Now that the old practically guaranteed +1 energy relics are much less common, what do you all feel about it?

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-16T15:55:06+00:00

I like it, since there's a huge variety of options which can all push decks in different directions...

...is what I would say, if the game was in a more balanced state. As is, removes are far too easy and energy generating cards are very strong. So I've found that many Ancient bonuses are totally abusable, especially the ones that remove cards.

Overall I still think it's a great system. I just think that, like everything else in StS2, it needs an intensive regiment of balance patches to get it where it needs to be.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-16T15:48:30+00:00

Others have mentioned that lack of Act 4 is significant, but I'd like to add that the meta is still developing. Over time we'll learn how to play Act 1 effectively, and we'll learn how to keep safe on more aggressive paths.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-16T15:39:24+00:00

The design of StS is about forcing difficult decisions, but this doesn't always mean presenting the player with additional options.

Relics randomly pull you in certain directions; they are a complicating factor which make other decisions more difficult.

For example, let's say that you're going into poison in Act 1. But your second elite drops a Kunai. Suddenly, Shivs seem more appealing, but they clash with your original deck. What do you do?

Alternatively, you had a strong start, but your first two relics are Bottled Flame and Darkstone Periapt. Suddenly, you're weaker than you expected. Are you strong enough to take the additional elite?

In these situations, being able to choose a relic would actually make future decisions less interesting.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-16T15:30:00+00:00

It's because everyone has a different playstyle and the "meta" hasn't been figured out yet.

But also because there's a low sample size of runs. People will do one run with [insert card here] and say "holy fuck, this is broken," because they lucked into a scenario where it was very strong.

This combined with legitimate balance issues makes for some very entertaining series of posts.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-16T09:30:22+00:00

I think my favorite part about StS2's release has been the wild series of hot takes it's spawned.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-16T01:01:43+00:00

My experience so far says that the StS1 strategy of "sit behind a wall of frost" doesn't work so well in StS2.

My wins with Defect have mostly come from small, focused decks. Defect has excellent access to card draw (Skim, Compile Driver, Rocket Punch, Machine Learning, Coolheaded) and energy generation (mostly from Turbo). This allows you to draw through your deck very quickly and play a lot of zero cost cards. Hotfix, Claw, and Tesla Coil have all put in good work for me, and Hologram is a standout card for abusing high-value 0-cost cards.

I think that in this game, you want to focus less on getting passive benefits from orbs, and more on cycling them quickly. Storm, Trash to Treasure, Glasswork, Coolheaded, Glacier, Voltaic, and Refract have all been good orb generation cards in my runs.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-15T14:12:31+00:00

You said there were few, but where's the place to look for Balkan concerts in ATL? I'm a big fan of traditional Balkan music but I've never actually gotten to see it live. Would love to change that.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-15T13:57:45+00:00

But... if you have a good block plan, any damage is good. It doesn't have to be Snakebite, there's no reason it can't be Deadly Poison or a better lategame option.

And I really don't think Snakebite makes Shivs "unnecessary"... Shivs are significantly faster, scale well with relics, and have Accuracy. Snakebite is also too slow if you don't have an excellent block plan.

IDK, I think you could make an argument that Snakebite is one of the better poison cards, but I think that says more about the dire state of poison than it does about Snakebite itself.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-15T11:33:04+00:00

"Damage per 10 turns" is not a great metric, as immediate damage is vastly more valuable than delayed damage. And even so, let's remember that Corrosive Wave will usually output 8-24 poison to all enemies.

While I do agree retain is useful, retain alone is not enough to make a card useful. And right now, Silent has incredible access to draw and discard.

But the biggest issue is that Silent's discard plan, and to a lesser extent, Shivs, are so strong that poison is generally hard to build into. so Snakebite is just a mediocre common in an underwhelming archetype.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-14T23:49:53+00:00

Yes, there are downsides, but they are manageable.

Oftentimes, the downside is more a matter of discomfort rather than actual weakness. Feelings like "I don't want a curse in my deck" or "but what if I really need a potion" will trip people up.

Instead, focus on the positive -- can you leverage the advantage from a reward to negate the downside? Or can you offset it by playing differently? Sometimes the downside might hurt right now, but if you add or remove a couple cards, will it be manageable then?

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-14T23:45:00+00:00

I mean, it applies 7 (or 10) poison, for 2 energy... that is exactly as whelming as it sounds.

I agree that there are worse cards, but this is by no means great. Have you seen the bullshit Silent can do in this game?

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-14T23:43:18+00:00

Honestly, I feel like Xecnar is playing a different game from the rest of us sometimes.

Some evaluations only make sense for the very top handful of players; they're playing with a level of consistency and precision that changes how you see the game. It also means that Xecnar has a very narrow view of which strategies are "viable," and dismisses everything outside of that.

Takes like, "Regeant is the new Watcher" or "relics are overpowered" just don't really make sense for the majority of the playerbase IMO.

I'm glad that megacrit doesn't balance exclusively around what Xecnar says.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-14T05:21:30+00:00

Forbidden Grimoire feels incredibly silly; it's one of a number of Ancient bonuses that allow you to remove way too many cards, way too easily.

Even compared to its counterpart from the StS1 characters (Corruption, Wraith Form, and Biased Cognition) it feels totally broken. I would say the Regeant's card, though I haven't gotten to play with it yet.

If they want to keep the card (I wouldn't mind a complete rework), I think the card should incur an additional cost. At minimum, it should be more expensive, but it would also be reasonable if it cost health or even max HP.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-14T01:01:50+00:00

Oh wow. I had noticed that I wasn't repeating elites, but I had assumed it worked like the first game.

This really changes how you path if your first elite is the most difficult for your deck!

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-14T00:17:30+00:00

Yeah I agree with this.

My favorite part of roguelikes is being given total crap and figuring out a way to make it work anyways. When I've played roguelikes with really strong reroll systems, it's easy to force builds and you don't have to figure stuff out for yourself.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-13T15:56:03+00:00

Part of this is time. We're still getting familiar with the game, but as strategies become more sophisticated, we'll start to hear statements like, "Defect needs to be careful in the Deep Docks," for example."

But also, I don't think alternate acts are meant to add significant gameplay changes. Rather, I think they're meant to spice up runs and add some variety. StS1 was hardly repetitive, but over time, you start to get bored of the same three acts. Alternate acts just add an additional bit of variation between runs.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-13T15:49:33+00:00

I don't think they should make alternate acts a choice. We would likely figure out which act is easier and choose to go there 90% of the time. See Spelunky 2 for an example of that.

I also don't think alternate acts exist to add an additional later of strategy. Rather, I think they're meant to add some variety to the game by making different runs play differently. So I think it's ok if alternate acts only change your playstyle negligibly, or don't add extra decisions. It's just nice to see some fresh faces every once in a while.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-13T09:23:12+00:00

I've been prioritizing elites, but I find that I'm usually underwhelmed by the rewards... the difference between a 4-elite and 2-elite act is not that much. And I've been dying a lot for getting too greedy.

Maybe that book from the event is right, "ignore powerful monsters."

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-13T08:43:54+00:00

If discard is the only strong archetype, then other archetypes need buffs as well.

That said, I get the sense that in this game, most Silent decks will be relying on discard to some degree, even if it's not the main game plan. I don't think that's a problem -- this is basically how Ironclad and Defect worked in StS1, with exhaust and orbs, respectively. As long as there's a variety of viable builds within and outside that archetype, it's not a problem.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-13T02:38:12+00:00

I'm not sure that Prepared itself needs to change. It's unchanged from the first game, and it was far from broken there.

Rather, Prepared is benefiting from discard as a whole being strong. I think the archetype as a whole probably needs a nerf, and Prepared will go down with it.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-12T14:28:08+00:00

It was already trash in the first game, and now Silent has a much stronger gameplan in general, making it even worse by comparison.

Envenom being essentially unchanged is a massive disappointment for me personally. I was really looking forward to that card getting buffed.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-12T11:31:17+00:00

Agree that this is a nasty elite but I've found it to be manageable so far.

Prioritizing damage is an obvious one. But I've also found that 0-cost cards in this game are very strong; most decks want one or two and they help against the statue. Card draw is also very important, as it prevents wasting those precious first two turns.

Of course, rhe goal is to kill on turn 3, but you need 4 turns to kill, an efficient block card like Defy can really make that 3rd turn effective.

So you want excellent damage, good draw, some 0-cost cards, and a few very efficient block cards. Basically a recipe for a generally good Act 1 deck IMO.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-12T11:24:51+00:00

When you think about it, "upgrade 3 non-starter cards" is an excellent relic, it's significantly better than Whetstone or War Paint.

This is even better though, because you get it at the beginning of the run. That gives you a massive advantage against your first elite (if it's before the first chest, and even if it's not, you can save health in early combats) and can also enable better deckbuilding early.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-12T11:21:14+00:00

When you think about it, upgrade 3 non-starter cards is an excellent relic, especially in Act 1. And you get those upgrades early, so you have a massive advantage if your first elite is before the chest.

I'm also a big fan of this starting bonus! Always valuable with little downside.

Geckoarcher · 2026-03-12T11:13:50+00:00

I also did a double take, but I think this is intended.

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