Characters

Slay the Spire 2 launches Early Access with five playable characters: three returning from the first game (Ironclad, Silent, Defect) and two brand-new ones (Regent, Necrobinder). Each has its own card pool, relics and a mechanical identity that actually changes how you draft. Here's what every class plays like, with links to the full build guides.

Ironclad — the self-damage scaling bruiser (returning)

The Ironclad remains the straightforward starter: trade health for value, stack Strength, and out-scale the fight. In Slay the Spire 2 his identity shifts in two notable ways:

• Vulnerability is a resource, not just a debuff. Cards like Dominate gain Strength for every Vulnerability on the enemy, which turns old vuln-appliers (Bash, Tremble, Molten Fist) into enablers for a scaling engine.
• Strikes are worth keeping. With enchantments (his Strikes can be made free) and self-synergies, the Ironclad wants his starting deck more than any other character.

Full card-by-card rankings and two complete build paths: Ironclad Builds.

Silent — the shiv-and-evasion specialist (returning)

The Silent still wins by doing everything at once: discard-tank, poison, and a dense shiv package. The current card pool leans hard into draw-and-discard manipulation — cards like Well-Laid Plans, Tools of the Trade, Calculated Gamble and Prepared sit in S/A tier alongside the usual Footwork-powered evasion. Build guide: Silent Build.

Defect — the orb engine (returning)

The Defect's orb framework is intact — channel, evoke, and scale with focus — and the S tier of the current card table reads like an orb checklist: Echo Form, Defragment, Glacier, Loop, Capacitor, Overclock, Ice Lance and Chill. Defragment-style focus stacking plus the new Machine Learning and Genetic Algorithm powers make the late game extremely snowbally. Build guide: Defect Builds.

Regent — the star-forging sovereign (new)

The Regent is arguably the strongest of the new characters, and the flashiest: a second resource pool called Stars that, unlike Energy, carries over between turns. Every turn is a conversion problem — turn Energy into Stars, Stars into damage, block, or draw.

The Regent has two main archetypes:

• Star Engine — generate more stars than you spend (Glow, Big Bang, Royal Gamble, Child of the Stars, Genesis) and spend them on finishers like Comet and Radiate. The consistent, high-Ascension pick.
• Sovereign Blade — Forge a signature sword all run and end bosses with one swing. Huge single-target damage, but less consistent and weaker against AoE fights.

Build guide: Regent Builds.

Necrobinder — the lich with a giant hand (new)

The Necrobinder fights as a duo-unit: a fragile spellcaster plus Osty, a massive reanimated skeletal hand. Her starting relic, Osty's Binding, summons it. Two archetypes:

• Doom Deck — mark enemies with Doom stacks; anyone at or below their mark is executed at the end of their turn. Higher card numbers, but you must survive until the clock ticks.
• Osty Deck — grow the hand with Summon effects and let it tank for you; Osty's health doesn't wear off like Block.

Build guide: Necrobinder Builds.

Which One Should You Start With?

• First run: Ironclad or Silent — the most forgiving power curves.
• First 20 hours: Defect, to learn the orb timing rhythm.
• After that: Regent for the highest ceiling, Necrobinder for the most unusual turns.

Every character's full card table (S through D) lives on the Tier List, and all build pages are linked from the Builds overview.