Slay the Spire 2 is in early access on Steam, with Mega Crit back from vacation and preparing a large-scale patch that includes a newly discovered area and a monster silhouette. Ascension 10 is the studio's stated ceiling for difficulty, and merchandise is already flowing with Youtooz figures and a Nendoroid Light Defect announced before release details are settled.
Slay the Spire 2 entered early access on Steam on March 6, 2026, and sold over 3 million copies as of March 2026. Mega Crit has used the beta branch as a continuous balancing pipeline, with patches running from v0.107.0 in early June through v0.111.0 in mid-August. The second major update on June 19 brought beta changes to the main branch, removed the Act 3 boss Door Maker in favor of Eternal Hourglass, added Steam Workshop support, and overhauled the random number generator after mathematician Andy Tockman published a report finding significant bias in random events. The RNG fix skipped the usual beta cycle.
Character balance has moved in several directions. The August 14 patch reworked Ironclad's Battle Trance from an energy generator into a block card costing 3 energy and granting 15 Block plus 5 per point of Strength, while Silent's Ink Blade was nerfed and Necrobinder's Doom buffed. Defect's Hyper Beam lost area damage, dropping from 30 to 24, with its Focus penalty now lasting only the turn. Several enemies received stat buffs in the same patch, raising the difficulty ceiling. Earlier patches nerfed Defect's Compression, reworked Silent's Infectious Explosion, and adjusted the Eternal Hourglass boss across two updates.
The August 2026 newsletter stated that Ascension 10 is close to the game's highest difficulty, stacking ten cumulative modifiers and ending with a two-boss fight at the close of the third act. The September 2026 Neowletter said the team returned from vacation to work on bug fixes, playability improvements, and unannounced features, modes, and content, with the next patch described as fairly large-scale and mostly in testing. A newly discovered area and a monster silhouette surfaced in October.
Merchandise has run ahead of release details. Youtooz opened pre-orders for Regent and Necrobinder vinyl figures at $29.99 each, with shipments scheduled between January 30 and March 15, 2027. Good Smile Company then announced Defect as a Nendoroid Light figure, with timing, price, and preorder date undecided.
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Mega Crit's September 2026 Neowletter says the Slay the Spire 2 team has returned from vacation and is working on bug fixes, playability improvements, and unannounced features, game modes, and content. The next patch's timing is unstated, but the elements in preparation are "fairly large-scale" and most are already being tested in-house. A newly discovered area in the spire comes with a monster silhouette.
Good Smile Company announced on its official X account that Defect, a character in Slay the Spire 2, will be released as a Nendoroid Light figure. Nendoroid Light keeps the deformed look of the Nendoroid line at a lower price with specs aimed at collectors. Defect returns from the first Slay the Spire, where players used its orb-based fighting style. Release timing, price, and preorder date are undecided.
In the August 2026 edition of the game's official newsletter, developer Casey said the studio's basic plan is for Ascension 10 to be close to Slay the Spire 2's highest difficulty. The level stacks ten cumulative modifiers, ending with a two-boss fight at the close of the third act. A 4Gamer piece walks through what the climb demands from each character.
Automaton recommends 'Chaos Zero Nightmare,' a deck-building roguelike from SUPER CREATIVE and Smilegate, for players who have exhausted 'Slay the Spire 2' early access. The game's 'Chaos Manifestation' mode lets players build decks and save them for normal mode, offering a different take on the genre.
Mega Crit released beta patch v0.111.0 for Slay the Spire 2 on August 14, 2026. The update reworks Ironclad's popular skill Battle Trance, turning it from an energy-generating card into a block-generating one. Battle Trance now costs 3 energy and grants 15 Block, plus 5 additional Block for each point of Strength the character has. Previously, it granted 1 energy for each Attack card in hand and prevented gaining additional energy that turn. The change removes one of Ironclad's rare energy sources. Another Ironclad skill, Forgotten Ritual, was simplified to grant 3 energy and Exhaust, making it easier to pick up without requiring exhaust synergy. Silent's Ink Blade was nerfed: the Ink enchantment on knives lost its additional 1 damage effect, while applying 1 Weak remains. Necrobinder's Doom was buffed by removing Exhaust, allowing repeated use against enemies with Ruin stacks. Defect's Hyper Beam was reworked: losing 3 Focus now applies only for the turn, but its area damage dropped from 30 to 24. Several enemies, including Axe Machine, Mechanite, Exoskeleton Bug, Globe Head, Ancestor Bug, and Soul Fish, received stat buffs, making the climb harder. The patch also adds idle animations for characters at low HP, Indonesian language support, and an E key confirm feature.
Mega Crit released beta patch v0.110.0 for Slay the Spire 2 on July 31, 2026. The update adds a keyboard-only mode that displays hotkey settings on screen, helping players without a mouse. Player characters also gain special auras when playing certain buff cards, alongside card tuning, bug fixes, and UI changes.
Mega Crit and figure manufacturer Youtooz have opened pre-orders for the first official figures based on the deck-building roguelike sequel Slay the Spire 2. The line includes two playable characters: Regent, depicted seated on a stone throne supported by two minions, and Necrobinder, standing with a scythe and accompanied by the skeletal hand Osty. Each vinyl figure stands approximately 12.7 cm (5 inches) tall and is priced at $29.99. Buyers can also choose a bundle that includes a 2-inch pin badge. The packaging features artwork that reflects the game's atmosphere. Shipments are scheduled between January 30 and March 15, 2027. Slay the Spire 2 entered early access on Steam on March 6, 2026, and has sold over 3 million copies as of March 2026.
Mega Crit released update v0.108.0 for the Slay the Spire 2 beta branch on July 3. The patch nerfs Defect's Compression and Ironclad's Crimson Garment, reworks Silent's Infectious Explosion, and buffs Necrobinder's Soul Storm. The Act 3 boss Eternal Hourglass also received animations.
Mega Crit released the second major update for Slay the Spire 2 on June 19, 2026, bringing the beta branch changes to the main branch. The update removes the controversial Act 3 boss Door Maker, replacing it with a new boss called Eternal Hourglass. The development team said Door Maker forced interesting decisions but exceeded their complexity threshold and had unresolved issues. Steam Workshop support is now live, allowing players to browse and install mods directly in the game. A monster encyclopedia feature has also been added, letting players view encountered monsters and their animations, with plans to expand it to include stats and lore. The update overhauls the random number generator after mathematician Andy Tockman published a report on June 15 showing significant bias in random events. For example, the Curse card from Neow's Bone relic had a 73.74% chance of being Anguish on one path and a 0% chance of Debt on another. The RNG fix was implemented unusually fast, skipping the usual beta testing cycle. The patch also includes new relics, badges, character balance adjustments, and UI improvements.
Mega Crit released beta patch v0.107.0 for Slay the Spire 2, further adjusting the new Eternal Hourglass boss by removing its Decay debuff and altering block gain timing. The early-game Squirming Swarm enemy was strengthened at higher ascensions. Various cards and relics were buffed, and stability improvements were made, including replacing black-screen errors with pop-ups.