Character archetypes list

Want to level up your game?

Check out these tried and tested strats that can conquer even the highest ascensions.

The archetypes below are specific strategies that benefit heavily from certain synergies or interactions. In some cases these decks use game breaking infinite combos, or allow you to deal absurd amounts of damage you couldn't achieve without fully commiting to a certain tactic. We've listed the most powerful ones for each character here.

Note that there are many ways to play Slay the Spire, and although these archetypes are powerful, by no means are they the only way to play and win. Sometimes you'll use a mixture of several of these combined together, or you may discover a new strategy altogether.

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ironclad silent defect watcher

ironclad archetypes

Strength

power

Demon Form

At the start of each turn, gain 2 Strength.

skill

Limit Break

Double your Strength.
Exhaust.

skill

Spot Weakness

B+

If an enemy intends to attack, gain 3 Strength.

power

Inflame

B+

Gain 2 Strength.

skill

Flex

Gain 2 Strength.
At the end of your turn, lose 2 Strength.

attack

Heavy Blade

Deal 14 damage.
Strength affects Heavy Blade 3 times.

attack

Whirlwind

B+

Deal 5 damage to ALL enemies X times.

attack

Reaper

Deal 4 damage to ALL enemies. Heal for unblocked damage.
Exhaust.

Rack up absurd amounts of strength and demolish foes with gigantic attacks.

Perfected Strike

attack

Perfected Strike

C-

Deal 6 damage.
Deals an additional +2 damage for ALL of your cards containing "Strike".

skill

Dual Wield

D+

Create a copy of an Attack or Power card in your hand.

Fill your deck with Strikes and let your Perfected Strikes decimate enemies.

Rampage

attack

Rampage

Deal 8 damage.
Every time this card is played, increase its damage by 5 for this combat.

skill

Double Tap

This turn, your next Attack is played twice.

Repeatedly play Rampage until it builds up devastating amounts of damage.

Dropkick Infinite

attack

Dropkick

D-

Deal 5 damage.
If the target is Vulnerable, gain and draw 1 card.

attack

Dropkick

D-

Deal 5 damage.
If the target is Vulnerable, gain and draw 1 card.

attack

Bash

Deal 8 damage.
Apply 2 Vulnerable.

skill

True Grit

Gain 7 Block.
Exhaust a random card from your hand.

skill

Burning Pact

Exhaust 1 card.
Draw 2 cards.

skill

Rage

D+

Whenever you play an Attack this turn, gain 3 Block.

Thin your deck down to trigger an infinite double Dropkick combo.

Searing Blow

attack

Searing Blow

D+

Deal 12 damage.
Can be upgraded any number of times.

skill

Armaments

C+

Gain 5 Block.
Upgrade a card in your hand for the rest of combat.

Upgrade Searing Blow repeatedly until it one-shots foes.

Block

power

Barricade

D+

Block no longer expires at the start of your turn.

skill

Entrench

D-

Double your current Block.

power

Juggernaut

Whenever you gain Block, deal 5 damage to a random enemy.

attack

Body Slam

Deal damage equal to your current Block.

Build up enormous amounts of block and use it to break your enemies.

Corruption

power

Corruption

A+

Skills cost 0.
Whenever you play a Skill, Exhaust it.

power

Dark Embrace

D+

Whenever a card is Exhausted, draw 1 card.

power

Feel No Pain

Whenever a card is Exhausted, gain 3 Block.

skill

Sentinel

E+

Gain 5 Block.
If this card is Exhausted, gain .

Make your skills free to rapidly cycle through your deck and dispatch foes.

Dead Branch

power

Corruption

A+

Skills cost 0.
Whenever you play a Skill, Exhaust it.

Dead Branch

rare

Whenever you Exhaust a card, add a random card to your hand.

S+

B-

Pull dozens of free cards out of thin air with a Dead Branch and Corruption combo.

Status

power

Evolve

Whenever you draw a Status, draw 1 card.

power

Fire Breathing

C+

Whenever you draw a Status or Curse card, deal 6 damage to ALL enemies.

Abuse high-value status-generating cards then benefit from drawing them.

Health Sacrifice

power

Rupture

D-

Whenever you lose HP from a card, gain 1 Strength.

power

Combust

C-

At the end of your turn, lose 1 HP and deal 5 damage to ALL enemies.

power

Brutality

B-

At the start of your turn, lose 1 HP and draw 1 card.

attack

Hemokinesis

C+

Lose 2 HP.
Deal 15 damage.

skill

Offering

A+

Lose 6 HP.
Gain .
Draw 3 cards.
Exhaust.

skill

Bloodletting

B-

Lose 3 HP.
Gain .

attack

Blood for Blood

D+

Costs 1 less for each time you lose HP in combat.
Deal 18 damage.

attack

Reaper

Deal 4 damage to ALL enemies. Heal for unblocked damage.
Exhaust.

Sacrifice your health in exchange for power.

silent archetypes

Shiv

power

Infinite Blades

B+

At the start of your turn, add a Shiv to your hand.

skill

Blade Dance

C+

Add 3 Shivs to your hand.

power

After Image

A+

Whenever you play a card, gain 1 Block.

power

A Thousand Cuts

Whenever you play a card, deal 1 damage to ALL enemies.

power

Accuracy

D+

Shivs deal 4 additional damage.

Wrist Blade

boss

Attacks that cost 0 deal 4 additional damage.

Shuriken

uncommon

Every time you play 3 Attacks in a single turn, gain 1 Strength.

A-

Kunai

uncommon

Every time you play 3 Attacks in a single turn, gain 1 Dexterity.

C+

S-

C+

B-

Death by a thousand cuts.

Poison

skill

Catalyst

A-

Double an enemy's Poison.
Exhaust.

skill

Catalyst

A-

Double an enemy's Poison.
Exhaust.

skill

Nightmare

Choose a card.
Next turn, add 3 copies of that card into your hand.
Exhaust.

skill

Burst

This turn your next Skill is played twice.

skill

Corpse Explosion

A-

Apply 6 Poison. When an enemy dies, deal damage equal to its MAX HP to ALL enemies.

The Specimen

rare

Whenever an enemy dies, transfer any Poison it has to a random enemy.

A-

Snecko Skull

common

Whenever you apply Poison, apply an additional 1 Poison.

S+

Maintain your block while ramping up lethal amounts of Poison.

Envenom Poison

power

Envenom

Whenever an attack deals unblocked damage, apply 1 Poison.

power

Infinite Blades

B+

At the start of your turn, add a Shiv to your hand.

Cut your foes to shreds while racking up Poison.

Grand Finale

attack

Grand Finale

E-

Can only be played if there are no cards in your draw pile.
Deal 50 damage to ALL enemies.

skill

Prepared

Draw 1 card.
Discard 1 card.

skill

Calculated Gamble

B-

Discard your hand, then draw that many cards.
Exhaust.

Runic Pyramid

boss

At the end of your turn, you no longer discard your hand.

A-

B-

Manipulate your card draw to unleash huge multitarget damage.

Discard

skill

Calculated Gamble

B-

Discard your hand, then draw that many cards.
Exhaust.

skill

Reflex

E+

Unplayable.
If this card is discarded from your hand, draw 2 cards.

skill

Tactician

E+

Unplayable.
If this card is discarded from your hand, gain .

skill

Prepared

Draw 1 card.
Discard 1 card.

skill

Acrobatics

B-

Draw 3 cards.
Discard 1 card.

power

Tools of the Trade

B+

At the start of your turn, draw 1 card and discard 1 card.

Tough Bandages

uncommon

Whenever you discard a card during your turn, gain 3 Block.

Tingsha

rare

Whenever you discard a card during your turn, deal 3 damage to a random enemy for each card discarded.

C+

Trigger powerful effects by discarding your cards.

Infinite Discard

skill

Calculated Gamble

B-

Discard your hand, then draw that many cards.
Exhaust.

skill

Reflex

E+

Unplayable.
If this card is discarded from your hand, draw 2 cards.

skill

Tactician

E+

Unplayable.
If this card is discarded from your hand, gain .

skill

Prepared

Draw 1 card.
Discard 1 card.

skill

Acrobatics

B-

Draw 3 cards.
Discard 1 card.

Generate infinite energy using a looping discard combo.

defect archetypes

Lightning

power

Electrodynamics

B+

Lightning now hits ALL enemies.
Channel 2 Lightning.

power

Defragment

B+

Gain 1 Focus.

power

Capacitor

B-

Gain 2 Orb slots.

skill

Zap

C-

Channel 1 Lightning.

skill

Dualcast

B-

Evoke your next Orb 2 times.

Use Lightning orbs to passively strike down enemies.

Frost

power

Defragment

B+

Gain 1 Focus.

power

Capacitor

B-

Gain 2 Orb slots.

skill

Glacier

B+

Gain 7 Block.
Channel 2 Frost.

skill

Chill

A-

Channel 1 Frost for each enemy in combat.
Exhaust.

skill

Coolheaded

A-

Channel 1 Frost.
Draw 1 card.

Calipers

rare

At the start of your turn, lose 15 Block rather than all of your Block.

C+

B-

C-

Turtle up with 100 block per turn.

Dark

skill

Darkness

D+

Channel 1 Dark.

skill

Dualcast

B-

Evoke your next Orb 2 times.

skill

Multi-Cast

Evoke your next Orb X times.

skill

Recursion

C-

Evoke your next Orb.
Channel the Orb that was just Evoked.

Use Dark orbs to one-shot foes.

All For One

attack

All For One

Deal 10 damage.
Put all Cost 0 cards from your discard pile into your hand.

skill

Hologram

B+

Gain 3 Block.
Return a card from your discard pile to your hand.
Exhaust.

skill

Madness

Reduce the cost of a random card in your hand cost to 0 this combat.
Exhaust.

Draft a bunch of 0 cost cards and pull them over and over again.

Claw

attack

Claw

Deal 3 damage.
All Claw cards deal 2 additional damage this combat.

attack

Claw

Deal 3 damage.
All Claw cards deal 2 additional damage this combat.

attack

Claw

Deal 3 damage.
All Claw cards deal 2 additional damage this combat.

The Claw is the law.

Snecko Eye

attack

All For One

Deal 10 damage.
Put all Cost 0 cards from your discard pile into your hand.

attack

Meteor Strike

F+

Deal 24 damage.
Channel 3 Plasma.

attack

Sunder

Deal 24 damage.
If this kills the enemy, gain .

power

Echo Form

A+

The first card you play each turn is played twice.
Ethereal.

Snecko Eye

boss

Draw 2 additional cards each turn. Start each combat Confused.

A-

Were still writing this section. Check back soon.

Plasma & Focus Down

attack

Hyperbeam

B-

Deal 26 damage to ALL enemies.
Lose 3 Focus.

skill

Reprogram

D-

Lose 1 Focus.
Gain 1 Strength.
Gain 1 Dexterity.

skill

Fusion

B-

Channel 1 Plasma.

skill

Reinforced Body

B+

Gain 7 Block X times.

attack

Barrage

B-

Deal 4 damage for each Channeled Orb.

skill

Hologram

B+

Gain 3 Block.
Return a card from your discard pile to your hand.
Exhaust.

Use your orb slots for energy, and lose Focus in exchange for power.

Double Energy X Cost

skill

Multi-Cast

Evoke your next Orb X times.

skill

Tempest

C+

Channel X Lightning.
Exhaust.

skill

Double Energy

C+

Double your Energy.
Exhaust.

Ice Cream

rare

Energy is now conserved between turns.

B-

B+

A-

B+

Pour enormous amounts of energy into an X cost card to win.

4 Card Infinite

skill

Recycle

Exhaust a card.
Gain equal to its cost.

skill

Skim

C+

Draw 3 cards.

skill

Fusion

B-

Channel 1 Plasma.

skill

Dualcast

B-

Evoke your next Orb 2 times.

skill

Hologram

B+

Gain 3 Block.
Return a card from your discard pile to your hand.
Exhaust.

Generate infinite energy with a 4 card combo.

Powers

power

Creative AI

At the start of each turn, add a random Power card to your hand.

power

Storm

Whenever you play a Power, Channel 1 Lightning.

skill

Force Field

Costs 1 less for each Power card played this combat.
Gain 12 Block.

skill

Amplify

D-

This turn, your next Power is played twice.

power

Heatsinks

E+

Whenever you play a Power card, draw 1 card.

skill

White Noise

D+

Add a random Power to your hand.
It costs 0 this turn.
Exhaust.

Mummified Hand

uncommon

Whenever you play a Power, a random card in your hand costs 0 for the turn.

B-

A-

B-

Bird-Faced Urn

rare

Whenever you play a Power, heal 2 HP.

B-

B+

A-

B+

Become all-powerful by constantly playing powers.

watcher archetypes

Stance Dance

attack

Flurry Of Blows

B+

Deal 4 damage.
Whenever you change stances, return this from the discard pile to your hand.

attack

Flurry Of Blows

B+

Deal 4 damage.
Whenever you change stances, return this from the discard pile to your hand.

power

Mental Fortress

Whenever you change Stances, gain 4 Block.

skill

Meditate

B+

Put a card from your discard pile into your hand and Retain it.
Enter Calm.
End your turn.

skill

Simmering Fury

B-

At the start of your next turn, enter Wrath and draw 2 cards.

power

Rushdown

Whenever you enter Wrath, draw 2 cards.

Violet Lotus

boss

Whenever you exit Calm, gain an additional [energy].

Switch between stances to punish foes with Wrath and protect yourself with Calm.

Infinite Stance Dance

power

Rushdown

Whenever you enter Wrath, draw 2 cards.

attack

Eruption

Deal 9 damage.
Enter Wrath.

skill

Inner Peace

B+

If you are in Calm, draw 3 cards.
Otherwise, enter Calm.

skill

Scrawl

A-

Draw cards until your hand is full.
Exhaust.

power

Mental Fortress

Whenever you change Stances, gain 4 Block.

Peace Pipe

rare

You can now remove cards from your deck at Rest Sites.

C+

Generate infinite energy by jumping in and out of Calm.

Establishment Infinite Stance Dance

power

Rushdown

Whenever you enter Wrath, draw 2 cards.

attack

Eruption

Deal 9 damage.
Enter Wrath.

skill

Vigilance

Gain 8 Block.
Enter Calm.

power

Establishment

Whenever a card is Retained, reduce its cost by 1 this combat.

skill

Meditate

B+

Put a card from your discard pile into your hand and Retain it.
Enter Calm.
End your turn.

skill

Scrawl

A-

Draw cards until your hand is full.
Exhaust.

power

Mental Fortress

Whenever you change Stances, gain 4 Block.

Peace Pipe

rare

You can now remove cards from your deck at Rest Sites.

C+

Generate infinite energy by jumping in and out of Calm using your starting cards.

Ragnarok

attack

Ragnarok

A-

Deal 5 damage to a random enemy 5 times.

skill

Wreath of Flame

C-

Your next Attack deals 5 additional damage.

skill

Wreath of Flame

C-

Your next Attack deals 5 additional damage.

skill

Crescendo

B-

Retain.
Enter Wrath.
Exhaust.

skill

Blasphemy

Enter Divinity.
Die next turn.
Exhaust

Save up for a huge Ragnarok turn which wipes out your foes.

Divinity

power

Devotion

At the start of your turn, gain 2 Mantra.

skill

Worship

C-

Gain 5 Mantra.

skill

Prostrate

C+

Gain 2 Mantra.
Gain 4 Block.

Damaru

common

At the start of your turn, gain 1 Mantra.

Build up enough Mantra to enter Divinity and end fights outright.

Retain

power

Establishment

Whenever a card is Retained, reduce its cost by 1 this combat.

power

Battle Hymn

B-

At the start of each turn, add a Smite into your hand.

attack

Sands of Time

B+

Retain.
Deal 20 damage.
When Retained, lower its cost by 1 this combat.

attack

Windmill Strike

A-

Retain.
Deal 7 damage.
When Retained, increase its damage by 4 this combat.

skill

Protect

A-

Retain.
Gain 12 Block.

skill

Meditate

B+

Put a card from your discard pile into your hand and Retain it.
Enter Calm.
End your turn.

Use Establishment to make your Retain cards free to unleash huge value turns.

Scry

power

Foresight

A+

At the start of your turn, Scry 3.

power

Nirvana

Whenever you Scry, gain 3 Block.

attack

Weave

C+

Deal 4 damage.
Whenever you Scry, return this from the discard pile to your Hand.

attack

Weave

C+

Deal 4 damage.
Whenever you Scry, return this from the discard pile to your Hand.

Never draw a bad card again.

Pressure Points

skill

Pressure Points

D-

Apply 8 Mark.
ALL enemies lose HP equal to their Mark.

skill

Pressure Points

D-

Apply 8 Mark.
ALL enemies lose HP equal to their Mark.

skill

Pressure Points

D-

Apply 8 Mark.
ALL enemies lose HP equal to their Mark.

Mark enemies with Pressure Points and watch them crumble.

Master Reality

power

Master Reality

B-

Whenever a card is created during combat, Upgrade it.

power

Battle Hymn

B-

At the start of each turn, add a Smite into your hand.

power

Study

C+

At the end of your turn, shuffle an Insight into your draw pile.

Dead Branch

rare

Whenever you Exhaust a card, add a random card to your hand.

S+

B-

Generate powerful cards mid-combat to answer any encounter.

Alpha

skill

Alpha

Shuffle a Beta into your draw pile.
Exhaust.

skill

Beta

Shuffle an Omega into your draw pile.
Exhaust.

power

Omega

At the start of your turn deal 50 damage to ALL enemies.

Play Alpha, Beta and Omega, then turtle up while shredding foes every turn.

Expunger

skill

Conjure Blade

D+

Shuffle an Expunger into your draw pile.
Exhaust.
(Expunger costs 1, deals 9 damage X times.)

skill

Wreath of Flame

C-

Your next Attack deals 5 additional damage.

Chemical X

shop

The effects of your cost X cards are increased by 2.

B+

Smiling Mask

uncommon

The merchant's card removal service now always costs 50 Gold.

C-

C+

C-

Peace Pipe

rare

You can now remove cards from your deck at Rest Sites.

C+

Conjure an enormous blade and hack foes to bits, one at a time.

Archetypes

Curated character archetype decks

Want to level up your game?

Jump to character ⤵

ironclad archetypes

Strength

Perfected Strike

Rampage

Dropkick Infinite

Searing Blow

Block

Corruption

Dead Branch

Status

Health Sacrifice

silent archetypes

Shiv

Poison

Envenom Poison

Grand Finale

Discard

Infinite Discard

defect archetypes

Lightning

Frost

Dark

All For One

Claw

Snecko Eye

Plasma & Focus Down

Double Energy X Cost

4 Card Infinite

Powers

watcher archetypes

Stance Dance

Infinite Stance Dance

Establishment Infinite Stance Dance

Ragnarok

Divinity

Retain

Scry

Pressure Points

Master Reality

Alpha

Expunger