Slay the Spire 2: Release Date & Characters
Mega Crit has officially confirmed: Slay the Spire 2 launches in Early Access on March 5, 2026 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time (1:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM GMT / March 6 2:00 AM CST Beijing).
Wishlist on Steam to be notified the moment it drops.
Official Early Access Trailer
Five Playable Characters
Slay the Spire 2 launches with an expanded roster — three returning fan-favourites with major reworks, and two brand-new characters with entirely unique mechanics. Browse all characters on our Characters page.
The Ironclad — Returning Warrior
The Ironclad returns as the master of raw power and demonic pacts. His kit revolves around Strength-scaling, self-damage payoffs, and deep Exhaust synergies. New additions include the Affliction system and reworked staples.
Signature cards to watch:
- Blood for Blood — Costs 4 Energy but gets cheaper every time you lose HP. The ultimate self-damage payoff card.
- Hellraiser — A Power that auto-plays any "Strike" card you draw against a random enemy. Transforms your entire deck strategy.
- Hemokinesis — Lose 2 HP to deal 14 damage. High-efficiency trading that synergizes with the Ironclad's HP-as-resource identity.
The Silent — Returning Assassin
The Silent returns with her classic Poison and Shiv archetypes, plus the brand-new Sly keyword — cards with Sly auto-play for free when discarded, enabling entirely new discard-combo strategies.
Signature cards to watch:
- Die Die Die — Deal 13 damage to ALL enemies. Exhaust. A devastating board clear.
- Blade Dance — Add 3 Shivs to your Hand. The core Shiv engine enabler.
- Flick-Flack — Sly. Deal 7 damage to all enemies. When discarded, it auto-plays for free — the Sly mechanic in action.
- Accuracy — Shivs deal 6 additional damage. Turns your cheap Shivs into lethal weapons.
The Necrobinder — New: Proxy Combat
The Necrobinder is the most mechanically complex character in Slay the Spire history. She fights through Osty, a reanimated skeletal companion, and wields three interconnected systems: Doom (a debuff that executes enemies at threshold), Souls (zero-cost draw tokens), and Card Transformation (adding Ethereal/Replay to cards). Read our full Necrobinder strategy guide.
Signature cards to watch:
- Blight Strike — Deal 8 damage; apply Doom equal to unblocked damage. The core Doom applicator.
- Danse Macabre — Gain 4 Block whenever you play a card costing 2+. Passive defense engine.
- Defile — Ethereal. Deal 13 damage for just 1 Energy. High-risk, high-reward.
- Sic 'Em — Osty deals 5 damage. Whenever Osty hits this enemy this turn, Summon 3. Combines Osty offense with companion healing.
The Regent — New: Star Economy
The Regent manages Stars as a secondary resource alongside Energy. She transforms cards into Minions, and uses the Forge mechanic to scale her signature Sovereign Blade — a Colorless card that grows stronger with each Forge played. The Regent has a unique affinity for Colorless cards, with abilities like Spectrum Shift that generate random Colorless cards each turn and Supermassive that scales based on cards created during combat. Read our full Regent strategy guide.
Signature cards to watch:
- Falling Star — Costs 0 Energy + 2 Stars. Deal 7 damage, apply Weak and Vulnerable. The Star-spending staple.
- Hidden Cache — Gain 1 Star now, 3 Stars next turn. The primary Star generator.
- Supermassive — Deal 5 damage plus 3 per card created this combat. The ultimate payoff for the Regent's card-creation engine.
- Heavenly Drill — X-cost Attack. Deal 8 damage X times; doubles X if 3 or more. Devastating finisher with Star/Energy stacking.
The Defect — Returning Automaton
The Defect returns as the Orb-channelling automaton from the original Slay the Spire. Its core mechanics — Lightning, Frost, and Dark Orbs — are back with significant reworks, plus a brand-new Orb type yet to be fully revealed. The Defect channels elemental Orbs that passively trigger effects each turn and can be Evoked for burst damage or defense.
Signature cards revealed so far:
- Rainbow — Channel 1 Lightning, 1 Frost, and 1 Dark Orb in a single play. Exhaust.
More cards and details on the new Orb type will be revealed closer to launch. Stay tuned to our News page for updates.
100+ Cards at Launch
Slay the Spire 2 launches with 100+ cards across all characters — more than the original game had at its Early Access debut. Every card features new art, reworked effects, and deeper synergies. Browse the full database on our Cards page.
Beyond character-specific cards, the sequel introduces Colorless cards available to all characters, including versatile tools like Thrumming Hatchet and Scrawl.
Key New Mechanics
Enchantments
A brand-new system that permanently modifies cards for the duration of a run. Unlike the original's single-upgrade system, Enchantments add effects like "Corrupted" to change how a card functions. For example, Die Die Die Enchanted upgrades the Silent's board clear to deal 19 damage at the cost of 3 HP.
Alternate Acts
Instead of a linear Act 1 → 2 → 3, the sequel introduces branching act variants: Act 1a (Overgrowth) and Act 1b (Underdocks) feature completely different enemies, events, and bosses — doubling the content and dramatically increasing run variety.
Afflictions
Enemies can now corrupt your cards mid-combat with adverse modifiers. Cards like Defend (Afflicted) and True Grit (Afflicted) have weakened or altered effects, forcing you to adapt on the fly.
Quest Cards
An entirely new card type with completion requirements. Fulfill conditions during your run — like Byrdonis Egg (hatch at a Rest Site) or Spoils Map (marks a site of 600 extra Gold in the next Act) — for powerful rewards.
Ancients & Blessings
Powerful beings that appear as map nodes, offering act-entry blessings that replace the boss relic system from the original game.
Co-op Mode: Up to 4 Players
Slay the Spire 2 introduces a brand-new co-op multiplayer mode for up to 4 players. Each player selects a character from the roster and ascends the Spire together, combining unique abilities and strategies.
As shown in the screenshot above, all players share the same campfire and map nodes but make independent decisions — one might Rest while another Smiths an upgrade. This opens up deep strategic coordination across the team.
Co-op introduces unique elements:
- Shared map exploration — all players navigate the same Spire together
- Independent decks — each player builds and manages their own deck
- Coordinated combat — face the same enemies together, combining The Ironclad's raw damage with The Silent's debuffs, or pairing The Necrobinder's Doom stacks with The Regent's Star-powered burst
- Multiplayer-specific cards and team synergies designed for cooperative play
Platform Support
- Steam (PC/Windows) — Available at launch
- macOS — Confirmed at launch (source)
- Steam Deck — Supported
- Linux — Likely
- Console — Not announced for Early Access
What Comes Next?
The Spire is ever-changing. Mega Crit has confirmed that more cards, events, environments, enemies, Act 2b, and Act 3b will arrive through Early Access updates. Join early to shape the Spire's evolution.
Bookmark our News page and check back — we update with every official announcement and patch.
Source: Mega Crit Official Announcement
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