Slay the Spire 2 has had one of the most successful early access launches in video game history. It’s already sold over five million copies, and consistently sits with between 100,000 and 300,000 concurrent players. There is unrest, though.
Last month, the game faced brutal review bombing after balance changes that nerfed some of the most popular cards, and it’s just gotten a whole lot worse.
Today, the game received its first major update, with all content changes from the beta branch merged into the main branch, alongside a range of new additions. Naturally, given the fact that the unpopular nerfs previously only on the beta branch are now reaching a whole new audience, it hasn’t gone down well.
Slay The Spire 2’s First Major Update Is Here
Below, you can find the main changes from today’s update, courtesy of Mega Crit:
Content and Balance
- Ascension 6 has been reworked from Gloom – “Less rest sites.” -> Inflation – “Removing cards from your deck at the Merchant is more expensive.”
- All shop relics now cost 25 gold less and gold-generating relics can no longer appear in the shop
- Map generation has been improved and made to be more consistent
- If you return to a run after updating with a newly deprecated card in your deck, it is now replaced with a placeholder Status card – “Draw 1 card. Remove this from your Deck. Exhaust.”
- The Ironclad has received a new card, Not Yet: “Rare – Skill – Cost 2 | Heal 10(13) HP. Exhaust.” Some other cards of his–Dominate, Expect a Fight, Spite, and Stoke–have received reworks, while Grapple has been deprecated. Numerous cards have seen buffs, nerfs, and rarity changes. Many of these changes have come with the aim of giving him better survivability and Exhaust synergies.
- The Silent’s Blade of Ink card has been reworked to generate Shivs enchanted with Inky.
- The Regent’s Arsenal card has been reworked from giving Strength based on Colorless cards played to any cards created. In a similar vein, his Regalite relic now grants Block for any card created, not just Colorless cards.
- The Necrobinder has received a rework for Borrowed Time.
- Some Colorless cards, relics, and potions have seen buffs, nerfs, changes, and pool/rarity shifts, with the Hidden Gem card and Pendulum relic receiving reworks.
New Relics
- Hefty Tablet: “Choose 1 of 3 Rare cards to add to your Deck. Add 1 Injury to your Deck.”
- Neow’s Talisman: “Upgrade 1 of your Strikes and 1 of your Defends.”
- Neow’s Bones: “Upon pickup, gain 2 random Neow Relics. Add 1 random Curse to your Deck.”
- Phial Holster: “Upon pickup, gain 1 potion slot and procure 2 random potions.”
- Winged Boots: “You may ignore paths when choosing the next rooms to travel to 3 times.”
Unfortunately, like many of the previous nerfs, these haven’t gone down too well.
Slay The Spire 2’s First Big Update Has Already Received Hundreds Of Negative Reviews
During its first review bombing, Slay the Spire 2 received almost 20,000 negative reviews. While the game still sits at “Very Positive” on Steam, its recent reviews paint a different picture, with the game having the more humble “Mixed” tag.
Although current negative reviews haven’t quite hit the levels of the first review-bombing episode, with around 350 so far, it’s likely they will, with the update dropping in the middle of the night for most of the West.
“I have no idea what the most recent update is up to. I understand the game is still early access, but how did the changes even get past the testing? Do you even play your own game?” said one review, which hit Steam this morning. “Don’t get the game now. Devs are actively anti-player. Enemies constantly doing damage and nerfing the players’ cards. Wtf is Doormaker now?” raged another.
Mega Crit’s wonderful start to Slay the Spire 2 is in danger of being eroded away. Developers should never be beholden to the whims of their audience; however, with every passing update, they seem to miss the mark more, and that will need to change for the long-term health of the game.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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e
- Developer(s)
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Mega Crit
- Publisher(s)
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Mega Crit
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op
