Slay the Spire 2 Early Access: A Deckbuilding Roguelike Masterpiece Returns

The Early Access launch of Slay the Spire 2 feels remarkably similar to the original, a game that redefined the deck-building roguelike genre – a recommendation I offer with almost unsettling ease. If you haven’t experienced the first game, you’re missing out, and if the concept even remotely appeals to you, dive into the turn-based combat without hesitation. For veterans like myself, having poured over 1,000 hours into the original, the sequel’s new character classes and extensive overhauls to the initial three offer a fresh, less predictable experience, especially when facing significantly tougher bosses. And the innovative co-op mode provides a new way to enjoy both the exhilarating highs and frustrating lows of excellent gameplay.

After a week of play, I’ve logged just over 43 hours with Slay the Spire 2, completing full Act 3 ascents with each of the five classes. However, the constantly increasing ascension difficulty scaling, unlockable cards, and artifact enhancement elements suggest I’ve only scratched the surface of the challenges this game offers. The Ironclad, Silent, and Defect (my personal favorite) all play similarly to their established forms, with most of the original strategies remaining viable, but now with more options to branch out. For example, the Silent now has cards incorporating the ‘Shrewd’ keyword, allowing them to discard cards to gain the same effect as playing them – similar to Artifact cards in ‘Monster Train’ – enabling builds that progress further with less energy each turn. This represents a key reason why Slay the Spire 2 seems less reliant on increasing energy limits than its predecessor, a strategy that often led to disastrous runs in the original.

The Necrobinder and the New Durability Mechanic

The most powerful character at the launch of Slay the Spire 2 is the Necrobinder, boasting high scaling potential through graveyard synergies. Tier lists currently place the Necrobinder in S-tier. Deckbuilding prioritizes the new Durability mechanic over raw damage output. Early Access data suggests synergy-focused decks have a 40% higher win rate than pure damage builds. The Necrobinder’s Decay mechanic allows you to attack both sides of an enemy’s health bar simultaneously (once the rising Decay value exceeds their remaining health, the enemy dies), while your companion, Ostia, functions as a second shield that absorbs damage after being broken, and can be scaled into a devastating offensive tool. Soul cards also exist, extracted from enemies and used to endlessly attack. After some experimental runs, I found these new tools led to satisfying success.

A Familiar Foundation, Expanded

What about the new character, the Regent? Well, this bizarre, multi-legged, living throne carried by attendants has become my unattainable goal. After 15+ hours and nearly 40 attempts, I finally secured a victory, thanks to a lucky combination of card and artifact scaling. When it works, it’s incredible – rapidly accumulating special Star currency at the start of combat to unleash devastating spells that scale with the number of Stars. These attacks are further amplified by one of the sequel’s new card upgrades, increasing damage by 50% at the cost of 2 damage to yourself. Adding a few artifacts that grant Vulnerable to all enemies on the first turn and +8 damage to my first attack, I was able to obliterate the Act 3 final boss in just the second turn – only prevented from doing so in one turn by a multi-stage mechanic that prevents instantly killing the boss.

My previous attempts were far less dramatic. Runs focused on the Forge mechanic – summoning and enhancing floating swords (which is expensive to cast and requires drawing the sword back into your draw pile to reuse) – were unlucky. Attempts to repeatedly loop attacks from the top of my draw pile almost succeeded. There are also risky mechanics like filling your deck with Scrap, then transforming it into one-off minion attacks or defensive cards, or using cards that deal damage proportional to the number of cards generated. The Regent offers many options and mechanics to play with, but I found it more challenging to effectively utilize them compared to other characters.

However, I’ve seen others claim the Regent as their new favorite and undeniably the best character. I think this reflects the current balance state of Slay the Spire 2: it’s more difficult than the original, and perhaps slightly skewed towards a specific, highly skilled player base – those willing to crawl over broken glass to playtest the sequel. But refining that experience for everyone is precisely the purpose of Early Access, and I certainly enjoyed the catharsis of finally breaking through that wall.

Strategic Shifts and Cooperative Play

It also took some time to adjust to prioritizing certain events when choosing paths on the Act maps. My successful approach in hundreds of Daily Climb challenges (which have returned in the sequel) was to take the routes with the most Elite miniboss encounters, then defeat them to loot valuable artifacts. These artifacts could form the foundation of powerful builds. However, in this sequel, the risk of facing those powerful enemies often outweighed the reward. One enemy I particularly dislike is one that only takes 20 damage per turn, meaning even with powerful weapons, long battles are inevitable. Facing too many of these enemies during an ascent can lead to trouble. Even if they don’t kill you outright, the accumulated damage can doom you in the next fight. So, I had to rethink my strategy and choose battles more carefully – a process that had become almost mechanical for me.

Instead, I began prioritizing special events, some of which trigger quests spanning multiple Acts (think a more formalized version of the Red Mask interaction from the first game). I found maps leading to a massive treasure hoard in Act 2, and others offering keys to open boxes in subsequent Acts. There are also bird eggs that must be incubated at rest sites (resulting in an opportunity cost – you can’t heal or upgrade cards). These are marked as cards you can’t use immediately, occupying deck and hand space that could be filled with something more useful, so there’s a minor cost to carrying them.

The co-op mode, capable of supporting up to four players, is a significant differentiator. It’s a great test of how well you and your friends can cooperate and control impulsive urges. Every combat turn is a real-time scramble as everyone plays their cards at once, so coordinating attacks via voice chat is essential to avoid wasting potential attacks on already-defeated enemies while waiting for cards and animations to resolve. Teamwork requires careful consideration, as the game dramatically increases enemy health (and enemy attacks hit the entire team simultaneously), requiring focused firepower to quickly eliminate priority targets. However, without a matchmaking system for finding random players, you’ll need to communicate with your teammates through other means. (Sadly, there’s no local co-op mode.)

Co-op is also more forgiving, with defeated players automatically reviving at 1 health after combat (assuming at least one player survives), and the ability to use rest site actions to heal teammates instead of yourself. Artifacts are also awarded in a number equal to the number of players, allowing each to choose the best fit for their build (ties are resolved randomly). Each character also has multiplayer-exclusive cards, allowing them to give random cards to teammates in combat or summon Ostia for the entire team.

The difficulty is also significantly increased, requiring much more planning of action order than solo play. This is intentionally designed to force you and your teammates to communicate. While you can’t see your teammates’ entire hands, hovering over a card reveals it above their character, letting you know what they’re planning. You can also now draw on the map to plan where to go as a group, or just doodle. (This works in single-player too, if you want to leave yourself notes.)

What Comes Next for Slay the Spire 2?

Mega Crit has already addressed the only major bug I encountered – one that caused me to prematurely end a multiplayer ascent due to acquiring too many potion slots. Beyond that, the game feels remarkably polished for an Early Access title. The only telltale signs are the placeholder art in a few card and progression trees. The progression trees themselves offer flavor text (similar to the first game, often brief and whimsical) as you unlock new cards, potions, and artifacts.

It’s difficult to say how much further Mega Crit plans to expand the game before version 1.0 (I’d anticipate at least a fourth Act added, and potentially alternate versions of Acts 2 and 3 to pair with the existing two). But even in its current state, Slay the Spire 2 is a remarkable Early Access title. It’s a game you won’t sense shortchanged playing today. Slay the Spire 2 builds upon the foundation of a masterpiece, offering a compelling and challenging experience for both veterans and newcomers alike.