Sep 16, 2019

Slay the Spire - Dinosaurs

Hey everyone,

It's been a week since the 4th character came to the beta branch. Things are still pretty chaotic in terms of design and balance work and we thank you for your continuous support and feedback.

We'll be continuing work on core design and balance this week and we'll also be accepting beta art (see below) so that players can more easily differentiate cards! Please see the patch notes section at the bottom to see a list of all the changes since the last report.

Beta Art Submissions

We're now accepting beta art submissions for new cards implemented for this set of content!
However, please keep in mind that we're undergoing many changes and this may result in cards being cut or reworked.

Please see our initial Beta Art submission guidelines post for templates and general information regarding beta art submissions

Community Fan Art

We're getting Watcher fan art!!! Very exciting.

The Watcher by /u/AzoryKeron

The Watcher in action by /u/MaltyCrab

Patch Notes

EDIT: A hotfix was also pushed out to fix a crashing issue.

Content

Adding Captain's Wheel relic. Rare.
Adding Sash Whip card. Common attack.
Adding Horn Cleat relic. Uncommon.
Reworked Brilliance card.
Reworked Flurry of Blows card.
Reworked Inner Peace card.
Reworked Prostrate card.
Reworked Vengeance card -> Simmering Fury.
Reworked Vigilance card.
Reworked Tungsten Rod relic.

Balance

Akabeko damage buffed from 3 -> 9.
Carve Reality card gets slightly reworked.
Clarity card Deprecated.
Consecrate deals +1 damage.
Consecrate+ deals +2 damage.
Deceive Reality card gets slightly reworked.
Follow Up card damage increased from 6 -> 7.
Follow Up+ card damage increased from 8 -> 10.
Horn Cleat block increased to 14.
Sancitity card gains 2 less Block but draws 1 additional card.
Slight rework of Path To Victory.
Smite card buffed from 10 -> 12 damage.
Snecko Oil reworked.
Tranquility (Previously Clear The Mind) buffed to Retain.
Tungsten Rod is now a rare relic.
Wallop card is now Uncommon, costs 2, and deals 2 less damage.
Wireheading now triggers at start of turn to better interact with Weave.
Worship upgrade changed from giving Innate to Retain.

Bug Fixes

Beta, Omega, and other new cards now appear in the Card Library.
Brilliance card no longer gets stuck when played with 0 cards.
Curse removal shrine will no longer incorrectly appear when you have Curse of The Bell.
Fix for Attack/Skill/Power potion extras not having its cost set to 0.
Fixed Discovery card giving two cards.
Mental Fortress power now displays the correct name.
Re-adding a font that caused some text to not appear in some languages.
Smite card now appears in Card Library.
Snecko Oil potion no longer displays the confused keyword.
Tantrum's Cannot Change Stance power now correctly flagged as a debuff.
Tungesten Rod no longer stops Blasphemy from killing you.

UI and Effects

Removed double initialization of card descriptions on game load.
Wireheading card renamed to Foresight.
Cards which have Mantra now show the Divinity tip as well.
Talk To The Hand card wording updates.
Watcher leaderboards should now be working.
Wording improvements for 10+ cards.
Worship card now also contains Divinity keyword tip.
Adding a VFX for Judgement card.
Lightning strikes down the Blasphemer.
Clear the Mind renamed to Tranquility to better differentiate from Empty Mind.
Fixed spelling error in Judgments name.
Typo Fix for Watcher's memory in the Sensory Stone event.
Wireheading power now states start of turn.

Localization

Credits for VIE updated (not in-game yet).
Manual and auto line break mode for card descriptions enabled for JPN/ZHS languages.
Updates for DEU, DUT, ITA, JPN, KOR, RUS, SPA, THA, VIE, ZHS, and ZHT.

Sep 10, 2019

Character 4 Progress Report #1

Slay the Spire - Dinosaurs

Hey everyone!

In these reports we will be writing up what we've changed, what's going to be changing and probably what we're working on every week or so.
The main focus of this week is fixing all of the new issues and interactions.

Second of all, we'd like to thank our community members and /u/ForgottenArbiter for making a post with all that's changed in the game outside of the 4th character!
It's formatted beautifully on the reddit post.

This summary is posted here:

Cards

Fire Breathing: New effect: Cost 1, "Whenever you draw a Status or Curse card, deal 6 (10) damage to ALL enemies."
Sever Soul: Now deals 22 damage when upgraded (was 20)
Fiend Fire: New wording (same effect): "Exhaust your hand. Deal 7 (10) damage for each card Exhausted. Exhaust."
Reprogram: New wording (same effect): "Scry 4 (6)."
Curse of the Bell (new card): "Unplayable. Cannot be removed from your deck.
Various Cards: "upgraded" has been capitalized
Various Cards: Tooltips for temporary cards created in combat have been added to existing cards like Immolate and Blade Dance

Relics

Shop Relics now cost 150 gold (down from 200)

Pure Water (Starter, Watcher): At the start of each combat, add a Miracle into your hand.
Akabeko (Common, all classes): Your first attack each combat deals 3 additional damage.
Ceramic Fish (Common, all classes): Whenever you add a card to your deck, gain 7 gold.
Ink Bottle (Common, all classes): Whenever you play 10 cards, draw 1 card.
Melange (Common, Watcher): Whenever you shuffle your draw pile, Scry 3.
Tungsten Rod (Common, all classes): At the start of your turn, if it is before turn 6, gain Block equal to the current turn.
Strike Dummy (Uncommon, all classes): Cards containing "Strike" deal 3 additional damage.
Teardrop Locket (Uncommon, Watcher): Start each combat in Calm.
Yang (Uncommon, Watcher): Whenever you play an Attack, gain 1 temporary Dexterity.
Cloak Clasp (Rare, all classes): At the end of your turn, gain 2 block for each card in your hand.
Holy Water (Boss, Watcher): Replaces Pure Water. At the start of each combat, add 3 Miracles into your hand.
Sacred Bark (Boss, all classes): Double the effectiveness of potions.
Slaver's Collar (Boss, all classes): During Boss and Elite combats, gain [E] at the start of your turn.
Violet Lotus (Boss, Watcher): Whenever you exit Calm, gain an additional [E].

New Wording

The Abacus: "Whenever you shuffle your draw pile, gain 6 block."

Balance Changes

Meal Ticket: Now Common (was Shop)
Toy Ornithopter: Now Common (was Shop)
Eternal Feather: Now Uncommon (was Boss)
White Beast Statue: Now Uncommon (was Boss)
Lizard Tail: Now Rare (was Boss)
Black Blood: Now heals for 12 HP (was 10)
Calling Bell: New effect: "Upon pickup, obtain a unique Curse and 3 relics." (see Curse of the Bell, above)
Hovering Kite: New effect: "The first time you discard a card each turn, gain [E].
Wrist Blade: Now adds 4 additional damage (was 3)
Orrery: Now Shop (was Boss)

Other

New Character: The Watcher
New Mod: Purple Cards
New Potion: Stance Potion (Watcher Only)
New Potion: Duplication Potion
Fairy in the Bottle: 10% HP -> 30% HP
New Achievement: Amethyst (This achievement is currently bugged, though, and you get Sapphire instead)
New Achievement: Amethyst+

That's quite a lot of changes!
/u/baefeather made the first fan art of the Watcher! Here it is in all its glory.

Since release we've made a couple of changes already- and we're pushing out a patch today, too!

Patch Notes 09-10-2019

Gameplay and Balance

Consecrate and Consecrate+ deal 1 more damage.
Exiting a stance via cards like Empty Mind now count as stance change for cards like Adaptation and Controlled Change.
Followup and Folloup+ card deal 1 more damage.
Halt card's Wrath bonus increased by 1.
Halt+ card's Wrath bonus increased by 2.
Lesson Learned card deals 2 less damage.
Lesson Learned+ card deals 3 less damage.
Path to Victory+ now exhausts.
Protect card gains 2 less Block.
Protect+ card gains 3 less Block.
Sacred Bark now works with Attack, Skill, and Power potions.
Sacred Bark relic now works with Duplication potion.
Weave card deals 1 more damage.
Weave+ card deals 2 more damage.

Bug Fixes

Fix for banner text not showing up for JPN/KOR/ZHS/ZHT.
Fixed 10+ Devotion power not entering Divinity every turn.
Fixed issue where stance related idle sounds weren't stopped if you abandoned a run.
On grid card select screens. Picking the maximum anount of cards you can choose no longer auto confirms your selection.
Scrying Weave with a full hand now discards the extra Weave cards.

UI and Effects

Empty Mind now draws cards before exiting stance to be consistent with other Empty cards.
Scrollable dropdowns now supports scroll wheel and arrow keys.
Completing a run -> Winning a run for Watcher unlock.
Tantrum description updated wording.

Audio

Applying the Mantra power now has a unique SFX.
Updating all Watcher-related SFX (pitch/volume/etc).

Localization

Updates for DEU, DUT, ITA, KOR, RUS, ZHT.

Sep 10, 2019

Slay the Spire's new character is available for testing

Slay the Spire

With only three characters, Slay the Spire is a meaty deckbuilding roguelike that I've still not been able to defeat, and now it's poised to introduce another hero to its roster. The Watcher isn't in the live game yet, but is now available in the beta branch along with an update that introduces new relics, bug fixes, balance tweaks and more.

If you opt into the beta branch through Steam, you'll get access to The Watcher as soon as you hop into the game, but only if you've beaten the game and unlocked the Defect character. If you meet the prerequisites, you'll be able to start a new game with the purple mystic.

The Watcher is a blind ascetic who is paying the Spire a visit so she can 'evaluate' it. She's got monk vibes and can switch between different fighting stances that give her helpful bonuses. She starts every battle with a new Miracle, and being a bit on the mystical side she's got scrying powers that let you look at cards in your draw pile. Handy!

If you want to do a bit of preparing before taking the Watcher for a spin for the first time, Mega Crit Games hasn't revealed any details yet, but you can still find lists that cover the character's abilities, as well as the new cards and relics, like this one from Kehvedna on Reddit.

Mega Crit also announced that physical console editions are now available for preorder, along with a special vinyl edition of the Slay the Spire soundtrack.

Sep 9, 2019

Testing the Fourth Character

Slay the Spire - Dinosaurs

Hello!

The 4th character is now available in the beta branch. Beating the game and having the Defect unlocked will unlock this character. If these requirements are already met, the character will be available as soon as you start the game!

This update comes with one new character, new relics, new potions, balance changes, and other unnamed goodies will be added during this test period. Also, the Fire Breathing card was reworked.

Participating in the beta is easy! Opt into the beta through the BETAS tab for Slay the Spire. For more info, see here.

Can I use my saves from the main branch?

Yep. Open the game properties and under the LOCAL FILES tab select BROWSE LOCAL FILES... and create a copy of your preferences folder and rename it betaPreferences (case sensitive).
If you run into issues, we recommend asking the nice folks at the Slay the Spire Discord server or reach us at support@megacrit.com.

Physical Editions?!

We worked with our publisher, Humble Bundle, to release on other platforms and now physical editions are available for pre-order! Physical editions are available for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Slay the Spire Soundtrack on Vinyl?!??

Our composer Clark Aboud is releasing a special vinyl edition of the Slay the Spire soundtrack! The cover also features unique artwork by our illustrator Anailis Dorta.

It's up for pre-order now! Check it out at Ghost Ramp.

Community Fan Art

Sometimes I think about posting all the memes. However, we must remain professional.
Take a look at some art!

The Ironclad looking pretty JAXXed by @arkalpha

This great rendition of all the characters in cubism by /u/MochaSNotsosweet

Hexa-Ghost by /u/NightmareRoach

That's all for now, we'll be using Steam's new Event system to push out minor patch announcements so be sure to Follow us on Steam or our twitter (@megacrit) if you want to stay on top of updates.

Aug 15, 2019

Character Four: Beta Date

Slay the Spire - Dinosaurs

Hey everyone,

We've got a few things to share!

Character Four Steam Beta

Testing and balancing for the 4th character will be available on the Steam Beta branch on September 9, 2019.
As much as we would love to test it out on all the platforms, the logistics and patching process is only possible through Steam.

Once testing and polishing is complete, this free DLC will be available on Steam and all the other platforms!

Now Available on Xbox One

Speaking of platforms, we're now available on Xbox One through either the Xbox Game Pass or the Microsoft Store!

LibGDX 1.9.9 Version

We're pushing out a special build of Slay the Spire with a game engine update.
This build upgrades our game from LibGDX 1.9.2 -> LibGDX 1.9.9. This update gives multi-monitor support, DPI scaling fixes, improved performance, updated controller support, and allows screenshake to perform correctly in 16:10 aspect ratios.

Due to a few backwards compatibility issues we're pushing this build out in a separate branch titled LibGDX199 and this build will be updated alongside the beta branch until we confirm it's safe to merge into the beta branch. This can be found in the game's BETA tab in the same way you would access the beta branch.

Note: Save files for the beta branch are shared with the saves in the LibGDX199 branch.

Aug 10, 2019

I like bad luck and I cannot lie

Slay the Spire

I bet you know the feeling, like the game is against you. You're pulling all the wrong cards or rolling all the wrong numbers and you die. It's like the game didn't want you to win and you had no chance - what were you supposed to do? Maybe you were at a boss and now have to start all over again. Maybe you were about to win a tournament and didn't. So sorry - it was just bad luck.

Argh god! It's infuriating - at the time - especially if someone pulls the "oh bad luck" line on you as it happens. Wankers. But this notion of luck, it's there in games and secretly - or not so secretly now I'm writing about it - I love it. I love bad luck.

It's not that I like losing - as if! (You've never seen me at LaserZone - I'm embarrassingly competitive. I once went there with my son, who was about eight years old at the time. I told him we'd stick together. I promised him. "You and me, son." But the minute we got in there, I was off, stalking the fake mist like a ghost. "Dad? Dad?!" I got the highest score that day. I gave my child something to aspire to. What?) So it's not that I like losing, but I like the possibility of it.

Aug 3, 2019

Grab Slay the Spire and FPS Squad for $12 in latest Humble Monthly Bundle

Slay the Spire

Rogue-like deck builder Slay the Spire, one of the best games of the year so far, and Early Access multiplayer shooter Squad are the two early unlocks for the latest Humble Monthly Bundle, and you can grab them both right now for $12. Considering Slay the Spire's lowest-ever price is around $10 and Squad's is around $18, you're saving a pretty penny, here.

Slay the Spire is the kind of game everyone should play, even if you don't like deck builders. As Evan wrote in his review, it's one of "the most elegantly designed games in recent memory", and has basically spawned its own genre. Even with its current 50% Steam sale, $12 is the cheapest you can get it right now.

Squad isn't as big a home run, but it's still intriguing. It's a slow-paced 40v40 shooter with maps modeled after Afghanistan and Iraq, and it entered alpha way back in 2014. In 2017, it made our list of the best multiplayer FPSs you probably aren't playing, and it's gotten plenty of meaty updates since then, including tutorials and modding tools.

You can buy both games for $12 right now on the Humble Bundle site, and you'll also get a cache of mystery games that unlock in a month's time. The money actually buys you a month-to-month subscription, but you can cancel anytime, or just pause your subscription if you don't fancy any given month.