Slay the Spire 2 is here, which means it's time to grab potions, fill your hand with cards, and battle a host of fearsome monsters. Similar to previous entries, you can choose from multiple characters, each with their own specific deck archetypes, cards, and playstyles that you'll need to master.
One of them is The Ironclad, who is probably the most straightforward of all playable heroes. The Ironclad focuses on either raw damage, hits to increase its damage, or becomes an immovable object, and has a lot of ways to build it. But if you're struggling, here's my suggestion for one of the best builds for this character and what relics you should use.
The best iron construction
Look, before we get into the details of this character, I should make it clear that The Ironclad has some very viable builds in most levels of Ascension. Both his blocking and self-damaging archetypes are exceptionally strong, and you definitely shouldn't feel like all hope is lost if you keep getting cards that support this playstyle.
Additionally, The Ironclad has tons of endless combo potential as it has plenty of exhaust support and card draw options that loop damage, draw, and energy generation. These are all great alternative options when playing Ironclad.
Slay The Spire 2: Best Regent Buildings and Monuments
Here's everything you need to know about one of the best builds, The Regent, in Slay the Spire 2.
Archetype
For this build, we're going to focus on the Force mechanic, which increases any damage you deal based on the number of Force stacks you have on Ironclad. This can, unsurprisingly, get out of hand very quickly as it allows you to hit enemies for comical amounts of damage in a single turn.
A lot of this is because Ironclad not only has multiple ways to apply the Force to himself, but uses multi-hit attacks that can benefit from your improved damage. Plus, unless the card says so or the enemy buffs you, the Force won't disappear, meaning you'll be stronger as the battle drags on. This makes the Strength archetype ideal for boss battles or tougher elites that have tank block modes.
The best cards
When it comes to picking cards for a Strength build, we break them down into three separate categories. The first is the core, which are the main spells that help facilitate your game plan and drive your deck. The second is payout spellswhich are your main ways to kill enemies and close battles quickly. Finally, there are the support spells which either boost our defenses, draw cards for us, or provide other effects that we will benefit from.
Here's a breakdown of the basic cards you'll want to watch out for:
|
Name |
Energy costs |
Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Mark |
Lose 1 HP. Use up 1 card. Gain 1 power. |
|
|
Inflame |
1 |
Gain 2 strength. |
|
Rupture |
1 |
Whenever you lose HP on your turn, gain 1 power. |
|
Control |
1 |
Gain 1 power for each vulnerability on an enemy. Exhaust. |
|
Strike settings |
1 |
Deal 7 damage. Gain 2 power this turn. |
|
Fight me! |
2 |
Deal 5 damage twice. Gain 2 strength. Enemy gains 1 power. |
|
Demon form |
3 |
At the start of your turn, gain 2 power. |
When it comes to actually gaining power, we have a few ways to increase our damage output. Inflame is the most basic form of this, giving us at least 2 power for 1 energy, while Brand gives us extra power at the cost of a card and a single health point. The latter combos amazingly with Rupture, which will increase our strength whenever we lose health on our turn, regardless of how it happened.
Setup Strike is a nice early damage spell that gives us a short burst of temporary power and Fight Me can get out of control quickly because it hits twice.which scales amazingly with the Force. Demon Form is a large, flamboyant spell of power which, even though it costs 3 energy, can absolutely take over the entire game as it keeps increasing our damage.
Finally, we have Dominate which can be really powerful if you've caught a few vulnerable spells along the way. However, if you haven't picked one up, then this card is worth passing on, as you'll need additional activators to keep it working for you.
With our base cards out, it's time to look at the high damage spells we'll be using to take advantage of our enhanced power.
|
Name |
Energy costs |
Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Whirlwind |
X |
Deal X times 5 damage to all enemies. |
|
Boomerang sword |
1 |
Deal 3 x 2 damage to a random enemy. |
|
Double strikes |
1 |
Deal 5 damage twice. |
|
Fire |
1 |
Deal 8 damage to all enemies. Deals 2 additional damage for each attack card you played this turn. |
|
Thrash |
1 |
Deal 4 damage twice. Deplete a random attack in your hand and add damage to this card. |
|
Fiend Fire |
2 |
Exhaust your hand. Deal 7 damage for each card exhausted. Exhaust. |
As for our damage spells, the big kill spells for this archetype are Whirlwind and Fiend Fire. Since the Force buffs every single hit, Whirlwind can deal a lot of damage and is awesome for dealing with multiple enemies. Conversely, Fiend Flame can do a ridiculous amount of damage per target if you're willing to exhaust your entire hand while still having some strength buffs.
Some early damage cards that scale well include Twin Strikes and Sword Boomerangboth of which will hit multiple times and will hit harder the more power you gain. Thrash is a little more situational since you have to give up another Attack spell for it, but that can get you to the finish line quickly if needed. Finally, we have Conflagration, which increases its damage based on how many attack cards you have (which should be a lot), allowing you to deal with groups of enemies.
Now that we've covered the base and payout spells, let's look at some general support spells to shore up the weaknesses of our deck:
|
Name |
Energy costs |
Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
Battle trance |
Draw 3 cards. You cannot draw additional cards this round. |
|
|
bloodshed |
Lose 3 HP. Gain 2 energy. |
|
|
Offer |
Lose 6 HP. Gain 2 energy. Draw 3 cards. Exhaust. |
|
|
Derision |
1 |
Get 7 blocks. Use 1 vulnerable. |
|
Crimson Cloak |
1 |
At the start of your turn, you lose 1 HP and gain 8 blocks. |
|
Shrug |
1 |
Get 8 blocks. Draw 1 card. |
|
One-two punch |
1 |
On this turn, your next attack is played for extension. |
|
Aggression |
1 |
At the start of your turn, put a random attack from the discard pile into your hand and buff it. |
As far as support spells go, these are all the cards you should consider for this deck as you progress Acts. The three cards you want to prioritize here are Taunt, Shrug It Off, and Bloodletting. The first two give us some good block that allows us to resist attacks in case we can't kill our enemies as quickly as we'd like. While Bloodletting (and Offering) gives us some extra energy so we can play more Attack or Strength spells in one turn.
Battle Trance draws three cards for free, and Crimson Mantle is a nice continuous source of blocking at a relatively low cost. One-Two Punch allows us to deal even more damage in one round. However, this card is only worth having one copy of because you don't want to flood your hand with it. Finally, there's Aggression, which can constantly put Attack spells into our hand to ensure a relentless onslaught on our enemies.
The best relic
While all relics are great to have, these are the ones to watch out for when running:
|
Name |
Effect |
|---|---|
|
vajra |
Start each fight with 1 power |
|
A bag of marbles |
At the start of each fight, apply 1 vulnerability to all enemies. |
|
Beating the rest |
You cannot lose more than 20 HP in one turn. |
|
Melted eggs |
Whenever you add an attack card to your deck, upgrade it. |
|
Destroyed helmet |
When you first gain power in each fight, double the amount gained. |
|
A slingshot of courage |
Start every elite fight with 2 strength. |
As for relics, some of the big ones you want to hunt increase your power at the start of a fight or under certain conditions. Vajra, Ruined Helmet and Sling of Courage are ideal options as they give you power for freewhich only makes our payout spells even more deadly. Molten Egg is great because we collect a lot of Attack spells, and Bag of Marbles is a nice way to give us early damage with the Vulnerable debuff.
You'll also want to look for relics that help improve our defenses. Beat Remnant is awesome because it limits those big attacks that some elites and bosses can do. Alternatively, you should loot any relics that give you Block or Plating to further increase your survivability during the fights. We mostly attack in this build, so always try to find ways to passively defend.
Slay The Spire 2: The best build and relics for The Necrobinder
Here's one of the best builds for The Necrobinder and what cards you'll want to use in Slay the Spire 2.
