Current Events > Slay the Spire topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

I started playing this game again. I'm pretty much a noob, last time I played there wasn't the fourth class, and I don't think I even reached the fourth boss (no ascension).

So far I've unlocked everything from the first three classes, moving on to the fourth now. Got any tips for me CE? I'm pretty bad at the game still, trying to figure out what cards and synergies to look for. Fave so far is probably Defect. I like his quirky orb mechanic a lot, and there seems to be several fun ways to snowball out of control.

Bump. I thought CE really liked StS.

I play it off and on, I never really got good at it. A few hundred hours, came within like 30 health of beating the 3rd area a few times but never got it. Also have not unlocked the 4th character. I still love the game, regardless. I can't quit it, I go back a lot.

Check out Roguebook if you haven't, it's similar with some different mechanics, I bought it recently wanting a StS kind of game, and was happy with it.

I fell in love with it when it came to PS+. I've still only managed to clear Act 4 with one character and it was my least favorite character, the Ironclad or whatever. I love the Defect and its orb gimmick. Getting a setup where lightning just rains down endlessly is so much fun lol. The other two characters are fun too, but nothing compares to orbin' time.

Defect is broken with the right setup. Can easily get armor in the 300s.

I use Defect 99% of the time, he's fun to use. I've gotten painfully close to clearing 3 like 4 or 5 times, something isn't clicking with me and is keeping me from progressing skill-wise. Being TC said he's kind of a nub too, maybe some tips would help. I tend to play too aggressive, I know this, i'll sacrifice a few points of health stupidly if I can land big damage instead. I struggle to play defensively, maybe that's my issue.

Biggest piece of advice is that taking no damage is usually better than killing 1 of 3 enemies a turn early.

2 energy cards are usually bad unless they're a ton of value. Powers tend to be very good because they speed up your deck.

A good way to think about planning is that you want to set a target health value to have by a boss and try to figure out how much health you can afford to lose in each fight. Understand that act 2 elites can easily kill you from full if your deck is weak, act 1 elites will usually take 30-70% of your health, and act 3 elites are usually easy if you've made it that far.

MabusIncarnate posted...

I play it off and on, I never really got good at it. A few hundred hours, came within like 30 health of beating the 3rd area a few times but never got it. Also have not unlocked the 4th character. I still love the game, regardless. I can't quit it, I go back a lot.

Check out Roguebook if you haven't, it's similar with some different mechanics, I bought it recently wanting a StS kind of game, and was happy with it.

Imma check out Roguebook and Monster Train eventually, but I'll stick with StS for a while first.

About general tips, I saw a reddit guide that had some interesting ideas:

• In act 1, always pick frontloaded damage over future synergies.
• In act 2, pick aoe.
• In act 3, you can worry about getting the synergies, card manipulation, etc.

Of course it is very general advice but I find it pretty nice to at least have a vague strategy to lean on.

About Defect, I love getting like that echo power and creative AI, but that's a very slow deck. It's good for bosses and elites, but takes a bit long in regular fights, so you might want the rest of the deck to compensate for that.

Great game, incredibly fun with the right mods

Don't be afraid to skip elites if you know you're underprepared

I got really lucky with a poison build on xbox, and had 3 triple poison catalyst and corpse explosions

bnui_ransder posted...

I got really lucky with a poison build on xbox, and had 3 triple poison catalyst and corpse explosions

Love poison builds. Corpse explosion is like, one of the best cards in the game for me so far.

Played ~90 hours on pc

Got to A20 with ironclad and about A10 with everyone else and stopped playing before I got addicted.

Now it was on PS+ and of course the same thing is happening again.
70 hours in at A16 with Irinclad and A10 with the others. Trying to get all trophies this time.

Did a couple runs with Watcher and getting nowhere. I really need to take a step back and figure out how to play this character. I feel like I'm doing things all wrong.

scar the 1 posted...

Did a couple runs with Watcher and getting nowhere. I really need to take a step back and figure out how to play this character. I feel like I'm doing things all wrong.

It's kinda hard to use wrath safely. It helps imo if you can get a retainable calm card so you can quickly switch back after raging. Scry builds are pretty great too if you can grab a Weave (is that what it's called? The one with the shark enemy on it) or two.

i like StS but not super into it like jorbs baalor et all. i understand it has near infinite replayability but after a few hundred runs things start to feel same-y

i main Silent but i think the community has her pegged as lower tier? ionno

btw anyone has any experience with the iOS port? lemme know how it handles i have an iphone 11 pro

Love the game, but I'm basically done with it after like 1100-1200 hours.

haloiscoolisbak posted...

Don't be afraid to skip elites if you know you're underprepared

That said, they're the highest value floor if you can take them.

Tag.

OK, a youtube video and another run and I think I'm starting to understand what makes Watcher decks tick. But I got too greedy and died to an elite I could have avoided >_>

The Ironclad standing like Hakumen is the only thing I know about the game.

Alright, now I got to the heart. With 9 HP left. Maan

Won't have time to play today, but I wanna keep the topic alive. Watcher is pretty fun but there are decks I haven't quite figured out yet, like how to properly use feast, or mantra. So there's still understanding to do.

I'll probably wind up making a run here in the coming days, when I get into topics like this I start craving it again.

I double dipped on this game for both Switch and Xbox.

I keep perfecting the look of suffering though by dying to some random elite of unhappiness.

I could swear the game is rigged against me. :/

Highly recommend getting the modded version on steam that adds the 5th class as well as the mode where you play as the bosses instead and protect the Spire.

Somehow Im forgetting the name of the mod off the top of my head, but it should be easy to find if you search the mods for StS on steam.

It can be very discouraging. So many runs are just a relic or a card away from a great build. And certain bosses are just oppressively difficult. ._.

I love the game, the Defect is by far my favourite character. I also kind of like the Silent, but I always end up fucking myself over.

Quick evening bump. Will type more tomorrow

CellBlock7 posted...

Highly recommend getting the modded version on steam that adds the 5th class as well as the mode where you play as the bosses instead and protect the Spire.

Somehow Im forgetting the name of the mod off the top of my head, but it should be easy to find if you search the mods for StS on steam.

Downfall

my advice for watcher is that dead enemies deal no damage

your starting deck has significantlly more power in it than any other class. use this advantage to take many early elite fights without having to pad your deck with as much frontloaded damage as the other classes, as those cards weaken you in the lategame. and then use the better cards and relics you get from these extra elites to snowball through the rest of the game.

alternatively, if you make a small deck with a rushdown in it, it's very easy to go infinite with watcher. the character is without a doubt broken and does not really belong in the same game as the other characters

That's good advice. I've never been able to make an infinite deck with any class yet. But I suppose it's just cycling a calm card and a rage attack huh?

I beat the last boss with 3 characters but I haven't been able to get the defect to win. Everytime I get that far with him I feel like I don't hit hard enough and end up dying in a prolonged fight I will find a right setup at some point.

scar the 1 posted...

But I suppose it's just cycling a calm card and a rage attack huh?

basically yeah, keep deck small and have a few ways to swap rage/calm and you're set. here's some of my last few watcher decks (from a while ago but I haven't really played since)
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/4/1/AAOx38AADWu1.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/4/2/AAOx38AADWu2.jpg

if you want to go for the heart as well you'll need mental fortress or talk to the hand to provide block otherwise you'll die to its passive damage. they're also pretty helpful for time eater because he blocks the actual infinite

MegaTech posted...

Everytime I get that far with him I feel like I don't hit hard enough and end up dying in a prolonged fight

this is kinda interesting to read since the defect probably scales the best in very prolonged fights out of all characters (because you can scale both focus and orb slots), while struggling the most in shorter fights due to the ramp up time. just grab some focus sources and a way to add a few more orb slots and you're set

kirbymuncher posted...

this is kinda interesting to read since the defect probably scales the best in very prolonged fights out of all characters (because you can scale both focus and orb slots), while struggling the most in shorter fights due to the ramp up time. just grab some focus sources and a way to add a few more orb slots and you're set

That's probably my problem. I try to beat it without finding enough focus up + extra orbs. I end up not doing enough dmg. And I get a hand that doesnt have enough defense and I get whacked with like 30+

Play Silent the most, but have only managed a Heart kill with an absurdly busted Ironclad exhaust deck.

Also love doing claw defect builds.

Siiigh. Another day, another failed Defect run. Got to Act 4, made it through the first fight with a majority of my health left, then just got destroyed by the heart in like three turns. I even had 109 max hp and ice building up like 60-70 block per round in the previous fights, but I didn't draw anything defensive in time in the final battle.

I picked it up during the roguelike sale and have been enjoying it a lot. Watcher is easiest on A20 on average from my experience (although ironclad can be strong too). Silent kinda sucks and there aren't as many unique playstyles (grand finale builds are fun though). Played around with the blasphemy card today since I never really used it before - it's amazing in act 1 and then had good synergy with runic pyramid which I happened to get. Still haven't been able to make a (mostly pure) retain deck work. Infinite combo on watcher is easy to set up since you just need the +2 on wrath card to make it work, especially if you start with birdcage.

blasphemy blasts through act2 pretty well too even without runic pyramid. it's definitely a very powerful card but imo it's not as good as it first makes you think because honestlly watcher is strong enough to not really need it a lot of the time for act1/2 and then it's sorta ddissappointing in lategame

Finished a couple times, but not the fourth act. Haven't won the fourth act a single time with any character. As soon as I unlock the final thing with Watcher, I'll start cycling through the classes instead. Getting a little tired of Watcher now.

Morning bump, today I'll unlock the final things!

Alright, finally I can start cycling. I think the class I struggle with the most is actually Ironclad. I hear people say it's super easy all the time, but I think I'm just too afraid of exhausting cards or something? I dunno it hasn't really clicked for me yet, I have no idea how to play this class except for if I get some super OP power combo.

Just did a couple Silent runs though, and that class is pretty smooth. Sadly I had like 0 block so I ended up dying to the Heart, but up to that point it was really smooth sailing.

Bottled Whirlwind + some relics will carry you through A20 on Ironclad. Alternatively, you could go full block and body slam, or a pure strength build (more difficult). Exhaust decks are fun, especially if you get dead branch and corruption (corruption is one of the strongest cards in the game if played right).
I've only ever managed to make a viable strike deck once. There's lots of other ways to play ironclad too, you could go for a hp loss deck, etc.

I've never once had a cohesive deck with Ironclad and yet he's still the only one I've successfully beaten the heart with lol. Iirc I just had a ton of HP from Feed and I think I had Demon Form for strength.

Haven't played this since I got all of the achievements. Very fun game. Maybe I'll play it again soon.

Finished act 4 for the first time ever! It was a Defect run where, by the end I was so healthy that I don't think I even lost HP at all. Extra orb slots from a relic, then a couple upgraded Focus, a lot of Frost cards, and Barrage turned out pretty strong.

Nice. I've been having really bad runs lately, like not even making it out of act one bad.

Somehow died to the act one boss as The Watcher which should be impossible because the character is busted

Finished a good Brilliance/Prostrate A20 run - I had two Mental Fortress and got my main block from empty body, etc. Of course I got the two most annoying act 3 bosses for that setup, but Nilry's Codex came in clutch.

I Love Slay the Spire

I haven't put in playing it but I've been playing monster train which is really similar, I think it's a little bit easier though

FaultyCircuitry posted...

Nice. I've been having really bad runs lately, like not even making it out of act one bad.

Somehow died to the act one boss as The Watcher which should be impossible because the character is busted

I do that all the time, especially as Watcher. Probably because with her I go really hard and then it's pretty much all or nothing from the get go.