Beginner's Guide - Slay the Spire 2
Welcome to our beginner’s guide for Slay the Spire 2! Our team at Untapped.gg has a decade of experience in producing helpful tools and content for card players, from Hearthstone to MTG Arena, Marvel SNAP and more.
What can you find on this page
This 'Getting Started' hub is designed to be your compass, linking you to comprehensive guides that break down every mechanic, class, and boss to help you secure those hard-fought victories. You’ll find some familiar faces here: we’ve partnered with Baalorlord and Jorbs – the best in the business to give you deep insights into how you can also become an expert at Slay the Spire 2.
We’ve got a comprehensive beginner’s guide for you and detailed tips for specific gameplay mechanics as well, so no matter your question, you will find an answer here.
Slay the Spire 2 Beginner’s Guides – Gameplay Tips for Getting Started
Spire Survival 101: Essential Gameplay Tips
Slay the Spire 2 FAQs
Do I get to keep my cards between runs?
No, and that is the great thing about the genre. Slay the Spire 2 is a roguelike, meaning every single run starts totally fresh with a basic starter deck. The only things you carry over between runs are the new items you've unlocked for future runs, and your own understanding of the game. This means you will build a new deck from scratch every time you start a new run.
How do I choose which path to go down?
Look for map routes that balance risk and reward, and always plan your path backward from the Boss. Prioritize fighting Elites if your current deck is strong enough since they drop game-changing relics, visit Campfires to heal or upgrade cards, and try to pick a path with intersections so you can change to a better road if a fight goes horribly wrong.
How do I know what cards to take?
The main rule is to draft cards that solve your immediate problems, rather than hoping to build an ideal combo later in the game. If you are taking too much small damage in hallway fights, draft better block cards. If you have an Elite fight coming up in three floors, prioritize high-damage attacks.
Should I be avoiding fights?
While it's tempting to dodge enemies to save health, regular hallway fights are your primary source of card rewards, gold, and potions. If you avoid too many standard fights early on, your deck will be too weak to survive the Boss. You can certainly amplify this by fighting Elites as well.
Should I take every card?
Definitely not! Actually, hitting the "skip" button is often the smartest play you can make. Taking every card bloats your deck with filler, making it much harder to reliably draw your strongest, most upgraded cards when you actually need them. Keep your deck lean and focused. This is generally one of the great skills and concepts to learn for playable card games.
How do I know what the enemy is going to do?
Check the icons above an enemy's head to see their "Intent." This tells you if they plan to attack, buff, or debuff you on their turn. Learning to read these icons is the key to knowing when you need to play every block card in your hand and when it's safe to go all-in on damage.
Community Resources for Slay the Spire 2
Install our Discord Bot on your server to view StS2 Cards, Relics, Potions, and Events!
Do you want to take a deeper dive? Slay the Spire streamer Jorbs, shared his guidelines for starting the game.
You can also learn more about core deckbuilding principles in Slay the Spire 2 with this guide from Baalorlord, another legendary streamer in the StS world.