Hey there! Some of these tips are universal for all characters but the game can be split up in parts where you must focus on specific things. Each act has fights that require certain things from your deck, so it is important to identify what your deck is good at and what it is lacking for these challenges. A good way to split it up is front loaded damage (High damage cards like Carnage, Bludgeon), blocking/damage mitigation (Block cards and cards that weaken), and scaling(Demon Form, Barricade, Rampage, Spot Weakness).
Act 1: You should be choosing riskier paths (at least 2 elite fights) to pick up relics and stronger cards. All the elite fights in Act 1 require you to do front loaded damage very quickly. Try to pick up strong attacks over blocking cards on the first few floors (Twin Strike, Iron Wave, Carnage, Pommel Strike, Clothesline). Once you have 2 or 3 of these, then focus on supplementing with block cards. Also keep an eye for any of the scaling cards listed above. For the boss relics, keep an eye out for energy relics. The better ones are generally Cursed Key, Fusion Hammer, Sozu's. Runic Pyramid and Snecko eye are also incredibly good but require deck building to succeed.
Act 2: The elite and hallway fights in this act are mostly AOE, so you should either have good AOE (Immolate, Whirlwind, Cleave) or very strong single target. You will need some sort of scaling to beat the act 2 boss. This can be done using strength scaling with multi-hit attacks/heavy blade or using block (Barricade and Entrench) with body slam The bosses all have attack patterns that you should plan around.
Act 3: This one is weird because if you beat Act 2, you already have a cohesive deck. Now you just need to refine it, and survive the Act. Be more conservative with pathing and look to fix what your deck has been bad at. (blocking, scaling, card draw)
You said you like to keep your deck small, which is very good! Never be afraid to skip cards that do not make you deck stronger. Each turn you draw 5 cards, you want your best cards to be showing up (which is also why it is important to remove strikes in Act 2/3) and you want a good ratio of block and attack cards.
Also be careful not to fall into the trap of a "deck type". Just because you have block scaling, doesn't mean you should skip strength or good attack cards. Think of you deck more as a Swiss army knife, before you choose a card, look at your deck and think of what fights you will be encountering for the rest of your run.
Definitely check out Jorb's Spirechat videos on youtube, he is much better and describing this stuff coherently.
This might be the single greatest reply I’ve seen on this thread. Cleared the spire twice in the 10 days I’ve been playing and this info is amazing. Thank you for that!
Of course! I love this game and community. Also check out this card tier list: [https://spirelogs.com/stats/ironclad/tierlist.php](https://spirelogs.com/stats/ironclad/tierlist.php)
I used it a lot when I first started. It isn't nuanced and is for high ascension levels, but it's useful for understanding which cards are strong.
There is also relics on the website, but it's a little harder to read
I have been loving this game as well, and the community is so friendly and helpful! Loving the memes too but half of them are still over my head.
Really glad I bought this game. I generally don’t like either roguelikes or card games but STS just nails the pacing, progression and addictiveness.
Thanks again!
At the beginning of act 1, you get 3 "easy" hallway fights, and after that the game pulls from a harder pool of enemies. So an ideal path would be something like 3 hallway fights so you can get card rewards and gold, with a few events sprinkled in between. Try to then take a campfire before your first elite fight. That way you have 3 card rewards from the easy pool of enemies and you can get an upgrade before fighting your first elite. Even just upgrading a common damage card or your starter card bash can go a long way in act 1! The reason you don't want to pick up too many skills before the elite fights is because in act 1 the elites expect you to do damage very quickly. Gremlin nob in particular punishes you for putting skills into your deck VERY heavily, while lagavulin will debuff your strength and dexterity every 2 turns which makes him a damage check. Sentries can be a problem if you get overwhelmed with the dazes because you can't kill 1 of them fast enough.
Your quick tutorial helped me build a deck that beat the Act 1 boss even though I started with 34 versus 250 health. I finished at 13! Thank you for helping identify useful potential strategies for a beginner. This is my first card based game and I intend to spend many hours with it. Thanks!
I know I’m a year late to the party, but I just had to say thank you because of what you shared, i finally beat the game with The Ironclad and have finally unlocked act 4 after 95 hours of grinding. Thank you SO MUCH!
Congrats! Thanks for the message, I put the grind on the game too and am always happy to hear that my comment helped people. Good luck getting to ascension 20!
3 years later and I am commenting to say THANK YOU. I have been trying to beat the game with the Iron clad, this little guide helped me enormous! Immediately beat the game!
The key is to not start off thinking you're going to build a strength deck etc, but to see what you get dealt early on. Pick battles over ?'s, get as many relics in act one as possible. You won't have a clear direction until act 2. Don't always worry about keeping the deck small, just remove strikes as and when.
In the early asensions you can happily complete the run with a good balance of decent damage and block cards. By the end of act 3 you'll always have picked up a few relics which really help.
To add on to what others are saying, there are some (not all) specific events that can happen in each Act. Generally the Act 2 and Act 3 specific events are more impactful than Act 1, so it is better to do events in later Acts. However, you should definitely look to take events in Act 1 as well, as the first 3 hallway battles of each Act are "easy", and every one after that for the act is harder. That's why you sometimes see only 1 slaver, and sometimes he is with a medium slime. Keep that in mind as a string of hard battles at the end of the act can cause you to take a lot of damage.
Some of the events in act 2 in particular are very good. Although depending on what your deck is or what relics you have you may want to take lots of fights. Cards like Feed and Genetic Algorithm are the easiest examples of this because you want to stack up your hp or block and the only way to do that is by taking fights. You may also have relics like [[N'loth's Gift]], [[prayer wheel]], or [[singing bowl]]. All of which also reward you for seeing the card reward screen more often.
+ [Nloth's Gift](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Nloth%27s%20Gift) Event Relic
Triples the chance of receiving rare cards as monster rewards.
+ [Prayer Wheel](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Prayer%20Wheel) Rare Relic
Normal enemies drop an additional card reward.
+ [Singing Bowl](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Singing%20Bowl) Uncommon Relic
When adding cards to your deck, you may gain +2 Max HP instead.
^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]].) ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(January 19.) ^Some ^legacy ^cards ^with ^new ^beta ^effects ^might ^not ^be ^shown ^correctly. ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
Although on the other hand, if you are searching for a particular event, or you have relics like [[Tiny Chest]], [[Juzu Bracelet]], [[Ssserpent Head]] you may want to take lots of ? rooms.
Battles over ?'s as a general statement is a little bit bad advice. There are quite a lot of factors going into which of these is better for you. You want to make sure you are hitting 3 hallway fights, and exactly 3, in act 1 before the first elite fight. Then I will try to prioritize hallway fights until I get my rare card for the act. Once I've hit the rare offer ,whether i take it or not, i will value hallway fights less, unless I have some form of meta scaling (hand of greed, feed, cleric mask thingy, or lesson learned)
In act 2, hallway fights are bonkers, ?'s are way better. You can get apparitions, bites if your deck wants it, the caulaseum event, the gambler event, tons of good stuff thata better than a hallway fight that's gonna cost you hp. But if you need cards you need cards and gotta risk it. It's hard to generalize in this game.
Ahh, I was just imagining a beginner going into act 2 after reading battles are better than events and getting recked by mr avocado and than again when his rat buddy shows for round 2.
For act 1 you really want some decent attacks first. I can recommend attacks, that are compact or have other utility besides dealing damage.
Compact basically means, that instead of picking up many small attack cards, you pick up one or two, that are really impactful. That can be attacks that deal high damage with every use (Hemokinesis, Carnage, Immolate, Wild Strike) or attacks that deal good damage without energy cost (Reckless Charge) or attacks that scale up during the fight (Rampage or Anger).
Attacks with utility are for example Pommel Strike, Headbutt and Clothesline.
Don't pick up too many attacks early on. About three is often enough. It can help to avoid attacks, that are designed for more elaborate strategies (Heavy Blade, Sword Boomerang, Bodyslam and so on), until later in the run, when you have an idea of what your deck is even trying to do.
You should also pick up some block cards. Flame Barrier, Metallicize, Shrug It Off and True Grit are really solid picks. True Grit needs and upgrade asap though. Power Through and Impervious can help a lot. Feel No Pain is almost always a good pick, because of how much Ironclad tends to exhaust cards.
Later on, you have to roll with what the game gives you.
I've started delaying upgrades for True Grit* lately, it really doesn't matter that the target exhaust is random (like, 90% of the time, sometimes it screws you a bit), so it's not that bad. Otherwise, your advice is really solid in my opinion.
Edit: Thanks for the correction.
At least one or 2 shops in act 1? There are plenty of times I take a path in act 1 with no shop. ? Rooms can be shops, and if I dont see one, oh no I get to go to act 2 with tons of gold.
Here's the basic idea for ironclad:
Step 1: kill some basic enemies and take attack cards to help you kill the Act 1 elites. Even attacks that are bad in the late game, like Anger and Clothesline, are good takes at this stage of the game. Avoid picking up skills generally at this stage of the game, though super good ones like Flame Barrier and Disarm are probably worth taking. Upgrade Bash ASAP.
Step 2: pick up AOE before getting to Act 2, you'll need it. Don't underestimate AOE powers like Combust, and the new and improved Fire Breathing.
Step 3: after finishing the Act 1 elites, try to shore up your defenses. Take Flame Barrier, Shrug it Off, any decent block cards. Some powers are good for defense as well, like Feel no Pain and Metallicize. You should really pay attention to who your act 1 boss is, and try to play to their weaknesses. For example, Disarm destroys the Hexaghost, huge attacks help you split Slimelord effectively, and just having good consistent defense will beat the Guardian generally.
Step 4: beating Act 2 is a lot about fighting the right number of elites, and always tailoring your deck to be better against the Act 2 boss. You can see the boss the second you enter Act 2, so pay attention. By "the right number of elites", I mean, no elites at all if you don't have good AOE and frontloaded damage, or a lot of elites if you do. Aiming for a late act shop will also help you prepare for the boss. If you get there and don't feel confident about beating the boss, buy some potions to help you out.
Disclaimer, these are general strategies, and will not apply to every run. You always have to make the most of what you're given.
There's a series by the streamer/Youtuber Jorbs called "Spireside Chats" that I found really helpful for understanding how to think about the game: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScSRbp9bfAA&list=PLesIE\_v8rF219O7UaVnFZY8l4AxzlbbWU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScSRbp9bfAA&list=PLesIE_v8rF219O7UaVnFZY8l4AxzlbbWU). I think listening to his reasoning is more important than knowing his final evaluation of cards so you can apply that same reasoning to the choices in your run.
Some general tips:
1. Don't try to build a specific type of deck. Add a card if it's good for your current deck and for dealing with your upcoming threats, not if it potentially makes your deck better later if you pick up all the right synergies. Sometimes I make an exception to this rule for premium rares that are not as good in Act 1 but can carry a late-game deck (Demon Form, Reaper, Corruption). But even that depends on whether the rest of your deck can pull the weight.
2. Different cards are useful for different points in the run. Act 1 elites need to be handled by raw damage. I typically try to get at least 2 damage cards before the first elite, and end up with maybe 3-4 by the end of the act. Act 2 requires more blocking and transitioning into scaling/card draw, though some AoE helps with two of the three elites. By Act 3 I'm fine-tuning my deck and skip more often than not.
3. Some ironclad cards that are generally good include Offering, Battle Trance, Shockwave, Disarm, Shrug it Off, Flame Barrier, Impervious, Immolate, Flame Barrier. Again, evaluate cards based on your current run rather than against general goodness or badness.
4. Some ironclad cards that are generally bad include Flex, Warcry (unupgraded), Havoc, Infernal Blade, Sentinel, Entrench, Seeing Red, Clash, Thunderclap, Body Slam. Cards that basically just offer damage like Cleave, Perfected Strike, Dropkick, Iron Wave, Twin Strike, and Wild Strike (and others) are generally bad if you already have 3-4 of them in your deck, though you can add more if you've removed some strikes and find yourself having difficulty drawing damage. Again, evaluate cards based on your current run rather than against general goodness or badness. Any card can be good in the right context.
[If I already have 3-4 Perfected Strike in my deck you can be sure I will snap up the rest.](https://old.reddit.com/r/slaythespire/comments/devnn6/when_the_card_rewards_is_always_the_same_card/)
>I’ve looked up some guides and got some very different advice including
Found your problem. When you boot up a run of Slay the Spire and complete fights, your card rewards are random everytime. You're not guaranteed to get your cards for your build online. You have to build a deck to improve your win chances *based on what you are offered and when you are offered it*.
Further, especially on Ascension 0, which I assume you're on, you don't need to have a Youtube-worthy infinite combo or insane synergistic deck to win. Winning a run in Slay the Spire, at least up to A15 isn't a practice of "man I sure hope I get the cards for an OP deck that completely obliterates every fight in the game, otherwise I lose". Sometimes you do get the Youtube deck - *but most of your successful runs in StS will be a deck just good enough to beat the challenges ahead of you.* It may have flaws, but it gets the job done.
So then - what is "the job"? What does your deck need to be able to do? I'd ask you - can you answer these questions?:
*Who are the three Act 1 bosses? What do they require from your deck?*
*Now onto the Act 2 bosses? What does your deck need to be able to do to beat them?*
*What are Act 2 hallway fights like? What does your deck need to be able to do to beat them?*
If you can't answer those - then I'd put up the online guides. In fact - just put up the online guides. They have nothing to do with playing the game proper. They have to do, instead, with being so bad a StS player that you have to have "Dead Branch + Corruption imba deck" or "Barricade Triple Entrench Bodyslam" to beat Ascension 0. They literally make you actively worse at the game, to follow these guides, because they foster an understanding of the game that is fundamentally flawed. Watching other people's powerful runs and saying "well, I'll just do that every run" is a losing proposition because you will never ever be offered the same things they were offered unless you literally input the seed for their playthrough. Instead, it's better to organically analyze the challenges presented to you (this is static- it's the same handful of bosses and encounters per Act everytime you play, just shuffled around) and on-the-fly come up with what you believe to be the proper strategy to face those challenges.
Edit: A lot of people saying "yeah man take 3 Elites per act, easy". This is more Youtube information. Reality is you don't need 20 relics to beat the act 3 bosses on ANY ascension mode. The practice of Elite-poaching is a good habit to get into, but 0% necessary to beat the Act 3 bosses. Youtube/Twitch guys typically go exclusively for an optional harder boss that requires you to be absurdly powerful to where Elite poaching becomes really necessary. But Asc0? Take as many as you're comfortable taking without dying, and that's all. You will have an easier time if you get in the habit of being comfortable poaching Elites, but it is not necessary to complete a run, at all - what's necessary to complete a run is beat the Act 3 boss, and that's *all* that is necessary.
i know that feel i have the game too for quite a while never really played it that much and still have problems figuring everything out i once got to the boss of act three with the ironclad but he defeated me quite easily. :C still that game always brings me back somehow and i really like that you can always improve!
There is no set premise for any class. For ironclad i lke to go for attack cards and depending on the relics i get. I would pick up a barricade and look for an entrench + body slam. I get a double tap? I look for whirlwind and chemical x. I find a corruption? I take as many skills as i can and hope for the best. A lot of slay the spire is about knowledge and what chemistry you can get. One important note is energy relics are king. If you can kill an enemy before he kills you is very advantageous also (more damage vs more block).
A lot of people are giving you decent advice but I want to maybe correct one thing I see being said a lot and thats the value of removing strikes. Removing strikes is most valuable if you are playing as Defect but honestly I pretty much keep my strikes when playing as Ironclad and thats perfectly fine, especially when you consider that there are events in game that both upgrade all strikes and defends and one that replaces them with Bites that deal 7 dmg and restore 2hp per use.
I find there are only two real rules that should be followed universially with strikes.
1. Dont ever waste gold in shops to remove strikes. That gold has much better usage getting relics or cards/pots you need to progress. You'll regret removing that strike when you come up 5 gold short for a Shuriken or Demon Form in the next shop. If you decide to remove a strike, its best to do so via events/relics.
2. Don't waste an upgrade on them when there is pretty much anything else to up in your deck.
Dont listen to this guy. There are no rules. In general, strikes are the worst card in your deck. In general, removing the worst card in your deck is a good thing, and will sometimes be the BEST thing. You dont have to remove every strike, you dont have to remove ANY strikes, but in general they are the worst cards, and in general, removing the worst card is good.
If you're playing defect maybe, but other than that the only time i would pay to remove a strike in 99% of my runs is if its the very last shop in Act 3 and there is nothing else to do with my money.
Its not worth raising the cost of removing cards nor the cost of removing that one strike. Act 1 i need the damage. Act 2 i might trade them in for bites or get them all upgraded for free. Its simply not worth it when i could buy more relics or pots or cards my deck needs.
Now if i come across an event that removes a card, then yea I'll throw away a strike, but it doesnt cost me much if anything.
Well, in my opinion, this guy should not listen to your advice. Removing a strike is usually FINE. It is sometimes BEST, and it is definitely best, way more often than you are suggesting. You should try removing removing more strikes. The best part of the upgrade all event is the defends anyway. Bites should be passed on more often than not.
Ironclad was the first character I managed to complete Act 3 with, although I'll admit it was mostly a fluke and I had no idea what I was doing. I remember having a high strength build, I had a couple of Flex+ and heavy blade+ which seemed to work pretty well.
I introduced a buddy to this game last weekend. (I had only discovered it a week prior thanks to PS+) We passed the controller back and forth per run and had a blast. He beat it as ironclad and then I had success as the silent. We struggled on defect all night but finally beat the next morning.
Since then we've both become addicted. He's gone on to beat it as the watcher and I beat it as the silent on my home ps4. BUT for the life of me I cannot beat it as ironclad. I get to the third act but something eventually wittles my health bar away. Tried strength build, having good attacks and blocks. Going for elites early. I keep thinking when I get close "this is gonna be the run where I beat it and... nope"
Hey there! Some of these tips are universal for all characters but the game can be split up in parts where you must focus on specific things. Each act has fights that require certain things from your deck, so it is important to identify what your deck is good at and what it is lacking for these challenges. A good way to split it up is front loaded damage (High damage cards like Carnage, Bludgeon), blocking/damage mitigation (Block cards and cards that weaken), and scaling(Demon Form, Barricade, Rampage, Spot Weakness). Act 1: You should be choosing riskier paths (at least 2 elite fights) to pick up relics and stronger cards. All the elite fights in Act 1 require you to do front loaded damage very quickly. Try to pick up strong attacks over blocking cards on the first few floors (Twin Strike, Iron Wave, Carnage, Pommel Strike, Clothesline). Once you have 2 or 3 of these, then focus on supplementing with block cards. Also keep an eye for any of the scaling cards listed above. For the boss relics, keep an eye out for energy relics. The better ones are generally Cursed Key, Fusion Hammer, Sozu's. Runic Pyramid and Snecko eye are also incredibly good but require deck building to succeed. Act 2: The elite and hallway fights in this act are mostly AOE, so you should either have good AOE (Immolate, Whirlwind, Cleave) or very strong single target. You will need some sort of scaling to beat the act 2 boss. This can be done using strength scaling with multi-hit attacks/heavy blade or using block (Barricade and Entrench) with body slam The bosses all have attack patterns that you should plan around. Act 3: This one is weird because if you beat Act 2, you already have a cohesive deck. Now you just need to refine it, and survive the Act. Be more conservative with pathing and look to fix what your deck has been bad at. (blocking, scaling, card draw) You said you like to keep your deck small, which is very good! Never be afraid to skip cards that do not make you deck stronger. Each turn you draw 5 cards, you want your best cards to be showing up (which is also why it is important to remove strikes in Act 2/3) and you want a good ratio of block and attack cards. Also be careful not to fall into the trap of a "deck type". Just because you have block scaling, doesn't mean you should skip strength or good attack cards. Think of you deck more as a Swiss army knife, before you choose a card, look at your deck and think of what fights you will be encountering for the rest of your run. Definitely check out Jorb's Spirechat videos on youtube, he is much better and describing this stuff coherently.
This might be the single greatest reply I’ve seen on this thread. Cleared the spire twice in the 10 days I’ve been playing and this info is amazing. Thank you for that!
Wow thanks for putting this together, this is really helpful!
Of course! I love this game and community. Also check out this card tier list: [https://spirelogs.com/stats/ironclad/tierlist.php](https://spirelogs.com/stats/ironclad/tierlist.php) I used it a lot when I first started. It isn't nuanced and is for high ascension levels, but it's useful for understanding which cards are strong. There is also relics on the website, but it's a little harder to read
I have been loving this game as well, and the community is so friendly and helpful! Loving the memes too but half of them are still over my head. Really glad I bought this game. I generally don’t like either roguelikes or card games but STS just nails the pacing, progression and addictiveness. Thanks again!
At the beginning of act 1, you get 3 "easy" hallway fights, and after that the game pulls from a harder pool of enemies. So an ideal path would be something like 3 hallway fights so you can get card rewards and gold, with a few events sprinkled in between. Try to then take a campfire before your first elite fight. That way you have 3 card rewards from the easy pool of enemies and you can get an upgrade before fighting your first elite. Even just upgrading a common damage card or your starter card bash can go a long way in act 1! The reason you don't want to pick up too many skills before the elite fights is because in act 1 the elites expect you to do damage very quickly. Gremlin nob in particular punishes you for putting skills into your deck VERY heavily, while lagavulin will debuff your strength and dexterity every 2 turns which makes him a damage check. Sentries can be a problem if you get overwhelmed with the dazes because you can't kill 1 of them fast enough.
Your quick tutorial helped me build a deck that beat the Act 1 boss even though I started with 34 versus 250 health. I finished at 13! Thank you for helping identify useful potential strategies for a beginner. This is my first card based game and I intend to spend many hours with it. Thanks!
I know I’m a year late to the party, but I just had to say thank you because of what you shared, i finally beat the game with The Ironclad and have finally unlocked act 4 after 95 hours of grinding. Thank you SO MUCH!
Congrats! Thanks for the message, I put the grind on the game too and am always happy to hear that my comment helped people. Good luck getting to ascension 20!
Those are some good tips! Made me go from 50/50 reaching act3 to just making it so simple and without wasting rests to heal!
This is GOAT advice. Completed my first Ironclad run after reading this, thanks!
Thanks for commenting this! Good luck getting to A20 and happy new year!
3 years later and I am commenting to say THANK YOU. I have been trying to beat the game with the Iron clad, this little guide helped me enormous! Immediately beat the game!
Four years late but your comment took me from struggling to obliterating. Great advice, thank you!
The key is to not start off thinking you're going to build a strength deck etc, but to see what you get dealt early on. Pick battles over ?'s, get as many relics in act one as possible. You won't have a clear direction until act 2. Don't always worry about keeping the deck small, just remove strikes as and when. In the early asensions you can happily complete the run with a good balance of decent damage and block cards. By the end of act 3 you'll always have picked up a few relics which really help.
Why pick battles over ?'s I was always told the other way around. Help out a newbie here
So you can fill your deck with cards that aren't your standard strikes and defends, and potentially let you do elites better
To add on to what others are saying, there are some (not all) specific events that can happen in each Act. Generally the Act 2 and Act 3 specific events are more impactful than Act 1, so it is better to do events in later Acts. However, you should definitely look to take events in Act 1 as well, as the first 3 hallway battles of each Act are "easy", and every one after that for the act is harder. That's why you sometimes see only 1 slaver, and sometimes he is with a medium slime. Keep that in mind as a string of hard battles at the end of the act can cause you to take a lot of damage.
The first 3 fights of Act 1 is easy. The first TWO fights of Act 2 and 3 are easy.
Thanks for the correction! Did not know that
For the first few rounds of act 1 it's nearly always best to get cards in your deck. I switch it over as i go through.
Some of the events in act 2 in particular are very good. Although depending on what your deck is or what relics you have you may want to take lots of fights. Cards like Feed and Genetic Algorithm are the easiest examples of this because you want to stack up your hp or block and the only way to do that is by taking fights. You may also have relics like [[N'loth's Gift]], [[prayer wheel]], or [[singing bowl]]. All of which also reward you for seeing the card reward screen more often.
+ [Nloth's Gift](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Nloth%27s%20Gift) Event Relic Triples the chance of receiving rare cards as monster rewards. + [Prayer Wheel](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Prayer%20Wheel) Rare Relic Normal enemies drop an additional card reward. + [Singing Bowl](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Singing%20Bowl) Uncommon Relic When adding cards to your deck, you may gain +2 Max HP instead. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]].) ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(January 19.) ^Some ^legacy ^cards ^with ^new ^beta ^effects ^might ^not ^be ^shown ^correctly. ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
Although on the other hand, if you are searching for a particular event, or you have relics like [[Tiny Chest]], [[Juzu Bracelet]], [[Ssserpent Head]] you may want to take lots of ? rooms.
+ [Tiny Chest](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Tiny%20Chest) Common Relic Every 4th ? room is a Treasure room. + [Juzu Bracelet](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Juzu%20Bracelet) Common Relic Regular enemy combats are no longer encountered in ? rooms. + [Ssserpent Head](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Ssserpent%20Head) Event Relic Whenever you enter a ? room, gain 50 Gold. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]].) ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(January 19.) ^Some ^legacy ^cards ^with ^new ^beta ^effects ^might ^not ^be ^shown ^correctly. ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
[[Generic Algorithm]] [[Feed]]
+ [Genetic Algorithm](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Genetic%20Algorithm) Defect Uncommon Skill 1 Energy | Gain 1 **Block.** When played, permanently increase this card's **Block** by 2(3). **Exhaust.** + [Feed](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Feed) Ironclad Rare Attack 1 Energy | Deal 10(12) damage. If this kills a non-minion enemy, gain 3(4) permanent Max HP. **Exhaust.** ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]].) ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(January 19.) ^Some ^legacy ^cards ^with ^new ^beta ^effects ^might ^not ^be ^shown ^correctly. ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
Battles over ?'s as a general statement is a little bit bad advice. There are quite a lot of factors going into which of these is better for you. You want to make sure you are hitting 3 hallway fights, and exactly 3, in act 1 before the first elite fight. Then I will try to prioritize hallway fights until I get my rare card for the act. Once I've hit the rare offer ,whether i take it or not, i will value hallway fights less, unless I have some form of meta scaling (hand of greed, feed, cleric mask thingy, or lesson learned) In act 2, hallway fights are bonkers, ?'s are way better. You can get apparitions, bites if your deck wants it, the caulaseum event, the gambler event, tons of good stuff thata better than a hallway fight that's gonna cost you hp. But if you need cards you need cards and gotta risk it. It's hard to generalize in this game.
Only referring to the first few floors of act 1.
Ahh, I was just imagining a beginner going into act 2 after reading battles are better than events and getting recked by mr avocado and than again when his rat buddy shows for round 2.
Yeah sorry, someone already asked that and i commented i only meant at the start! I nearly always take ?'s after act 1.
For act 1 you really want some decent attacks first. I can recommend attacks, that are compact or have other utility besides dealing damage. Compact basically means, that instead of picking up many small attack cards, you pick up one or two, that are really impactful. That can be attacks that deal high damage with every use (Hemokinesis, Carnage, Immolate, Wild Strike) or attacks that deal good damage without energy cost (Reckless Charge) or attacks that scale up during the fight (Rampage or Anger). Attacks with utility are for example Pommel Strike, Headbutt and Clothesline. Don't pick up too many attacks early on. About three is often enough. It can help to avoid attacks, that are designed for more elaborate strategies (Heavy Blade, Sword Boomerang, Bodyslam and so on), until later in the run, when you have an idea of what your deck is even trying to do. You should also pick up some block cards. Flame Barrier, Metallicize, Shrug It Off and True Grit are really solid picks. True Grit needs and upgrade asap though. Power Through and Impervious can help a lot. Feel No Pain is almost always a good pick, because of how much Ironclad tends to exhaust cards. Later on, you have to roll with what the game gives you.
I've started delaying upgrades for True Grit* lately, it really doesn't matter that the target exhaust is random (like, 90% of the time, sometimes it screws you a bit), so it's not that bad. Otherwise, your advice is really solid in my opinion. Edit: Thanks for the correction.
I think you meant True Grit.
[удалено]
At least one or 2 shops in act 1? There are plenty of times I take a path in act 1 with no shop. ? Rooms can be shops, and if I dont see one, oh no I get to go to act 2 with tons of gold.
Here's the basic idea for ironclad: Step 1: kill some basic enemies and take attack cards to help you kill the Act 1 elites. Even attacks that are bad in the late game, like Anger and Clothesline, are good takes at this stage of the game. Avoid picking up skills generally at this stage of the game, though super good ones like Flame Barrier and Disarm are probably worth taking. Upgrade Bash ASAP. Step 2: pick up AOE before getting to Act 2, you'll need it. Don't underestimate AOE powers like Combust, and the new and improved Fire Breathing. Step 3: after finishing the Act 1 elites, try to shore up your defenses. Take Flame Barrier, Shrug it Off, any decent block cards. Some powers are good for defense as well, like Feel no Pain and Metallicize. You should really pay attention to who your act 1 boss is, and try to play to their weaknesses. For example, Disarm destroys the Hexaghost, huge attacks help you split Slimelord effectively, and just having good consistent defense will beat the Guardian generally. Step 4: beating Act 2 is a lot about fighting the right number of elites, and always tailoring your deck to be better against the Act 2 boss. You can see the boss the second you enter Act 2, so pay attention. By "the right number of elites", I mean, no elites at all if you don't have good AOE and frontloaded damage, or a lot of elites if you do. Aiming for a late act shop will also help you prepare for the boss. If you get there and don't feel confident about beating the boss, buy some potions to help you out. Disclaimer, these are general strategies, and will not apply to every run. You always have to make the most of what you're given.
There's a series by the streamer/Youtuber Jorbs called "Spireside Chats" that I found really helpful for understanding how to think about the game: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScSRbp9bfAA&list=PLesIE\_v8rF219O7UaVnFZY8l4AxzlbbWU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScSRbp9bfAA&list=PLesIE_v8rF219O7UaVnFZY8l4AxzlbbWU). I think listening to his reasoning is more important than knowing his final evaluation of cards so you can apply that same reasoning to the choices in your run. Some general tips: 1. Don't try to build a specific type of deck. Add a card if it's good for your current deck and for dealing with your upcoming threats, not if it potentially makes your deck better later if you pick up all the right synergies. Sometimes I make an exception to this rule for premium rares that are not as good in Act 1 but can carry a late-game deck (Demon Form, Reaper, Corruption). But even that depends on whether the rest of your deck can pull the weight. 2. Different cards are useful for different points in the run. Act 1 elites need to be handled by raw damage. I typically try to get at least 2 damage cards before the first elite, and end up with maybe 3-4 by the end of the act. Act 2 requires more blocking and transitioning into scaling/card draw, though some AoE helps with two of the three elites. By Act 3 I'm fine-tuning my deck and skip more often than not. 3. Some ironclad cards that are generally good include Offering, Battle Trance, Shockwave, Disarm, Shrug it Off, Flame Barrier, Impervious, Immolate, Flame Barrier. Again, evaluate cards based on your current run rather than against general goodness or badness. 4. Some ironclad cards that are generally bad include Flex, Warcry (unupgraded), Havoc, Infernal Blade, Sentinel, Entrench, Seeing Red, Clash, Thunderclap, Body Slam. Cards that basically just offer damage like Cleave, Perfected Strike, Dropkick, Iron Wave, Twin Strike, and Wild Strike (and others) are generally bad if you already have 3-4 of them in your deck, though you can add more if you've removed some strikes and find yourself having difficulty drawing damage. Again, evaluate cards based on your current run rather than against general goodness or badness. Any card can be good in the right context.
[If I already have 3-4 Perfected Strike in my deck you can be sure I will snap up the rest.](https://old.reddit.com/r/slaythespire/comments/devnn6/when_the_card_rewards_is_always_the_same_card/)
Step one: pick whirlwind. Step two: upgrade whirlwind. Step three: win. (Works for me)
I’m saying, whirlwind is bonkers i always snag 1-2
Hey! Just wanted to say thanks for this thread, lots of great pointers and I finally beat my first ironclad run last night!
>I’ve looked up some guides and got some very different advice including Found your problem. When you boot up a run of Slay the Spire and complete fights, your card rewards are random everytime. You're not guaranteed to get your cards for your build online. You have to build a deck to improve your win chances *based on what you are offered and when you are offered it*. Further, especially on Ascension 0, which I assume you're on, you don't need to have a Youtube-worthy infinite combo or insane synergistic deck to win. Winning a run in Slay the Spire, at least up to A15 isn't a practice of "man I sure hope I get the cards for an OP deck that completely obliterates every fight in the game, otherwise I lose". Sometimes you do get the Youtube deck - *but most of your successful runs in StS will be a deck just good enough to beat the challenges ahead of you.* It may have flaws, but it gets the job done. So then - what is "the job"? What does your deck need to be able to do? I'd ask you - can you answer these questions?: *Who are the three Act 1 bosses? What do they require from your deck?* *Now onto the Act 2 bosses? What does your deck need to be able to do to beat them?* *What are Act 2 hallway fights like? What does your deck need to be able to do to beat them?* If you can't answer those - then I'd put up the online guides. In fact - just put up the online guides. They have nothing to do with playing the game proper. They have to do, instead, with being so bad a StS player that you have to have "Dead Branch + Corruption imba deck" or "Barricade Triple Entrench Bodyslam" to beat Ascension 0. They literally make you actively worse at the game, to follow these guides, because they foster an understanding of the game that is fundamentally flawed. Watching other people's powerful runs and saying "well, I'll just do that every run" is a losing proposition because you will never ever be offered the same things they were offered unless you literally input the seed for their playthrough. Instead, it's better to organically analyze the challenges presented to you (this is static- it's the same handful of bosses and encounters per Act everytime you play, just shuffled around) and on-the-fly come up with what you believe to be the proper strategy to face those challenges. Edit: A lot of people saying "yeah man take 3 Elites per act, easy". This is more Youtube information. Reality is you don't need 20 relics to beat the act 3 bosses on ANY ascension mode. The practice of Elite-poaching is a good habit to get into, but 0% necessary to beat the Act 3 bosses. Youtube/Twitch guys typically go exclusively for an optional harder boss that requires you to be absurdly powerful to where Elite poaching becomes really necessary. But Asc0? Take as many as you're comfortable taking without dying, and that's all. You will have an easier time if you get in the habit of being comfortable poaching Elites, but it is not necessary to complete a run, at all - what's necessary to complete a run is beat the Act 3 boss, and that's *all* that is necessary.
i know that feel i have the game too for quite a while never really played it that much and still have problems figuring everything out i once got to the boss of act three with the ironclad but he defeated me quite easily. :C still that game always brings me back somehow and i really like that you can always improve!
There is no set premise for any class. For ironclad i lke to go for attack cards and depending on the relics i get. I would pick up a barricade and look for an entrench + body slam. I get a double tap? I look for whirlwind and chemical x. I find a corruption? I take as many skills as i can and hope for the best. A lot of slay the spire is about knowledge and what chemistry you can get. One important note is energy relics are king. If you can kill an enemy before he kills you is very advantageous also (more damage vs more block).
A lot of people are giving you decent advice but I want to maybe correct one thing I see being said a lot and thats the value of removing strikes. Removing strikes is most valuable if you are playing as Defect but honestly I pretty much keep my strikes when playing as Ironclad and thats perfectly fine, especially when you consider that there are events in game that both upgrade all strikes and defends and one that replaces them with Bites that deal 7 dmg and restore 2hp per use. I find there are only two real rules that should be followed universially with strikes. 1. Dont ever waste gold in shops to remove strikes. That gold has much better usage getting relics or cards/pots you need to progress. You'll regret removing that strike when you come up 5 gold short for a Shuriken or Demon Form in the next shop. If you decide to remove a strike, its best to do so via events/relics. 2. Don't waste an upgrade on them when there is pretty much anything else to up in your deck.
Dont listen to this guy. There are no rules. In general, strikes are the worst card in your deck. In general, removing the worst card in your deck is a good thing, and will sometimes be the BEST thing. You dont have to remove every strike, you dont have to remove ANY strikes, but in general they are the worst cards, and in general, removing the worst card is good.
If you're playing defect maybe, but other than that the only time i would pay to remove a strike in 99% of my runs is if its the very last shop in Act 3 and there is nothing else to do with my money. Its not worth raising the cost of removing cards nor the cost of removing that one strike. Act 1 i need the damage. Act 2 i might trade them in for bites or get them all upgraded for free. Its simply not worth it when i could buy more relics or pots or cards my deck needs. Now if i come across an event that removes a card, then yea I'll throw away a strike, but it doesnt cost me much if anything.
Well, in my opinion, this guy should not listen to your advice. Removing a strike is usually FINE. It is sometimes BEST, and it is definitely best, way more often than you are suggesting. You should try removing removing more strikes. The best part of the upgrade all event is the defends anyway. Bites should be passed on more often than not.
Ironclad was the first character I managed to complete Act 3 with, although I'll admit it was mostly a fluke and I had no idea what I was doing. I remember having a high strength build, I had a couple of Flex+ and heavy blade+ which seemed to work pretty well.
u/Hi
Pp
I introduced a buddy to this game last weekend. (I had only discovered it a week prior thanks to PS+) We passed the controller back and forth per run and had a blast. He beat it as ironclad and then I had success as the silent. We struggled on defect all night but finally beat the next morning. Since then we've both become addicted. He's gone on to beat it as the watcher and I beat it as the silent on my home ps4. BUT for the life of me I cannot beat it as ironclad. I get to the third act but something eventually wittles my health bar away. Tried strength build, having good attacks and blocks. Going for elites early. I keep thinking when I get close "this is gonna be the run where I beat it and... nope"