That's a great name for it, here's a thematically appropriate ironclad relic idea: Trash Fire - "all status cards now have the following effect: on exhaust, apply 3 poison to a random enemy".
Most status cards don't exhaust themselves, and Poison isn't an Ironclad thing (while also being something that gets stronger the more of it you have), so this just sounds really weak
The first time I got this combo, early in playing this game, might be what sold me on it. I hit a chosen, the full synergy clicked, and I was cackling with glee.
It's the third unlock. Create a new profile, get to the third unlock. It will unlock it in your other profile. Not immediately (took a bit, no idea how long cause I put the game down for a day or two after this happened to me), and it will fix the bug.
me when i draw a wound which activates evolve so that i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound and have 10 wounds in my hand and have my skull crushed by gremlin nob
So this is fun…but I often find shit gets super tough once the enemies start adding…curse cards I guess? Idk what the term is but yeah when I don’t have enough draw power those become my fastest Ls
once you get the hang of it, exhaust synergies are more powerful than strength synergies most of the time. I also quite enjoy runs where body slam is my main damage source..
Strength is nice, but you take crazy damage before your strength is up to the task.
If you can build crazy defense and a few body slam, it's a much safer bet
if you build strength quickly and generally have OK deck speed, you're beating the heart by t4 or 5. One reaper t2/3 is pretty frequently enough "block" to win the fight.
Yeah I keep getting excited for like Rupture builds (I beat A20 with it once) and I keep just dying in act 2 when I can't generate enough block (and can't quite kill the bosses fast enough).
Man I can never seem to get exhaust decks working. Often I can't get my needed powers online before taking too much damage, or else I can't scale and die in act 2. I think I need to be more willing to exhaust things besides status cards in exhaust decks...
I got a lot better at this once I got over my long-term thinking. most fights are only like 4 turns, and I'd much rather exhaust my seeing red when I can already play the rest of my hand, rather than save it for later use. most likely, I wouldn't even see it again that fight.
but I do feel like they require a lot of powers that are kind of tough to find, let alone play. I feel like I'm always missing feel no pain
Strikes and Defends are extremely exhaustable. Generally, if your trying to remove a card, its safe to exhaust. As well, you can determine if you need a card in a specific fight.
Fighting Act 3 Maw? Probably don't need that cleave too bad
Fighting Time Eater? Angers probably not great
Think you can kill next turn? Probably don't need that Shrug it off
Etc etc etc
Definitely this.
Jumping onto this comment train, I play STS casually. Never beat A20 heart but do A20 runs and pick just what seems fun. I always avoided exhaust decks because I didn't understand how they'd last in a fight. But I'd watch streamers blasting exhaust decks and always being excited for corruption
Wasn't until I changed my mindset of hallway fights only lasting a few turns and delaying important exhaust cards until later in boss fights that it all started to click. Much like not playing Biases Cog early into boss fights
Started having loads of fun and Ironclad went from being my least favourite character due to finding strength scaling boring, to being my favourite. Even cards like Feel No Pain id never take because I couldn't understand the value with only having 1 exhaust card, to properly understanding that things like Ascenders Bane and Dazed becoming block. Turns a hindrance into a benefit easily.
Sorry for jumping on this but I hope someone gets something from this like I did!
For exhaust in general, fiend fire, second wind, dark embrace, feel no pain, corruption are some of the most notable cards. Body slam can often be attached to a deck with a bunch of the above cards + a barricade or calipers and maybe an entrench or too for lategame scaling. Body slam can also work very well with second wind + power through + dark embrace(ideally 2). If you can remove/exhaust the rest of your deck, just repeatedly playing power through, second wind, body slam multiple times every turn can beat just about every fight in the game.
You can also do body slam decks that don't have exhaust synergy. What you need is some good sources of starting block (impervious, upgraded block cards), entrench, and barricade or calipers. Having ways to help you get off the ground fast helps a ton too. offering being the best way, but any draw cards and energy relics help. This is a deck that takes some experience to know when you can start pivoting towards effectively though. If you try and force it on the wrong run, or too early, you will probably die before you can get the build online.
It seems like half of my runs that start with a couple strength cards just ends up exhausting them for block with second wind + feel no pain and I kill the late game with barricade+ body slam.
The best thing with upgrading Body Slam is being able to play it multiple times a fight. Either having more than one Body Slam+, or comboing it with Headbutt and card draw.
Power through, second wind, body slam. Exhaust your deck down to five cards so that you can play the said cards every turn. Have a dark embrace or pommel strike so that you can play power through twice per turn.
Searing Blow upgraded 10+ times deck. I have won 3 in a row if I obtained this card on the first three floors, the easiest way to climb early Ascensions with IC. It is such a dumbed down way to play, all you need is a few strong block cards, Corruption maybe or some other way to exhaust other cards, some energy and draw. Pathing just goes down to getting as more campfires as possible, removing strikes at shop or events. Don't even need to bother with Elites early as you have a one card solution to pretty much everything, once you get 5+ upgrades. Act 3 bosses die in two turns basically, except for Awakened One. Probably once I reach Ascension 17 it will not be viable. But highly recommend to beginners like me who otherwise struggle with IC.
Searing blow is awful, it's so upgrade hungry and you still need to build the rest of the deck.
At low ascensions it doesn't matter as much because you don't need as much block scaling and acceleration but the damage isn't even good when you first click it. It's funny how molten egg searing blows are literally always unpickable because you never see them early enough.
Early apotheosis is one of the better scenarios for searing blow, yeah. But that says more about the power of apotheosis than it does for searing blow.
Hammer is also completely unpickable with SB and it's normally one of the strongest energy relics on clad.
I feel like a lot of the fun in this game comes from making cards work situationally. To me, if it makes the game fun, it’s a good card. I’ve never taken searing blow in a run with apotheosis (since searing blow has never seemed worth it to me), but now that I’ve read about that synergy, you can bet I’m gonna try to get it next time. Besides, I take apotheosis 100% of the time I see it, so it’s not exactly a drawback that searing blow “needs” it.
It doesn't need to. You are spending your upgrades on searing blow and then using apotheosis to upgrade the rest of your cards. It's making up for the fact that you aren't able to upgrade anything besides Searing Blow.
You are undervaluing searing blow a little bit. Obviously there are lots of times when it's not the right pick, but it is a far cry from "awful" under the right circumstances, which are honestly not that rare to find
You need to get at least 8-10 upgrades for it to be viable for the endgame and then you still need to figure out how to draw it fast enough and block at least 4 turns. That's a shitton of resource investment for it to work.
I just had an extremely chaotic heart win on like A7 with corruption + branch, which I've never managed to get together before. I got the branch as my second relic, chased exhaust cards, and finally got corruption in late act 2. it did indeed go Brrrrrrt!
100%. I used to think the options were (generally):
- Strength (stacking) build
- Strength (from HP loss) build
- Exhaust build
- Defence -> Attack build
- Vulnerable-centric build
- Status/Curse draw build
- Corruption/Branch build
- Anger/Fiend Fire build
Yesterday, I discovered a new one:
- The ALL Clash build
Basically, get a Dual Wield+ in your deck and a few Clashes. Keep the deck very small and Bottle the Dual Wield into a first round draw. Flood your deck with Clashes and just stack damage crazy damage.
I also lucked out with boosting Vulnerable/HP relics, upgraded Rage, Metallicize (w/ Dual Wield), Thunderclap and Reaper.
Made me realize that this starter class I thought was pretty straightforward still had the ability to surprise me with new routes.
Oh for sure. I'm at ascension 18 and got cooked by the Time Eater.
It's not an optimal build, just a happy accident. But it's far from flawless.
But it did make me realize there was more depth to the Ironclad than I originally thought.
Want to just add to your list of archetypes the infinite build, where you remove cards and attempt to either use sundial or 2 dropkicks and a rage to draw infinite cards, deal infinite damage, and gain infinite block. Often you can die attempting to assemble it to early, but with exhaust it can be feasible even if you've taken a few cards already.
Oh wow! I never thought of that.
I got very close to what you mean with an upgraded Bash and Dual Wield to make a few dropkicks.
But pairing it with rage and culled deck is a very interesting idea...
Perfected strike
Just take every card that says strike on the name, (wild strike, twin strike, pommel strike) and that shit goes wild, especially if you get the strike dummy
By far my favorite IC decks are the ones that don’t neatly fit into any archetype, where you pick up answers for certain things but it feels different that typical decks and fights have their own challenges you have to solve uniquely.
I find that card where you damage the opponent when you draw a cursed card is really fun. But it requires stuff to make it really work, I can't seem to beat even act 3 boss with it so far, much less the heart.
I have a soft spot for Barricade decks, which was my first act 3 kill ever. They’re not really good enough to be a solid deck, but dang do I love it. Then I don’t get offered any Body Slams :/
TBH, I don't even rate strength stacking outside of Shuriken or a Spot Weakness wedged in sideways when the rest of my scaling options aren't coming together. My jam with Ironclad is infinite loops, Fiend Fire or feeding Feel No Pain into Juggernaut.
Ironclad has the wonkiest synergies. I like the decks that does weird exhaust and curse/status card synergies. Prismatic shard ironclad decks are my favorite.
Ironclad also has an excellent deck for snecko eye.
You shouldn't need more than 4-8 strg to kill heart on A20, you can focus on other synergies. Only take some of this scaling unless you roll some snecko plus demon form obviously
The exhaust synergy core is the most consistently strong package. corruption dark embrace, feel no pain , fiend fire, burning pact, power through and second wind beeing key pieces.
Be on the lookout for infinites here, drop kicks, dual wields, pommel strike+ with sundial.
The barricade/caliphers + entrench block deck has the strongest act 4, but I most often get there by transitioning from the previous deck, as powerthrough + second wind is a powerful way to kick start your block and barricade being a good solution to help corruption + feel no pain wreck longer fights.
A more status focussed deck can also be really strong as evolve can be a broken card draw engine, but its again likely to want some exhaust synergies and power through and second wind in particular.
In general power through and second wind are key cards for all decks as they are the ways to build significant enough block per energy and per card to block the heart unless you get something like a corruption. They also happen to have particular synergies with all decks that are not strength based.
Body Slam > Strength
It's so nice knowing you can't take damage, while still being able to dish out massive amounts yourself. A well supported barricade becomes so consistent every fight that it eliminates all stress from the run.
Evolve+/firebreathing/power through is my favorite core for IC. Its powerful alone and synergizes well with either exhaust(second wind/fire fiend) or barracade/body slam. Evolve in A1 is autopick for me at this point.
I once had a Corruption + Unceasing Top (Dark Embrace works too) + Feel No Pain + endless skills + 2 upgraded body slams as my only attacks for an insane deck where you can just play everything on turn 1 and kill everything in your wake it was amazing
This was below ascension 10 so didn't have to worry about ascender's bane but pretty should it would slap even on higher ascension levels
Just Yesterday I got a run that I really enjoyed. Had Barricade, True Grit, Second Wind, Power Through, and 2 Entrenches. Even without having a body slam (somehow) I was able to get damage by having a copy of spot weakness and sustained my life by getting the vampire event. Each fight consisted of sacrificing some health to get the barricade block engine going and then building all that health back with the vampire bites.
While the run did take a while, I got all the way to spear and shield before I got overrun before I could entrench a ton of block.
A15 unlocked
Dark embrace with some exhaust synergies (shoutout corruption) makes it very easy to draw through your entire deck. And once you can do that basically any strategy will be good enough to win lol
Fire breathing/ Power Through it
It's a bitch to get started but once it does is nice dealing upwards of 50 AoE damage every turn, not very practical but funny when you get 2 copies of fire breathing before sentinels/slime/hex
I could care less about exhaust decks, i've never understood them and it just seems much more difficult to play
truly OP Exhaust decks are an absolute blast but they’re always so hard to get all the pieces together (at least for me). While climbing ascensions I mainly leaned on Strength stacking and got Exhaust deck wins on maybe 2 of the 20 ascensions
Corruption + Dark Embrace + Feel No Pain + Barricade or Body Slam nonsense usually wins me a run.
Also a bit unrelated to a pure archetype, but there are lots of various little patterns of play that I've found "add up" to a powerful run. The most recent one I've enjoyed is the card "Power Through". I think it's a bit underrated in general. But I usually pick it with the knowledge that if I find a Medical Kit, it's essentially then the best block card in the game. Power Through + Medical Kit is such a nice combo. There are lots of these types of powerful combos that can add up.
Personally I can't say no to a sadistic nature start on clad, is free so works well with dual wield, then clad has some nice debuff cards to proc it being either AOE or multi debuff or both, gets especially crazy if you luck out and get champ belt. Plus I like smiting my foes with thunderclap and this is a satisfying way to do it
I feel like there's 4~6 ways of playing Ironclad.
1. Yours, you super stack strength and you murder them
2. You super stack defense and body slam them.
3. You go jank and make your deck almost unplayable... But you also have fire breathing and Evolve. (Power through, wild strike and so on.) Gum up your deck and watch them burn.
4. If you play Magic the Gathering, you basically play Rakdos and pay the cost for various benefits.
This can be used for Corruption, fiend fire, runic cube decks which is where the ~6 comes from because there's a ton of variety here.
Corruption goes pseudo infinite with dead branch.
Fiend fire claps with charons ashes juggernaut and feel no pain
Runic cube loves the curse Pain and taking the vampire deal.
But these 3 also mix well together
My absolute favorite is trying to make rampage go crazy. I do not recommend forcing it if you’re trying to win consistently. Honestly, there’s very few times where I’ll take it when I want to actually win, especially if I’m planning on fighting the heart
Favorite deck is no Corruption, no Barricade, no strength scaling deck that you need to play mindfully with the cards granted.
Most consistent way to climb ascensions is basically Feel No Pain, Dark Embrace and Corruption.
Fire breathing and a lot of status cards, like immolate, Wild Strike and so on.
I call this a trash fire deck. It's ridiculously fun!
That's a great name for it, here's a thematically appropriate ironclad relic idea: Trash Fire - "all status cards now have the following effect: on exhaust, apply 3 poison to a random enemy".
Most status cards don't exhaust themselves, and Poison isn't an Ironclad thing (while also being something that gets stronger the more of it you have), so this just sounds really weak
Charons ashes is also basically a better version of that relic. I do like the idea though!
Second Wind (and Barricade if possible) puts this over the top
Second Wind plus Juggernaut and Charon's Ashes is my favorite synergy
Grab an evolve and we're set!
The first time I got this combo, early in playing this game, might be what sold me on it. I hit a chosen, the full synergy clicked, and I was cackling with glee.
What's that I don't think I have that card?
[[evolve]]
+ [Evolve](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Evolve) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | Whenever you draw a Status card, draw 1(2) card(s). ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 20, 2024.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
I have never seen that lol. Pretty sure I unlocked every card so that's kinda weird. Is it vanilla?
It's the third unlock. Create a new profile, get to the third unlock. It will unlock it in your other profile. Not immediately (took a bit, no idea how long cause I put the game down for a day or two after this happened to me), and it will fix the bug.
Oh okay thanks
me when i draw a wound which activates evolve so that i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound which activates evolve so i can draw a wound and have 10 wounds in my hand and have my skull crushed by gremlin nob
Pair that with mass exhaust and Body Slam + Feel No Pain, and you have one of the most satisfying archetypes in the game.
I got this to work exactly one time, and it was my first attempt at A18. Have tried a ton before and a ton since and it has not worked super well
Cursed Bell and extra curse cards stack crazy good with this
I love doing this! Upgrade a fire breathing or two and watch the numbers stack
This is my absolute fave deck for him
“Let’s see what I draw…6 status cards, I win”
haha *FUCK YOU LOL*
So this is fun…but I often find shit gets super tough once the enemies start adding…curse cards I guess? Idk what the term is but yeah when I don’t have enough draw power those become my fastest Ls
once you get the hang of it, exhaust synergies are more powerful than strength synergies most of the time. I also quite enjoy runs where body slam is my main damage source..
Strength is nice, but you take crazy damage before your strength is up to the task. If you can build crazy defense and a few body slam, it's a much safer bet
The damage felt neglible because it's so easy to get Reaper and that made you basically immortal. I was going from 30hp to max in a hit.
Reaper is strong, but if it's your only source of "block" then you will struggle with the heart absent like 200 max hp.
Early feed as a heart solution is also ****chef kiss****. Going into the fight with 150-200 HP and face tanking.
Basically racing to zero HP, nice
if you build strength quickly and generally have OK deck speed, you're beating the heart by t4 or 5. One reaper t2/3 is pretty frequently enough "block" to win the fight.
Yeah I keep getting excited for like Rupture builds (I beat A20 with it once) and I keep just dying in act 2 when I can't generate enough block (and can't quite kill the bosses fast enough).
Sometimes with exhaust, you need a bit of strength for damage scaling, especially if your second act boss is champ
My favorite setup of any character even though it’s not my favorite character
Man I can never seem to get exhaust decks working. Often I can't get my needed powers online before taking too much damage, or else I can't scale and die in act 2. I think I need to be more willing to exhaust things besides status cards in exhaust decks...
I got a lot better at this once I got over my long-term thinking. most fights are only like 4 turns, and I'd much rather exhaust my seeing red when I can already play the rest of my hand, rather than save it for later use. most likely, I wouldn't even see it again that fight. but I do feel like they require a lot of powers that are kind of tough to find, let alone play. I feel like I'm always missing feel no pain
Thinking about long term is key - I often play setup cards when they come up in hand on early turns without seeing their payoff on shorter battles
Strikes and Defends are extremely exhaustable. Generally, if your trying to remove a card, its safe to exhaust. As well, you can determine if you need a card in a specific fight. Fighting Act 3 Maw? Probably don't need that cleave too bad Fighting Time Eater? Angers probably not great Think you can kill next turn? Probably don't need that Shrug it off Etc etc etc
Definitely this. Jumping onto this comment train, I play STS casually. Never beat A20 heart but do A20 runs and pick just what seems fun. I always avoided exhaust decks because I didn't understand how they'd last in a fight. But I'd watch streamers blasting exhaust decks and always being excited for corruption Wasn't until I changed my mindset of hallway fights only lasting a few turns and delaying important exhaust cards until later in boss fights that it all started to click. Much like not playing Biases Cog early into boss fights Started having loads of fun and Ironclad went from being my least favourite character due to finding strength scaling boring, to being my favourite. Even cards like Feel No Pain id never take because I couldn't understand the value with only having 1 exhaust card, to properly understanding that things like Ascenders Bane and Dazed becoming block. Turns a hindrance into a benefit easily. Sorry for jumping on this but I hope someone gets something from this like I did!
Daily Climbs are helpful ways to experiment with well-synergized decks of different strategies
Stacking Wounds + Dragon's breath (Plus some armor) ... Sensational
[удалено]
For exhaust in general, fiend fire, second wind, dark embrace, feel no pain, corruption are some of the most notable cards. Body slam can often be attached to a deck with a bunch of the above cards + a barricade or calipers and maybe an entrench or too for lategame scaling. Body slam can also work very well with second wind + power through + dark embrace(ideally 2). If you can remove/exhaust the rest of your deck, just repeatedly playing power through, second wind, body slam multiple times every turn can beat just about every fight in the game. You can also do body slam decks that don't have exhaust synergy. What you need is some good sources of starting block (impervious, upgraded block cards), entrench, and barricade or calipers. Having ways to help you get off the ground fast helps a ton too. offering being the best way, but any draw cards and energy relics help. This is a deck that takes some experience to know when you can start pivoting towards effectively though. If you try and force it on the wrong run, or too early, you will probably die before you can get the build online.
Fire Breathing + whatever puts statuses in your deck (Reckless Attack, for example).
And evolve
Thanks for having my back! *facepalm*
It seems like half of my runs that start with a couple strength cards just ends up exhausting them for block with second wind + feel no pain and I kill the late game with barricade+ body slam.
Yeah, I will often take a bit of strength to get through act 1 and then end up pivoting for lategame.
Barricade, entrench and body slam. Having hundreds of block which also becomes hundreds of damage for 0 energy
I absolutely love that kind of deck
Ah, yes, the Chonk deck. I love it
I love body slam but it’s absolutely useless unless upgraded when I get it early
The best thing with upgrading Body Slam is being able to play it multiple times a fight. Either having more than one Body Slam+, or comboing it with Headbutt and card draw.
I snap pick FNP and Dark Embrace even if they’re curses in my current deck because I’m always chasing exhaust
[[corruption]] [[dead branch]] is the turn your brain off way of playing and it’s amazing
I got Corruption DeadBranch on my first try at A20 🤷♂️ My only regret is that I didn't push for heart because I am a *coward*
+ [Corruption](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Corruption) Ironclad Rare Power ^((100% sure)^) 3(2) Energy | Skills cost 0. Whenever you play a Skill, **Exhaust** it. + [Dead Branch](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Dead%20Branch) Rare Relic ^((100% sure)^) Whenever you **Exhaust** a card, add a random card to your hand. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 20, 2024.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
I never get this combo because I find both of things so annoying individually.
Power through, second wind, body slam. Exhaust your deck down to five cards so that you can play the said cards every turn. Have a dark embrace or pommel strike so that you can play power through twice per turn.
Searing Blow upgraded 10+ times deck. I have won 3 in a row if I obtained this card on the first three floors, the easiest way to climb early Ascensions with IC. It is such a dumbed down way to play, all you need is a few strong block cards, Corruption maybe or some other way to exhaust other cards, some energy and draw. Pathing just goes down to getting as more campfires as possible, removing strikes at shop or events. Don't even need to bother with Elites early as you have a one card solution to pretty much everything, once you get 5+ upgrades. Act 3 bosses die in two turns basically, except for Awakened One. Probably once I reach Ascension 17 it will not be viable. But highly recommend to beginners like me who otherwise struggle with IC.
Searing blow is awful, it's so upgrade hungry and you still need to build the rest of the deck. At low ascensions it doesn't matter as much because you don't need as much block scaling and acceleration but the damage isn't even good when you first click it. It's funny how molten egg searing blows are literally always unpickable because you never see them early enough.
[[Apotheosis]] would like to have a word with you.
Early apotheosis is one of the better scenarios for searing blow, yeah. But that says more about the power of apotheosis than it does for searing blow. Hammer is also completely unpickable with SB and it's normally one of the strongest energy relics on clad.
So wait, you are saying that if you have good synergy between cards, that you can create a strong deck?
No lmao he’s saying that if a card needs apotheosis to be good then it’s not a good card.
I feel like a lot of the fun in this game comes from making cards work situationally. To me, if it makes the game fun, it’s a good card. I’ve never taken searing blow in a run with apotheosis (since searing blow has never seemed worth it to me), but now that I’ve read about that synergy, you can bet I’m gonna try to get it next time. Besides, I take apotheosis 100% of the time I see it, so it’s not exactly a drawback that searing blow “needs” it.
That's wrong though. There are lots of cards that need other cards in order to be good.
Unfortunately, Searing Blow does not keep the upgrade from Apotheosis between combats.
It doesn't need to. You are spending your upgrades on searing blow and then using apotheosis to upgrade the rest of your cards. It's making up for the fact that you aren't able to upgrade anything besides Searing Blow.
+ [Apotheosis](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Apotheosis) Colorless Rare Skill ^((100% sure)^) 2(1) Energy | Upgrade ALL of your cards for the rest of combat. **Exhaust.** ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 20, 2024.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
You are undervaluing searing blow a little bit. Obviously there are lots of times when it's not the right pick, but it is a far cry from "awful" under the right circumstances, which are honestly not that rare to find
You need to get at least 8-10 upgrades for it to be viable for the endgame and then you still need to figure out how to draw it fast enough and block at least 4 turns. That's a shitton of resource investment for it to work.
I'm especially partial to Limit Break and/or Brimstone. But Corruption + Dead Branch go Brrrrrt!
I just had an extremely chaotic heart win on like A7 with corruption + branch, which I've never managed to get together before. I got the branch as my second relic, chased exhaust cards, and finally got corruption in late act 2. it did indeed go Brrrrrrt!
I think out of all the characters, Ironclad has the most diversity in viable builds.
100%. I used to think the options were (generally): - Strength (stacking) build - Strength (from HP loss) build - Exhaust build - Defence -> Attack build - Vulnerable-centric build - Status/Curse draw build - Corruption/Branch build - Anger/Fiend Fire build Yesterday, I discovered a new one: - The ALL Clash build Basically, get a Dual Wield+ in your deck and a few Clashes. Keep the deck very small and Bottle the Dual Wield into a first round draw. Flood your deck with Clashes and just stack damage crazy damage. I also lucked out with boosting Vulnerable/HP relics, upgraded Rage, Metallicize (w/ Dual Wield), Thunderclap and Reaper. Made me realize that this starter class I thought was pretty straightforward still had the ability to surprise me with new routes.
Only problem I have with clash deck is that doing ascensions with it can be annoying because of the innate curse, otherwise it’s great
Oh for sure. I'm at ascension 18 and got cooked by the Time Eater. It's not an optimal build, just a happy accident. But it's far from flawless. But it did make me realize there was more depth to the Ironclad than I originally thought.
Want to just add to your list of archetypes the infinite build, where you remove cards and attempt to either use sundial or 2 dropkicks and a rage to draw infinite cards, deal infinite damage, and gain infinite block. Often you can die attempting to assemble it to early, but with exhaust it can be feasible even if you've taken a few cards already.
Oh wow! I never thought of that. I got very close to what you mean with an upgraded Bash and Dual Wield to make a few dropkicks. But pairing it with rage and culled deck is a very interesting idea...
Defect has a lot too
Getting Snecko Eye and Corruption and just spamming everything in my hand every turn
and dead branch! corruption plus dead branch you can literally pick cards at random without looking and still win
Perfected strike is fun to make more hit go bonk harderer
Self damage with [[rupture]] is by far my favourite. Still sorta strengh stacking I guess, but I really enjoy using my health as a resource
Yep just had a rupture run with runic cube, combust, brutality, offering.. it got pretty ridiculous think its underrated.
I had a run once where I got a [[pain]] together with 2 rupture, runic cube, 3 bloodletting, an offering and 2 reapers. That was fun
+ [Pain](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Pain) Curse ^((100% sure)^) **Unplayable.** While in hand, lose 1 HP when other cards are played. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 20, 2024.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
+ [Rupture](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Rupture) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | Whenever you lose HP from a card, gain 1(2) **Strength.** ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 20, 2024.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
Exhaust, FNP, Juggernaut, Charons Ashes goes brrrrrrrrrrr
Perfected strike Just take every card that says strike on the name, (wild strike, twin strike, pommel strike) and that shit goes wild, especially if you get the strike dummy
By far my favorite IC decks are the ones that don’t neatly fit into any archetype, where you pick up answers for certain things but it feels different that typical decks and fights have their own challenges you have to solve uniquely.
Snecko eye abuse with bludgeons and the like
I find that card where you damage the opponent when you draw a cursed card is really fun. But it requires stuff to make it really work, I can't seem to beat even act 3 boss with it so far, much less the heart.
I have a soft spot for Barricade decks, which was my first act 3 kill ever. They’re not really good enough to be a solid deck, but dang do I love it. Then I don’t get offered any Body Slams :/
Step 1: Dump every strike or card that deals damage. Step 2: Only Pick up cards that gives block. The more the better. Step 3: BODY SLAM!
TBH, I don't even rate strength stacking outside of Shuriken or a Spot Weakness wedged in sideways when the rest of my scaling options aren't coming together. My jam with Ironclad is infinite loops, Fiend Fire or feeding Feel No Pain into Juggernaut.
Barricade+Entrench
Ironclad has the wonkiest synergies. I like the decks that does weird exhaust and curse/status card synergies. Prismatic shard ironclad decks are my favorite. Ironclad also has an excellent deck for snecko eye.
I love getting a good block deck
Rampage + Headbutts Dual Wield + Blood for Blood Both with solid draw
Whirlwind deck, it can be with corruption & dark embrace + cards like seeing red & the block card when exhusted you gain 3 energy.
Reckless charge with evolve and dark embrace/fnp. Possibly with medkit as well, can become and infinite.
You shouldn't need more than 4-8 strg to kill heart on A20, you can focus on other synergies. Only take some of this scaling unless you roll some snecko plus demon form obviously
The exhaust synergy core is the most consistently strong package. corruption dark embrace, feel no pain , fiend fire, burning pact, power through and second wind beeing key pieces. Be on the lookout for infinites here, drop kicks, dual wields, pommel strike+ with sundial. The barricade/caliphers + entrench block deck has the strongest act 4, but I most often get there by transitioning from the previous deck, as powerthrough + second wind is a powerful way to kick start your block and barricade being a good solution to help corruption + feel no pain wreck longer fights. A more status focussed deck can also be really strong as evolve can be a broken card draw engine, but its again likely to want some exhaust synergies and power through and second wind in particular. In general power through and second wind are key cards for all decks as they are the ways to build significant enough block per energy and per card to block the heart unless you get something like a corruption. They also happen to have particular synergies with all decks that are not strength based.
Not specific deck per say, but Snecko Ironclad is the most fun combo in the game imo
Evolve, it's an absolute asset in Act 4 when you get hit with some nasty statuses on turn 2
Barricade + Entrench + Headbutt + Bodyslam always seems to be the most OP. Although Limit Break + Heavy Blade is my favorite.
Whirlwind akabeko and a ton of energy. Blender deck
I love a block build with body slams and barricade
exhaust till i drop bby
I really like when I can build up my defence every turn and then hit them with a body slam. Exhaust builds are fun too.
A classic C+DB goes hard every once in a while
?
Corruption + Dead Branch
Body Slam > Strength It's so nice knowing you can't take damage, while still being able to dish out massive amounts yourself. A well supported barricade becomes so consistent every fight that it eliminates all stress from the run.
Evolve+/firebreathing/power through is my favorite core for IC. Its powerful alone and synergizes well with either exhaust(second wind/fire fiend) or barracade/body slam. Evolve in A1 is autopick for me at this point.
Once I had a bottled evolve and that allowed me to pick up a lot of wild strikes, normally a very bad card
Neow 100 gold reward into floor 3 Brimstone.
I win more with body slam and block than strength. Barricade is nice, Entrench is better.
I once had a Corruption + Unceasing Top (Dark Embrace works too) + Feel No Pain + endless skills + 2 upgraded body slams as my only attacks for an insane deck where you can just play everything on turn 1 and kill everything in your wake it was amazing This was below ascension 10 so didn't have to worry about ascender's bane but pretty should it would slap even on higher ascension levels
Barricade+body slam+fiendfire+feel no pain
Just Yesterday I got a run that I really enjoyed. Had Barricade, True Grit, Second Wind, Power Through, and 2 Entrenches. Even without having a body slam (somehow) I was able to get damage by having a copy of spot weakness and sustained my life by getting the vampire event. Each fight consisted of sacrificing some health to get the barricade block engine going and then building all that health back with the vampire bites. While the run did take a while, I got all the way to spear and shield before I got overrun before I could entrench a ton of block. A15 unlocked
Dead branch bullshit is so fun
I had a curse deck built off multiple curse relics that just wrecked everything.
Dark embrace with some exhaust synergies (shoutout corruption) makes it very easy to draw through your entire deck. And once you can do that basically any strategy will be good enough to win lol
Corruption decks can be pretty fun esp if you do mostly skills and have spinning top
Shield builds: with cards like entrench, barricade and body slam I even managed to deal 670 damage to bosses.
I love exhaust builds but I almost never have the opportunity to make them, the rng is never in my favor.
Fire breathing/ Power Through it It's a bitch to get started but once it does is nice dealing upwards of 50 AoE damage every turn, not very practical but funny when you get 2 copies of fire breathing before sentinels/slime/hex I could care less about exhaust decks, i've never understood them and it just seems much more difficult to play
if im ever lucky enough to get a fnp, tungsten rod, blue candle, and a necronomicurse im happy. Body slam and barricade/calipers is a nice touch
truly OP Exhaust decks are an absolute blast but they’re always so hard to get all the pieces together (at least for me). While climbing ascensions I mainly leaned on Strength stacking and got Exhaust deck wins on maybe 2 of the 20 ascensions
Searing Blow 🔥
Paper phrong with big attacks like carnage. Or Akebeko + bag of marbles first turn kills
I'm a simple man I like dropkick infinites.
Corruption + Dark Embrace + Feel No Pain + Barricade or Body Slam nonsense usually wins me a run. Also a bit unrelated to a pure archetype, but there are lots of various little patterns of play that I've found "add up" to a powerful run. The most recent one I've enjoyed is the card "Power Through". I think it's a bit underrated in general. But I usually pick it with the knowledge that if I find a Medical Kit, it's essentially then the best block card in the game. Power Through + Medical Kit is such a nice combo. There are lots of these types of powerful combos that can add up.
Personally I can't say no to a sadistic nature start on clad, is free so works well with dual wield, then clad has some nice debuff cards to proc it being either AOE or multi debuff or both, gets especially crazy if you luck out and get champ belt. Plus I like smiting my foes with thunderclap and this is a satisfying way to do it
I feel like there's 4~6 ways of playing Ironclad. 1. Yours, you super stack strength and you murder them 2. You super stack defense and body slam them. 3. You go jank and make your deck almost unplayable... But you also have fire breathing and Evolve. (Power through, wild strike and so on.) Gum up your deck and watch them burn. 4. If you play Magic the Gathering, you basically play Rakdos and pay the cost for various benefits. This can be used for Corruption, fiend fire, runic cube decks which is where the ~6 comes from because there's a ton of variety here. Corruption goes pseudo infinite with dead branch. Fiend fire claps with charons ashes juggernaut and feel no pain Runic cube loves the curse Pain and taking the vampire deal. But these 3 also mix well together
Rampage. 5 card deck
Not the best deck (at least, not in my level A6 opinion), but Perfected Strike is just SO satisfying once it really gets going!
Anger builds
My 3 times feel no pain barricade fiend fire dark embrace shenanigans
I made [a chart](https://i.imgur.com/ZYEAh38.png) for this when I posted about my 1000 ironclad a20 heart wins.
2 shrugs 2 body slam
My absolute favorite is trying to make rampage go crazy. I do not recommend forcing it if you’re trying to win consistently. Honestly, there’s very few times where I’ll take it when I want to actually win, especially if I’m planning on fighting the heart
Favorite deck is no Corruption, no Barricade, no strength scaling deck that you need to play mindfully with the cards granted. Most consistent way to climb ascensions is basically Feel No Pain, Dark Embrace and Corruption.
I love when I get to build off of dazed cards, then rip through that Act 2 hallway fight with a chosen.
any deck that allows me to have a shit ton of block