Slay the Spire Guide
MegaCrit2019PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch, MobileRoguelikeRating: 89
Slay the Spire is a roguelike deck-building game by MegaCrit. Players climb a spire, fighting enemies with a customizable deck of cards. Each run is unique with random cards, relics, and enemies. The game that defined the deckbuilder roguelike genre.
🃏 Core Mechanics
- Energy: 3 energy per turn, cards cost energy
- Block: Doesn't carry over — use it or lose it
- Deck size: Smaller deck = more consistent draws
- Don't take every card: Skip cards to keep deck lean
💡 The best card is often "skip." A lean deck beats a bloated one.
⚔️ Character Guide
- Ironclad: Strength builds, exhaust synergy — beginner friendly
- Silent: Poison, shivs, discard — more complex
- Defect: Orbs, elemental synergy — high skill ceiling
- Watcher: Stance dancing — hardest to master
🏆 Winning Tips
- Pathing: Plan your route — elites give relics but are risky
- Rest sites: Upgrade cards > heal (usually)
- Shops: Remove cards is often best purchase
- Boss relics: Powerful but with downsides — choose carefully
- Elites: Don't fight if low HP — you can skip
⚠️ Act 1 boss determines your build — know who you're fighting before picking cards.
🃏 Archetypes That Clear
- Ironclad: Strength scaling plus Heavy Blade - three Inflame pickups turn a basic attack into 30 damage
- Silent: poison stacking with Catalyst doubles the stack; block comes from Footwork, not dodge cards
- Defect: orb slots first, then focus - a Frost orb with two Focus beats four Lightning orbs
🏛 Map and Shop Choices
- Act 1 elites: Lagavulin is the safest - kill it before turn three or it wakes with debuffs
- Shop order: card removal first, then one key relic, then potions; never buy a card that doesn't fit the archetype
- Take the path with two campfires over the path with an early elite, unless your damage is already solved
🔮 Relics Worth Routing For
- Snecko Eye: chaos for a high-cost deck, a trap for a combo deck
- Dead Branch with Corruption ends most runs in your favour
- Bag of Preparation and Anchor: extra draw and free block on turn one, the two most reliable early relics