Slay the Spire 1 Characters vs Slay the Spire 2 Roster
Published 2026-09-206 min read
Every Slay the Spire 1 character vs Slay the Spire 2: Ironclad, Silent and Defect return, the Watcher is absent, and new classes Regent and Necrobinder join.
Players coming from the original game ask the same first question: which Slay the Spire 1 characters made it into Slay the Spire 2? Three of the four originals return, one is missing, and two brand-new classes round the roster out to five. Here's the full side-by-side — what carried over, what changed, and who the newcomers are.
The Slay the Spire 1 roster (2020)
| Character | Playstyle | Signature mechanic |
|---|---|---|
| Ironclad | Brute force + self-heal | Burning Blood (heal on combat end), Strength scaling |
| The Silent | Poison, Shivs and draw | Poison stacks, discard synergy |
| The Defect | Orbs and Powers | Lightning/Frost orb slots, Focus |
| The Watcher | Stance dancing | Wrath/Calm/Divinity stances, Retain |
The Watcher — the stance-swapping monk added in 2020 — was the fourth and final StS1 character.
The Slay the Spire 2 roster (Early Access, 2026)
| Character | Status | What changed in StS2 |
|---|---|---|
| Ironclad | ✅ Returned | Same identity (80 HP, Burning Blood); new cards like Dominate, Vicious, Molten Fist and the auto-Strike Hellraiser engine |
| The Silent | ✅ Returned | Poison and Shiv archetypes intact; new tools like Blade of Ink and Sly tricks |
| The Defect | ✅ Returned | Orb framework survives; new Powers (Echo Form-style scaling, Machine Learning) and reworked orb economy |
| The Watcher | ❌ Not in the game | No stance character in Early Access; Mega Crit has not announced her return — the closest replacement is the Regent's resource-swap playstyle |
| Regent | 🆕 New | The star-spending monarch: Stars as second energy, summons like the Sovereign Blade, Forge payoffs |
| Necrobinder | 🆕 New | The death mage: her summoned hand Osty tanks for her, with Ethereal/Doom/sacrifice card engines |
What else is different in StS2
- Online co-op (up to 4 players) — the series' biggest feature jump; see the co-op guide.
- Ancients replace Neow's simple blessing — eight mysterious beings (Neow, Orobas, Pael, Tezcatara…) each offer relic boons at act starts.
- Alternate first acts — Act 1 randomly chooses between Overgrowth and Underdocks.
- New quest objects — rest-site hatching (Byrdonis Egg), courtroom events (The Trial) and single-path map relics like the Golden Compass.
- Platform spread — StS1 shipped everywhere; StS2 is PC-first (Windows/macOS/Linux) in Early Access, launched March 5, 2026.
Which StS1 character should you main in StS2?
| You played… | Try in StS2 | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ironclad | Ironclad (again) | The Vulnerable/Strength core survived; new cards make it stronger — card tier list |
| The Silent | The Silent | Poison kill and Shiv spam both port over cleanly |
| The Defect | The Defect | Orb loops still work; the new Powers fix its late-game ceiling |
| The Watcher | Regent | Resource-swap rhythm (Stars in/out) is the closest heir to stance dancing |