Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Beat it! I had fun orb times in the last battle. Going to try the other mode I just unlocked. Very fun game.
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Help me be less terrible at Slay the Spire
- Thread starter lincolnic
- Start date
Any tips for beating the Corrupted Heart as the Watcher?
I can only beat the Heart when I can build so that either my damage applies automatically (poison) or my block (ice spheres). I can’t find a way to do this with the Watcher.
I can only beat the Heart when I can build so that either my damage applies automatically (poison) or my block (ice spheres). I can’t find a way to do this with the Watcher.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
I really struggle with The Watcher. The only way I really have success with her is if I get a prismatic shard and essentially pretend she's a different character.
Watcher is high-risk, high-reward, and that extends to her kind of weak block options.
-Talk to the Hand is not strictly mandatory but possibly the best card to get for the heart fight. Attacks don't cost you health anymore, and multi-hit moves like Ragnarok can build some block.
-Spirit Shield can get 15 block for 2 energy, maybe more if you have a lot of draw cards.
-It doesn't help with Beat of Death, but Vault is one of the best damage mitigation cards in the game.
-Wrath doesn't affect BoD damage, so it can be useful to generate block using Wallop, Mental Fortress, or (less often) Halt. Just make sure you have a way to get out of it by the end of the turn.
The meme answer is that the Watcher's best block card is killing things fast, and that includes the heart.
-Talk to the Hand is not strictly mandatory but possibly the best card to get for the heart fight. Attacks don't cost you health anymore, and multi-hit moves like Ragnarok can build some block.
-Spirit Shield can get 15 block for 2 energy, maybe more if you have a lot of draw cards.
-It doesn't help with Beat of Death, but Vault is one of the best damage mitigation cards in the game.
-Wrath doesn't affect BoD damage, so it can be useful to generate block using Wallop, Mental Fortress, or (less often) Halt. Just make sure you have a way to get out of it by the end of the turn.
The meme answer is that the Watcher's best block card is killing things fast, and that includes the heart.
Appreciate the tips. I’ve gotten to the heart a few times now in good shape, but when the heart hits for 40 damage two turns in a row, I take a ton of damage and die. I can retain and grow some high block cards, but I just can’t generate enough block to weather that damage on the second attack.
Is it possible to kill the heart so fast it never gets to those attacks?
Is it possible to kill the heart so fast it never gets to those attacks?
In some runs, I’ve had success with mana growing cards and actually removing all my wrath cards. Wrath is risky!
Why is that? Doesn’t your block reset to zero after playing Vault?
I have an unfortunate tendency to forget all the names of the cards in StS, but my favorite Watcher build is one that abuses constant stance changes to draw more cards and get more energy. I'm also someone who believes in the cliché of ending the fight as quickly as possible, since the deck gets to be stacked against you as it goes on. Being able to plan ahead so that next turn you go into wrath (or divinity!) and pile on huge damage is equal parts satisfying and effective. Honestly, I think Watcher is my favorite class in the game, I'm so happy it was added.
It does, but you do get to take another turn. Most finished decks still need one or two good turns to get set up - having a Vault to play means you can take that extra turn before the Heart's rd 2 or 3 attacks.
Out of the box it can be a little hard to maneuver around, especially if you haven't upgraded it/have only 3 energy, but between Calm stance, Miracles, and potions, you can usually play a few extra cards anyway.
MCBM's build suggestion is on the money - if you have a reasonably slim deck with a lot of paths in/out of Wrath, you can cause a lot of damage without putting yourself at major risk. (My favorite cards for builds like this are Tantrum, Rushdown, at least one of the Empty cards, and any 1-cost enter-Calm cards.)
Although I personally don't like doing it, the actual answer here is "play The Watcher like you're looking to get their infinite combo because it is broken"
which is a small deck + Rushdown + something that puts you into wrath + something that puts you into calm
I haven't personally done it myself, but there is a fairly easy infinite that high level players will aim for that you could look up.
which is a small deck + Rushdown + something that puts you into wrath + something that puts you into calm
I haven't personally done it myself, but there is a fairly easy infinite that high level players will aim for that you could look up.
That’s interesting. Although, does that work against the heart? I think the heart has a buff that it can only take X damage in a single round.
As amazing as this game is, it’s a little frustrating that certain strategies which work well through the majority of the game aren’t viable against the Heart. Or maybe I’m wrong!
It's a fact that the heart battle is a) super difficult and b) the same every time, which means you always have to think about the endgame of your build with some specific constraints in mind. That doesn't mean there's only one way to beat it, but it's kind of a drag that every run ends the same way. I don't hate it as much as, say, the flagship in FTL (which singlehandedly killed my interest in that game), but it is one of the weaker parts of an otherwise incredible game.
Yeah, the entire genre has a bad history with superbosses, because it turns out it's very difficult to design an ultimate challenge that doesn't strongly favor certain strategies. Pre-Heart, STS did a pretty good job simply by having three distinct final bosses you had to plan around. STS's Heart is still less frustrating than Dream Quest's superboss, which as far as I'm concerned is a masterclass in shutting down broken decks.
The best (read: least-bad) superboss in the genre is probably the titular Last Divinity from the Monster Train DLC. It isn't outright immune to anything, and the biggest cheat it has is removing DOTs after each tick (which is a shame but also very understandable, since it would be extremely dominant here otherwise).
The best (read: least-bad) superboss in the genre is probably the titular Last Divinity from the Monster Train DLC. It isn't outright immune to anything, and the biggest cheat it has is removing DOTs after each tick (which is a shame but also very understandable, since it would be extremely dominant here otherwise).
I personally just don't try to go against The Heart in most of my runs. It's just not fun to me. And the game supports this by saying that you can clear the ascension without beating The Heart.
Corrupted Heart down! Lol, I used the strategy recommended by StiderDL and ozacrot. It took a few runs to get some luck with my card selections and relics, but in my winning hand, I had three upgraded Talk to the Hands. Thanks, everyone!
Last night I gave Downfall a whirl for the first time. It's a mod for StS that adds a new playable character, the Hermit, as well as a mode where you play as one of the seven act bosses and work your way down the tower to confront a player character. The Hermit is a gunslinger whose cards sometimes gain bonus powers if you play them from the middle of your hand, which forces you to think about your play order in a unique way. I don't know if my run was representative of the class or not, but I found myself with the ability to generate huge amounts of block but not a ton of damage in my deck. I actually took my first play all the way to the heart, which I lost when it did the most bullshit thing I've ever seen it do - increase its strength by twelve points in one go and then attack for 180 freaking damage on the next turn. I guess that's there to keep the fight from dragging out, but it's a bunch of hogwash nonetheless. The worst part is that I came within ONE ENERGY of winning the fight, which means I probably could have pulled off a win with some more considered play earlier on. And I would have been more focused it I knew that something so ridiculous was coming up! But as it was, the run had taken a long time and I wasn't totally concentrated.
Anyway, none of that reflects on the mod itself, which seems to be very well made. The character looks pretty good, they have a completely new deck and all of the art on the cards fits the style of the game pretty well. I'll probably try again until I beat the heart with them, then I might give the other mode a whirl. I've always wanted to be a group of evil slimes trying to destroy a do-gooder on their way up the spire...
Anyway, none of that reflects on the mod itself, which seems to be very well made. The character looks pretty good, they have a completely new deck and all of the art on the cards fits the style of the game pretty well. I'll probably try again until I beat the heart with them, then I might give the other mode a whirl. I've always wanted to be a group of evil slimes trying to destroy a do-gooder on their way up the spire...
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
Yup, that’s the one. I tried again today and died to the act II boss, so my first attempt might have had some beginner’s luck going on. Still good though!
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Uh, I got addicted to this game all over again. After defeating the heart with the Watcher as described above, I had the itch to prove to myself that I could still clear it with the other characters as well.
What about my backlog?
Finally accomplished it. I can only beat the heart in about one out of ... 6 runs?
Deck strategy:
Ironclad - Barricade to keep my block from turn-to-turn. Build up strength.
Silent - lots of poison, a few shivs, and 3 After Images, which build block with each card played.
Defect - lots of focus and extra orb slots, fill with ice and dark, slowly move the dark over and then evoke X times
In all cases, remove as many Strikes as possible.
What about my backlog?
Finally accomplished it. I can only beat the heart in about one out of ... 6 runs?
Deck strategy:
Ironclad - Barricade to keep my block from turn-to-turn. Build up strength.
Silent - lots of poison, a few shivs, and 3 After Images, which build block with each card played.
Defect - lots of focus and extra orb slots, fill with ice and dark, slowly move the dark over and then evoke X times
In all cases, remove as many Strikes as possible.
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
I tried it and had a similar experience. On the next run maybe I'll make it more of a priority to pick up attack cards in rewards. Fun character though, and the actual downfall part is absolutely bonkers. Most of the characters are way too complicated for me but you can tell how much love went into this. And I like The Gremlins a lot, they're very fun to play as.
And I got this additional mod which adds cat ears to the hermit because that's hilarious.
I'm glad you had fun! For the hermit, one thing that's great for maintaining your damage in the late game is Desperado. It's a card that starts at 10 damage but doubles its damage (for the duration of the fight) every time you use it, increasing its mana cost each time. In longer fights, it becomes extremely powerful, ensuring that you won't lose the damage race against bosses that continually buff themselves.
I finally managed to get a heart victory with the hermit last time I played, but it took me about 6 tries. Looking forward to trying the mode where you play as the bosses next!
I finally managed to get a heart victory with the hermit last time I played, but it took me about 6 tries. Looking forward to trying the mode where you play as the bosses next!
Violentvixen
(She/Her)
I got back into this on the Japan flight and have kept playing since. I'll beat the Heart someday. Maybe.
But I specifically came to share this multiplayer mod where you can do the run with friends. My spouse was saying it's too bad we couldn't play it together since we both like it so much, and hey, turns out we can! We just got it today and have only tried one run but it was quite fun and I want to play it some more.
But I specifically came to share this multiplayer mod where you can do the run with friends. My spouse was saying it's too bad we couldn't play it together since we both like it so much, and hey, turns out we can! We just got it today and have only tried one run but it was quite fun and I want to play it some more.
Boy, I went back and tried a few different Ironclad strategies. I can get to the heart almost every time, but I have a heck of a time building up enough block with Ironclad to survive without a deliberately constructed block deck.
There are some really fun ways to build up strength and you can breeze through most of the game with quick kills, but the 60 damage attack by the heart will cut you down without a very specific block strategy. Am I missing something? Is there a way to debuff it away, or do you really need to stack with block, take advantage of the cards/artifacts to conserve it between rounds, double it, etc.
There are some really fun ways to build up strength and you can breeze through most of the game with quick kills, but the 60 damage attack by the heart will cut you down without a very specific block strategy. Am I missing something? Is there a way to debuff it away, or do you really need to stack with block, take advantage of the cards/artifacts to conserve it between rounds, double it, etc.