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Slay the Spire 2017. PS4, XboxOne, PC, Android, iOS, Mac, Linux, Switch. Leaderboard Guides Discord Streams Resources Forum Statistics Sub-games. Moderated by: S k i n S i n g e S k i n S i n g e, prophetoflulu prophetoflulu. Cannot transfer saves from Microsoft Store/Xbox Game Pass PC to other PC versions of the game due to encryption of files.
This guide describes the strategy I use to maintain long (10+) win streaks when playing as The Ironclad. I describe the cards I prioritize at different points in the game, my approach to navigating the map, and more.IntroductionThis guide will focus on a particular way to play the Ironclad class that is very defensive. The Ironclad supports many different styles of play, but I have found this style to be the most simple and consistent for securing consecutive victories.
I (Quincunx/ForgottenArbiter) have personally used primarily this style to obtain a current active win streak of 16. Hopefully, you can use this knowledge as well to improve your skills on the Ironclad.Note: This guide contains significant spoilers. If you want to explore the game yourself, stop reading now!Why Defensive?A larger portion are offensive-oriented, rather than defensive. Also, their main stat is Strength, while the Silent is focused more on Dexterity. Why should we build the Ironclad in a defensive manner? In short, I find it more consistent.As long as you defend against all of the incoming damage every turn, you only need a minimum amount of offense to win the fight. If your deck is filled with defensive cards, you have a high chance of being able to defend against enough damage every turn.
If your deck relies on killing the enemy as quickly as possible, then if you ever enter a battle and cannot win in one or two turns, you face taking large amounts of damage from the enemy attacks. The best way to mitigate this risk is to create small, focused decks. However, I find that making these types of decks with Ironclad relies a bit too much on finding certain key cards.Another big reason why defensive decks work well is the presence of one-card win conditions that will eventually lead to a win despite playing mostly blocks every turn. I will talk more about these later when I get into how to actually draft your cards. Here we go!General StrategyThere are a few constant playstyle decisions that I will be assuming throughout the run. They all have exceptions, but all card and event decisions should be made with them in mind.Don't take cursesNecronomicurse is fine, because it always comes with a game-winning relic.
Upgrading a card is probably worth a 25% chance at an Injury, if you don't feel like the curse will kill your deck. If you really want the extra power, a 50% chance of a curse can be worth a relic. I suggest avoiding every other optional means of obtaining curses, unless you have Omamori. This includes Calling Bell. Never take Calling Bell from a boss without 2 charges of Omamori.Keep a small deckGenerally, I advocate only taking about as many cards as you are going to upgrade.
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When every card in your deck is strong, it makes turns very consistent. I will give a bit more specific advice on which cards to take later, but my average final deck size is less than 20 cards. Keeping a small deck also requires you to remove cards. I recommend removing Strikes first, followed by Defends. If you do not upgrade Bash, consider removing it before Defends.Save Dexterity potionsDexterity potions are the best potion in the game for us. If you make it to the final boss with 3 Dex potions, it almost doesn't matter what cards are in your deck; it's that hard to lose.
These potions are sometimes worth picking up in a shop, and should mostly only be used in encounters where you think you are likely to die or take overwhelming damage otherwise.When do I rest?It's hard to give a general answer, but it's good to rest when you're below 50% hp or about to take some tricky fights. Hopefully, when following this guide, you won't need to rest more than once or twice throughout the run.Card Upgrade PriorityWhirlwind is the highest priority, followed by True Grit and Body Slam.
Afterwards, generally Powers Utility Skills Defensive Skills Attacks, though it varies pretty widely. The spreadsheet in the introduction has a more detailed breakdown of upgrade priority. For example, a few other Attacks are significantly improved by an upgrade and should take higher priority, including Uppercut and Pommel Strike. Also, Bash takes medium-high priority and is often upgraded at the first campfire.Floor 0 Strategy: NeowAs long as you have reached the boss of the first level in your previous run, you receive a choice of four options from Neow, the mysterious space-whale-looking entity. Which choice I make depends on what lies ahead, so I recommend opening the map, and keeping the layout in mind as you make your choice.
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For example, 250 gold is better if a shop is present early on:Unique Choice: Lose your starting Relic. Obtain a random Boss relic.This is fun, but bad for consistently winning. The Ironclad starting relic is quite good. I judge it to be about the level of a rare relic. On the other hand, some of the Boss relics you can obtain have potentially disastrous outcomes.
Calling Bell is probably the worst, giving you potentially disastrous curses in exchange for less benefit. Pandora's Box can leave you with a deck containing zero defensive cards, which will cause you to take much more damage until you can repair the problem.Drawbacks:The only two that I would avoid are 'Obtain a Curse' and 'Lose 50% of your current HP'. Obtaining a curse is likely to cost HP in the short run, and will cost you card removal in the long run. It is not worth any of the benefits. Losing 50% of your current HP is very likely to force you to rest at a campfire later, costing you a precious upgrade. It is also a simply risky option, so it is less desirable when aiming for consistency.
DISCLAIMER: I'm still learning. I'm not an expert on this and I need help understandingI want to tell you all what I'm getting from this, and see if I got this right.So the Ironclad, Silent, and Defect are creatures being 'restructed' by this god-like creature named Neow. I got hints that these 3 characters are being lead into the spire. They either die, or they make it to the end in which they lose conciousness to the heart.Now I remember finding a book, and when you read it you take damage. It costs more damage to take the book, but one line sticks out saying 'Will I finally retain my memories?' I've made it to the end of the spire with the book (only in the daily challenge, sadly;;) and nothing happens.I'm in the daily challenge yet again and I found this.I am Neow??
I need a little explanation.To my knowledge: Neow is some kind of godly figure. These figures in the first area would say 'One of Neow's pawns' or something like that, so I could assume with the knowledge above plus that, that Neow is a god. So I am Neow? The event will show you one of three randomly chosen memories, from either the Ironclad, the Silent, or the Defect. The one you got is the memory of the Defect first meeting Neow. The voice is Neow speaking to the Defect.The player is represented by whichever character you pick.
Neow is the giant whale creature at the bottom of the Spire, if that wasn't clear. Neow is the Ancient of Resurrection, and was banished to the bottom of the Spire for unknown reasons. Neow wants revenge on the Heart, and is using the playable characters as agents to carry out her revenge. Every time you die, you are resurrected by Neow, but lose your memories in the process. The only way to break the cycle would be to kill the Heart. (The event with the book gives you some interesting lore, but doesn't change the outcome.). Originally posted by:The event will show you one of three randomly chosen memories, from either the Ironclad, the Silent, or the Defect.
The one you got is the memory of the Defect first meeting Neow. The voice is Neow speaking to the Defect.The player is represented by whichever character you pick. Neow is the giant whale creature at the bottom of the Spire, if that wasn't clear. Neow is the Ancient of Resurrection, and was banished to the bottom of the Spire for unknown reasons.
Neow wants revenge on the Heart, and is using the playable characters as agents to carry out her revenge. Every time you die, you are resurrected by Neow, but lose your memories in the process.
The only way to break the cycle would be to kill the Heart. (The event with the book gives you some interesting lore, but doesn't change the outcome.)And there's no way to kill the heart (to my knowledge) so it's a loop. And the whale wasn't obvious - ripThanks so much!Edit: So 3 memories for each characters? I'm gonna find them all now.
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