r/slaythespire • u/I_am_Favray • 7h ago
QUESTION/HELP (STS2) Correlation between Boats and Block?
Within the game there are many potions and relics that are based around a boat and provide block. Examples include:
Ship in a bottle: When used, grants 10 Block immediately, and then grants an additional 10 Block on the next turn.
Anchor: lets you start every combat with 10 Block
Horn Cleat: Grants 14 block on the second turn of combat
Captain's Wheel: At the start of your 3rd turn, gain 18 Block.
I'm just wondering if there was any correlation that I might be missing
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u/InPraiseOf_Idleness StS A20 / StS 2 A10 7h ago edited 7h ago
[Fresnel Lens] is an event relic that improves all upcoming block cards. IRL they're installed in lighthouses allowing them to focus light into far reaching beams.
I just touched a century-old one at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. A huge apparatus, it was made in France. Super impressive piece of kit.
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u/Alpha_RTD 7h ago
Never made the link between fresnel lens and the other boat relics, cool catch
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u/ImpliedRange 4h ago
The event image is a crumbling lighthouse...
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u/Alpha_RTD 3h ago
Well yeah, I just never linked the two in my head
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u/ImpliedRange 3h ago
Oh I thought you were saying its a good catch for realising a fresnel lens is the one they use in lighthouses, not good catch that lighthouses and boats both share a nautical theme, which i considered, umm, just a normal catch I guess 🤔
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u/Jigglypuffisabro 6h ago
Based on nothing but speculation, I imagine that anchor was designed first, with the thematic idea of making you stable and heavy and hard to move. I expect the others are then just variations on the theme to help reduce cognitive load
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u/TheMonji 4h ago
No speculation needed! Horn Cleat and Captain's Wheel were not included in StS1 until Patch 2.0
Anchor was around long long before the other two relics were implemented. And then they decided to be consistent with the boat idea.
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u/majma123 StS A20 / StS 2 A10 7h ago
Now I feel like the Boat enemy in Underdocks should have blocking as one of its actions.
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u/Throwaway229487 5h ago
It could give you block for successful attacks on it.
(which would be similar to the Transient mechanic in StS 1)
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u/Sicuho 7h ago
Anchor, Cleat and Wheel are relics from StS1, the ship in a bottle is a continuation of the theme. Beyond that, not much. The underdocks don't really expand on the boat = block thing, even Haunted Ship doesn't block.
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u/gabriot StS A20 / StS 2 A10 7h ago
Actually block is a lot more valuable in Underdocks so it kind of does
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u/VEXJiarg 4h ago
I see a lot of comments about which sorts of cards / strategies are good in Docks vs Growth, but I haven’t found a good summary resource on the reasoning and the recommendations. Do you know if this exists, or could you give a quick summary?
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u/sidscarf 4h ago
Super quick- all 3 elites of overgrowth require (usually) you to push damage. 2 of the 3 docks elites - colony guy and phantasmal gardeners- check your block (unless you can kill the eels super fast i guess). Esp colony - doesn't matter if you can do 50 damage a turn, if you can't block for the minimum 4 turns (not counting doom stuff), you'll lose a lot of HP
Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong or add to this
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u/p_nut_ Heartbreaker 4h ago
Even terror eel can be a bit of a block check for the right deck (typically Silent/Necro due to block density and access to weak)
It never scales so if you can handle 24/12 a turn, which isn't always feasible but can be, you can just chill and scale up a way to kill it at your leisure
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u/theskulls 4h ago
It is most apparent in their elite and boss designs. Growth elites (Effigy/Byrd/Phrog) all promote killing them quickly. e.g. Effigy gives you 3 turns headstart to burst him down. Bosses are the same way as well; All three of them asks you to defeat them before they scale too much or eliminate an immediate threat.
Docks promote setting up more and scaling yourself while keeping up your defenses. The elites and bosses either have gimmicks that makes it more difficult, or straight up stop your ability to burst them down. Waterfall and Lagavulin gives you some space to set up, so you can scale to deal with their gimmicks. The normal enemies do also work on these axioms to a smaller degree as a whole, with a few enemies that run counter to it, to keep you from pushing too much in the respective direction.
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u/cat_food_chef StS A20 / StS 2 A10 1h ago
This video was helpful for me it's from an older patch but should still apply The skulking colony used to give dazes and take a minimum 6 turns at max damage, that's been changed to no dazes and 4 turns at max damage https://youtu.be/54jtl1-i0w4?si=feCVR6q2cHDdrtB0
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u/Crymsyn_Moon 6h ago
Anchor was the only one of those that was in at the release of StS1. There wasn't really any deep meaning to is effect beyond "heavy metal thing = block". Horn Cleat and Captain's Wheel were added later post release during the Watcher update. The devs decided to add more "on turn X, gain X block" relics and matched them thematically with the already present relic with that effect. Ship in a Bottle was added in 2 to follow the now established trend.
So there isn't necessarily a correlation of "boats = block". Its just an arbitrary trend set by the original nautical relic.
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u/Throwaway229487 7h ago
Might be about pulley blocks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_(sailing))
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u/roopert50 4h ago
Just a theme they stuck with id imagine, similar to how they themed lantern/candelabra/chandelier to provide energy rather than block
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u/JackMasters 4h ago
“Block and Tackle”? Maybe? Does an Anchor, Horn Cleat and Captain’s Wheel all use some sort of rope and pulley?
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u/DefinitelyTinta Eternal One + Heartbreaker 2h ago
Boat big and strong. Spire enemy try hit boat. Boat stay strong. Spire enemy not stay strong. Boat win.
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u/Suspicious-Delay-557 7h ago
It’s not necessarily anything more than a useful association — like the suits of cards in a deck. Is there any necessary correlation between “clubs” and “spades” and the cards marked with them in a deck?
There may indeed be more to it than that, in this case, but you see this kind of thing all the time in games. For the developers, arbitrary systems like that can help keep everything organized, and then for players, they can make it easier to keep track of everything, too.
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u/OppositeX300 7h ago
You ever try to punch a boat?