Slay the Spire 2 patch notes arrive for all, meaning an easier early game but harder infinites

The first big Slay the Spire 2 patch notes have just hit the live build of the roguelike deckbuilder, meaning that if you've been holding off on poking your head into the beta branch, the game has just undergone a pretty dramatic change. Mega Crit has brought a total of four updates to the game's test version so far, and they've now all landed at once in the regular version. What does that mean if you haven't been keeping up? The good news is improved map generation and a slightly easier time in Act One; the bad news is that infinite combos are a little tougher to reach, and card removal growing increasingly more expensive as you rise through the ranks.

Mega Crit is quick to point out that Slay the Spire 2 is still in Early Access. "Just because something made it from beta to main, that does not mean it's set in stone," the developer emphasizes. "We continue to rely on the experience of players across both branches to eventually get the game into its final, ideal state, just like we did with StS 1." It encourages you to submit bug reports, balance thoughts, and general feedback using the in-game form, which you can access by pressing the F2 key at any time.

You'll notice your first differences right from the start of a run, thanks to five new Neow relics on offer. 'Hefty Tablet' gives you a choice between three rare cards, at the cost of an Injury curse. 'Neow's Talisman' upgrades one Strike and one Defend. 'Phial Holster' adds a potion slot and gives you two random potions. 'Winged Boots' (returning from the first game) lets you ignore paths when choosing rooms up to three times. Finally, 'Neow's Bones' gives you two randomly chosen Neow relics and one random curse.

While options like Phial Holster will offer a welcome safety net, the early game should feel smoother in general. Elites cannot appear until one floor later, giving you a bit more breathing room out the gate, and rebalancing for troublemakers like Skulking Colony will help fights feel a little more consistent. The nightmarish Living Fog now spawns just one bomb each round, stopping it from escalating out of control, and Byrdonis has less health to chunk through, although it does hit a touch harder.

Mega Crit is starting to ramp up the later acts, but this will likely happen more in future updates. The big change to take note of is Doormaker, one of the Act Three boss fights. This has been completely redesigned; it now opens with one infinite-health setup round against the Door, and then starts cycling through three phases, turn by turn. 'Hunger' exhausts each attack or skill you play, 'Scrutiny' prevents all card draw for the turn, and 'Grasp' causes you to lose one energy each time you play a card. You'll want to prepare for this when you see it coming.

All five classes have been rebalanced, with some card reworks and redesigns, and even a couple of newcomers. Make sure to read what all of your cards do before picking or playing them, even if they look similar to before. Among these are rarity changes; Ironclad, for example, will now find the excellent Colossus card (gain five Block and take 50% less damage from Vulnerable enemies this turn) much more often. Silent, meanwhile, will come across fewer Acrobatics (draw three, discard one) because of its incredible synergy with Sly cards. There have also been nerfs designed to make infinites a little harder to reach.

Among the additions to watch out for, the Ironclad has a new card called Not Yet that heals for ten. The Silent gets Blade of Ink, which generates Inky Shivs that inflict Weak. The Regent's Arsenal card and Regalite relic now apply Strength and Block respectively for all cards, not just colorless ones. The Necrobinder's Borrowed Time has been fully redesigned: it now grants you four energy, six when upgraded, but makes your cards cost one additional energy for the rest of the turn. If you're looking to drop a single, high-cost bomb, it's a great help. The Defect is largely untouched, although Hotfix now starts with exhaust until it's upgraded.

Shop relics now cost 25 gold less across the board, and gold-generating relics no longer appear for sale. When you hit Ascension level six, you won't face 'Gloom' (fewer rest sites) any more. In its place, 'Inflation' ramps up the cost of card removal, which will start at 100 gold and increase by 50 per use. That makes trimming your deck down much tougher. Fortunately, map generation has been polished across the board, and you should see a more consistent spread of different room types to choose between.

Beyond the balance, there's a huge amount of new art, including visual effects for attacks, energy counters, and card afflictions. 'Phobia mode' lets you turn down some of the wriggliest designs, including the Infection status card. You'll now get Badges at the end of runs, marking key achievements and notable facts. Leaderboards are currently friends-only; global scores will be coming back, but Mega Crit notes that it doesn't want to implement "invasive anti-cheat protection," so you'll always see some suspicious outliers.

Slay the Spire 2 patch 0.103.2 is now live for all versions of the game. Note that you can no longer unlock achievements and epochs while challenging daily and custom runs. Because of the leaderboard changes, the main and beta branches will be kept as separate records moving forward. If you like to stay on the cutting edge of the changes, you can do so, but if you prefer a more stable experience then you can remain on the regular build.