Slay the Spire 2 · Ascension Guide · Patch v0.102.0
STS2 Ascension Guide
All 10 Levels
Every ascension modifier explained — from Swarming Elites at A1 to the Double Boss at A10. How they stack, what Inflation does to card removal, and which cards carry you when the Spire fights back.
10 Levels
All Modifiers Stack
v0.102.0 Inflation Replaces Gloom
Getting Started
How to Unlock Ascension
Ascension is STS2's difficulty ladder — 10 stacking modifiers that make every run progressively more punishing. STS1 had 20 levels; STS2 packs the same brutality into 10.
🏆
Beat Act 3 First
Defeat the Act 3 boss with any character. Unlocks A1 for that character only. Each class starts at zero.
📈
Win to Climb
Complete a run at your current highest level to unlock the next. Losing never resets progress.
🎮
Custom Mode Counts
Unlike STS1, ascension progress can be earned in Custom Mode. This may change in a future patch.
👥
Co-Op is Separate
Multiplayer ascension uses a separate save. Solo A10 doesn't carry to co-op. Group capped at lowest member's max.
⚡
All Modifiers Stack
Every new level adds on top of all previous. A8 means modifiers 1 through 8 active simultaneously.
🗜️
Compressed from STS1
STS2's Ascension 10 uses the same double-boss finale as A20 in the original. Equally devastating.
The Climb
All 10 Ascension Levels
Each level adds one permanent modifier on top of everything below. Click to expand.
- Elites appear significantly more often on every map
- More relic chances — but more HP drain before your deck is built
- Since v0.101.0, Elites can no longer spawn on floor 6 — slightly more breathing room in early Act 1
💡 Fight elites only at full HP. Prioritise Block cards in Act 1. Floor 6 change means your first elite is likely floor 7+.
- Ancients restore only 80% of missing HP at rest sites
- Every campfire heals less — compounds with Inflation at A6 making cheap card removal unavailable
💡 Feed and Devour Life jump in priority. Treat every HP as precious from here.
- Enemies and chests drop 25% less gold
- Shop prices unchanged — relics and card removes become hard to afford
💡 Take free card rewards over shop visits. Skip weak relics entirely.
- Start every run with one fewer potion slot
- Less emergency healing — that missing slot hurts most in Act 3
💡 Build consistent deck defence instead of relying on potion safety nets.
- A curse starts in your deck from the very first floor
- Dead draws and inflated deck size kill consistency throughout the run
💡 Thin your deck ruthlessly. True Grit, Cleanse and Dredge become essential.
- Card removal at the Merchant starts at 100 Gold instead of the usual price — deck thinning becomes a luxury
- Removal price increases by 50 Gold per removal instead of 25 — second and third removals are punishingly expensive
- Replaced the old Gloom modifier (fewer rest sites) as of v0.102.0 — Mega Crit found map-generation modifiers were too hard to notice
💡 Be selective about card removal. Only remove cards that actively hurt your deck. Events and cards that remove or exhaust are now more valuable at A6+.
⛰️ THE REAL TEST BEGINS
- Rare cards appear less often in all combat rewards
- Upgraded cards are rarer — your average deck will be weaker
💡 Take strong uncommons aggressively. Base-level power beats waiting for rares that may never show.
- All enemies have increased max HP
- Every fight is a war of attrition — draining more cards, HP and resources per encounter
💡 Scaling and AoE beat flat single-hit burst. Whirlwind and Lethality shine here.
- All enemies deal more damage on every attack
- Combined with A8 — fights are longer and far more lethal
💡 Block every single turn. One unblocked round at A9 can end a run outright.
- Fight two different Act 3 bosses back-to-back with zero rest
- HP after boss one is your starting HP for boss two — no healing between fights
💡 Enter Act 3 near full HP. Save all potions. Build for endurance — sustainable damage engines beat glass cannon decks at A10.
A7–A10 Strategy
Best Cards at High Ascension
At A7+, rare cards are scarce, enemies are deadly, and rest sites are few. These cards scale hardest against those pressures.
🔥Ironclad
1
Offering
0-cost burst enables full-hand turns. No upgrade needed.
2
Barricade
Persistent Block counters Deadly Enemies (A9) more than any other card.
3
Feed
Max HP gains compound; critical with reduced healing (A2).
4
Impervious
30 Block for 2 energy when enemies hit harder (A9).
5
Whirlwind
Scales with Strength; efficient vs Tough Enemies (A8).
🐍Silent
1
Adrenaline
0-cost draw + energy. Works at full power regardless of upgrades.
2
The Hunt
Passive damage per card played bypasses Tough Enemies HP pools.
3
Blur
Persistent Block is extremely high value vs Deadly Enemies (A9).
4
Noxious Fumes
Passive poison each turn outperforms burst vs tanky enemies.
5
Deadly Poison
High stack application when enemies won't die to one-shots.
⭐Regent
1
Foregone Conclusion
Guarantees a win condition — consistency matters most at high ascension.
2
Genesis
Star generation partially offsets Scarcity (A7) rare drought.
3
Particle Wall
Block that scales with Stars vs Deadly Enemies (A9).
4
Neutron Aegis
Shield + Star combo for fights that last longer (A8).
5
Convergence
Star doubling when cursed (A5) and gold-starved (A3).
💀Necrobinder
1
Demesne
Passive Summon generation snowballs through long fights (A8).
2
Lethality
Doom kills at 20 HP — bypasses Tough Enemies extended HP.
3
Neurosurge
Draw + energy consistency vs expensive card removal (A6 Inflation).
4
Devour Life
15 damage + 15 heal with reduced Ancient healing (A2).
5
Death's Door
Death prevention is run-saving when enemies hit harder (A9).
🤖Defect
1
Echo Form
Doubles first card per turn — insane efficiency at A7+.
2
Defragment
+1 Focus for 1 energy. All Orbs scale — compounds over long fights.
3
Glacier
Block + 2 Frost channels. Incredible defensive value at A9.
4
Machine Learning
Extra draw each turn smooths curse dead draws (A5).
5
All for One
Retrieves 0-cost cards en masse — devastating at A10 bosses.
Pro Tips
Strategies to Climb Higher
The modifiers that hurt most aren't always the obvious ones.
01
🗺️
Manage Gold Carefully
With Inflation (A6) making card removal expensive, gold management matters more than ever. Removal starts at 100 Gold and climbs by 50 per removal — be selective about what you remove and look for exhaust/remove effects on cards and events instead.
02
🃏
Thin Your Deck
With Ascender's Bane (A5) adding a curse, deck size is a liability. A 15-card deck with a curse cycles better than a 25-card deck without one. At A6+, Inflation makes Merchant removal expensive — lean on exhaust cards and removal events.
03
⚔️
Fight Elites Selectively
Swarming Elites (A1) means more fights and more relics. Fight at full HP with a clear damage plan. Skipping them wastes the best rewards in the game.
04
💊
Save Potions for Bosses
With Tight Belt (A4) cutting slots, every potion is precious. Save them for Act 3 where you face two bosses with no recovery between them.
05
📊
Prioritise Consistent Cards
Scarcity (A7) reduces rares. High-floor uncommons beat high-ceiling rares you may never draw. Shrug It Off, Backflip, and Chaos perform every turn.
06
💀
Prepare for Double Boss
At A10, your deck must beat two bosses with zero recovery. Sustainable damage engines beat glass cannon decks every time.
Ready to Climb the Spire?
Pick the best cards for your ascension level. Tier list updated for v0.102.0.
View Full Tier List →
STS2 Ascension System — What You Need to Know
The Slay the Spire 2 ascension system is the game's primary difficulty ladder. Unlike STS1 which had 20 ascension levels, STS2 compresses the same difficulty curve into 10 levels by combining modifiers at each step. Every ascension level stacks on top of all previous ones — there is no picking and choosing which modifiers you face.
Inflation (Ascension 6) replaced the old Gloom modifier as of v0.102.0. Instead of reducing rest sites (which Mega Crit found too subtle to notice), Inflation makes card removal at the Merchant significantly more expensive — starting at 100 Gold and increasing by 50 Gold per removal instead of 25. This forces players to be much more selective about deck thinning and increases the value of exhaust-based cards and removal events.
At Ascension 7 and above, the game shifts dramatically. Rare cards appear less often (Scarcity), enemies have more HP (A8 Tough Enemies), and enemies deal more damage (A9 Deadly Enemies). Ascension 8 is often cited as the first real wall — enemies simply take longer to kill, draining more resources per fight.
Ascension 10 features the double boss finale — two Act 3 bosses fought consecutively with no healing between them. This is equivalent to A20 in STS1 and requires fundamentally different deckbuilding: endurance and sustainable damage over burst and glass cannon strategies.