Slay the Spire: My Take on the Defect’s Four Disappointing Rare Cards
Image credit: © Mega Crit Games, LLC. Slay the Spire (PC/Steam version). This article uses a limited number of screenshots to explain gameplay strategy.
This discussion assumes Ascension 20 and an attempt to beat the Heart.
Lately, I’ve been really into learning how to play Slay the Spire better.
On a YouTube channel about Slay the Spire, I saw a poll asking which card people liked best out of Machine Learning, Reboot, Thunder Strike, and Amplify.
Since I spent some time thinking about it, I thought I’d write down my own view.
Amplify
Of these four, Amplify is easily the one I’m most likely to pick.
The Defect relies on Powers for scaling, and I think this card can give you a way to beat the Heart.
Double Defragment+, double Heatsinks+, double Echo Form, double Self Repair, double Buffer—all of those are great!
What I like about Amplify is that it’s cheap and takes effect on the turn you play it. I feel comfortable taking it with around three Powers, and I don’t think it’s that weak, though it isn’t especially strong either.
If you upgrade it and increase your deck’s draw power before the Heart, I find it can contribute quite a bit.
I can already hear people saying that Amplify gets in the way once all your Powers are played. But the Defect’s big weakness is getting set up at the beginning of a fight. If you’ve survived long enough to play all those Powers, you often have plenty of Frost block or so much card draw that it hardly matters.
Machine Learning
Despite being rare, I think this might be one of the weakest Powers…
It looks like it will reliably do its job, but you pay one energy, use up a draw that could have been another card, and get nothing that turn. In terms of cards drawn, you only break even one turn later and finally gain something two turns later. That’s slow.
It might provide a little value in a long fight, such as an Act 2 or Act 3 boss.
But in Act 2 hallway and elite fights, where you need to kill enemies quickly, it’s far too slow.
Against the Heart or the Spire Shield and Spear, you can die to the heavy turn-two hit while you’re busy playing such a slow Power.
If you happen to get it from a transform or something similar, it can be an offering for the Bonfire Spirits.
For a Power that provides card draw, Heatsinks is far better.
Reboot
Of these four, Reboot is the least likely to get in the way.
If my deck were short on Powers and I had to choose from these four, I’d pick Reboot.
It isn’t a terrible card, but as the Defect, I want to cycle through the deck quickly and get all my Powers played. I also dislike how it can shuffle a Void into the deck after using the excellent card Turbo.
What I want from a rare is a way to beat bosses, more consistency along the way, or less risk of a disastrous draw. From any of those angles, I don’t think Reboot is strong enough to be something I’d want as a rare reward.
Thunder Strike
People often make fun of this card, but it can deliver a spectacular payoff and sometimes does real work. There just aren’t many situations where that happens…
In baseball terms, it’s like a home-run hitter with a .100 batting average.
When thinking about the Act 3 bosses and the Heart, if:
- You don’t have a promising source of scaling;
- You can channel a lot of Lightning with a single card, such as Tempest or Electrodynamics+;
- Its cost isn’t a burden, thanks to plenty of energy, Enlightenment, Snecko Eye, or something similar;
then I think it becomes a promising option.
The bottlenecks are whether you can generate enough Lightning and how much that three-energy cost hurts.
So, my conclusion is:
Amplify > Reboot >>>> Thunder Strike >>>> Machine Learning
That’s how I see them.
I hope this helps!
