Welcome to the spire, where every floor can be your last and every decision can lead to glory—or demise. Whether you’re stepping into the roguelike deckbuilder for the first time or you’ve already danced with the Heart on Ascension 20, there’s always more to learn. Drawing on over 1100 hours of experience and live community feedback, this guide will walk you through 10 high-impact tips to help you improve and win more runs. But before we begin, remember this above all else: everything in Slay the Spire is situational. Let’s dive in.
1. The Rule of Thumb: It All Depends
Slay the Spire punishes rigid thinking. The most common question in the community—”what’s the best card/class/relic?”—always deserves the same answer: it depends. This game isn’t about memorizing tier lists. It’s about adapting. Start recognizing that your decisions should hinge on your current deck, relics, HP, upcoming bosses, and even the unknowns on your path. If you train yourself to evaluate based on this run, this situation, and not generalized advice, you’ll already be ahead of the curve.
Don’t chase ideal scenarios. Instead, ask the right questions: What synergy am I forming right now? Do I have what I need for the next elite? Can I survive the Act 1 boss with this setup? The best players aren’t the ones with rote memory—they’re the ones who adapt fast.
2. Pathing: More than Just Picking a Route
Pathing is deceptively deep. Especially in Act 1, your map decisions can either prep you perfectly—or wreck your run. Aim for three regular fights and a rest before your first elite. This helps you build your deck, maybe snag a key upgrade, and stay healthy. Look for routes with at least two elites (preferably later in the act) and try to line up a rest before each.
Shops early in Act 1 can be underwhelming because you haven’t accumulated much gold. So unless there’s an elite before it and you need potions, delay your visit. Mixing in some ? nodes can open doors to valuable events or card rewards without the risk of combat. Acts 2 and 3, however, become more complex. Here, adapt based on your existing deck and relics. Stay flexible, stay curious, and treat each map like a puzzle worth solving.
3. Embrace the Skulls: Elite Fights are Worth It
New players often dodge elite fights out of fear, but this habit holds them back. Elites are your most reliable source of relics—and relics define your run. They also drop more gold than standard fights and are, surprisingly, more predictable. In Act 1, you’ll only face three elite types, each with set patterns.
Learning these fights pays off long-term. They become testing grounds where you feel out your deck’s power level. Also, certain relics or effects (like Neow’s Lament) make early elites free kills. If you’re gunning for the Act 4 Heart, you’ll need to beat at least one empowered elite anyway. Practice elite fights regularly. They’re a crucible that forges great builds.
4. Don’t Take Every Card
Less is more. One of the biggest skill jumps comes when you start skipping card rewards. It feels wrong at first. But unless a card actively helps your deck’s synergy or solves an upcoming problem, it’s just noise. Every card dilutes your deck’s consistency. If you keep bloating your draw pile, you’ll never see your best tools when you need them.
Keep your deck lean. Stop often and review what you do well. Are you building for poison, strength, powers, or something else? If a card doesn’t clearly contribute to that—or help survive an elite or boss—it probably doesn’t belong.
5. Purge the Trash: Use Card Removal
Just like you shouldn’t add everything, you shouldn’t keep everything either. Removing cards (especially strikes, defends, or curses) sharpens your draw and strengthens synergy. Every trash card removed increases the odds you draw something powerful next turn.
When you visit a shop, weigh the benefits of a relic or card versus just removing something useless. And if you’re dealing with an event that lets you delete a card? Take it. A tight deck wins fights.
6. Draw Power is Win Power
Most newer players undervalue draw cards. They look like tempo losses—but they’re actually engines. More draw = more access to your win conditions. Even if you can’t afford to play every card you draw, filtering through your deck increases the chance of hitting a synergy combo or high-impact card.
This is also why Snecko Eye is such a powerful relic. It draws two extra cards each turn—an absolutely massive boost. Not every deck can handle its randomized costs, but if yours can, it turns your scaling into overdrive.
7. Upgrade Smart, Not Blind
Not all upgrades are equal. While most make your deck stronger, some are game-changing. Catalyst’s upgrade, for instance, triples poison instead of doubling it—turning a slow chip strategy into explosive burst damage. Other upgrades, like Reaper or Claw, barely make a difference.
At rest sites, prioritize smithing when you’re healthy. In shops, be choosy with relics. And after boss fights, think hard about which boss relic complements your deck’s needs. The right boss relic—especially one that boosts energy—can catapult your build to the next level.
8. Understand Scaling
As fights get harder, your deck needs to scale. This means adding effects that increase your damage or defense over time. Powers like Noxious Fumes or Strength gain are classic examples. But scaling also comes from energy boosts, card draw, and synergy engines that get stronger the longer a fight goes.
Good builds typically include some combination of:
- Block scaling: Barricade, Blur, Feel No Pain
- Damage scaling: Strength gain, Poison doubling, passive Orbs
- Resource scaling: More energy and draw
All three matter, especially for boss and elite fights. And more often than not, your best scaling comes from boss relics—so choose wisely.
9. Lean Into the Awkward
Discomfort is a growth signal. If a card, relic, or pathing option feels “bad” or “weird,” try it anyway. You’ll learn the game’s depth that way. Swapping your starting relic used to terrify me—but now many of my best runs start with a boss relic swap.
Even disliked relics like Runic Dome (which hides enemy intents) can become powerful in the hands of players who practice with them. Challenge yourself. Pick that card you always avoid. Run that relic that feels cursed. Every failure teaches you something new.
10. Think Short-Term, Then Scale Out
It’s tempting to plan for Act 3 from turn one. But the best evaluations come when you focus on the next elite or boss. Ask yourself: Can I survive what’s coming in the next few floors? Will this card or relic help me now? Build around the near future, not a dream scenario 40 minutes from now.
Each moment in the spire presents a chance to pivot. The more you sharpen your short-term planning, the more consistently you’ll reach the long term. This kind of discipline builds strong habits, and strong habits win games.
Final Thoughts
Slay the Spire isn’t about playing perfectly—it’s about learning dynamically. Every run is different. Every decision matters. Mastering this game is less about knowledge and more about decision-making under pressure. Practice, evaluate, adapt, repeat.
If you want more, come hang out with our community on Twitch or Discord. Share your wins. Laugh at your losses. And remember: the climb is the point. Good luck up there, Slayer.
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