Well Dweller Trinkets: Effects, Slots and Upgrades

Trinkets are Well Dweller's build system. There are 32 of them, they all compete for a shared slot budget, and the interesting decisions happen because the good effects are expensive: Silver Ring and Silver Spoon both cost 6 slots, while Spider's Web costs 1.

This page is the catalog: slot cost, effect, and how many upgrade tiers each trinket has. Effects are condensed from the published in-game text - the workshop screen remains the authority on what you currently own.

Slot costs at a glance

50 slots is the achievement threshold (Fifty Slots), not a maximum. Looter's shop stocks 99 slots at 250 currency each, world pickups and Spirit rewards add more, and one in-game gate asks for 80 slots - so buying slots is normal progression, not a sign you missed something.
Most trinkets cost 4-5 slots; the range runs from 1 (Spider's Web) to 6 (Silver Ring, Silver Spoon).
Upgrades do not add slot cost - they improve the effect you already equipped.

The catalog

#	Trinket	Slots	Effect	Upgrade tiers
1	Skull Keychain	4	Emits a barrage of burning embers when you take damage (short → medium → long)	2
2	Tiny Witch Sculpture	3	Healing also refills a flaming vessel	0
3	Bird-Shaped Button	3	Extra currency at low health (below 25% → half → full)	2
4	Hunter's Locket	4	Larger timing window when attempting to heal	0
5	Rusty Fork	5	Attack damage up at low health (slight → moderate → significant)	2
6	Nails with Twine	5	Small blast when an enemy dies (small → medium → large)	2
7	Scrap of Fabric	5	Attack damage up while airborne (slight → moderate → significant)	2
8	Molar Tooth	4	Emits burning embers while you slide	0
9	Fish Hook	4	Vessel refill rate up at low health (greatly → below half)	1
10	Glass Shard	4	Healing past max health lengthens the temporary damage boost	0
11	Pearl Jewelry	4	Refills your vessel whenever you take damage	0
12	Paper Clip with String	5	Flaming vessel damage up (slight → moderate → significant)	2
13	Weathered Coin	5	Enemies drop more currency (slight → moderate → significant)	2
14	Postage Stamp	5	Currency per kill increases in a chain without taking damage	0
15	Cracked Marble	5	Damage up at full health (slight → moderate → significant)	2
16	Silver Ring	6	Damage dealt up (slight → moderate → significant)	2
17	Broken Bell	4	Refills the vessel when a flaming vessel misses	0
18	Rusted Thimble	5	Reduces spike damage (reduced → significantly reduced)	1
19	Bundle of Hair	4	Ground slam creates a blast of embers	0
20	Bottle Cap	4	Flaming vessel bounces (then gains damage per bounce)	1
21	Glass Eye	4	Makes hidden passages visible	0
22	Spider's Web	1	Slingshots a flaming vessel using the slingshot and special-attack controls	0
23	Silver Spoon	6	Brief protective barrier while you attempt to heal	0
24	Melted Candle	4	Invincibility after healing (2s → 3s → 4s)	2
25	Ember Vial	4	Flaming vessel emits burning embers before it shatters	0
26	Rusted Compass	5	Signals when a collectible is in the room	0
27	Golden Needle	5	Spike circle below a health threshold (25% → 50% → 100%)	2
28	Insect Wing	4	Longer hover duration	0
29	Hair Pin	4	Staying off the attack button doubles your next attack (8s window → 6s)	1
30	Blue Bow	4	Spends an Oil Vial to heal automatically if you would otherwise die	0
31	Burnt Shoelace	4	Leaves an ember trail when running at top speed	0
32	Doll's Head	4	Longer attack reach	0

Where trinkets come from

Three acquisition routes, and they are not interchangeable:

Tent shop purchases - Looter's store sells a set of them for in-game currency during your run.
Spirit rewards - returning Spirits (the Full Flock achievement wants 20) hands over a set of trinkets.
Map finds - the rest sit in rooms, which is why the Rusted Compass and Glass Eye matter for cleanup runs.

How the game shows slot costs

Two numbers in the trinket menu carry the whole budget: Slots Required on each trinket, and Slots Available: x/y at the top, where y is your total capacity.

Two things the trinket menu tells you without a guide:

Unowned trinkets still appear in the grid, outlined in red rather than gold. So the trinket screen doubles as a missing-items list for Expert Collector - you do not need a guide to tell you which one you have not found.
The upgrade screen states in-game that "an upgraded trinket uses the same number of trinket slots as before." Upgrading never costs you capacity, only currency and a Workshop Token.

Upgrades and Workshop Tokens

Every upgrade costs currency plus 1 Workshop Token, and upgrading never changes how many slots a trinket occupies. 15 of the 32 trinkets can be upgraded.

First-tier prices before any discount:

Trinket	Tier 1	With Queen's Coin	Max tiers
Skull Keychain	150	70	2
Bird-Shaped Button	200	100	2
Rusty Fork	200	100	2
Nails with Twine	200	100	2
Scrap of Fabric	200	100	2
Melted Candle	200	100	2
Bottle Cap	200	100	1
Fish Hook	300	150	1
Paper Clip with String	300	150	2
Weathered Coin	300	150	2
Cracked Marble	300	150	2
Rusted Thimble	300	150	1
Golden Needle	300	150	2
Hair Pin	300	150	1
Silver Ring	400	200	2

Two mechanics matter more than the price list:

Second-tier prices are not fixed before the discount. The undiscounted second upgrade carries a surcharge based on the trinket's position among the remaining upgradeables, so the workshop display is the authority. With The Queen's Coin, a second tier costs the discounted first-tier price plus 100.
Every upgrade still costs one Workshop Token, discount or not. The workshop lists a price plus one Workshop Token, and shows which effect tier you are buying - Rusty Fork's low-health bonus reads slightly before the upgrade and moderately after it.

One arena exception worth knowing

Scrap of Fabric's airborne damage bonus is halved during the Dollmaker's Mirror fight, giving only 0.5 / 0.75 / 1 bonus damage before the boss-fight damage calculation. If you built around airborne damage, that fight is where the build underperforms.

What The Queen's Coin changes

The pickup description only says it reduces prices inside your save tent, so here is what that means in practice:

Workshop tiers drop into the 70-200 band in the table above (Skull Keychain goes 150 to 70, so it is not a flat 50% cut).
Map markers get much cheaper: trinket markers 100 to 40, slot / spirit / token markers 75 to 30, story-page markers 50 to 20. If you are buying reveals for a completion sweep, the coin pays for itself quickly.
Where the coin comes from: it sits in the post-credits route inside Queen's Castle, on the same path that leads to Soar - see Well Dweller abilities list and Well Dweller endings and the true ending route.

Achievements tied to this system: Hobby Collector (1 trinket), Experienced Collector (10), Expert Collector (32), Ten Slots (10 slots), Fifty Slots (50 slots), In the Workshop (1 upgrade), and Fully Stocked (every trinket at maximum). The last one is the long tail of a 100% run - see Well Dweller 100% checklist and missing collectibles.

Sources

What this page states	Where it comes from	Status
All 32 trinket names, slot costs, effects and upgrade tiers	NiaMeowDB trinket catalog, which documents the September 22 Steam release	Source-linked, not verified in-game here
50 trinket slots as the achievement threshold, ~100 slots around the world	Achievement list (Fifty Slots) via NiaMeowDB achievements; slot supply per Gamer Social Club 100% walkthrough	Cross-checked
Trinket acquisition routes	Gamer Social Club trinket locations guide	Source-linked
15 upgradeable trinkets, slot costs, upgrade prices	NiaMeowDB trinket catalog (release-build extraction)	Source-linked
Queen's Coin prices and its effect on map markers	NiaMeowDB trinket catalog and map and fast travel	Source-linked
99 purchasable slots at 250 currency each	Cubed3 Well Dweller review	Source-linked
80-slot in-game gate	NiaMeowDB completion requirements	Source-linked

Not yet checked on this site: which room each trinket sits in, and whether any trinket is unavailable after a certain story point. Both need a release-build pass with a citable source before we publish locations.