Guide for Slay The Spire (2024)

Let's start by going through some basic concepts. If you've played Slay the Spire for any time you will probably know all of this, so feel free to skip to a more relevant section for you.

Slay the Spire (also StS or just Spire) is a roguelike deckbuilding card game. Your aim is to climb the mythical Spire, defeating enemies, claiming treasure, and powering up your abilities until you can defeat the final boss. You engage in combat by playing different cards to counter enemy attacks, power yourself up, and crush foes. You can obtain new cards and powerful relics through combats, shops, and events.

Because it is a roguelike, your progress is to some extent saved over each playthrough. However, this aspect of the game is only really relevant until you have unlocked everything you can by levelling up each character. You will find that soon you have unlocked your entire arsenal of cards and relics available from that given character, which is thereafter all randomly available through each playthrough.

This random aspect of the game is at once irritating and enlightening. Because no two runs will ever be the same, exactly what cards you are able and choose to pick up and play will vary each time. If you are going for the achievements it can be even more exasperating as one wrong card pickup can ruin your playthrough. But it also gives you the chance to try out new combos and synergies that you may not have thought of and that are even more powerful than your old favourites.

Card types

Each character has access to a set of cards that are specific to them. After each fight you are normally presented with a choice of three of these cards to choose from to add to your deck. There are three types of cards that will initially make up your deck: attack cards, skill cards, and power cards. Attack cards damage enemies. Skill cards often provide defence but frequently have extra effects such as drawing more or removing cards. Attack and skill cards typically only have an effect on the turn they are played. Power cards provide effects that last the entire combat, such as drawing an extra card every time you remove a card from your deck, and so on.

Starting cards are the cards that each character receives at the beginning of each run. Your starting cards will always be some Strikes and Defends and a couple of cards unique to your character. In general, because they are the weakest attack and skill cards, you want to remove and/or replace these Strikes and Defends as quickly as possible, because almost anything you get will be more useful, especially when starting a run. Shops and certain events can help you with this.

Cards cost from 0-5 energy. By default your character always starts with 3 energy per turn. Your energy can be increased by potions, cards, or relics. Managing your energy is essential in Spire. You need to try to synergise your cards with the amount of energy you have. If you only have three energy a turn there's normally not much point picking up a five energy card. And likewise, if you have lots of zero energy cost cards in your deck, you might find that it makes more sense avoiding extra sources of energy since often extra energy comes with a downside of some sort, or the effort spent in getting that extra energy could be used more wisely.

There are also cards that are common to all characters which include colourless cards, curses, and status cards.

Colourless cards are not normally available after combats but instead can be acquired from shops, events, or special relics or cards. Some colourless cards are incredibly useful, some are quite rubbish.

Curses, as the name suggests, are cards that have negative effects and stay in your deck. Sometimes curses cannot be removed from your deck at all. The negative effect could be as simple as clogging up your hand just by being there, but they can also make you lose health or something similar. Sometimes having curses can be a good thing, because some relics interact with them in a positive way, perhaps by giving you more strength the more curses you have. But generally they should be avoided.

Status cards are negative cards that enter your deck during combat. Generally, they cannot be played, and, like curses, might just clog up your hand or impose a worse effect on you. Like curses, they can be beneficial because some cards interact with them, for example by making every enemy take damage whenever you draw a status card. Generally status cards are unavoidable and you should try to remember which enemies create them and plan accordingly.

Because there are so many cards I cannot provide a complete guide to every card here, and in any case it would be quite useless as you'll need to practice with them and learn how they interact yourself to get the best out of them. However, I will note where certain effective synergies might be found if they help with specific achievements. Getting your cards working together is a vital part of playing Slay the Spire.

Potions

There are no achievements linked to potions but they are an important part of gameplay. There is a chance to be offered a potion after each combat and they can also be bought in shops, found in events, obtained through relics, or received through the Alchemize card. Potions are usable once and then disappear. Also, most of them can only be used in combat. Some of the potions are quite specific in their utility. For example, the potion called Smoke Bomb lets you escape a non-boss fight at the cost of not getting any rewards. Normally you would not want to use this because you need the rewards from combats. But it's always possible that your fight against an Elite starts going badly and this would then be an option. However, whether you want to use up one of your limited potions slots to keep a smoke bomb just in case is another question.

By default you have three potion slots until Ascension level 11 when that number is reduced to two. At this point, managing your potions becomes more important. One relic - Potion Belt - increases the number of potion slots by two.

One quick tip regarding potions is that, because of two specific relics that affect the power of your potions, you might not want to use them immediately. The relics are called Toy Ornithopter (gives you 5hp whenever you use a potion) and Sacred Bark (doubles the effects of potions). For example, if you have the Fruit Juice potion then you'll get +5 to your max HP when you use it. But it might be worth waiting to use it until either you find one of these relics or something better comes along, rather than using it immediately.

Another thing to consider with potions is that, although they are limited in number and use they are potentially very effective, so don't be afraid to use them if you need to. It's better to live to climb another floor than it is to not use a potion just in case. On the other hand, try to avoid using them unnecessarily in regular combats - it can be preferable to not use a potion and take a bit of damage instead, in order to keep the potion for an elite or boss.

Ascension levels

When you complete the third act with a character the first time, you will unlock Ascension 1. Completing the third act with Ascension 1 will unlock Ascension 2, and so on. There are achievements for unlocking Ascension 1, completing Ascension 10, and completing Ascension 20. Each Ascension level introduces a modifier to the gameplay that makes the game harder. So you have an idea of the difficulties you'll be facing, this is a list of the modifiers:

Ascension 1 - Elites spawn more often: There will be approximately 60% more Elites spawned in a map.

Ascension 2 - Normal enemies are deadlier: Normal enemies deal more damage with their attacks.

Ascension 3 - Elites are deadlier: Elites deal more damage with their attacks.

Ascension 4 - Bosses are deadlier: Bosses deal more damage with their attacks.

Ascension 5 - Heal less after Boss battles: Heal for 75% of missing health instead of 100%.

Ascension 6 - Start each run damaged: Lose 10% health at the start of each run.

Ascension 7 - Normal enemies are tougher: Normal enemies have more HP. Some gain higher Block. They are overall harder to take down.

Ascension 8 - Elites are tougher: Elites have more HP.

Ascension 9 - Bosses are tougher: Bosses have more HP. Some gain higher Block. They are overall harder to take down.

Ascension 10 - Start each run cursed: Obtain 1 Ascender's Bane at the start of each run (note: this is bad because it is just a dead card clogging up your hand but is useful because it procs curse-related relics - worth remembering, especially since this curse exhausts itself the first time it is played)

Ascension 11 - Start each run with 1 less potion slot.

Ascension 12 - Upgraded cards appear less often.

Ascension 13 - Poor bosses: Bosses drop 25% less gold

Ascension 14 - Lower max HP.

Ascension 15 - Unfavourable events: Many events have less positive outcomes and more severe consequences.

Ascension 16 - Shops are more costly: Everything costs 10% more.

Ascension 17 - Normal enemies have more challenging movesets and abilities.

Ascension 18 - Elites have more challenging movesets and abilities.

Ascension 19 - Bosses have more challenging movesets and abilities.

Ascension 20 - Double boss: Fight 2 bosses at the end of Act 3 (After you defeat the first boss that can be seen from the map, you will immediately enter a battle with a different Act 3 boss).

You can see that by the time you reach A20 the odds are stacked against you. This is one reason why I recommend going for the three Ascension-related achievements early since when you've completed A20, going back to easier levels will make the game a relative walk in the park and make it easier to concentrate on the cheevo goals you have left. Once you have the achievements for completing Act 3 on Ascension 1, 10 and 20 with any character, you can choose to play on any Ascension level you want, although for the purposes of some achievements a certain Ascension level may be recommended. Generally, Ascension 1 is a good level because you get more Elites and therefore more relics and money, and there is normally a way to avoid them if you don't feel like fighting them.

Floor types and ascending the Spire

Climbing the Spire entails working your way through up to four Acts, each of which consists of a number of paths consisting of fights, events, shops and treasure rooms and culminating in an Act boss. For most of the achievements you only need to defeat the boss at the end of the first three Acts. The fourth Act is optional and accessible with a character after you have completed the first three Acts one time with that character. There are always 50 rooms up to the Act 3 boss.

Each Act consists of a number of rooms that will be one of seven types:

• Unknown locations. Marked on the map with "?", these rooms will contain a combat, an event, a shop, or a treasure.
• Shop. Spend gold to add or remove cards and buy potions and relics.
• Treasure. A random relic and maybe some gold.
• Rest stop. Choose either to rest and gain health, upgrade a card, obtain a jewel (for reaching Act 4), or perhaps more depending on your relics.
• Enemy. Fight!
• Elite enemy. Scary fight!
• Boss. One of these at the end of each Act (two at the end of Act 3 on Ascension 20). Potentially very scary.

"?" locations often, but not always, contain events. There are 16 events that can be found in any Act, 16 that can be found only in Act 1, 16 that can be found only in Act 2, and 8 that can be found only in Act 3. Act 4 has no "?" rooms. Some events are good, some are bad, some offer a percentage chance of a good or bad outcome, and some offer a trade-off where you get something good but also something bad. As you play the game you will learn all of these, because of the many hours you will need to put in to get all the achievements.

At the beginning of each run, you will choose one of four characters. Initially, upon installing the game, you will only have the Ironclad unlocked. Upon attempting a run with Ironclad, the Silent will be unlocked. Attempting a run with the silent will unlock the Defect. Defeating an Act 3 boss with all three characters will unlock the final character, the Watcher.

When you have chosen your character you will speak to Neow, a whale-like NPC. The first time you meet her, and any subsequent times you meet her after dying on a run before meeting the Act 1 boss, she will offer you a choice of two blessings for you to choose one. If on your previous run you died after reaching the Act 1 boss or finished the game she will give you four choices. Choosing the correct blessing is very important as it will affect your entire run. Below is a list of the types of blessings you can obtain. Sometimes, you will have to lose money or health or get a curse in order to receive a blessing. But there are always two blessings that have no downside.

If you only have two choices they will always be:

• Max HP +8/6/7/7 (Ironclad/Silent/Defect/Watcher)
• Enemies in the next three combat will have one health

If you have four choices they will be from the two previous alternatives or from the below options:

• Remove a card.
• Transform a card.
• Upgrade a card.
• Choose a card to obtain.
• Choose an uncommon colorless card to obtain.
• Obtain a random rare card.
• Obtain a random common relic.
• Receive 100 gold.
• Obtain 3 random potions.

In order to save space in this walkthrough and to avoid it becoming a complete guide to playing this game, I recommend you have a look at THIS GUIDE which is intended for Ascension 20 level runs but the advice within it is equally relevant at any difficulty level. The linked guide also includes an analysis of Neow's blessings to help you choose the correct one for your current run. Perhaps understandably, that guide makes more sense when you've played a bit of the game and know the basics. Other guides are available.

When choosing your path you should consider that you need new cards in your deck as soon as possible, so choosing fights early and fighting at least 2 Elites in Act 1 is in general recommended.

Each character has an achievement for beating the Act 3 boss, and an achievement for beating the Act 4 boss. After you have the latter achievement for each character you do not have to play Act 4 again for the sake of any more achievements. There are also miscellaneous achievements, some which can only be obtained through one specific character, and some that in theory can be attained with any character but are much easier with a certain one. In this case I will include the achievement(s) on the relevant character's entry.

In order to reach the Act 4 boss with a given character, you first need to have completed the Act 3 boss with them, and then reclimb the spire while collecting three jewels - the Ruby from a rest site instead of resting or upgrading a card, the Emerald from a so-called "burning Elite" that you can recognise on the map thanks to the flames around it, and the Sapphire from a non-Boss chest instead of the relic contained within. After collecting all three and beating the Act 3 boss you will travel automatically to Act 4.

Once you have defeated the Act 3 boss with one character, you permanently unlock Ascension level 1 for that character. Doing the same on Ascension 1 will unlock Ascension 2, and so on. Each Ascension level makes the game harder by giving enemies more health or more powerful attacks, reducing your money, making more powerful enemies appear more often, etc. There is one achievement for beating an Act 3 boss on Ascension 20 with any character, the hardest difficulty level. Beyond that, you can choose to play on any Ascension level you want, although for the purposes of some achievements a certain Ascension level may be recommended.

There are many guides and videos available online to help you learn how to play Slay the Spire. You might want to consult The Slay the Spire Wiki for useful info, in particular if you need details about a specific enemy or card. Also, Spirelogs contains data about which cards have been used in the most succesful runs, so it could come in handy if you're not sure which cards might be most effective.

On YouTube, my favourite Spire content creator by far is Baalorlord. I have found his videos of run throughs, achievement guides, and tier lists extremely helpful and they have been directly responsible for helping me get several of the harder achievements. He is good because he goes into detail explaining how the game and the cards work in a way that other creators just don't. He also knows about some of the more obscure aspects of the game, like which events you are more likely to encounter at certain times, helping you plan your route more effectively. Other popular YouTubers include Northernlion and Jorbs. But my man Baalor is the best.

A note on save scumming

Yes, you can save scum in this game in many situations. By pressing , then , then you can frequently save yourself from failing a run or give yourself an advantage in other ways depending on the circ*mstances. Of course, this method of cheesing the game is frowned upon by many, being more of a Gorgonzola than Edam. However, if you're going for the achievements and want to make your life easier the method is there.

Save scumming is particularly useful if you are going to lose a fight, because you can restart the fight with no penalties and try playing your cards in different combos. Although it's a bit cheesy it is also a very good way to learn how to play the game and how different combos give different effects. Also, if you are offered a choice of cards or relics and you don't like the choice, save scumming won't give you a new set of choices but it might mean you can take an alternative option.

For example, at the beginning of each run you can choose a reward from Neow, the big whale-like creature. If she offers you a choice of three cards you can have a look at them and if you don't like any of them you can reload before you select one and choose another reward. But if it says obtain a card then you receive a random card automatically and cannot reload to change it. Another example is an event where you can choose either one of a number of cards or extra health. You can have a look at the available cards, and if you don't like them you can reload and take the health instead. Or, if you see a relic such as Orrery (choose five cards to add to your deck) in a shop, you can buy it, look at the options, and if there's nothing you like don't leave the shop and reload using the above method. Then you save your money and can buy something else, leaving the Orrery well alone.

Many achievements are made much easier using this cheese.

Without further ado, let's look at the bosses.

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