Let's Talk - Slay the Spire

Isn't block-as-attack Ironclad one of the easiest builds to ascend with? I did that once and it was so easy I haven't done it again. I purged all the Strikes from my deck and just blocked myself into an immune gargantuan and sifted the deck for my "deal damage equal to your block" cards, obliterating dudes.

For any deckbuilding game, I would recommend that advice above--don't take cards that dilute your deck, and I would add, actively purge cards that dilute your deck. You should be spending those dollars at the store to get rid of bad cards. Vanilla strike is bad. Vanilla block is bad. Any game about drawing cards should have a mechanism to make the deck have better cards AND allow the deck to purge bad cards. This is the issue I have with HOGWART'S BATTLE. You still have 6 Alohomoras in the end game and they are always a bad draw once you are rolling.

That's how I managed to ascend with Ironclad. Barricade to stop block fade, Entrench to double it, Flame Barrier to hurt enemies whenever they hit the block, and Body Slam to hit the enemy for damage equal to the block. I also had Demon Form, so any damage I did deal out between piling on block was punchy.

In general, powers are good to take because they don't dilute your deck. This isn't an always thing, but it's usually true.

My Defect decks usually consist of Glacier, Sunder, Streamline, and whatever powers I draw.

I'd be careful about saying what are easy builds to ascend with. Yes, if you can identify an archetype early on run with it. Once you get the second pieces of a puzzle that relies on three (especially if you get the requisite artifacts) you can steer down that road. You just might never get the card that lets you do damage based on block, and then you wasted your run.

However I largely agree with your comment. Overall best advice is to remove the strikes. And to build synergy as much as possible. If you start to build synergy, double down on it. That is mandatory at the higher ascension levels.

That’s fair. You can’t win with what’s not there. I just had no trouble and the synergy of defense into offense makes it such a powerhouse for an Ironclad run. On other runs, I kept seeing pieces, but maybe it was an aberration from the norm, I’ve only played a handful of times.

I have tons of generic “card game” advice that applies to SLAY THE SPIRE if anyone is interested. But given the website, I have to believe we’ve all got concepts like card advantage, reach, and threat sort of “baked in” at this point.

One issue I have with the game is how long it takes. Like, more than an hour. Probably because I still need to read cards and potions and things. I keep trying the daily challenge, but have to move on as the day progresses, and it takes me several days!

Got wins with Ironclad using Strength and Block-as-Attack builds, a win with the Silent using Poison, and a win with the Defect using Frost Channeling and Claw scaling. Plus Melter here and there for hilarity. So I got all the "keys" and now when I play I see glowing Elites here and there and they keep wanting me to lose keys, whatever that means. Credit to the developers, I want to see more!

I just beat Ascension 20 with the Defect. Props goes to the Mummified Hand (random card costs 0 whenever you play a Power), Creative AI (the power that creates more Powers), Apotheosis (gold colorless card that upgrades your entire deck) and a deck full of Powers.

The first couple turns were usually kind of dicey, but this deck really picks up steam to be totally ridiculous.



EDIT: I thought that'd be the end of my Spire-ing for awhile, but now I'm working on the Silent. Got a couple wins where decks with a million shivs worked out real well, thanks to the relics that came out. The first one had 3 different ones that triggered where you play 3 attacks in a turn (get 4 armor, gain 1 dexterity, gain 1 strength), and in the second one I randomly replaced my starting relic with one that increases the damage of zero-cost attacks by 4. Up to ascension 12 now.

DOUBLE EDIT: Still hacking away as The Silent. Came across a somewhat obvious but extremely powerful combo today. My first relic that I found was Unceasing Top (if your hand is empty, draw a card) and combined it with 2x of Concentrate (discard 3 cards, gain 2 energy). Got a third copy right before the final boss, but Concentrate works even if it's the only card in your hand, which allows a deck like this, especially with some 0-cost cards, to go effectively infinite. Up to 17 now with the Silent.

Currently feeling this more than Monster Train.

contentiongames.com/games/slay/



I guess it was only a matter of time until this happened. Never heard of the developer before. I wondered if they're going to fill this full of minis for no reason. Also I feel like it's going to be hard to capture the magic of StS in cardboard form. Seems likely that this will end up being a kinda generic cooperative deckbuilder, but we'll see.

I bought this over the break and both me and my son have been playing it a lot. What a great game.

I made it all the way to the third boss with the Defect yesterday, focusing primarily on Lightning orbs and 0-cost attacks. It's a fun game because you can often stumble on a very strong combo without really meaning too, especially as you keep unlocking cards.

I played it again yesterday for the first time in weeks. Made it through



with the Defect, a strange build with lots of Focus and Dark Orbs. Death stroke was Multi-cast after doubling or quadrupling my Energy. I think I dealt over 600 on turn 3 or so.

With the exception of my descent into WoW Classic for nostalgia reasons, this was probably my most played computer game last year. Defect is still my favorite, although I'm up to Ascension 19 as the Ironclad and 18 as the Silent. Game is just frustratingly hard at that point, haha.

You playing it on the Switch, Nate? Although very different, you might check out Into the Breach after this if you haven't already.

Not sure how I feel about a cardboard version... I'm pretty leery of Kickstarters in general so I'll have to wait on this one.

Yeah, I'm playing on the Switch. When possible I always like the option of playing easily on a sofa.

I actually have Into The Breach on Steam. It's the sort of game I admire more than I enjoy. Generally speaking I'm not terrific at tactical games, and Into The Breach reminds me of that over and over again. I know it gives me all the information I need to figure something out, but I think it might actually be too much for me. After maybe 10-15 hours with it I was starting to feel like every scenario felt a little...deterministic I guess. Not that I'm right, just how it felt.

Anyway, Slay the Spire is a much better fit for how my brain works. I'm not sure why that is though.