The Sunken Statue

Both event choices

Grab the Sword has no immediate HP or Gold cost, but Sword of Stone provides its meaningful payoff only after five Elite victories. When that requirement is completed it becomes Sword of Jade, which grants 3 Strength at the start of each combat.

Dive into the Water gives a variable 101–121 Gold and deals 7 HP immediately. The Gold can create value at the next Merchant, while the HP loss can remove an elite or aggressive route from consideration. The amount is not a fixed 106 Gold; screenshots can show different rolls.

When should you take Sword of Stone?

Count reachable Elites before choosing. The sword is attractive early enough in the run that five realistic Elite fights remain, especially when the deck already survives those encounters and converts Strength through multi-hit attacks or other scaling. An impossible quest is effectively an empty relic slot.

Do not route into five Elites merely because you accepted the sword. Recalculate after each floor. If the deck falls behind or HP drops, preserving the run is more valuable than forcing the transformation.

When should you take the Gold?

Take the dive when a nearby Merchant turns the Gold into an immediate upgrade, card removal, potion, or relic and 7 HP does not threaten the next fight. It also makes sense late in the run when there are too few Elite opportunities left to complete Sword of Stone.

Skip the HP-for-Gold line when it forces a Rest, blocks a planned Elite path, or leaves the deck exposed to the next hallway encounter. The useful comparison is not Gold versus a free completed Sword of Jade; it is immediate Gold versus an unfinished relic with a five-Elite requirement.

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