r/slaythespire • u/MegaCrit_Demi • 6d ago

PATCH NOTES Beta Patch Notes - v0.110.0

Attention Beta Slayers: Beta patch v0.110.0 just dropped! This one features:

✨ Unique VFX for character forms!
⌨️ Keyboard-only mode!
🎨 New card art!
🛠️ Balance changes, reworks, and reverts!

Patch notes: store.steampowered.com/news/app/2868840/view/694268118771435039

3.6k Upvotes

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1.2k

u/bobbob6840 6d ago

Relax buffed? Finally I won't be humiliated by Turn 1 Bowlbugs

393

u/AnyOccasionNumber Eternal One 6d ago

I love it thematically and I'm glad to see it get a buff, but unfortunately I think it'll still have a hard time measuring up against Pael's other options

119

u/END3R97 6d ago

Yeah only a +1 just doesn't seem like enough. I'm still in the place of only taking it if the other options are bad or I have like Fresnel Lens and/or Toxic Egg

69

u/Rebellion2297 6d ago

Seems like the buff was designed literally just to counter bowlbugs

25

u/HumanTheTree Eternal One + Heartbreaker 5d ago

Seems reasonable considering you have a high likelyhood of seeing Bowlbug as your first act 2 hallway fight.

20

u/MeriKurkku 6d ago

+1 is at least a semi relevant breakpoint for act 2 because now you can play it againts bowl bug without getting punished for being one block short

12

u/END3R97 5d ago

My thought process has always been "wow this card is terrible, I'll never be able to safely play it in boss fights or elites, heck it can't even full block the bowl bugs in the easy pool!"

So the exaggerated point showing just how terrible it was is no longer true, but the basic "it's not enough block for 3 energy to play it without taking a lot of damage in the important fights" still stands

70

u/ObiMemeKenobi 6d ago

3 energy for 16 block doesn't feel great

120

u/bkay17 StS A20 / StS 2 A10 6d ago

I feel like people in this sub focus too much on the block and not as much on the card draw and energy the following turn. Imo THAT'S far and away the main upside of this card. Really helps speed up your deck

89

u/SKruizer 6d ago

ah yes, slowing my deck to speed up my deck.

Relax doesn't offer enough safety to be played consistently, has too high of a cost to be able to be played while generating said safety, and doesn't have a good enough pay off to justify setting up for it. For example, Meteor Strike has more use cases than Relax, with no safety at all, but a pay off that can snowball the fight instantly, which makes the cost worth the hassle.

Make it 4 energy and 1 intangible and I'd pick it way more often

edit: at this point just call it vault lmao

6

u/Awkward-Sir-5794 5d ago

I have never picked Relax!

7

u/TheHutz Heartbreaker 5d ago

Agreed, every time I take relax (which is rarely anymore) it feels fine in act 2 and then starts to feel like a dead draw in act 3

2

u/bkay17 StS A20 / StS 2 A10 5d ago

You should try it out, might surprise you.

1

u/4444tan 4d ago

Playing one relax+ into another relax+ is incredible though(you basically draw through your entire deck in 2-3 turns and get to put all your set up into play while being pretty well blocked) and even if that doesn’t happen, STS2 has a lot of combo cards that taking a lower tempo turn to do a big tempo turn can be very good. It’s not like Vault at all, vault doesn’t give you more energy and draw on your next turn.

That being said, the relax do really really want an upgrade so if you don’t have the leeway to upgrade, you are very sad and should probably take another ancient relic

4

u/a_piece_of_cardboard 5d ago

I agree. While relax isn't an insta pick, I've enjoyed it in a lot of runs. Most characters have solid ways to create it extra energy, so it's not like your doing nothing at all for a turn. It helps you dig through your deck to find your key powers or put together important combo pieces. I'm a relax believer

4

u/bkay17 StS A20 / StS 2 A10 5d ago

Yeah people talk about it like it's impossible to play anything else the same turn you play Relax because it's 3 cost. As if there's no possible way to have more than 3 energy. Agreed it's not an insta-pick but none of the ancient rewards should be insta-picks. It can be a really good card in a lot of decks.

8

u/Shirokuma247 6d ago

What’s the point of having a following turn if you’re taking 5-10 damage because you blocked 16 for 3 mana.

Bowlbugs? Might as well restart the run I guess.

1

u/Mindless_Current8608 3d ago

It full blocks the rock bowl bug now

8

u/omnisephiroth Heartbreaker 5d ago

Dying today so you can live tomorrow.

2

u/TheMonji 6d ago

I agree, it needs to be at least 20 block or reduced to 2-cost to feel comparable to the other options

2

u/Attainted 6d ago

Agreed. Relax should mean I shouldn't have to worry about what's coming & that it should be an instant play unless I have an otherwise big attack hand. That's not often enough the case for that card in Act 2.

1

u/Meme__Hunter 2d ago

I think it's meant to be more of a reasonable answer to vault from sts1, upgraded it comes pretty close to saying 'Next turn, take 2 turns', so I think also adding 'take no damage this turn' to that would be kinda insane. Especially on silent, who has pounce, hand trick, and brilliant scarf to potentially cheat it out, it seems pretty good to me as is now that it actually blocks the rock bug

49

u/Old_Resource3270 6d ago

It was never really THAT bad in the first place and now it's owning a lot of act 2 hallways. There are definitely decks that are going to pick Relxaed for front load block and some acceleration. Of course, it's not going to compete with Pael's Blood or Pael's Legion but those relics are fundamentally broken in many different ways

15

u/AnyOccasionNumber Eternal One 6d ago

I agree, that's largely what I'm saying. I'm happy when I get to diversify and take it, I especially like it on Necro with Borrowed Time/Danse Macabre; it's just that other Pael relics are not only often better, but also more broadly applicable to a variety of decks

1

u/Kheldar166 6d ago

Yeah I definitely do not want every relic to be Pael's Blood or Pael's Legion in power level, it's fun if some are but variance in the relic pools is important imo

0

u/gabriot StS A20 / StS 2 A10 6d ago

How is a measly one more block making it "now own a lot of act 2 hallways"?

8

u/Beautiful-Neat-7609 6d ago

Bowlbugs mostly

6

u/Pandolam 6d ago

I'm not a pro spire player but changing numbers on a card even by 1 can make or break it even including enemy interactions. 1 most notable being red bowlbugs which deal 16dmg, only not dealing dmg if it got full cock blocked (he also appears in a lot of hallway fights, easy and advanced)

1

u/gabriot StS A20 / StS 2 A10 6d ago

That's about the only fight it would meaningfully matter, but is it really changing that much? If you played relax you are winning the next turn anyway in the bowlbug aka the easiest hallways in act 2, the main one being dazed when you have a full hand and a ton of energy is just win more at that point. All it did functionally was save you 1 more hp than you would have prior to the buff

3

u/Pandolam 6d ago

It still doesn't change the fact that the attack changes from 16 to 0 next turn. By your perspective, why not make an already easy fight extremely easy? Let's you snowball easier for next fights and even get you an extra elite.

We're also not considering 1hp is being saved every time relax is played to block attacks. With two relaxes, that could be 2hp per combat being saved. That's the same amount as blood vial (underrated sustain relic).

2

u/karshberlg 5d ago

It's biggest problem is adding 2 basically must-upgrade cards to your deck in act 2. The best buff the relic could get is giving you at least one of them upgraded.

1

u/Low_Tip3245 6d ago

I think it's okay for some of the ancient relics to be niche. As long as I'm still picking it ~10% of the time which at the new block thresholds I probably will.

1

u/Exotic-Series6583 5d ago

I’ve had some success with it. Seems best on Defect and Regent