Slay the Spire is a pretty cool game

[Ironmonk]

I installed the beta branch yesterday and played a few hours with the Watcher (new character) and it feels a little similar to the Defect at first sight, because of the state switching vs. orb charging, but there is a lot of new interesting cards and relics and after unlocking a few of them you can see that it's very distinct and cool.

 

[Haba]

The new character doesn't fit the game at all. Everyone else is sort of gender neutral, but now we have generic Asian chick. Gotta get that chink dollar, eh?

 

[Eyestabber]

My first attempt at going infinite. Granted that I got insanely lucky with relics and card rewards. Even managed to get some fitting + cards despite wearing the busted crown. Sadly I didn't find "tools of the trade" in my run. Would've been the perfect power to complement the deck. Still, insanely strong deck, Act 3 was a breeze.

It all started when Neow granted me 2 random cards: Reflex and Concentrate, cards that aren't very useful by themselves, BUT they ended up setting the foundation of my deck.

67 hours in, still having fun!

 

[Eyestabber]

So close, men. So damn close...

Still not halfway bad considering I went into the final act blind and without adrenaline cards/energy relic (other than lantern) and it was Ascension 2.

The spear and shield f'ed me up REALLY hard. Should've popped my dex potion instead of saving it. Eh...

 

[Eyestabber]

Spoiler

THERE! The Spire was no match for the IronCHAD.

 

[Ironmonk]

After 18 hours spent playing with The Watcher, I finally beat the Heart on my third attempt. Snecko Eye FTW!

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[Eyestabber]

FINALLY!!!

Spoiler

After so many failed attempts! And it looked bleak until the very end. Like:

Here's what happened:

FIRST the two ganking douchebags dropped my HP to like 35. And then when the fight was almost over I pulled THE BEST CARD OF ALL TIME aka Burst+, which allowed me to heal exactly 12 HP. Look at the screenshot again. Yep. Had I used "Bandage Up" without Burst the Heart would've just killed me on Turn 2, dealing my exact HP, for extra frustration points.

Man, it's been a long time since a game felt this tense, with every click being carefully considered, every "End Turn" a matter of taking a deep breath and crossing fingers. I survived the fight by pulling Burst into Leg Sweep TWICE, thus stabilizing my HP after the initial shock.

What a game... I almost wept at the end.

Anyway, here's the deck:

Note to self: I'm NOT taking that POS "Infinite blades" ever again. Without upgrades the shivs do very little other than screwing me over with both the Time Eater (OF COURSE I HAD TO FIGHT HIM, WHAT YOU THINK THE GAME WOULDN'T TRY TO FUCK ME???) and the Heart. Shivs were only useful as discards for Acrobatics.

 

[Ironmonk]

I know it's beta and all, but I got the feeling that the game in general is going to get harder with this new class, specially because of the increase in relics and potions, yeah, they are like half a dozen or so, but what was already hard to find a workable deck/relic/potion combo now is going to be even more difficult.

I like the new class, but didn't like the Scry mechanic, not my style. Most of the time I played with the Watcher I rarely got new cards, skipping most of the time (while the other classes have lots of interesting cards). I hope they can polish it a lot more in this beta.

And shiv deck can be really good if you get lucky with the cards/relics combo

 

[Damned Registrations]

The game gets much, much easier with experience. There are people that can just consistently clear the heart on like ascension 10. I'm not that good myself but I definitely wouldn't consider the first few ascensions 'hard' by any means. It mostly comes down to building an ascension kit that includes answers for whatever you're going to come across before you reach it. A lot of the bosses can be made trivial just by knowing what they're going to do 3 turns in advance.

 

[Tigranes]

Got it on Switch a few weeks ago. ~100 runs and I made the initial clear with the 3 characters, now doing Ascension 1 runs and not quite able to crack Act 4 boss yet. Really only barely coming to grips with possible strategies and combinations - I didn't expect this to be so good, really tight design polished fine.

Of course then you have random jank runs where you end up with 4 Innate Backstabs and enough card recycling abilities to alpha strike everything (until it's not enough and you are horribly fucked). I do like how there's a degree of planning involved but you also have to work with what you get each time to create a build.

 

[Eyestabber]

When RNG decides to favor your run:

Couldn't upgrade anymore since every single card on a 36 (!!!) card deck was already upgraded.

Got the Kunai very early and I was already going for a Shiv run. Look at the relics, not a single useless one. Act 3 was a total breeze and I killed the gankers without taking any damage. On Ascension 4! Pretty crazy.

 

[Silva]

The new character doesn't fit the game at all. Everyone else is sort of gender neutral, but now we have generic Asian chick. Gotta get that chink dollar, eh?

I agree, it's pretty lame. She even looks cool, just not for this game.

 

[PrettyDeadman]

It's a card game and it uses term "roguelike" inappropriately, therefore the reason for it being shit is at least twofold.

 

[oldbonebrown]

I finally freed myself from my addiction to the game - and now they're releasing another character? Oh well..

I really dislike how unrewarding it is to play the game in contrast to how addictive it is. I wish there was something more tangible I could grind away at than just a higher ascension level. I find The Silent the easiest character, and lean towards a strategy of picking the cards that opens up the most possibilities - so a lot of draw and discard cards, I especially really like the card that upgrades all other cards. And the teatime relic because resting is a waste.
Where I stopped

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

It's a card game and it uses term "roguelike" inappropriately, therefore the reason for it being shit is at least twofold.

However, you should note that they just say "We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could.". They aren't even calling their own game a roguelike, they're calling it a deckbuilder which is absolutely what it is. It's understandable to be blinded when looking at the divine, though. Slay the Spire does that to everyone at some time or another.

 

[Tigranes]

This is literally my first and only game that involves cards. I can't say cards were a problem.

 

[Eyestabber]

This is literally my first and only game that involves cards. I can't say cards were a problem.

Same here. I skipped this game at first because I don't really care for card games, but StS is something else.

Btw, got the "entrenched" cheevo today. 999 Block, yet the game refused to give me a single body slam card. Eventually I managed to kill the heart. One unupgraded strike at a time.

 

[J1M]

I believe I created this in The Gazebo for a reason... why is it here now?

 

[Eyestabber]

Guide to easy mode:

1. Play Defect
2. Say hello to the final boss, the fucking Time Eater
3.

4.

First turn kill. The poor guy never stood a chance.

 

[Damned Registrations]

I've been playing Overdungeon recently, it's got the same sort of general setup outside of combat, but in combat it's a weird hybrid with a... RTS would be stretching it but nothing much really fits. It's goofy as fuck with all the summoned minions being farm animals (well, and bears for some reason) and it's not even trying to avoid super cheesy infinite combo type stuff. It's got a cool mode with meta progression now and it's also got a sort of challenge/puzzle mode where you 1v1 against an AI playing a particular deck and get to pick any of your previous winning decks from normal runs to fight against it, with some restrictions on the super broken stuff. I kinda prefer the way it scales difficulty, higher ascensions in StS really pigeonhole you due to how many mechanics get nerfed into oblivion and how necessary certain silver bullets become for various bosses and encounters.

Worth a look if you liked StS a lot but feel burnt out on it like me.

 

[Julyan Morley]

Slay the Spire is the best video game I've played of the last several years. It's pretty fun putting on blinders trying to build a deck with some set strategy and hoping you high roll. The more you learn about the game, the more torturous the decisions become. The game is a bottomless well for a certain kind of minmaxing competitive player.

 

[Ironmonk]

I just reached Ascension 10 on the Watcher, it was much easier and quicker than to beat the Heart (outside of Ascension).

The changes since the beginning of the beta for the Watcher are going pretty well IMO. I'm liking it a lot.

Today they updated the beta with some new stuff, in total, there is 9 new potions (6 added today) and 16 new relics... very interesting stuff.

 

[Eyestabber]

So today I pressed the "I win button" with Silent:

Burst -> Nightmare -> Footwork is funny, but Burst -> Nightmare -> Wraith Form is absolutely hilarious.

The "I win" hand.

On a side note, high ascension is kinda cancer. If you're not a min-maxing autist (like myself) you should probably avoid it. The game throws so much BS your way that you're forced into very specific playstyles and start cheesing it out of necessity. But anyway, I figured out a bunch of obscure mechanical interactions that I will (maybe) share later on.

313 hours in and I still wholeheartedly recommend this game to anyone reading this.

 

[Eyestabber]

So I heard there was a new character and...

Damn the Watcher is FUN. The above run was nothing short of EPIC. RNG gave me the middle finger and straight up denied me an energy relic AND decent block cards. But you know what? Blocking is for BORING people. What's FUN is opening Pandora's box, ending up with a deck with 2 copies of Omniscience, one copy of wish and NO BLOCKS except for Vigilance. What little blocking I got came during the Beyond, where I BOUGHT the skill egg (despite having Apotheosis, that's how desperate I was) and STILL only managed to get get a prostrate + the neutral one. But that's fine, Wallop >>>>> blocking anyway.

440 hours in, STILL enjoying the game.

Little newsflash for you boyos, legacy characters are also getting some minor tweaks. I noticed, for instance, that Corruption and Dark Embrace swapped rarity now which is, IMO, a slight buff to STANDARD Ironclad play. Sadly, Sanctity (watcher) is now an Uncommon. Shame. These guys must be data mining me and noticed my Watcher run with 4 copies of Sanctity =/.

Edit: WAIT, WHUT? SCRAWL is now a rare? Damn, it literally changed this evening. This beta branch is pretty active, lol.

 

[Eyestabber]

The GOTY poll gave this game some well deserved attention, so in case anyone just picked the game up and needs some quick tips on how to stop losing every time, here's my quick and dirty guide to start winning:

• Defense > offense. At least for a new player. Block cards will keep you alive while you wait for the "right" card to be drawn. "Free" block cards (either 0-face or 1 + draw) are invaluable and should be staple in all your decks. Eg: Shrug it Off, Backflip. Taking "free" damage might not look like a big deal at first, but it will fuck you over in the long run. So, know your block cards and use them effectively.
• Archetypes are borderline useless. Don't think your run terms of "this is an STR-deck" or "this is a poison deck", but rather look into what problems you have ahead of you and whether or not you have the tools to solve said problems. Never reject a solution that presents itself freely, even if it's not the perfect fit for your deck. Putting a dagger spray into your poison deck is preferable to running around without any AoE while you wait for the "perfect" (corpse explosion) solution. "Backstab", despite having no synergy with poison builds whatsoever, is still a premium card to take with a poison deck, simply because it addresses the lack of frontloaded damage inherent to these decks without compromising density/consistency in any meaningful way.
• Prepare for specific encounters first, then move into being "all around" prepared for anything. What kills you in this game, even in high ascension, isn't failing to do the thing your deck is supposed to do, but rather running into a sceneario you didn't really account for and realizing too late that you simply don't have the required tools to handle that scenario. I won't go into details of every encounter, but it's enough to say that Act 1 is about having frontloaded single target damage, Act 2 is about AoE and scaling and by the time you reach Act 3 you must have a reliable strategy for scaling, as fights become longer and you can no longer rely on 1TKOs anymore.
• WTF is "general preparedness"!? Nothing special, just going over a list of all the ways you can improve your run and attempting to "check" every box. Do you have single target frontloaded damge (carnage)? Do you have scaled damage (eg: Heavy Blade)? How does your character scale going into turn 7-10 (demon form/limit break/footwork)? What's your "win condition" (1-shot heavy blade, catalyst)? Have you solved the "energy problem" (energy relic, 0-face deck, concentrate combo)? More importantly: have you solved the card draw problem (offering, master of strategy, acrobatics)? Do you have reliable damage mitigation (True Grit + FNP)? How do you apply debuffs to your enemies (shockwave, uppercut, neutralize, sucker punch)? In other words: "my deck is great at X" doesn't guarantee much, "my deck doesn't suck horribly at any given encounter" is much better.
• Potions are gr8, use them. Unlike most RPGs, consumables in StS are actually very impactful and should be used without much hesitation. A Flex potion can easily allow you to 1TKO one of the Sentries, for instance, thus making the rest of the encounter much easier. Fire pots are also the unsung heroes of this game. It's important to note that pots provide consistency to your run. Cards are subject to shuffle order, but pots are always there for you.
• Relics are even better. Buy them. One thing few people realize is that card + card synergies are unreliable and mostly weak, whereas card + relic synergies are 100% reliable and game winning. Anyone with half a brain will glance into the Ironchad's cards and notice that there's obvious synergy between "rupture" and "bloodletting". However, that synergy relies on rupture being drawn first. OTOH, a runic cube is always active so now whenever you play bloodletting, you'll get +2 energy AND +1 draw. That's a permanent buff to each and every "self harm" card.
• Complex combos don't work. I'm obviously exaggerating, but the idea is true: if your idea of a combo relies on drawing 2 or more specific cards in a given turn, your combo isn't gonna work when you need it. Things become even worse when your combo relies on specific conditions to work. My advice is to start small and simple and move on to more complex stuff as you learn the game. Trust me, Perfected Strike is more than enough to beat the game in A0.
• Last but not least: learn the difference between "all around" and niche stuff. A winning deck is built upon a foundation of cards that are simply all-around good and then refined/specified towards a specific strategy, never the other way around. Resisting the temptation of picking part B of a combo before having Part A is one of the most important lessons in you can learn in StS. While it is true that you can get away with a handful of "bets", you should never skip on a godly "all around" like Offering in favor of something super niche like Dual Wield or Riddle with Holes.