Should you eat the Byrdonis Egg in Slay the Spire 2?

The Byrdonis Egg shows up in a random event room marked with a "?" on the map, and it forces a choice: eat the egg for +7 Max HP, or take the egg and add an unplayable Byrdonis Egg card to your deck. At first the extra HP can seem like the safer pick, since taking the egg temporarily clutters your deck with a dead draw.

You can hatch the egg the next time you reach a rest site, which removes the Byrdonis Egg card and replaces it with an attack called Byrd Swoop. Hatching uses your campfire action, so you lose the chance to rest for healing or Smith to upgrade a card. Byrd Swoop costs 0 energy and deals 14 damage, and it can be upgraded to deal 18 damage.

That free damage helps finish enemies faster and conserve energy for blocking or other abilities, making the card useful in many decks. In most cases taking the egg is the better long-term option if you can afford the temporary dead draw and plan to hatch it soon.

byrdonis egg, slay the, byrd swoop, max hp, unplayable card, rest site, campfire action, dead draw, 0 energy, 14 damage