Slay the Spire 2 Players Are Upset Over a Hilariously Minor Issue

On Thursday night, the developers of the roguelike deckbuilder, Slay the Spire 2, rolled out a significant update that has shaken up the game’s balance. While many players might not immediately notice the changes, the update nerfs popular strategies across nearly all characters and buffs several enemies, including the final boss. Just a day later, the game has become a lightning rod for player frustration as the community reacts to the new direction of this early-access title.

The patch notes cover a wide range of adjustments, from card balance to user interface tweaks and artwork updates. A notable addition is the new Phobia Mode, which replaces potentially distressing imagery with less intense visuals. Additionally, the cost of Relics in shops has been reduced by 25 gold.

Despite these quality-of-life improvements, the community is particularly upset about the overall game balance. The latest patch makes it more challenging for players to execute “infinite” plays—turns where a specific card combination yields excessive resources or damage. A major point of contention is the change to The Silent, a stealthy assassin. Previously, the card Prepared allowed players to draw and discard a card without spending energy. Now, it requires discarding two cards for some energy on the next turn, making it less effective for discard-focused builds.

Enemies have also received buffs, including the final boss, Doormaker. The developers hinted at the severity of this change, warning players to “beware” of encounters with Doormaker, who now consumes every 10th card drawn by the player and deals substantial damage on most turns.

The Regent, a character already known for its difficulty, has also faced nerfs affecting popular deck choices like Glow and Charge. Overall, Slay the Spire 2 has become a significantly tougher experience, and it was no walk in the park to begin with!

One player expressed their frustration in a recent negative review, stating, “Was a good game but devs just [messed] up everything they had worked for by releasing the most garbage update ever,” after logging 67 hours in the game.

While many reviews are brief and filled with anger, some players articulate their concerns more thoroughly. One of the most upvoted negative reviews, a lengthy 17-paragraph essay from a user, critiques the nerfing of infinites, arguing that the real issue hasn’t been addressed: players aren’t necessarily drawn to infinites; rather, they feel compelled to rely on them due to the current game environment. The reviewer also highlights problems with Elite battles, which have become so challenging that some players now avoid them entirely.

The appeal of infinites is clear, but they can slow down gameplay in multiplayer scenarios, forcing others to wait while one player executes a lengthy turn. However, some fans are puzzled as to why the developers are targeting “broken” strategies in the single-player mode.

“Players accept ‘nerfing the strong,’ but only if they already have ‘usable alternatives,'” the review continues. “When the environment itself shifts toward health, balancing adjustments are seen as optimizations; when the environment remains imbalanced, any nerf to the mainstream solution is perceived as further damage to the player experience.”

Interestingly, these contentious changes are not applied to the entire player base. Instead, they are part of the Experimental branch of the game on Steam, designed for testing before broader implementation. However, it seems many players received more experimentation than they anticipated. Since Slay the Spire 2 is still in Early Access, the mechanics and balance being tested now may differ significantly from what will be in the final version.

Regardless, the optional patch has prompted nearly 8,000 fans to leave negative reviews within just a few hours. While this number may seem small compared to the millions enjoying the game, by the end of Friday, the total negative reviews could surpass those from the initial release of the deckbuilder.