📖 Beginner's Guide to Slay the Spire
Everything you need to know to start climbing the Spire. From basic rules to advanced tips.
📑 Contents
1. 🎮 Basic Rules
What is Slay the Spire?
A roguelike deckbuilder where you climb a spire of 3 acts (+ optional Act 4), fighting enemies, collecting cards, and building your deck along the way. Each run is unique — different card offerings, relics, and paths.
⚡ Energy
You get 3 energy per turn (base). Each card costs energy to play. Unused energy is lost at end of turn.
🛡️ Block
Block absorbs incoming damage. It resets to 0 at the start of your next turn (unless you have Barricade or similar).
🃏 Card Types
Attacks deal damage. Skills provide block/utility. Powers give permanent effects. Curses/Status are bad cards added to your deck.
🗺️ Map Nodes
Monster (fight) · Elite (hard fight, better rewards) · ? (random event) · Shop · Rest (heal or upgrade) · Treasure (relic chest)
2. 🚀 First Steps
- 1.Start with Ironclad — he's the most straightforward character with self-healing.
- 2.Read every card carefully. Hover over keywords (Vulnerable, Weak, etc.) to understand them.
- 3.Don't take every card offered. Skipping is often the best choice.
- 4.Look at the map before choosing your path. Plan 2-3 nodes ahead.
- 5.Dying is normal and expected! Each death teaches you something.
3. 🃏 Deck Building Philosophy
Keep Your Deck Thin
A 20-card deck is almost always better than a 35-card deck. Every card you add dilutes your best cards. Only take cards that actively help your strategy.
Synergy Over Raw Power
A mediocre card that fits your deck is better than a powerful card that doesn't. Poison cards are amazing in a poison deck but terrible in a Strength deck.
Card Removal is Powerful
Removing Strikes and Defends from your deck makes it more consistent. Prioritize removing Strikes first — they're the weakest cards in your deck.
Think About What You Need NOW
In Act 1, you need damage. In Act 2, you need AoE and scaling. In Act 3, you need consistency. Don't take Act 3 cards in Act 1 — you might not survive to use them.
4. 🛒 Shop Strategy
✅ Worth Buying
- • Card removal (75g → 100g → 150g...)
- • Key relics that fit your deck
- • Rare cards that complete your build
- • Potions before tough fights
❌ Usually Skip
- • Expensive cards you don't need
- • Relics that don't help your deck
- • Common cards (you'll find them in rewards)
- • Colorless cards unless they're perfect
💡 Tip: Save gold for shops in Act 2. Card removal gets more expensive each time, so plan ahead.
5. ⚔️ Elite Fight Decisions
Fight Elites When...
- • You have enough HP (>60% is safe)
- • Your deck has good damage output
- • You need relics to improve your build
- • There's a campfire before or after
Avoid Elites When...
- • You're low HP with no healing available
- • Your deck is weak or unfocused
- • You already have enough relics
- • The elite specifically counters your deck (e.g., Nob vs Power-heavy)
💡 Aim for 2-3 elites in Act 1, 1-2 in Act 2, and 0-1 in Act 3 (unless very strong).
6. 📈 Ascension Progression
Ascension levels (1-20) add modifiers that make the game progressively harder. Each character has separate Ascension progress.
Harder elites, less potions, tougher normal enemies. Learn to be more efficient.
Less healing, harder bosses, start with curse. Resource management becomes critical.
Less max HP, bosses hit harder, less gold. Every decision is punished harder.
Brutal. Enemies hit much harder, less everything. Mastery required.
💡 Don't rush Ascension. Master each level before moving on. A5 and A15 are major difficulty spikes.
7. 🏗️ Beginner Builds by Character
🔴 Ironclad
💪 Strength Build (Easiest)
Stack Strength, then use multi-hit attacks. Simple and powerful.
Key cards: Inflame, Demon Form, Heavy Blade, Limit Break, Sword Boomerang
🛡️ Body Slam Build
Stack Block, then deal damage equal to your Block with Body Slam.
Key cards: Body Slam, Barricade, Shrug It Off, Impervious, Entrench
🟢 Silent
☠️ Poison Build (Easiest)
Apply poison and let it tick. Double with Catalyst for massive damage.
Key cards: Noxious Fumes, Deadly Poison, Catalyst, Corpse Explosion, Bouncing Flask
🗡️ Shiv Build
Generate tons of Shivs (0-cost attacks). Great with Strength or Accuracy.
Key cards: Blade Dance, Cloak and Dagger, Accuracy, Finisher, Storm of Steel
🔵 Defect
❄️ Frost Orb Build (Easiest)
Stack Focus and Frost orbs for massive passive Block generation every turn.
Key cards: Defragment, Glacier, Coolheaded, Blizzard, Cold Snap
⚡ Lightning Build
Lightning orbs for passive damage. Electrodynamics makes them hit all enemies.
Key cards: Electrodynamics, Ball Lightning, Defragment, Storm, Thunder Strike
🟣 Watcher
⚔️ Stance Dance (Easiest)
Enter Wrath (2x damage) to attack, then exit to Calm (gain 2 energy) for safety. Cycle between stances.
Key cards: Eruption, Tantrum, Empty Fist, Mental Fortress, Fear No Evil
✨ Divinity Build
Reach Divinity stance for 3x damage. Mantra cards build up to Divinity.
Key cards: Prostrate, Worship, Devotion, Brilliance, Ragnarok