Mega Crit has released a new beta patch for Slay the Spire 2, version v0.110.0, which brings a variety of balance changes, relic reworks, and a fix for a previously discovered exploit. The update also introduces subtle visual enhancements tied to character 'Form' cards.
Players will now notice permanent visual effects when playing Form cards, such as the Ironclad's Demon Form. While these new effects are not as elaborate as some community-created designs, they add a new layer of presentation to the game.
The patch includes several relic reworks, most of which serve as buffs. For instance, Nonupeipe's Fur Coat now requires 8 enemy combats to reduce HP to 1, an increase from the previous 7. Tezcatara's Seal of Gold has also been adjusted, reducing gold loss per turn from 5 to 3.
A more significant rework affects Tezcatara's Toasty Mittens. Previously, this Ancient relic exhausted the top card of the draw pile each turn for one Strength, a trade-off often considered unfavorable due to its randomness. The updated Toasty Mittens now allows players to choose a card from their hand to exhaust each turn. While this reduces hand size by one, it offers strategic advantages, particularly in countering cards like Aeonglass's Withers and synergizing with Ironclad's exhaustion-based abilities.
Separately, a bug that caused uncommon cards to appear less frequently than intended has been resolved, ensuring they now appear at their expected rate.
In terms of card adjustments, the recently reworked Eidolon card can no longer be generated mid-combat, preventing exploits where players could have multiple copies active simultaneously. This change aims to curb unintended strategies that emerged after the previous patch.
The Silent character class appears to be a primary focus of this update. Despite efforts to balance her, some changes may have unintended consequences. The Haze card has been reworked from a Sly card applying poison to a non-Sly card that costs 2 and applies 4 poison along with 1 Weak status to all enemies, a change drawing parallels to the Crippling Cloud card.
The Outbreak card also received a significant alteration. It transitions from a Power card costing 1 that triggers poison damage to a Skill card costing 3. This new version applies 9 poison to all enemies and crucially makes poison damage trigger immediately, with a subsequent trigger at the end of the turn. Initial impressions suggest this change makes the card exceptionally potent, potentially enhancing Silent's poison archetype significantly.
While the developers aimed to nerf the Silent class, the modifications to cards like Outbreak may inadvertently bolster her power, leading to two highly effective archetypes for the character. The patch notes indicate that the developers are looking to address balance concerns for other characters in future updates.