Slay the Spire - Catch all

Ever could figure out the Defect and ended up killing my enjoyment of the game.

Yeah, I’ve brought DEfect up to Ascension 5, and it really feels random vs generating a skilled and intentional deck. I usually end up with Machine Learning which gives you a new power card every turn. That just starts getting absurd really quickly. It’s unpredictable is the problem, but it’s necessary to ramp up for the elites / bosses in Act3. I usually end up with a Lightning deck that can’t generate enough block to survive Act 3. The Silent could really build up a block deck and sit there in tank mode while poison took them down. With the Silent I have to balance lightning for attacks and frost for blocks. Frost doesn’t seem to scale as well either. So I go with Leap / Charged Battery instead, but they’re just not enough.

There’s a winning combo out there I’m sure, but it feels like a narrower window of options than Ironclad / Silent.

Yeah back when I won with the defect, it looks like 2 copies of Buffer+ was the big one. That's 2 attacks to nullify for each card. Better than blocks I guess.

Don't undervalue frost orbs. If you have ways to gain focus and orb slots, plus some glacier cards, you can build up enough to passively block most damage every turn. In the meantime you could be letting a dark orb build up, until it's big enough to kill - either on its own, or with a dual-cast or multi-cast.

Another good to thing to know as the defect is that if you can get an artifact charge (negates the next negative effect placed on you) it can be used with Biased Cognition. You'll gain focus when you play the card, but the artifact will negate the downside of losing focus in future turns.

Keep forgetting about that artifact negating self-status effects too. I had 2 artifact potions today and not sure I used them as well as I could have.

Tscott wrote:

Don't undervalue frost orbs. If you have ways to gain focus and orb slots, plus some glacier cards, you can build up enough to passively block most damage every turn. In the meantime you could be letting a dark orb build up, until it's big enough to kill - either on its own, or with a dual-cast or multi-cast.

Another good to thing to know as the defect is that if you can get an artifact charge (negates the next negative effect placed on you) it can be used with Biased Cognition. You'll gain focus when you play the card, but the artifact will negate the downside of losing focus in future turns.

This has been my thoughts on the best approach with Defect. I just have found it impossible to attain given the randomness of card acquisition. To be frank, I haven't given Defect the # of runs it deserves.

I really enjoy the defect because the 'flow' achieved with a good deck builds much faster than with Ironclad or Silent. I usually go based on collecting Powers & Block but a good lightning deck can put out a lot of damage as well. But it's all based around finding a good relic or two which is true regardless of class (I'm realizing as I play more).

Looks like they patched Steam version. Some card updates. I'm not sure what the deal is on whether those balance parts have been applied to Switch yet or not.

I just found the mod that adds sailor moon as a playable character. With cards and everything.

There is sailor moon art on the cards with names like sailor kick (basic attack) and lula's bite and an interesting magic mechanic that boosts your attacks.

Some of those character mods look really cool. I'm loving the Switch version, but seeing stuff like Sailor Moon and this has me contemplating the PC version too.

I claimed my first victory. Just!

With 7 health points remaining the Ironclad starred down the Big Bad and his 300 points of health, having just slain two lackeys, whilst witnessing said Big Bad reawaken. Disheartening to say the least. From the clutches of impending doom the Ironclad chugged a potion to discard x amount of cards and redraw the same. Defence out. Attack in. (It's fuzzy what was the round prior, and what was in the decisive round. I also had relics to boost energy and retain cards at the end of a round.) Flex! Limit Break! Pummel! Bloodletting. Double Tap! Heavy Blade! These made the difference. Standing over the slain Big Bad with 4 health remaining was a rush!

Such a rewarding experience.

Gratz RnR.

I won the Thurs or Fri daily with the Silent. Had an incredible hand with the relic to never discard. I even managed to finally use that 50 damage to all of your discard pile is 0 card on the last boss. But since it was a daily, no 4th act.

So then last night I started another Silent run. Got the same relic and a few of the same cards. Some stacking poison, block and damage with each card play, really strong deck but a little big. I mowed through the 3rd act with 0 damage on an elite and on the final boss. Thought act 4 was a sure thing. But for the elite bosses I had the sh*ttiest draw. Didn't get my "poison each turn" or "poison with each attack" cards until like the last hand. I took a ton more damage than I should have. And then for final boss I replayed 4 times but there was no way I could survive the first big alpha attack a few turns in. Damn frustrating. But at least it's another act 3 win finally.

I've been rotating between Ironclad, The Silent & Defect, trying to get as far as I can, the main boss in The City always my sticking point. I'm trying to unlock as many cards, relics etc to go forth building a stronger deck.

I feel its almost impossible to really get past the second boss without a relic that gives you more energy or lets you conserve energy between turns, the attacks you end up having to defend against start to get around the 50 damage range.

One thing I always seem to do is upgrade the special cards & never the default attack or defensive cards, is this a strategy you guys use?

Overall I'm absolutely loving the game, so much planning, strategy & its zips along with next to no downtime. Switch in handheld mode is perfect for this.

Gonna have to try a daily challenge in the next day or two.

The only time I upgrade strikes and defends is that ? event where it upgrades them all, or a random upgrade event.

Ideally I want to transform or discard them. There are plenty of other cards that do 9 or more dmg for 1 point, or cards that do block and damage both, or cards with more than 8 block for 1 point too.

Strike/defend are mostly placeholders until you get a better deck.

I'm now up to Ascension 5 on Ironclad, Ascension 4 on the other two. I keep thinking I've got my favorite character figured out, then I get a new killer deck on one of the others and flip.

Spikeout wrote:

I feel its almost impossible to really get past the second boss without a relic that gives you more energy or lets you conserve energy between turns, the attacks you end up having to defend against start to get around the 50 damage range.

One thing I always seem to do is upgrade the special cards & never the default attack or defensive cards, is this a strategy you guys use?

Which boss specifically are you referring to? The knight? It has that hyperbeam attack that hits for 50+, so it helps to have some way to inflict weak (card or potion) for that turn. I think it starts with 3 artifacts, so you may need to chip away at them to set that up. Cards that let you carry over block between rounds are also good for mitigating that damage. That's blockade power for Ironclad, Dodge and Roll for Silent, and Ice Orbs for Defect. That attack always has a charge up round before, so you should know when it's coming.

Also, don't neglect potions. If you're struggling with that particular fight, either save or purchase potions to help you out there. Weak, Block, and Dexterity potions can all help mitigate those huge attacks. If you're on Silent, keep an eye out for the potion that gives you one intangible. That will completely mitigate that attack.

On Strikes and Defends, get as many of them out of your deck as possible. I tend to prioritize the "Remove card from deck" option at the shop unless there's a particularly great relic that I can afford. The fewer strikes/defends you have, the more often you draw your best cards.

Dyni wrote:

On Strikes and Defends, get as many of them out of your deck as possible. I tend to prioritize the "Remove card from deck" option at the shop unless there's a particularly great relic that I can afford. The fewer strikes/defends you have, the more often you draw your best cards.

I agree, but I heavily prioritize removing Strikes before Defends - not being able to deal damage is a turn is way less of a problem than not being able to block.

A couple of my best runs have been getting the 50% off shop prices relic in act 1. Then I can afford card removal and other relics.

Tonight's daily is ridiculous with the Ironclad. You get to draft a hand, and you get 3 copies of each card you choose. I ended up with 100 cards and won easily. I was stacking strength and doubling block and it was just insane fun.

The starting debuff is also that you can't upgrade at bonfires. But then the 2nd act boss I got "extra energy every turn but can't upgrade at bonfires" hahaha.

So crazy. Play it while you can the next 20 hours or so.

Jonman wrote:
Dyni wrote:

On Strikes and Defends, get as many of them out of your deck as possible. I tend to prioritize the "Remove card from deck" option at the shop unless there's a particularly great relic that I can afford. The fewer strikes/defends you have, the more often you draw your best cards.

I agree, but I heavily prioritize removing Strikes before Defends - not being able to deal damage is a turn is way less of a problem than not being able to block.

With ironclad I’ll start by removing defends over strikes, in the hopes of getting a good Perfected Strike deck going, which is easily my favorite.

Dyni wrote:

I'm now up to Ascension 5 on Ironclad, Ascension 4 on the other two. I keep thinking I've got my favorite character figured out, then I get a new killer deck on one of the others and flip.

Spikeout wrote:

I feel its almost impossible to really get past the second boss without a relic that gives you more energy or lets you conserve energy between turns, the attacks you end up having to defend against start to get around the 50 damage range.

One thing I always seem to do is upgrade the special cards & never the default attack or defensive cards, is this a strategy you guys use?

Which boss specifically are you referring to? The knight? It has that hyperbeam attack that hits for 50+, so it helps to have some way to inflict weak (card or potion) for that turn. I think it starts with 3 artifacts, so you may need to chip away at them to set that up. Cards that let you carry over block between rounds are also good for mitigating that damage. That's blockade power for Ironclad, Dodge and Roll for Silent, and Ice Orbs for Defect. That attack always has a charge up round before, so you should know when it's coming.

Also, don't neglect potions. If you're struggling with that particular fight, either save or purchase potions to help you out there. Weak, Block, and Dexterity potions can all help mitigate those huge attacks. If you're on Silent, keep an eye out for the potion that gives you one intangible. That will completely mitigate that attack.

On Strikes and Defends, get as many of them out of your deck as possible. I tend to prioritize the "Remove card from deck" option at the shop unless there's a particularly great relic that I can afford. The fewer strikes/defends you have, the more often you draw your best cards.

Thanks for the tips Dyni, turns out I got past the Act 2 boss last night & have done before as I remember the third area, which is pretty damn tough even early on.

I'll start prioritizing removing or transforming the basic cards, getting the attacks out first. I think it is The Knight that gives me a tough time, I suppose its partly the luck of the draw too that comes out that particular hand.

I do use potions all the time, I sometimes am guilty of going with an upgrade over a rest when I think I can get away with it, which can my downfall.

I'll have to start judging the huge attacks a bit better, so I don't exhaust high defence cards or can keep potions over to help out.

Keeping my deck trim made a positive difference. It helps with the luck of the draw. I remove a card at every single merchant now, as well as being strict with any additions.

ACT 4 VICTORY!

Thank you, the Silent.

Finished the EB fight before the last boss with full health. Hahahahaha. Take that, chumps.

Had over 100 poison stacked on the last boss and just let it tick away to beat him while I defended. Fun times.

Stacking poison attacks & buffs is one of my favourite ways to play as The Silent, congrats Stele!

Once this game gets its hooks in my goodness its something else, so many variables, the relics really can make quite a big difference, the randomness of the decks you build & hands you play definitely are integral to Slay The Spire's brilliance.

How many hours have you guys played? Think I'm around the 17 hour mark now, the hours fly by like minutes when your playing, which is a sign of a special game.

Spikeout wrote:

Stacking poison attacks & buffs is one of my favourite ways to play as The Silent, congrats Stele!

Once this game gets its hooks in my goodness its something else, so many variables, the relics really can make quite a big difference, the randomness of the decks you build & hands you play definitely are integral to Slay The Spire's brilliance.

How many hours have you guys played? Think I'm around the 17 hour mark now, the hours fly by like minutes when your playing, which is a sign of a special game.

354 hours for me. I almost always play the daily runs. They keep the game fun for me. I still haven't dug into the user mod community though.

58 hours. Got it day 1 on Switch, whenever that was.

I burned out on this one when I couldn't figure out a working Defect strategy. Even my strongest decks there get slaughtered.

Malor wrote:

I burned out on this one when I couldn't figure out a working Defect strategy. Even my strongest decks there get slaughtered.

I think going big on frost orbs is the most consistently winnable defect strategy, personally.

I won my first Defect run today. I went big on powers (loop, lightning hits all enemies, generate lightning orbs on being hit, focus, gain orb slots) and lightning orbs, with most of my defense coming from upgraded basic defense cards as well as those ones which cost less for each power you have played. I also had Thunder Strike and the odd dark orb as my big hitters.

I think it might have been the first time I made it too the third act with the Defect (it was about my 5th or 6th run) but this build felt great.

The artist for the game is having a kickstarter selling updated art for the game, adding in The Defect. I went in on one of the playmats because I liked the art. The kickstarter isn’t affiliated with Megacrit or the game, the artist just retained a commercial license to his art for the game.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...

IMAGE(https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/025/915/259/98f273a8ff3d09540cce4c2a0a0c91c9_original.jpg?ixlib=rb-2.1.0&crop=faces&w=1024&h=576&fit=crop&v=1564002954&auto=format&frame=1&q=92&s=e270c598f53450bfa3c94b4a327e25ea)

I’m seeking advice on a persistent problem when I make it to the second area. I just never seem to have enough block to withstand the high level damage creatures do. This seems to be the case even if I prioritize choosing block cards. Any advice on how to approach having enough defense?

Thanks,
Chad