Slay the Spire 2 nerfs card removal, buffs shivs, and adds a new reward system

Mega Crit's new Slay the Spire 2 update starts to introduce more progression systems around the edges, but it's a change to card removal at shops that you're likely to feel most if you're working your way through the Ascensions. These Slay the Spire 2 patch notes are still beta branch specific for now, meaning there's still some time to toy around with the launch version of the game. However, with increasingly more improvements on the cards, you might want to consider making the switch across to the roguelike deckbuilder's beta build if you've yet to do so.

At the top of the patch notes is the introduction of a new Slay the Spire 2 system, Badges. These work like in-game achievements that are specific to each run, with community manager Demi Montes calling them "little reminders to let you know what was unique about each adventure." They can include marks for beating bosses without losing health, finishing under a certain time, forgetting to spend your gold, or even "specific easter eggs." For now, they'll just appear at the end of a run, but expect to see them in your run history soon.

Moving onto the balance changes, the Gloom Ascension modifier (reduced rest sites at level six) is gone. In its place is 'Inflation,' which increases the price of card removal at the merchant. It starts at 100 gold and will increase by 50 per use, instead of the standard 25. "I expect this to be felt significantly more than the old Gloom modifier," game designer Anthony Giovannetti remarks," and I can see why. Card removal is almost certainly my most-used feature at the shop, whether to get rid of troublesome curses or just trim out unneeded fluff.

As promised, the Necrobinder's Borrowed Time has been redesigned. It now offers a much more impressive four energy, six when upgraded, but increases card costs by one for the turn. Giovannetti says it's designed to support "high-cost cards like Reap and Bury" and make more playstyles viable. The History Course relic has been altered and will use your current energy for its X-value, although it will still play its copy for free.

The Silent's Blade of Ink has changed; Giovannetti calls its new form "an experiment with generating enchanted cards mid combat," and says he suspects it will be a high-impact addition. It now costs one and adds two 'Inky Shivs' to your hand, three when upgraded. These deal six damage, two more than a regular Shiv, and apply one Weak. Leading Strike now also grants two Shivs instead of one, but deals less damage than before. Card cycling gets a little weaker, however, with small nerfs to both Speedster and Untouchable.

Elsewhere in the patch notes, the Skulking Colony fight continues to be tweaked, now attacking on all turns and dealing slightly more damage than before. Mega Crit seems to be dialing in final boss Doormaker's toolkit, but Giovannetti has decided its mana-inflicting Grasp turn "was too underwhelming." It'll now cause you to lose one energy with each card played, pushing you to consider how you approach each stage of its rotating list of punishments.

You can look out for a couple of small adjustments to events, more art, and fresh visual effects for six of the more troublesome card afflictions like Bound and Ringing, which you can see above. Mega Crit has also delivered a range of bug fixes, such as preventing Vakuu from continuing to play cards for you after Void Form should have ended your turn, and ensuring Bullet Time reduces your costs to zero if activated by the Mayhem power.

Slay the Spire 2 patch 0.102.0 is live now on the game's beta branch. If you want to join the test and stay on the cutting edge, right-click the game in your Steam library, select 'properties,' and navigate to the 'game versions and betas' page. Otherwise, you can keep playing on the standard version until these changes are deployed in full.