Slay the Spire 2 Patch v0.105.0: They Killed Doormaker and I Have Thoughts
Big patch dropped for Slay the Spire 2 today. v0.105.0 is live on the beta branch on Steam, and Mega Crit packed it. New relics, card tweaks, enemy changes, and they straight up removed the Act 3 boss. Yeah. Doormaker is gone. Replaced by something called Aeonglass. That's the kind of early access move that either makes people furious or makes the game better. We'll see.
RIP Doormaker, We Barely Knew You
The biggest news here is the Doormaker swap. Act 3 boss is just gone. Aeonglass takes that slot now. Mega Crit hasn't fully explained the design philosophy yet but this is a pretty significant call for a game in early access. Act 3 boss fights carry a lot of weight in this genre. Getting it wrong can make a whole run feel like it fizzles out at the end. If Doormaker wasn't hitting right, cutting it early is probably the correct move. Better a clean replacement now than a half-baked fix later.
Worth noting: the recent Steam reviews are mostly negative, but all the English reviews are very positive. That split usually means some localization or regional issue is driving down the aggregate. The actual player sentiment from English speakers sounds healthy.
The Defect Got Work Done
Defect players have the most to dig through this patch. Hyperbeam damage went from 26 to 28 (34 to 36 upgraded). That card was already a board-clearer. This is just more of that. Uproar also got bumped, 5 to 6 base damage (7 to 8 upgraded).
Tesla Coil+ is the interesting one. Damage dropped from 6 to 4, but now triggers Lightning twice instead of once. So you're trading raw hit damage for more orb procs. Whether that's a buff or nerf depends entirely on your build. If you're stacking Lightning synergies it's probably better. If you're just using it as a damage card it got worse.
Infused Core relic also got a passive addition: Lightning Orbs deal 1 extra damage now. Small, but it compounds. And Shatter now Evokes all Orbs twice. Shatter is a pretty niche card but double Evoke on everything is not a small change.
Regent Balance Pass
Regent got touched in several places. Bulwark block dropped slightly (13 to 12, 16 to 15 upgraded). Patter block dropped similarly (9 to 8, 11 to 10). Both of those feel like taps on the brakes for defensive stacking.
Crescent Spear went the other direction. Base damage up from 6 to 8. That's a meaningful jump for an offensive card.
Royalties is the weird one. Gold gain changes from 30(35) to 30(40). So base is the same but the upgraded version gives more gold. Interesting choice to only buff the upgraded version. Prioritizing upgrading it, maybe.
Sword Sage got reworked more substantially. Before it hit an additional time. Now it gives Sovereign Blade Replay 1. That's a different type of value entirely. Less straightforward damage, more synergy-dependent. Could be stronger or weaker depending on build.
New Neow Relics
Three new Neow relics: Kaleidoscope, Fishing Rod, and Silken Tress.
Kaleidoscope gives you 2 card rewards with cards from other characters when you pick it up. Cross-class card access early is a pretty powerful opening. Could enable some wild hybrid builds.
Fishing Rod upgrades a random card in your deck every 3 normal combats. Passive upgrades without rest site cost is solid long-term value.
Silken Tress enchants all cards in your first card reward with Glam. Haven't seen enough of how Glam functions to fully evaluate this one yet, but enchanting an entire reward pool at the start of a run has potential.
Enemy Changes
Soul Fysh Scream move got buffed hard. 11 to 13 damage (12 to 15 upgraded). That's a jump that will punish people who got comfortable with the old numbers.
Haunted Ship now applies 3 Weak on Turn 1 instead of when it attacks. That's a behavioral change. You're getting hit with Weak immediately now regardless of when the ship acts. Plan accordingly.
Patch Cadence Change and the Save File Fix
Mega Crit is switching from weekly patches to one every two weeks. Makes sense for sustainability. Weekly is a brutal pace for a small team, and it probably means each patch will have more content and polish when it does land.
Also: they fixed save files getting lost or corrupted after PC crashes, blue screens, or power outages. That one was a serious bug. Losing a deep run to a power flicker is infuriating in a way that can actually kill your interest in a game. Good that it's fixed.
The Tezcatara Pumpkin Candle relic also got reworked. Used to extinguish at Act 3 start. Now it extinguishes after 5 combats but can be Kindled at rest sites. More player control over when it burns out. Better design.
Worth Updating To?
If you're already playing STS2 in early access, yeah, jump on the beta branch and poke around. The Aeonglass switch alone is worth seeing. The Defect changes give Orb builds more texture. And the new Neow relics could meaningfully diversify run starts.
If you haven't tried STS2 yet, it's still early access. Some rough edges are expected. But the English-speaking player base seems genuinely positive on it, and Mega Crit clearly has a working patch cadence. Worth watching.
Source: Ign