Neow

Neow is a large whale-like creature with light blue skin and 6 bright yellow eyes. Neow lies at the foot of the Spire and welcomes the player at the beginning of every run.

Neow blesses you based on the success of your previous run, offering Gold, Relics, or Cards, unless you did not reach the Boss of the Exordium, in which case she only offers two options instead of the usual four.

Shortlist (Two Blessings) Variant

If you did not reach the Boss of the Exordium in your last run, the Blessings she will offer are always:

• Max HP +8/6/7/7 +7/5/6/6 ¹⁴ (Ironclad / Silent / Defect / Watcher)
• Neow's Lament: Enemies in the next three combats will have one health.
  • If the map layout allows, you can use this to get a free shot at an Elite (colloqiually called a 'snipe').

Standard (Four Blessings) Variant

If you did reach the first boss, Neow will offer you four blessings to choose from.

First Blessing

A card-related reward from the list below:

• Remove a card.
• Transform a card.
• Upgrade a card.
• Choose a card to obtain. (Choose one of 3 random cards of your character.)
• Choose an Uncommon Colorless Card to obtain.
• Obtain a random Rare Card.

Second Blessing

A reward from the list below:

• Max HP +8/6/7/7 +7/5/6/6 ¹⁴ (Ironclad / Silent / Defect / Watcher)
• Neow's Lament: Enemies in the next three combats will have one health.
• Obtain a random Common Relic.
• Receive 100 Gold.
• Obtain 3 random Potions.

Third Blessing

A composite of a disadvantage and a more powerful reward. It can be a combination of any disadvantage and reward below, with any exceptions noted.

Disadvantages:

• Lose Max HP. (-8/7/7/7) (-7/6/7/6) ¹⁴ (Ironclad / Silent / Defect / Watcher)
• Take X damage.
  • X is equal to (Current HP / 10, rounded down) * 3.
  • The amount of damage is also affected by Ascension ⁶ and Ascension ¹⁴.
• Obtain a Curse.
• Lose all Gold.

Advantages:

• Remove 2 cards.
  • Does not pair with Obtain a Curse.
• Transform 2 cards.
• Gain 250 Gold.
  • Does not pair with Lose all Gold.
• Choose a Rare Card to obtain.
• Choose a Rare Colorless Card to obtain.
• Obtain a random Rare Relic.
• Gain Max HP. (+16/12/14/14) (+14/10/12/12) ¹⁴ (Ironclad / Silent / Defect / Watcher)
  • Does not pair with Lose max health

Fourth Blessing

• Replace your starter relic with a random Boss Relic. (Cannot switch to the stronger version of your character's Base Relic.)
  • Commonly referred to as Boss Swap.

Lore

When choosing to Read at the Act 2 event Cursed Tome, you learn about the connection between Neow and the 4 playable characters.

Odd. The book seems to be about an Ancient named Neow. This piques your interest, but you have a general feeling of malaise.

The Ancient of resurrection, Neow was exiled to the bottom of the Spire.
You feel compelled to read more, but your body begins to ache.

Seeking vengeance, Neow blesses outsiders, using them for her own purposes.
You are starting to feel very weak and tired.

Those resurrected by Neow remember only fragments of their past selves, cursed to fight for eternity.
As you near the final page, your old wounds begin to reopen!

Upon finishing the tome, you decide to take it with you. With proof in hand, will you retain your memories?

Trivia

• After defeating the Corrupt Heart, an extra screen plays after the credits, depicting her saying "Has ... it ... been ... done? / The Spire sleeps ... and so shall I"
• Neow is depicted as possessing powerful magical abilities, which go as far as resurrecting the dead, which she shows whenever an adventurer dies atop the Spire, so they can continue their duty.
• Little is known about Neow as she is not very talkative herself. However her actions suggest that she begrudges the Spire and wants to destroy it, and does so by sending resurrected adventurers up the Spire.
• The Sensory Stone event references the Defect's first interaction with Neow.
• Her name may be an onomatopoeia of a whale song.