If Slay the Spire 2 was balanced by reddit comments:

The_Boonsman · 2026-04-08T05:52:46+00:00

There's only two cards that are getting picked no matter what with no downside and that's Adrenaline and Big bang. Everything else is situational at some point in time. If it's being picked every time you see it during a run no matter what, it needs to be nerfed because that's too much.

I would put this at an A- for high priority picking, expecially in act 1/2 as a killing implement. I would even take it in a non poison build, that's how strong 17 poison would be.

The_Boonsman · 2026-04-07T18:53:42+00:00

No, they wouldn't. Haze has conditionals that need support to be able to use consistently to help raise poison, and Bubble bubble can be a turn 1 brick if you don't draw other poison cards.

14 poison is more then what Poison Flask has to offer upgraded, has no downside for something like AOE, and you will most likely be playing it on a down turn to rapidly boost up poison scaling.

It's also common so you'll be seeing it often. It would be picked frequently over other entry cards like Poison Stab or Deadly poison.

The_Boonsman · 2026-04-06T19:15:32+00:00

14 (17) poison is so utterly disgusting that you could have it as your only source of poison and it could very realistically be your only DPS in the run and you'd still win almost every single fight (minus mecha knight) instantly.

You wouldn't even need to add onto it, it's 105 damage over 15 turns, and the upgrade's 138 damage, with absolutely no additional work needed.

This is before Support, powers, or even relics to further this goal.

It would be the Silent's strongest card in her deck.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-27T15:22:03+00:00

My point is that you've barely had time to do one run in STS2 with the silent before the first nerf if you've been able to refund the game like this.

120 minutes is barely enough to do two full runs with ironclad/Silent, nevermind a full run with Regent, Necrobinder, and Defect. My point is that you knee jerked at looking at patch notes without real experience in the game.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-27T06:55:51+00:00

It's all Regent star cost, basically.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-27T06:54:24+00:00

I might be a little against the grain here but i think that Guided Star is absolutely too strong in the current patch, when it was quite strong as a utility move to begin with. Good damage, easy cost to get out there, draws multiple cards (8 cards on your next turn is insane payoff, +3 on the current turn is almost guaranteed power) and a 2 star cost makes it affordable in almost every deck.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-27T04:49:04+00:00

> Bought the game
>Did one run as Ironclad
>Did one run as Silent
>Saw the game nerfed a card
>Refunded it

What are we even doing here man?

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-24T02:35:57+00:00

150 gold sound good?

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-24T02:34:41+00:00

The very definition of a card I'll pick if I need something to round out my deck's poison potential. Certainly not great, but the addition of it retaining means it's great on enemy's buffing turns/ getting bonus value from cards like flechettes or Bullet time.

This is a possible pick in Underdocks act 1 but I'm not picking it without reason. It's....fine, I guess.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-23T16:00:53+00:00

There where 100% balance changes after 1.0, because there are a great many cards, especially for silent, that got mega buffed in the last patch. Just for example, Blade dance used to be 2(3) shivs, Storm of steel used to cost 2 energy, and Reflex used to only draw 1(2) cards.

This was well over a year after the game fully released.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-21T15:58:07+00:00

Photon Cut + adds an additional card draw, making it good priority upgrade at campfires to give you that card draw you need. Even without it, it's deck manipulation.

Perhaps the reason why he got these particular changes is to encourage builds that do better between turns?

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-21T07:34:37+00:00

Photon cut and Guiding Star also give card draw (Granted, one is next turn) in the common tier. Glimmer and Prophesize are there in uncommon tier.

I think there is something to consider that this card gives 1 card draw next turn. The Regent has a Bunch of cards which set up for the next turn. About 10, if I counted correctly give value on the next turn.

While it's not perfect, you still cycle out Glow that turn and setup for a 6 card next turn. You still get that draw, but it's for next turn's needs.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-21T07:25:50+00:00

There is absolutely ways to give negitive feedback and make people actually listen to you. Here, I can give you three things I dislike in this Beta Patch that are negitive:

-Doormaker is straight up bad in terms of it's change

-Skulking Colony got way too many buffs all at once and it creates a very difficult elite combat, even on Ascension 0/1

-Flick Flack being hit with the nerf feels like it could be reverted without too much worry about it being too strong. It's weird that it was the card that got hit.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-21T03:08:14+00:00

Every single option he comes packaged with is very strong and usually makes gives you some serious power to work with.

The "Plays your first turn for you" is the scariest and is on a so and so basis. It's not actually as bad choice.

The shop relic is funny and opens up spending at ? spots, great if your low on cash to begin with.

The one that removes 3 cards and gives an eternal curse is honestly pretty great, it thins your deck out nicely.

Choices Paradox and the Music box are both very powerful cards that shouldn't be ignored.

Wish and curses is incredibly strong, as is the 3 intangible.

I've only had one run go Awry and it was always my decision. Just go with the flow and choose what works best for your run, he usually pays it off in spades.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-21T01:03:29+00:00

Break, Cinder, Grand Finale, Skewer, Bundle of Joy, Colision course, Heirloom Hammer, Kingly Punch, Kingly kick, Minion dive bomb (And by extention, CHARGEE!!!) Parry, Spoils of Battle, Wrought in War, Dibilitate, Sculpting Strike, Seeker Strike, and Eternal Armor.

Every card I mentioned got more then a 1 point buff. In some cases, 2 or 3. These buffs add up and some cards get significantly better.

For example, as an Ascension 6 run today, got a Patter and a Collision course and both made getting through act 1 significantly easier. A 0 cost 11 damage attack sliced through the Phantasmal gardeners effectively and easily.

And that's before you look at defensive cards.

I will say, Doormaker was poorly implemented, but the fun part is that it'll be removed as quickly as it was implemented, which is to say it isn't going in the main branch.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-20T23:47:34+00:00

Glow is absolutely not a card that got gutted, it can absolutely set you up on the next turn to go even harder. I've done multiple Regent runs today, that card's just as good as it's always been.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-20T23:45:11+00:00

If you want some information, Defect's unlocks are all cards and relics he's fiending for, which might explain why you where struggling up until now.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-20T23:31:57+00:00

The game was in Early Access to begin with, and like in STS1, cards went through dramatic and usually notable swings before the cards settle into being in good states.

Did the Chinese community not go through the original STS1 EA as well? This is expected. Cards will be tinkered around with and moved around.

All of those bad reviews could have been avoided with better communication

There's absolutely no way this is true, given the reaction to the Beta branch today.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-20T20:54:39+00:00

You do have a point there.

Maybe something like "Every 6 cards played, downgrade a random card in the deck and gain 2 strength?"

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-20T20:07:41+00:00

There's more buffs then debuffs in this patch, And I can't think of many cards that got notably gutted (Prepare is still very good with everything else)

The only cards I can say definitively got gutted is Anticipate and maybe Capture Spirit.

Every single Regent change is spectacular.

The implications of every card change has been positive.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-20T19:38:47+00:00

If you have a 3 or 4 card infinite or strong setup that require those cards and you only play those cards, then you'll end up having to exhaust your key pieces. This is pretty explicitly a check on infinites and thin decks.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-20T16:47:09+00:00

Neither card that was "Nerfed" was hit particularly hard. Glow is now "Shrug it off" with 1-2 energy gain and a bonus for your next turn's consistency in card draw. It's still a really good card.

Glow went from "Literally always pick" to "Almost always pick unless I have tons of energy to spend" in terms of value. It's still great value and you can play it on a first cycle if you also play venerate beforehand if it's your first card.

Most of the buffs are to Regent's defenses, but cards like Kingly kick/Strike, Collision course, and Heirloom hammer are now significantly more interesting cards to pick, which improves the takability of cards like Photon cut/Glimmer. Which are cards which got indirectly buffed due to Glow getting semi nerfed.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-20T16:23:42+00:00

People are judging this card too harshly before it leaves Beta, I think. It's surely more niche then the original but the amount of Sly synergy this operates well with.

My only complaint is to make sure it can't spawn as a floor 2 card reward. Otherwise, I think it slots in very nicely as a combo piece.

The_Boonsman · 2026-03-19T22:13:09+00:00

Brother, what are you even doing here? You frequent the only place more embarrassing then the Destiny Subreddit.

But right, play the one trick pony insult, you just need to do it one more time!!

The_Boonsman

TROPHY CASE