杀戮尖塔

Hey Slayers, it's time for the June Neowsletter! In this issue we're covering a couple of big roadmap items we've checked off our list as of yesterday's main branch patch and answering some of your recent questions. Let's dive in...

Dev Update

The first feature we want to highlight is the Bestiary.

The Bestiary is a new section that organizes info related to enemies you've encountered throughout your journeys in the Spire. For faithful readers of the Neowsletter pre-launch, you could even see it as an evolution of our Spire Spotting segment (though these discoveries are achieved through regular gameplay rather than your artistic hypotheses, of course.)

You can find the Bestiary right here in the Compendium, featuring enemies' moves and animations, for now. Other things like stats, flavor text, and various QOL changes will be added in the future.

Those of you who have been playing on the beta branch have already seen the Bestiary, but this next change is new for all players...

Ed here, one of the engineers at Mega Crit, here to talk a bit about StS2's Steam Workshop support.

As we mentioned in the most recent patch notes, we built STS2 with modding in mind, and the game has had an integrated mod loader from day 1. However, Steam Workshop support--which makes it much easier to share, discover, and download mods--has been sitting in our roadmap for a few months now. We know you've been waiting a while for it, but it's been awesome seeing the outpouring of creativity from the community in the meantime all the same!

We purposefully haven't been advertising mod support, as we knew it still needed some work. The only way to install mods up until now was to download them from somewhere and place them in your mods directory.

However, as of the last patch, we've deemed mod support mature enough to enable the Workshop! This is now the official way to browse and install mods, right in the Steam client. We can't wait to see what else you all create going forward!

If you're already a modder, upload your mods using the tool here.

If you're interested in getting started with modding, see the community documentation.

And if you're interested in playing some mods, check out the Steam Workshop!

If you have feedback on the modding framework, post in the #sts2-modding channel in the Discord, or submit it via F2/the settings in-game.

Q&A with C&A

Coop asks: Hello! I know Casey and/or Anthony are fans of the Worm web serial, and have several references to it across both games (love Doormaker as a reference) and I was thinking about how I'm surprised that there are no references in the bug-themed area (act 2 Hive), then realized that there is one boss Kaiser Crab. Is this an intentional reference or just a coincidence?
Casey: Doormaker isn't a Worm reference, I was playing too much Deadlock. Kaiser Crab is named this way because I'm tired of things being emperor X and king Y. We have all these wacky words for kings, sultans, etc and it's always the bland western one. The world feels small when we use the most accessible titles.

Jar of Gibbons asks: Heyo, so I think the Ancients are a fantastic addition and tons of fun. Shout-out to community manager Demi Montes who nobody has realized is credited as the one who voices one of my favorite Ancients aesthetically and mechanically, Nonupeipe! Main question: How do you guys pronounce it? And if you each have your own opinions, how does Demi? I say "no-nu-PEY-uh-pee" /noʊ.nuˈpɛɪ.ə.pi/, like Calliope from Greek mythology, because she emanates divine splendor and mythology… but what about you guys?
Casey: I tend to say it as four syllables: no nu pay peh or sometimes in the original: no no peh peh. As her name is an easter egg reference to the NOPE placeholder icon we use for content. When two of these icons line up next to each other (for instance, the relics in the top bar), it reads NONOPEPE.
Demi: *Nonupeipe noises*

Combak asks: In multiplayer lobbies with the same character, it can be a bit difficult to remember who drew what, so will there ever be an option for players to choose their own colors for map drawing, regardless of character, or have copies of the same character use darker/lighter shades from each other?
Casey: Not sure for drawing, but we are messing with a bit of color change stuff for multiplayer.

Josie Jams asks: Is the ceremonial beast a valheim reference?
Casey: Nope, the original was based on the Forest Spirit from Princess Mononoke. The initial concept drawing was a bit solemn and grotesque. Marlowe updated the creature to be more regal and spirity! But I can see a resemblance, I'm a big fan of Valheim actually! I believe it was the first boss design for Slay the Spire 2 (designed in 2021).

Merch Madness

The first Slay the Spire 2 drop from Artovision is here! Showcase your love for StS2 right on your wall with this gorgeous shadowbox of the game's key art (which lends itself really well to the 3D effect!) Order yours now here!

Map Masterpieces

And now it's time to check out what new creations players have been making while waiting for their teammates to hurry up and pick a route already...

This illustration of the Regent and the Merchant by ちゃと!

This illustration of the Defect by Zaply!

And another drawing of the Defect with a slightly different vibe by Shmangos!

Connections Section

If the heat out there is getting to you, cool off with some good old fashioned Slay the Spire 2 Connections!

Community Corner

Thank you to moon raccoon for this month's lovely cover art! Next month's theme is: Slay the Summer 2! Whether it's Neow enjoying a day at the beach (unlike most whales), the Spire's climbers taking a dip, or whatever beach episode activities you can think of, we'd love to see your submissions! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title! Please make your submission by Friday, July 10th!

Now for some monthly highlights:

This very cool art of the Test Subject from an 11 y/o fan, Elias!

This incredibly accurate Regent cosplay by Radio!

This lovely art of all of the Spire's (current) climbers by Timo!

Thus concludes the June Neowsletter; see you all again next month!

Hey, Slayers! Demi the CM here with this month's Neowsletter!

Dev Update

We wanted to start off with an update from last month's roadmap, especially for those who only play StS2's main branch. The first big update is that we have moved from a weekly to a bi-weekly cadence for the beta patches. Though we stuck with the weekly cadence during StS1's Early Access period, it was a hard pace to keep up and--this time around--hasn't been giving enough time as we'd like for our now much bigger base of beta branch testers to absorb the changes. This also means that main branch updates will be a bit more infrequent by extension, but hopefully this gives players on both branches more time to provide feedback on the updates.

In terms of our progress on the list of promised features, we've now added the Bestiary to the Compendium on the beta branch! It currently acts as a full list of enemies in the game along with their move animations, though it will eventually include more detailed information about them as well.

Otherwise our recent beta patches have mostly been focused on stability and performance along with some balance changes, the most notable of which was the removal of The Doormaker. The long and short of the reasoning behind this is that, while this boss provided some interesting micro-decision-making situations in his fight, he was a bit more complex than what we want. He's now been replaced on the beta branch with a new boss, Aeonglass, so if you're a Doormaker lover: appreciate him on the main branch while you still can! In honor of his legacy, we wanted to share a little peek at what his earliest iteration looked like...

Lovely early dev art courtesy of one of our programmers, Jose.

For those still waiting for Steam Workshop support and Twitch integrations, rest assured that they are still coming in the near future--apologies that they've taken a bit longer to implement than we initially estimated! The multi-fronted mission to make StS2 as good as it can be continues.

Spire Stats

And now it's time for a look behind the curtain at some Slay the Spire 2 metrics! At the time of writing this, the community has reached a whopping 240,000,000 runs, 60.5 million of which have been wins vs 179.5 million losses. That's a win-rate of 25% overall, which is much better than it sounds. Broken down by Ascension, the average win-rate on A0 is 16%, compared to 9% in StS1. At the highest, A10, the win-rate is about 17%, compared to a very small 3% at A20 in StS1.

In the last issue we broke down the different choices players made in a few select events. This time we wanted to quickly show off the popularity of each character, i.e. what percentage of the total runs each character accounts for...

As you can see right away, the community has been playing the characters almost the same amount, with the stats leaning just a bit in favor of the first couple of characters that are available to players: Ironclad and Silent. We're glad to see all our children getting roughly equal amounts of love!

On the topic of stats...

We also wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a couple of community projects that collect their own stats and provide data, tools, guides, etc. for players: Spiracle and Spire Codex. Be sure to check them out!!

Devour the Tower

The first big community-led StS2 tournament, Devour the Tower, is coming in just a few days on May 25! Featuring 34 streamers, this 4-player co-op competition will be co-casted by FrostPrime and Otzdarva so it's sure to be a good time. The winners of the tournament may even get a special gift, courtesy of Mega Crit. ;) Check out FrostPrime's Twitch for more details!

Merch Madness

Make a Dramatic Entrance with our first ever piece of Makeship x Slay the Spire apparel! Now you too can don the iconic garb of The Silent--in hoodie form! Available to pre-order until May 29 at 5AM PST, so Pounce on this opportunity soon!

Connections Section

Another Neowsletter, another Slay the Spire Connections Puzzle!

Map Masterpieces

As usual, let's check out some of the incredible in-game map creations from our community!

This incredibly adorable drawing of the Regent by AplphaE!

This stunningly detailed illustration of the Necrobinder and Osty by 白板红中碰發财!

These adorably pathetic doodles from salty final boss!

Lastly, this funny drawing involving the Doormaker (RIP) by SnakeFangz!

Community Corner

Thank you to doshiBAP for this month’s gorgeous cover image featuring everyone's favorite Mother of Resurrection! (It was actually a late submission from April but we thought it fit this month's theme too!)

Next month's theme is: Slay the Summer! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Now on with some more community highlights:

This series of beautiful illustrations by dk000484!

This super clever graduation cap from lizard--congradulations!!

Last but not least, if you are craving more ways to test your StS2 knowledge than just our monthly Connections puzzle, check out Spiredle!

That's it for this month's issue of the Neowsletter, see you again in June!

Hi everyone! Casey here.

Slay the Spire 2 has been out for about a month and the majority of our work has been fixing up major issues, improving our feedback systems, polishing up visuals, and reworking/balancing content so that all of the cards and items feel interesting and viable!

To those who reported feedback, thank you! Do note that the in-game feedback tool gives us more data than emails and meme posts (as funny as the latter may be).

The road to version 1.0 is long but we're hoping to get back on track to some bigger chunks of content as we enter the warmer months. Our Early Access disclaimer is rather vague, so I felt that something a bit more official and recent would be nice to read.

Roadmap

Features and Systems:
- Steam Workshop support
- Support for more languages
- The Bestiary, a way to view and learn about the enemies in the game
- Experimental game modes

Ongoing Tasks:
- Fixings bugs
- Compatibility and performance improvements
- Game balance and tweaks
- Quality of life features
- Audio polish (more silly voices)
- Visual polish (less silly placeholder art)

Content (No spoilers, it's for your own good!)
- Alternate Act 2
- New Character
- Alternate Act 3
- More cards, events, relics, and potions

Further off in the Future
- Ports to other consoles/platforms/mobile/etc
- Steam Achievements & Tradings Cards
- "True Victory" + Everything that comes with it

You might see this and think, but where are the dates! Why can't you promise dates??

My response is: It's not what works for us.

Mega Crit is a small team where each member understands their responsibilities, knows everyone else, and I try my best to ensure that we work at a healthy pace.

We evaluate our tasks each week and work on what feels most impactful. It’s not the most organized method, but this allows spontaneous experimentation like the dialogues you have with the Ancients or the existence of a Room Full of Cheese. We won’t massively expand the size of the studio to finish the game faster. Exacting deadlines produce sloppy uninspired work and I don't want Sloppy Spire 2, I want Slay the Spire 2.

While we don't have firm timelines, beta patches release at a much more frequent cadence than main branch patches. If you haven't heard, the beta branch is an optional version of the game intended for testing experimental changes that are tweaked until we feel they are stable enough for the main branch. If you're eager to try out and provide feedback on content before it's officially live, check out the instructions for switching branches outlined here.

Spire Stats

Demi popping in with a little insight into some Slay the Spire 2 statistics! We’re a little over a month post-launch and you’ve all already embarked on about 145 million runs!! This time we’re gonna take a slightly deeper look into those numbers–specifically the most common decisions Slayers make when presented with a few interesting event dilemmas!

When finding the Lantern Key in the Hive, 56% of players return it to its apparently rightful owner, a Mysterious Knight, and are rewarded for their magnanimity (or cowardice) with gold. 44%, however, fight the stranger to keep it for themselves.

Of those who emerged victorious with the Lantern Key and made it to Glory, upon encountering War Historian, Repy, 88% choose to free him from his cage in exchange for a valuable tome. Just 12% choose to abandon Repy in favor of the chest full of random relics and potions. Cold-blooded…

In the Room Full of Cheese, 63% of players immediately gorge themselves on the cheese surrounding them, learning some new moves in the process. 37% are too overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cheese to partake, but are mysteriously rewarded for their pickiness with The Chosen Cheese. It’s fairly hard to resist the cheesy temptations, it seems.

And lastly, when stumbling upon the Byrdonis Nest in Overgrowth, 51% of players choose to take the egg in order to hatch it into their own loyal little Byrdpip… and 49% feel too hungry, apparently, and eat the egg for some extra max HP. That’s almost an exact 50/50 split! Though we can’t imagine Byrdonis is too happy about either option.

That’s all for now, but next time we’ll take a peek behind the curtain at some different kinds of metrics!

Q&A with C&A

KevsterZ asks: I notice that all basically of the Neowsletters and STS2 come out on Thursdays. Does this day have a special meaning to you guys and the team?
Casey: If we push newsletters or builds earlier during the week, we'd be gauging the reaction of players throughout the week; this isn't productive for us. If there are problems, typos, etc we can fix them on Friday.

Bryggel asks: Is it possible to have matchmaking or ingame chat for multiplayer?
Casey: Matchmaking is a bit up in the air at this time. I think any video game where you can be paired up with strangers brings a whole host of headaches that a smaller team wouldn't want to deal with... but maybe we're being too stringent. Perhaps something to evaluate later. We could probably bring in some kind of in-game chat. I don't think we'll do voice. Unless something horrible happens to Discord.

Booyah asks: Will there be a endless mode added?
Casey: Probably not, the deckbuilding gets less exciting the longer a run goes on... I think games like Balatro do a better job due to infinite strategies being possible less often. The scaling of their game's mechanics feels more natural- whereas it's not really the case for us.
Still, you never know how inspiration strikes. Maybe a modder will think of a way to make it work!

D asks: will you also make official tabletop simulator expansion so that those that don't have friends IRL could play the board game online with others?
Demi: Firstly, Contention Games is the one who handles most things related to the board game, as they develop, produce, and distribute it! Secondly, the public playtesting of the board game’s Downfall expansion has just recently begun, actually, and you can find it on Tabletop Simulator here! For those who don’t already know, the base board game can be found on Tabletop Simulator here. If you’d like to provide feedback on the Downfall expansion and find teammates, check out the Contention Games Discord server!

Origo asks: Will this (beta patch) make it to the normal branch soon or not ?
Casey: Probably when we feel that the first set of balance patches feel stable in the beta branch. We were discussing pulling in a handful of fixes into main branch before then. So that might happen soon, maybe before this Neowsletter is even published!

And lastly we have some questions from Yumin, a member of a game dev club in South Korea called LEVEL 0 which is organizing a game jam right now.

Yumin asks: On Non-negotiables: While developing Slay the Spire, what was the one thing you were never willing to compromise on to ensure the "fun" of the game?
Casey: There must be whimsy.

Yumin asks: On Persistence: As students, we often find our willpower weakening when development stretches on for a long time. How did you maintain the team’s morale and spirit throughout the long development and Early Access period?
Casey: It's really important to get a feel of the general spirit of the team. If it feels like people are only talking about tasks instead of the work or project as a whole, then maybe consider a break! This kind of mentality isn't exactly for a gamejam.
It's easier to stay motivated in person. Although our team is mostly remote (only 3 of us utilize the office), we meet up a few times each year. For a game jam, maybe it'll be fun to take a slightly longer lunch for some fried chicken or something. I love fried chicken. Also, I'm taking a short trip to Berlin in May. Don't tell anyone.

Yumin asks: A Word for Us: Could you please share a short message of encouragement for the students preparing for 'Daegyeong Jam'?
Casey: Remember to have fun! Don't just eat protein bars and instant ramen!

Merch Madness

Looking to complete (or start!) your Slay the Spire figure collection? You can help bring these YouTooz Necrobinder and Regent figure concepts to life! Anyone who pledges their support for each concept will get a slight discount on the products once they launch, so if you want little versions of everyone's favorite lich and alien watching over your future runs then don't delay!

Connections Section

Another round of Slay the Spire 2 Connections is here!

For those who are new to Connections puzzles, the objective is to make 4 groups of 4 things that have something in common. It could be a similarity in name, function, aesthetic, or even something more abstract. If there are 3 things or 5 things that have something in common, you may be picking up the wrong scent. The difficulty of the categories is roughly organized by color: yellow is meant to be easiest, then green, then blue, then purple–though difficulty is subjective!

Map Masterpieces

Last month we asked for submissions of any in-game map drawings you make, and we’ve received way more than we could ever include in a Neowsletter! Here are just a handful of highlights; if you’d like to be featured next month then post it in our Discord or email fanmail@megacrit.com!

This drawing of The Silent’s classic key art by Petěrko!

This cool drawing of The Necrobinder and Osty by ねこま!

A very detailed illustration of various Slay the Spire characters by Dusk’s Knife!

An adorable drawing of The Defect and Flaw by Axye!

This funny little Regent doodle (feat. a sus cameo) by Bukie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqQW4UYb6FA
And last but not least, a full map-drawn animation of Bad Apple by Terminaidan!

Community Corner

Thank you to DotNetIzzy for this month’s lovely sakura-themed cover image! Shoutout to the other awesome submissions from 디제이구름, Muki, and Ren (who used traditional watercolor and ink!)

Next month's theme is: Mother (of Resurrection)’s Day! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Now it’s time for the rest of our usual community highlights, which are only the tip of the iceberg of the HUGE amount of incredible fanworks we’ve been seeing. Every illustration, video, meme, cosplay, etc that we come across makes our day–so thank you!

This art of The Necrobinder sporting a different, super-cute style by Radio!

This very cool art of a Silent x Ceremonial Beast fusion by Potari!

This incredible, colorful portrait of The Regent by Jan!

That’s all for the April 2026 issue of the Neowsletter, see you again next month with more updates and highlights!

When I tried out the Slay the Spire board game in 2024, I was really impressed by how well it adapted the videogame to the tabletop—and especially its clever addition of a co-op mode (nearly two years before Slay the Spire 2 did it!)...
Read more.

It's finally here!!

The Kickstarter campaign for the Slay the Spire board game Downfall expansion is LIVE NOW! The fan-favorite community mod for Slay the Spire 1 is getting its own OFFICIAL expansion to Slay the Spire: The Board Game, allowing you and your friends to play as some of the Spire’s infamous bosses.

Don't have your own copy of the base board game yet? You can add it to your pledge (or grab it on its own) during this campaign, too! You can even get a carrying case (aka the Bag of Preparation) that fits both the original game and the expansion inside it!!

Back the campaign and get some exclusive Collector's Edition goodies from now until April 9th at 12PM PDT!

Hi everyone,

Casey here! Our excellent community manager, Demi, has been in charge of the majority of Neowsletter writings for a while now but I wanted to stop by to say a few words:

🐟HOLY MACKEREL🐟!

But in all seriousness, the response to Early Access has been incredible. Even though I threw out my back from overworking, I'm feeling high in spirits. Thank you to the team for dealing with my constant shenanigans and working extra during this busy rush! We'll be revealing exciting things soon, but for now, please enjoy all the work we put into this initial release.

Launch and Beyond

Ok, it’s Demi time again. Slay the Spire 2 has been out for merely a week and we have already hit 3,000,000 units sold with more than 25,000,000 runs attempted!! (At least a few million are missing from that last datapoint as we started collecting these metrics a bit after launch. So… wow.) Our team has been extremely excited to see so many people’s enthusiasm for what we’ve been working on for the past 5 years–but our journey is just beginning!

While we know people are curious about what major content updates are coming down the pike, right now we won’t be giving a specific timeline or roadmap for high-level content aside from what we’ve already confirmed (alternate acts for acts 2 & 3, more cards, events, and other content, etc). All of your feedback has been greatly appreciated and has helped us fix some softlocks and other issues already. Balancing the game will be a constant journey, so we appreciate your patience as we analyze all of the data as well as everyone’s feedback.

Here’s what we currently plan on adding next:

- A revamp of the badge/scoring system and a friends-only leaderboard filter
- Phobia accessibility mode
- More art and VFX
- Ongoing balance patches
- Steam Workshop support
- Multiplayer QOL features
- Official Twitch plugin integration

Also, we’ve just introduced a beta branch for players who want to help test out potential changes and features before they get released to the main branch of the game! You can access it by right-clicking on StS2 in your Steam Library, then clicking Properties > Game Versions & Betas > public-beta.

In terms of a release cadence, we don’t want to commit to a strict schedule. New content and balance changes will come to the main branch whenever we feel they’re ready. The beta branch will have more frequent updates in the meantime!

Merch Madness

In honor of StS2’s launch, we have a lot of merch drop announcements, so buckle in!

Many of you have been asking about it, and we now have an official date to share: the Kickstarter campaign for the Slay the Spire board game Downfall expansion launches March 24! That’s right–in case you haven’t heard, the iconic community mod for Slay the Spire 1 is getting its own OFFICIAL expansion to Slay the Spire: The Board Game, allowing you and your friends to play as some of the Spire’s infamous bosses. It sounds too good to be true, we know. If you haven’t yet grabbed your own copy of the base board game, this campaign will be a great time to do that, as well! Get notified when the campaign launches here!

Do you hear something…? It’s the classic sounds of the Spire, back once more!! Mana Wave has just released a 2xLP vinyl of our composer Clark Aboud's iconic Slay the Spire OST, including 4 psych rock versions of classic tracks and stunning new artwork from Nimit Malavia. The records come in either retail black or Mana Wave exclusive colors that are reminiscent of The Defect’s orbs. Grab yours here so you can sway while you Slay!

Some of the Spire’s sharpest Slayers just got a whole lot cuddlier. Makeship just launched these limited edition plushies of Slay the Spire’s original 3 characters, The Silent, The Ironclad, and The Defect–all of whom are sporting their new StS2 designs! Yep, that means BEEFECT IS REAL (and squishable.) The pre-order campaign will last just a few weeks and then they’ll be gone for good, so grab yours now!

It’s almost time to Slay in style. Fangamer will be launching a brand new collection of Slay the Spire 2 merch, including a t-shirt featuring the full StS2 roster, pins of The Regent, The Necrobinder, and Osty, and an adorable sticker set! (The latter was designed by Justin Yu, who you may recognize from some of his StS fanart!) The launch drops on March 17 at 10AM PDT! Sign up to get notified when the drop goes live here.

Connections Section

It's the first ever Slay the Spire 2-themed Connections puzzle!! Though it might be a bit easier for those who are familiar with StS1...

Community Corner

Thank you to Soobsidian for this month’s celebratory cover image! And shoutout to our two other runner ups, Alcalmy and Maple!

Next month's theme is: sakura Neow! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Before we move on to the rest of the community highlights, let us first say that we have been in awe of all of the incredible art, memes, and other creative projects that Slay the Spire 2 has already inspired. While it’s impossible to include even 1% of the awesome things that the community has created that we’ve been enjoying, here is a small roundup of highlights!

This gorgeous, funny, and regal art of The Regent by @Thornclaw!

These adorable and hilarious “doodles” of various StS2 characters by @sharkeesart!

And last but not least, some impressive map sketches by u/Flying_Line!

In fact, there were tons of other creative map drawings we saw out there, so many that we’d like to feature more! Maybe as a regular segment in the Neowsletter? If you’d like your own map masterpieces featured, the best way to make sure we get our eyes on it is to email them to us at fanmail@megacrit.com or posting them in the fanart channel of our Discord!

Alright, that’s all for this issue of the Neowsletter! We’ll see you again next month, as always!

The Spire has finally reawakened.

Slay the Spire 2, the long awaited sequel to the original genre-defining roguelike deckbuilder, is available now on Steam Early Access!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2868840/Slay_the_Spire_2/
We're so excited for you all to see for yourselves what we've been working on for the past 5 years. If you've been keeping up with our monthly Neowsletters, you already know that this reawakened Spire has a LOT of new features and content compared to the one you may already know, but there's plenty more to discover and much more on the way. For more info, you can check out our FAQ.

For those who have never ventured into the Spire before, you don't need any prior experience with Slay the Spire 1 to enjoy what Slay the Spire 2 has to offer. Now is a great time to dive right in and ascend the Spire, either on your own or—this time around—with your friends!

About Slay the Spire 2

For 1,000 years, the Spire lay dormant, its secrets buried and its horrors forgotten. Now, it has reopened, hungrier and more dangerous than ever, devouring all who dare to ascend.

New perils demand sharper strategies, relentless cunning, and unwavering resolve. Outwit the Spire’s brutal trials and uncover the truths hidden at its peak.

Climb the Spire with a new and returning cast of characters, each with their own cards, motives, and secrets. Make allies of the most ancient of the Spire’s residents, encounter all-new environments, defeat formidable foes, and uncover fragments of the Spire’s past as you ascend it again and again.

Also, while you can always choose to brave the ascent on your own, up to 4 players can now team up to face the Spire’s challenges together in an all-new co-op mode. Discover multiplayer-specific cards, powerful team synergies, and carry your friends (or get carried) to victory!

About Early Access

The Spire truly is ever-changing… in more ways than one. While Slay the Spire 2 already has more content than Slay the Spire 1, even more content—including cards, events, environments, enemies, and more—will be added and balanced throughout Early Access.

We don't have a specific timeline to share with you all, but we'll be sure to keep you regularly updated and give you peeks behind the development curtain. Your feedback (as well as your fanart and memes) will be invaluable throughout this process, just as it was with the first game. This time, you'll be able to submit your feedback and bug reports in-game! Join the journey now to be a part of the Spire’s next evolution.

Your wait is nearly over. The Spire awakens once more on March 5, 2026.

Learn more about what Slay the Spire 2 has in store in our official Early Access trailer:

https://youtu.be/PW22jwFNxU8
And if you haven’t yet, you can wishlist it here to keep it on your radar:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2868840/Slay_the_Spire_2/

About Slay the Spire 2

Ascend the Spire once more in Slay the Spire 2 the long-awaited sequel to the original genre-defining roguelike deckbuilder.

For 1,000 years, the Spire lay dormant, its secrets buried and its horrors forgotten. Now, it has reopened, hungrier and more dangerous than ever, devouring all who dare to ascend.

New perils demand sharper strategies, relentless cunning, and unwavering resolve. Outwit the Spire’s brutal trials and uncover the truths hidden at its peak.

Climb the Spire with a new and returning cast of characters, each with their own cards, motives, and secrets. Make allies of the most ancient of the Spire’s residents, encounter all-new environments, defeat formidable foes, and uncover fragments of the Spire’s past as you ascend it again and again.

Also, while you can always choose to brave the ascent on your own, up to 4 players can now team up to face the Spire’s challenges together in an all-new co-op mode. Discover multiplayer-specific cards, powerful team synergies, and carry your friends (or get carried) to victory!

The Spire truly is ever-changing… in more ways than one. More content—including cards, events, environments, enemies, and more—will be added and balanced throughout Early Access. Join the journey early to be a part of the Spire’s next evolution.

It's February, everyone. You know what that means... SLAY THE SPIRE 2 IS OUT NEXT MONTH!!

That also means if your goal was to hit A20 on all characters before StS2's release, you're running out of time.

That also also means that this Neowsletter is a little lighter again. So no major content teases right now, but perhaps something else is just around the corner that will make up for it. In the meantime, we heard you missed the Q&A section last time around, so we've brought it back!

Q&A with C&A

The Singaporean Smoke Machine asks: Will the default hand size limit still be 10? Will there be any way to increase the hand size limit?
Casey: The default is still 10. There's no way to increase it at this time.

A few different people have asked: Will StS2 be available on MacOS on launch?
Casey: Yes

KevsterZ asks: Will there be an unlock all button for when you buy the game on other platforms in STS2?
Casey: No. But we're aiming to have some form of cross-platform saving.

The Fox asks: Is the bread a relic because it has been teleported?
Casey: Bread has always been a relic

Thomas asks: Will Neow still work on the same mechanic that if you die before reaching the first boss you won't get as good choices?
Anthony: no

Localization Update

Thank you to everyone who has applied so far to join our localization team! We now have translators onboarded for the following languages:

- Chinese (Simplified)
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Polish
- Portuguese Brazilian
- Russian
- Spanish (Castilian)
- Spanish (Latin America)
- Thai
- Turkish

If you applied for any language not listed above, then stay tuned for updates as we plan to onboard more languages at a later date.

Spire Spotting

And now, at long last, it's time to take one more look at our final mystery monster silhouette.

So which hypotheses came the closest to discovering the truth? Or at least made us laugh?

The award for most ??? guess goes to leda789, for this Snecko Eye playing a game of *squints eyes* ...Jongo!

The award for most *insert Metal Gear Solid alert sound* guess goes to Delphine!

The award for most orb-y guess goes to myles--you really ~channeled~ a certain automaton with this one!

The award for most accurate guess goes to snumodder! Many came close, but you were the first to point out that this creature was already teased in the Ironclad's new Anger card art!

Shoutout to the many other submissions we received this time around! Though we couldn't include them all, here's a selection of them:

Credit from left to right: 唠个beaker, 李华不吃牛肉, 水角神, Tattered Feather, Dpart, Arika, icetea, stickfight2, Merghio, Grief Hammer, PAseer, Phill, Dan K, pedroff_1, Максим, Soren

Now, finally, it is time for the unveiling. Thank you to everyone who has contributed their creative creature hypotheses over the past year--we've gathered more than enough intel by now! It's been a long journey, but your roles as Explorers will soon be upgraded once more to Slayers. So without further ado...

Aha! It seems to be some sort of construct similar to the Spire's old Sentries! Though geometrically they differ quite a bit--let's call it a Cubex Construct!

Hmm. Generally I'd advise you to hide at this point... but this one in particular seems to be for more than just physical security of the Spire. Looks like there's something displayed on its interface...

PR3C1L6 RR8C4L12 RR9C3L1
BR10C4L2 GR14C5L1 PR9C3L5
BR14C5L7 BR3C4L1 RR14C5L1
GR12C1L9 BR13C2L5 GR13C3L15
PR6C5L4 RR15C1L1 RR9C5L6 GR7C1L6

How odd... well, never mind that, I'm sure it's nothing! On with the rest of the Neowsletter!

Connections Section

Our Valentine's present to you: a new Slay the Spire Connections!

Community Corner

Thank you to Mars for this month's lovely cover image, and shout out to Sorisaurus for their runner up submission:

Next month's theme is: Slay the Spire 2 Neow! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Now let's check out some community highlights!

The 8th (and likely last!) StS1 Mod the Spire Anniversary mod, Spire Quests, created by our wonderful modding community!

Incredible cosplays of The Ironclad and The Silent by ZHENG/SNAKE!

Some classic "Ooh Donut!" achievement fanart by momiage!

And that's it for this month's Neowsletter. By the time the next issue lands in your mailbox... Slay the Spire 2 will be out already!!

Happy Slay the Spire 2 year, everyone!

Tomorrow, January 23rd, 2026, is the 7th anniversary of Slay the Spire's 1.0 launch! Also, in just a couple of months, it will have been 8.5~ years between the early access launches of Slay the Spire 1 and Slay the Spire 2. If you've been with us since the very beginning of this journey then that means you're at least 9 years old, probably. Maybe even 10. Thank you to all of the Slayers who have stuck with us for all of these years and to those who are just now tuning in. The next phase of Spire slaying is just around the corner!

In the meantime, let's take a look at...

The Evolution of Slay the Spire 2's Content

Since it's been over a year since we started teasing StS2 content, we figured now is a good time to check back in on what some of it looks like now. We did warn you it was all subject to change! Things will evolve even further with all of your feedback throughout early access, of course, but we figured we'd let you get some last minute speculation in.

One of the very first new cards we teased back in November of 2024 was "Gold Axe." While it excited people even in its initial state, it's since seen a buff with the removal of its Exhaust keyword and a reduction in its Energy cost. Not pictured: we still have shiny VFX based on the rarity of card rewards, though it has been toned down from what you see on the left.

On the other hand, "Rolling Boulder," a card we teased this past July was indeed seeming a bit too OP. Its base damage and scaling damage have now both been slashed in half. We'll see what you all think of it soon enough--that is if it doesn't get changed again in the meantime.

This "Bodyguard" card that we showed off this past October was actually The Necrobinder's unique starter card, but it has since been totally reworked. While it has the same art, it now goes by a new name, "Unleash," and has a completely different mechanic. Perhaps we'll see the old card again in some form or another... and perhaps the new card will undergo its own evolution someday.

On a slightly different note, the placeholder event art that we teased for our war historian friend Repy has been updated (as well as the event text and options)! The original art certainly had its own charm, though. RIP beta Repy, gone but not forgotten.

And last but (maybe) not least, let's take a look behind the curtain at some out of context alpha patch notes, since you soon will in fact have the context for them.

Localization Applications

We have begun to localize Slay the Spire 2 into several different languages already (French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Thai), but we are now looking to onboard some translators for other languages. If you are interested in helping to localize Slay the Spire 2 as well as our Neowsletters and potentially other important announcements, please apply here!

Spire Spotting

Now it's time to take a trip to the Spire to revisit last month's mystery monster!

Let's see what hypotheses you all submitted this time around...

The award for most out-of-the-box guess goes to eneija for this... aardvark-like creature!

The award for most accurate guess goes to Joanna, though the real beast this time has no fungi, as you'll see.

Shoutout to all of these other weird and wonderful submissions!

Credit from left to right: 晓星, Kamrat, Leo, Turtledunkz, bomo73, Dpart, Snowbyte, Mitlon, leda789, Mailboy002, Brave, koiking213, TheSos, Dolly, skryzhal, PhantomExitus

Now for the grand reveal...

EEK--it's a rat! With two tails! In other words, a two-tailed rat. Despite the silhouette not leaving much to the imagination, you all still managed to be very imaginative!

And now, my dear intrepid explorers, this month's issue marks a very special moment. Our research indicates that the secretive veil that has obscured so many of the Spire's creatures is soon to lift, so this may well be the last creature we need to uncover via these methods. With that said, let's take a look together...

Aha! It appears to be mostly rectangular in shape, but there's some sort of sphere suspended in the middle... Our detection equipment seems to experiencing some sort of interference, so in the meantime we'd greatly appreciate your help in deciphering this strange being! Be sure to submit your guesses via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel!

Collab Land

Looks like Snecko Eye has snuck its way into another game?? The team behind Turnbound, a brand new inventory management PvP autobattler, has included a Slay the Spire-themed item and free, early-access-exclusive cosmetic in their game! To celebrate this collab, Turnbound and Slay the Spire will bundled together for a 10% discount starting on their early access launch day... which just so happens to be today!

Connections Section

New year, new Neowsletter, new Slay the Spire Connections!

Mega Crit-mas Recap

Now that the holiday season is over, let's take a look at some of your Mega Crit-mas creations!

An adorable drawing of iconic StS character gathered around a tree by Soobsidian!

A painterly illustration of some wintery gremlins by taydungeon (timelapse on TikTok)!

A festive Snecko Eye cookie baked by Steeve_rules!

Community Corner

Thank you to Okasana for this month's beautiful, sparkly cover image, and shoutout to Boltman and Alcalmy for their awesome submissions, too!

Next month's theme is: Valentine's Day Neow! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Now for our usual community highlights!

A gorgeous illustration of The Watcher underneath some wisteria by 鸡翅好吃喵!

An illustrated exploration of what the other StS1 slayer's Orbs might look like by Maria/electrohoneys!

Stunning 3D art of The Ironclad facing off against some giant Sentries by babymango!

And that's all for the first Neowsletter of 2026! See you all next month!

Slay the Spire certainly turned heads when it released, immediately cementing itself as one of the best deckbuilders in town and helping to kick off a trend that persists today. That was nearly seven years ago at this point, but the game is turning even more heads today: it just hit an all-time concurrent player peak on Steam, according to SteamDB...
Read more.

Slay the Spire has peaked at 57,025 concurrent players on 27 December 2025 which is 7 years after release.
View charts and more statistics on our website.

The last Neowsletter of 2025 is here!

For those who didn't hear, Slay the Spire 2 was recently ranked the number one game on the PC Gaming Show's Most Wanted list! We want to thank the voting council as well as all of you steadfast Slayers out there! As a treat, you can find quite a few tidbits of new StS2 info in the interview we did with PC Gamer in honor of our number one spot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NgLqPWqDss
Now, let's cap this year off with a preview of a most mysterious character...

The Regent

Hailing from a distant planet, The Regent has traveled long and far on his quest for excitement that his homeworld cannot offer. His journey has of course taken him to the Spire, full of strange, formidable creatures to conquer and innumerable treasure to plunder. Heir to the Throne of Stars, he is a domineering and arrogant being who draws on the power of the cosmos and his long-suffering minions to do his bidding.

The most fundamental aspect of The Regent's kit is that he has another resource that some of his cards rely on besides energy: Stars. After generating Stars, they can then be spent on certain cards that require them to deal damage, block, and empower himself with. Some cards even scale with the Stars you have stored up. Stars do not deplete at the end of your turn and there is no cap on how many you can have at once, so the sky is the limit.

The Regent is also capable of transforming other cards into unceasingly loyal Minions to attack and defend for him. Formed of celestial material, you will also find these disposable but adorable Minions painstakingly lugging The Regent around on his giant throne.

As the heir to his family’s empire, The Regent has the ability to Forge his own signature weapon, the Sovereign Blade, a large, gleaming sword that orbits around him. The first time you play a card with the "Forge" keyword each combat, the Sovereign Blade's corresponding card will be created. Every time you Forge after that, the amount of Forge increases the amount of damage Sovereign Blade will deal. It has Retain by default, so you can continue to build up your Blade to be as lethal as possible until the exact right moment.

Something else that is unique to this character is his synergy with colorless cards, which he can both create and interact with in interesting ways. You may have noticed that Sovereign Blade is a colorless card, so this opens up a whole new avenue of Forge-based builds to explore, as well.

Overall, The Regent is a character that revolves around your ability to manage his resources and scale up his power. What exactly his backstory is and what his future entails will be unveiled in due time...

Q&A with C&A

The Singaporean Smoked Machine asks: Are there any ideas that you have decided to completely scrap in STS2 that you could tell us?
Casey: There was a brief exploration of 3D but it was scrapped because the value add wasn't high and Anthony and I are more into games with a lot of content rather than flashy stuff. Sorry flashy lovers, it's just a lot easier to create and iterate content if they're 2D assets.

BaySharp asks: Since STS2 got delayed for a fair amount of time, will we get any new gameplay trailer to compensate for it? Or perhaps, new gameplay footage? Or a demo even? Or just pretty much anything that will bring more hype to the game before the release?
Casey: Yes, we publish a monthly newsletter (The Neowsletter) with sneak peeks and stuff. We even answer questions on there! Also, you may want to keep a particularly close eye out for something happening in February, closer to the launch...

Spire Spotting

Don't think that the harsh winter weather will keep us from exploring the Spire! Let's take a look at last month's mystery monster...

And now this month's artistic hypotheses...

The award for funniest guess goes to Lyvern, for this statuesque creature reminiscent of the Giant Head.

The award for most logical guess goes to Comfy Chair, for this antenna-headed, snail-like creature. There's a lot of Slay the Spire stylistic DNA in this one!

The award for most accurate guess goes to Shor--you definitely captured the gooeyness and the color scheme!

And here are just some of the many other submissions we received over the past month:

Credit from left to right: Vexnator, Kmanscan, Breyson Cherryson, Niké Air, Maria, monmon, placeholder.exe, Dester, RinNekoChan, 9ryu108, Dracia, キョッキョのかば焼き, Star, John, 벌개미's daughter (8 years old!), Moggoose

Now it's time to unveil this strange creature...

Aha, got it! Whatever this creature is, and whatever ability it's using, it appears it was interfering with our photo-capturing equipment... and perhaps the very fabric of reality itself. Let us call it The Obscura.

On the bright side, this next silhouette may be a little easier to parse:

Though this may seem like it has a simple solution, we're sure you'll come up with very creative theories all the same. If you'd like to further our investigative endeavors, be sure to submit your guesses via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel!

Merch Madness

Makeship is back at it again with more Slay the Spire drops! You can now add The Collector to YOUR collection as well as some shiny new enamel pins of the first three Slayers' iconic designs! Also, in classic Neow fashion, she's giving you another chance to grab her plush if you missed it the first time around (from all the way back in 2023)!

The pre-order campaign will only last until Tuesday, December 23, so grab them while you can! Neow may not always be able to resurrect these limited-edition goodies...

Also, we've channeled some more pieces for the Slay the Spire x Artovision collection!

Now you can have 3D art of the Defect right there on your desk for every run OR a shadowbox of the Silent facing the Shiv deck's worst enemy, the Time Eater.

Mega Crit-mas!

It's that time of year again... the time to make the Yuletide SLAY! Tag us on Twitter or Bluesky with any original festive fan creation, be it art, writing, mods, a video, some Spire-y holiday decorations, etc, and we just might spread the cheer, too! AND if you share your work in the event's channel on our Discord, you’ll get an exclusive role to wear with honor throughout the season!

And, as always, no holiday ambience is complete without the official Slay the Spire Yule Log, featuring some cheerful renditions of classic StS boss themes to accompany the crackling rest site flames!

Connections Section

Here's a Slay the Spire Connections puzzle befitting a king. Or a Regent.

Community Corner

Thank you to Alcalmy for this month's cover image (and the rainy cover image from last month's honorable mentions that we couldn't include in time!) Speaking of honorable mentions, thank you to jamqwert and Shor for your lovely, wintery submissions!

Next month's theme is: New Year, new Neow! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Now let's take a look at some more creations from the people that make up our wonderful community!

These very adorable crocheted keychains of Donu, Deca, and Snecko Eyes by 萝卜头子! (You can find a whole bunch of their crocheted relics in our Discord's fanart channel!)

This lethally beautiful illustration of The Silent by @JasperConcepts!

This stunning atmospheric of The Silent facing off against Giant Head by @taydungeon! (Timelapse in link)

And that's all for this month's Neowsletter, we hope it put you in the Crit-mas spirit! See you all in 2026 ;)

Greetings, Slayers! It's November. Just a few more months until the sequel is available in Early Access. To get hyped, we've got another big content sneak peek.

Last month, we properly introduced you to one of Slay the Spire 2's new playable characters, The Necrobinder. This month, we're introducing you to some new non-playable characters...

Ancients

The Spire is brimming with species of all shapes and sizes which have evolved alongside their environments over the ages. However, there are some beings that have persisted since the Spire's inception, accumulating wisdom and power as they witness the death and birth of countless generations. You may already be familiar with one such being: Neow, Mother of Resurrection.

At long last, Neow's fellow Ancients have emerged to bless you with doses of their power each time you enter an Act. These blessings take the form of exclusive, powerful relics, replacing the boss relics you may be familiar with from the Spire's previous incarnation.

The Ancient pictured above is Tezcatara, or "It Which Feeds The Fire." A warm, shining light in the darkness of the Spire, this Ancient's blessings are generally known for burning bright but extinguishing quickly. A selection of its possible blessings includes a transformation of the current Act's map into a single special path, a bounty of temporary relics, and a way to reduce the cost of Strikes but also make them impossible to remove from your deck.

These oldest of the Spire's beings all have their own specialties, therefore their offerings will differ greatly from one another. As Neow's special power is that of resurrection, she will be there to greet you at the beginning of a run like always. However, Acts 2 and 3 will have their own separate pools of random Ancients for you to encounter, such as Tezcatara. Specific Ancients will be denoted by a node on the map similar to the ones that signify specific bosses, as you can see below. This new system adds even more variance to each run, making them feel that much more unique.

Though the individual reasons behind the Ancients' involvement may be unclear--and though some of their blessings may come with significant tradeoffs--anyone would be lucky to count such powerful beings as their allies. Perhaps you will be able to learn more about their mysterious motivations as time goes on...

Q&A with C&A

Anonymous asks: Can we get more of the pear? I really like pears, maybe it could be as an enemy that spits pear juice or a card that includes a pear.
Casey: If you like pears, why would you want an enemy that spits pear juice? That seems disrespectful

Justin Quirk asks: How in the world does the Ironclad keep his mask on? Clearly it doesn't wrap all the way around his head, and he is a very active fighter. Does it fall off sometimes in the middle of a fight, or does he have a strap or something? Was this part of his demonic pact? What terrifying power allows him to always stay protected and fashionable?
Casey: The ironclads keep their masks on by biting. I will not elaborate.

Ballsyjones asks: has everything about Slay the Spire 1 been discovered by players!?
Casey: Since the game code can be decompiled, I don't think there are too many undiscovered game logic secrets. StS1 was also translated by the community, so patches and translations always came with notes and a reference cheat sheet so the translators understood the reasoning for odd naming or choice of relic objects.

Anonymous asks: Are you guys planning on also making Slay the Spire 2 a low spec friendly game or will it be more demanding than the first one?
Casey: Yep, we're quite strict on performance! We try to accumulate a wide range of cheap and terrible computers to test the game on :).

A big STS fan asks: Does jaw worm still exist floors 1-3 in sts 2?
Anthony: No

Spire Spotting

As we continue our investigations into the Spire's many new species, it's time to first take a look at last month's mystery silhouette:

And now for your hypotheses...

The award for most... award-like goes to Snowbyte! It kind of looks like a solid gold, automaton-shaped trophy.

The award for most accurate goes to bojhyg! The mask in particular came the closest to the real deal.

And here are the rest of the guesses from our community of Spire explorers:

Credit from left to right: 빙길, Tinamyte, 水角神, PorpleKnight, Sebastian, ssorgatem, LoneDonut, Dracia, Lyvern, hazudee, SamuraiBaker, mainasuarufa, Dolly, koiking213, Simon, mitlon.

And now for the unveiling...

Ooh--it seems that the pattern of Defect-ive hypotheses wasn't totally far off. It's definitely some sort of automaton construct, seemingly designed for punching. A Punch Construct?

Now, what's next on our roster of shadowy species...

Our work is never done! If you have any clues as to what this creature could be, be sure to submit them via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel!

Connections Section

Time to dive right into this month's Slay the Spire Connections puzzle like a fresh pile of autumn leaves!

Community Corner

Thank you to Snubobo for this month's corNeowcopia-themed cover image!

Next month's theme is: Wintery Neow! If you'd like to submit your art for consideration, reminder that it must be submitted to us via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel, have dimensions of 800x450px, feature no text, and leave room for a title!

Thank you to everyone who submitted their spooky Spire content for Mega Crit-or-Treat last month! Here are just some of the highlights:

A creepily cute illustration of the 4 Slay the Spire characters by spacelarktemple!

This super accurate Reptomancer cosplay by commentbagel!

Some Spire-y jack-o-lanterns by LegendofLonk, JoeGo, Zoie, Falspar, and Pug!

Alright, hopefully this month's Neowsletter was a nice sneak peek into what we're cooking up for Slay the Spire 2! We'll be back next month with even more good tidings.

It's October, the month of tricks, treats, and... spooooky things~🦇💀

For those who missed it, we announced a delay last month. Slay the Spire 2 is coming to Early Access in March 2026. I know, I know, it's hard to wait.

But speaking of spooky things, let us properly introduce you to...

The Necrobinder

At long last, the time has come to dive deeper into the first new character we announced for Slay the Spire 2: The Necrobinder, a sassy lich who relies upon a giant, reanimated hand called Osty in battle. (It's a funny name but not technically a pun, so should be safe.)

Her kit is themed around necromancy, fittingly enough, and plays with the balance of life and death. Osty can attack enemies independently of the Necrobinder and is unaffected by debuffs afflicting her. Faithful companion that he is, Osty also takes attack damage that would normally affect the Necrobinder... as long as he has HP to give, that is. To increase Osty's HP or revive him from the dead once more, the Necrobinder can Summon him. Your strategy may see you building up a high HP Osty for a constant source of protection or sacrificing him only to bring him back from the dead over and over again.

Another key component of the Necrobinder's kit is Doom, which we have teased in previous Neowsletters. When a creature's Doom meets or exceeds its current HP, it will die. It's a debuff that's applied similarly to Poison, but it does not deal damage over time or tick down, and it only affects creatures at the end of their turn, as opposed to the start.

She can also use her necromantic magic to draw (ha) on the power of Souls, giving her a source of card draw.

Transformation is a major part of necromancy, of course, so the Necrobinder also has many cards that allow her to alter other cards, applying different keywords to them and changing how they play.

That's all the information on our little lich that we have for you today, but there will be plenty more to uncover still.

Q&A with C&A:

We didn't answer any questions last month because there was a Q&A section for the delay announcement. Fear not, we're back to answering your exciting questions. As always, send your questions to fanmail@megacrit.com and we'll respond within 90 business days. Yes, it's slow. At least we're honest about it.

posmen asks: The community has dubbed quitting and reloading from the start of a floor as savescumming. It seems to be a pretty divisive topic but being that Slay the Spire is a single player game there's no real impact aside from being used as a progression loophole. Is this still going to be a "feature" of StS2?
Casey: Yeah you can still save scum. Play how you want

Brandon asks: Do the characters have canon names? Like, sure, they're the Ironclad, but is his real name Steve? What about watcher? Is her name Jasmine? Cause that's a pretty name
Casey: Well, it's not Steve

OdditY asks: Are you guys thinking of adding more to the game after it fully releases? Maybe additional characters, new events, more enemies, maybe even collab content (especially since you guys have always given in collabs and haven't taken)?
Casey: If people like the game we'll add more stuff. I don't know about collabs, I feel like it dilutes the identity of games? Then again, it depends on the genre.

Matt asks: Is Poison back for The Silent in STS2, or does she now have to rely on a new kit to make her way through The Spire?
Casey: we like poison

The Singaporean Smoke Machine asks: Will there be a feature for shiv cards where there will be a "throwing" card animation? Like when you play a shiv, the card itself flies striaght into an enemy before spinning and falling off-screen? I think it would be really cool!
Anthony: No

Spire Spotting

And now it's time for some spoooooky research into one of the Spire's many new denizens!! Although it's no more spooky than it usually is, I suppose.

As always, let's take a look at last month's mystery monster silhouette:

Now let's see what guesses you all had this time around...

The award for cutest guess goes to rinny.Ly._.nn, which might have been the toughest category this time around!

The "Hit the Slay button" award goes to gold! No need to sashay away.

The award for most accurate goes to Lemonpie--super close!

Here are some other incredible hypotheses that we've received from our community of Spire explorers:

Credit from left to right: koiking, bomo73, Gabe, Peter, EcksDee, Oliver, Eqyizo, Super malfunctioning robot, ramy, tree bucket, Metonka, Brave

I think we finally have enough information to dispel the veil of shadow...

AAAAAH... aww? It's just a little guy, surely he's harmless! Either he's a sentient stack of hay or that's just a very convincing costume.

JUMPSCARE! I'm sure you weren't expecting that--another shadowy creature is in need of unveiling. If you have any clues as to what this creature could be, be sure to submit them via fanmail@megacrit.com or in our Discord's fanart channel!

Merch Madness

SLIME... plush??

For a limited time ONLY, you can grab this Makeship Slime Boss doughboi (meaning it's BIG and squishy just like the real, in-game deal) as well as a couple of cute, fuzzy Louse plushies for you to Curl Up with