The secret also provides the only way to obtain the useless Merchant’s Rug??? relic.
Slay the Spire 2, currently in Early Access, contains numerous secrets, including unfinished Epochs hinting at more content. A recently uncovered secret involves triggering a hidden mini-boss fight against a fake “Merchant” by throwing a Foul Potion at them during an encounter. Both the Fake Merchant and Foul Potion appear in random Event nodes during gameplay: the Potion Courier Event from Act 2 onwards, which provides three Foul Potions, and the Fake Merchant in Act 3. Players must hold onto at least one Foul Potion across acts to make this possible, which the article notes as uncommon due to rarity of encounters. Defeating the fake Merchant yields 300 gold and all its fake relics, valued at around 300 gold— a net gain of 500 gold compared to trading a Foul Potion to the real Merchant for 100 gold. This is the sole method to acquire the “Merchant’s Rug???” relic, described as useless but required for 100-percent Compendium completion. The fight is portrayed as straightforward. The discovery was spotted by a user on r/slaythespire.