Slay the Spire Tips for Cautious Players

When you play Slay the Spire, do you avoid Elites at all costs? Do you hoard potions, telling yourself you’ll use them later and never actually using them? Do you hate exhausting cards? Do you have runs where you focus so much on defense that you lose because you don’t have enough offense? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, this is the article for you. Slay the Spire is a high-risk high-reward rogue-like card game that is primarily about risk management, which can make it challenging for naturally cautious players. However, cautious people can still win and be good at the game. Here are some tips to help, focused on the three main classes.

Use Block Builds

For many cautious players, the first instinct is to focus on blocking attacks. Luckily, there are a variety of block-based builds and synergies for all three main classes. One of the strongest and most popular block builds is for the Ironclad and is based around the card Barricade, which allows players to not lose their remaining block between turns. However, the card costs three energy, making it difficult to find a good time to play the card. Cautious players who attempt this build might end up not playing the card at all, leaving them vulnerable. Another drawback is that cautious players might spend all their energy on blocking and never attack, giving many enemies time to increase their strength to unmanageable levels. These issues are present for all three classes, but there are a few ways to get around them.

One strategy is to focus on passive blocking. A different option for the Ironclad is to collect Metallicize cards, which automatically give the player block at the end of each turn. This can free up resources for the player to attack. The Defect has even better passive blocking with his frost orbs, which also automatically give the player block at the end of their turn but have the opportunity for their power to scale up to insane levels. The Silent has a rare card called After Image that gives block every time a card is played, and another card called Dodge and Roll that gives block during the current turn and the next turn. Another option is to focus on increasing Dexterity, which increases the block for all cards and allows the player to use less cards to get the necessary amount of block. The Kunai relic, which increases Dexterity when three attacks are played in the same turn, and the card Footwork are both helpful for this build.

Focusing on passive damage is another great strategy that allows players to prioritize blocking. For the Ironclad, players can create a build around the card Juggernaut, which automatically inflicts damage every time the player gains block. The Silent has some of the best passive damage, with poison being first among them. Some of the best passive damage cards for the Silent are Noxious Fumes, which increases the poison for all enemies every turn, A Thousand Cuts, which inflicts damage every time a card is played, and Caltrops, which inflicts damage every time the player is attacked.

Find an Energy Management Strategy

As mentioned before, energy management tends to be an issue for cautious players, because they often find themselves not using cards with high energy costs because they prioritize defense. It can be difficult to get more energy unless the player takes a boss relic that does this, but these relics often have big drawbacks that cautious players might not want to take on (does anyone actually take the one that doesn’t let you see enemy intents???). There are some relics that provide more energy from turn to turn, like the Happy Flower, which provides an extra energy every three turns, and Icecream, which conserves energy between turns. There are also cards that achieve similar results, like Adrenaline for the Ironclad, Outmaneuver and Flying Knee for the Silent, and Charge Battery for the Defect. However, it can be helpful to avoid the issue entirely.

A great alternative to stressing about energy is making a build around zero cost cards. This is more difficult for the Ironclad, who has many high cost cards, but he does have the attack card Anger. The Silent, on the other hand, has Shiv cards, which can create insanely powerful builds, and other zero cost cards like Neutralize, which is in the starting deck. The Defect also has a lot of great zero cost cards and cards that can be upgraded to become zero cost. Paired with the card All For One, which puts all zero cost cards in the discard pile into the player’s hand, the build can be very powerful. The one drawback to decks that rely on playing many cards at once is that there are some bosses where this is an extreme handicap. However, it is still possible to win with these decks, and they’re a lot of fun to play too.

Don’t Hoard Potions, Gold, or Cards

Many cautious players have the instinct to save potions, gold, and cards for a time when they really need them, but if the player never actually uses their items, it can hold them back. It sucks to die with a full bank account, and you never know when the Bandits will come for your gold (it’s so much easier to just let them take it). Also, even though potions aren’t always guaranteed, having to discard potions to make room for new ones is never a good sign. If a player struggles with using gold and potions, one option is to take boss relics that prevent them from gaining these items. If these items aren’t being used anyways, they can be given up by taking the Ectoplasm or Sozu boss relics, which give players more energy. This can help with managing energy and allow players to make builds with higher cost cards.

Another resource that cautious players often hoard are cards, and there are multiple ways they can do this. First of all, they might avoid using exhaustible cards, especially for the Ironclad. Exhaust builds and cards for the Ironclad are the bane of a cautious player’s existence, and the reluctance to use them reduces the Ironclad’s capabilities. However, there are enough other options that players can still be successful without using risky exhaust cards, or really any exhaustible cards, for any of the classes. Another way that players hoard cards is by taking every card that is offered to them. Small decks tend to be more successful than large ones, so players shouldn’t take cards they feel lukewarm about. Even if the card seems good, it might not make sense for a particular run. Players should also remove the starting deck Strikes and Defends when given the opportunity, allowing the better cards to appear in the player’s hand more often.

Make the Most of Excess Resources

For players who continually struggle with hoarding resources or are transitioning out of it, there are some strategies that make the most out of having excess gold, potions, and cards. Players that like to collect gold can take the Golden Idol relic, which has relatively safe negative consequences to choose from, to increase the amount of gold they gain from enemies. They can also commit to buying more expensive relics from shops, unless there really aren’t any good options, rather than worrying about whether or not a card is worth it. Players that like to collect potions can take the Potion Belt relic, which increases their potion holding capacity. They can also take the White Beast Statue relic, which ensures that each combat will have a potion reward, and the Alchemize card, which creates a potion, allowing them to keep their potions slots full while still using the potions to help them. Players that often have excess cards can prioritize power cards, which are removed from the deck once they are used. As combat goes on, players will be left with smaller decks, which can be helpful during longer fights. Prioritizing power cards also gives them the opportunity to stack power cards, taking multiple copies of the same card and potentially raising stats drastically. Some great stackable power cards are Metallicize for the Ironclad; Noxious Fumes, Footwork, and Accuracy for the Silent; and Capacitor and Self Repair for the Defect.

Start with Small Risks

Although it’s possible to win Slay the Spire with a cautious gameplay style, taking risks is a big part of the game, and slowly learning how to take those risks will help players improve. Players can start by taking small risks, like taking curses right before shops where they can remove them, or taking a card like Reckless Charge that creates an unplayable ethereal card, or taking boss relics with lesser drawbacks. If a run is going badly, they can abandon ship and choose a terrible option in a question mark room just to see how it goes, and they might learn something along the way. They can also have designated runs where their goal is to experiment with different play styles rather than win, potentially starting off with one of the starting offerings that also has a negative effect, or taking a swing at the Daily Runs. Higher Ascension levels and acts with no elite-free paths will make the game harder anyways, forcing players to adapt.

Conclusion: Don’t Sweat It

Taking risks can be difficult, even in video games, and if you don’t feel ready to dive in then don’t worry about it. You can avoid the elites, choose not to take boss relics, go to all the campfires, avoid enemy rooms, and still win. If you play the Watcher and find her too difficult, or if you don’t like playing one of the characters, you can just play the characters you like. Eventually, you’ll figure out what play style works best for you, and as you grow more comfortable with the game, you’ll also feel more comfortable taking risks. You might just end up surprising yourself!