Slay the Spire 2
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Slay the Spire 2 1.0 release: Sep 2027Not announced: our best guess from Mega Crit's 1 to 2 year Early Access plan.
Best guessMega Crit's Early Access FAQ on Steam says it will stay in Early Access "Until the game feels great! Last time we thought it would be about a year and it took about 1.5 years. So perhaps in the same 1 - 2 year range." We count 18 months from the Mar 5, 2026 Early Access launch, as the first game took, to the first Thursday of Sep 2027 (Mega Crit ships on Thursdays) at 10 AM Pacific, the hour of the Early Access launch. Steam

10Months6Days

Acts and the Map

A Slay the Spire 2 run climbs three acts, the Overgrowth or the Underdocks (a coin flip), then the Hive, then Glory, each opening with an Ancient and ending in a boss, before the Architect ends the climb. Each act is a branching map of combat, Elite, ? (Unknown), Merchant, Treasure and Rest Site rooms; Game Rant puts a run at about 45 to 50 encounters and up to about 40 minutes.

Slay the Spire 2 has three acts in Early Access: Act 1 is the Overgrowth or the Underdocks, Act 2 is the Hive and Act 3 is Glory, and the climb ends at the Architect, per PCGamesN. Which Act 1 you get is a coin flip: Mega Crit's own patch notes explain that the run takes the Overgrowth if a generated number is below 0.5, otherwise the Underdocks. Each act is a branching map you climb from the bottom, choosing a path through fights, Elites, ? rooms, shops, chests and campfires; each opens with Neow or another Ancient and closes with a boss you can see coming. Game Rant counts about 45 to 50 encounters before the final boss and a typical run of up to about 40 minutes.

Quick facts

Acts 3 (PCGamesN): Overgrowth or Underdocks, then Hive, then Glory
Act 1 choice A coin flip, per Mega Crit
Map rooms per act 15, 14 and 13 in the game data (v0.107.1)
Room types Monster, Elite, ? (Unknown), Merchant, Treasure, Rest Site, then the boss (TheGamer)
Bosses per act 3 possible, one shown on the map
End of the climb The Architect
Run length About 45 to 50 encounters, up to about 40 minutes (Game Rant)
Coming "Alternate Act 2" and "Alternate Act 3" on Mega Crit's roadmap

The acts

Each act has its own enemies, events, bosses and Ancients. Mega Crit described the alternate acts in September 2025: on entering an act you are "randomly greeted with one of two possible acts" that "differ radically in their environments, enemies, events, and bosses". Only Act 1 has its second version so far.

Act Area Ancient at the start Possible bosses (v0.107.1) Map rooms
1 Overgrowth: "a lush, tangled ruin" Neow Vantom, Ceremonial Beast, The Kin 15
1 Underdocks: "a miry waterway connected to the Spire's sewer system" Neow Waterfall Giant, Soul Fysh, Lagavulin Matriarch 15
2 Hive Orobas, Pael or Tezcatara (or Darv) The Insatiable, Knowledge Demon, Kaiser Crab 14
3 Glory Nonupeipe, Tanx or Vakuu (or Darv) Queen, Test Subject, Aeonglass 13

Source: Spire Codex (game data, v0.107.1) for bosses, Ancients and room counts, read Oct 26, 2026; area quotes from Mega Crit, Sep 11, 2025. Darv can appear in Act 2 or 3; see Neow and the Ancients.

The acts get harder as you climb. Game Rant calls the Hive "significantly more dangerous" than either Act 1 area and says of Glory that "even a normal combat encounter here can spell the end of a run". Aeonglass replaced the removed Glory boss, the Doormaker, in the v0.105.0 beta (May 8, 2026), live on main since Major Update #2. Each act's enemies, Elites and bosses are on its own page and on Bosses.

Ascension 10 adds a second boss. Its modifier, Double Boss, reads "Fight two bosses at the end of Act 3"; see Ascension.

Room types and map icons

The map shows six kinds of room before the boss. TheGamer's events guide lists Unknown (?), Merchant, Treasure, Rest Site, Enemy and Elite, with no separate event icon: events come from ? rooms. Mega Crit made the icons bigger and colored them for readability, it wrote in its November 2024 Neowsletter.

Icon Room What happens
Monster Normal combat A fight against the act's normal enemies
Elite Elite combat A harder fight that also drops a relic
? Unknown Usually an event, but it can turn out to be another room type except a boss
Merchant Shop Buy cards, colorless cards, relics and potions, or remove a card; see Merchant and Rest Sites
Treasure Chest A relic, which you can skip in single player
Rest Site Campfire Rest to heal or Smith to upgrade a card, plus extra options from relics
Boss Act boss Its icon is shown from the start of the act

Sources: TheGamer for ? rooms (Mar 15, 2026), Mobalytics for Rest and Smith (Mar 19, 2026), Game Rant for Elite rewards (Mar 7, 2026), Mega Crit for skipping chests (v0.100.0).

A ? room is a gamble that mostly pays in events. TheGamer says events are the most likely result, and the Juzu Bracelet relic stops normal fights from appearing in ? rooms (OP.GG, beta v0.111.0 data). The beta's Dowsing quest card turns into Abundance after "5 more ? rooms" (v0.109.0, beta only).

Elites trade danger for a relic. Game Rant explains that an Elite gives a card, a random potion and a relic but can end a run, and that with plenty of Gold the Merchant is the safer stop. Since the v0.101.0 beta, on main since Apr 17, 2026, "Elites can no longer spawn on floor 6 to better match StS1": Neow counts as the first floor, so Elites had been arriving a floor early. Ascension 1, Swarming Elites, makes "Elites spawn more often". Every Elite is on Elites.

Treasure rooms hold a relic. Since the v0.100.0 beta you can skip a chest's relic in single player; v0.102.0 turned skipping off in co-op because "Too many people thought it was the Proceed button." In co-op, players who want the same relic settle it in what Mega Crit calls a "relic fight", which guides describe differently; see Co-op Multiplayer. Neow's Silver Crucible empties your first chest in return for upgraded card rewards.

Reading and drawing on the map

You can see the whole act before you move. The boss's icon sits at the top of the map, so, as TheGamer notes, you know which boss is coming and can build for it, and Mega Crit says the Ancients also get their own map node. Game Rant advises checking the map, which opens from the top-right icon even during dialogue, before choosing Neow's reward.

You can draw on the map. Mega Crit added drawing, inspired by a mod for the first game, it said in November 2024; in co-op every player's drawings show, and v0.100.0 added a setting to hide them. Mega Crit shows off players' map drawings in its monthly Neowsletters.

Sharing a map is a beta feature. The v0.110.0 beta (Jul 31, 2026) added "a "Share" button on the map screen which takes a screenshot of the entire map"; it is not on the main branch v0.107.1.

Map generation has changed since launch. The v0.101.0 beta worked "to help limit the number of maps overflowing with early monster rooms" and fixed maps with fewer shops than intended, and Major Update #1 (Apr 17, 2026) brought "better map generation" to everyone. Ascension stopped changing the map: Anthony Giovannetti wrote that affecting map generation through Ascension "has increasingly seemed to be a miss", and Ascension 6 became Inflation instead of Gloom ("Less rest sites").

Paths, and relics that change the map

You move only along the map's lines. Each room connects to one or more rooms on the next floor, and choosing a route (how many Elites, campfires and shops) is the main decision between fights; Pathing Guide collects the advice.

Relic or effect Source What it does to the map
Winged Boots Neow, since Major Update #1 Ignore the map's paths 3 times
Golden Compass Tezcatara (Act 2) Replaces the Act 2 map with one fixed path
Juzu Bracelet Relic No normal combats in ? rooms
Spoils Map Quest card from The Legends Were True Marks a site worth 600 Gold in the next act
The Lantern Key Quest card from the Hive event The Lantern Key Unlocks a special event in the next act (War Historian, Repy)
Flight Daily Climb modifier Move anywhere without path restrictions

Sources: Mega Crit, PCGamesN, OP.GG (beta v0.111.0 data), PCGamesN on dailies, read Oct 26, 2026.

The Golden Compass trades choice for a known route. TheGamer lists its Act 2 path as normal fight, Unknown, normal fight, Rest Site, normal fight, Rest Site, Unknown, Chest, Unknown, Chest, Unknown, Merchant, Elite, Rest Site, Elite, Rest Site, then the boss: 17 stops with no way around the two closing Elites. PCGamesN calls it a more balanced, less risky route; TheGamer rates it below Tezcatara's other offers.

Winged Boots lets you break from the lines. Added with Major Update #1, it lets you "ignore paths 3 times", for example to reach a Rest Site or skip an Elite; on controller the game highlights a connected room first. Other Neow choices are on Neow and the Ancients.

The end of the climb

Spoiler: this section describes how a run ends.

A run that clears Act 3 ends at the Architect, and it cannot be won. PCGamesN puts it plainly: "No, you cannot beat The Architect"; he kills you before you can play a card and shows the damage you and the whole community dealt. Mega Crit has promised "a true ending" for the 1.0 release and lists "True Victory" as further off on its April 2026 roadmap; it has announced no Act 4. See Architect.

How long a run takes

A full run is about 45 to 50 encounters. Game Rant puts the climb to the final boss at about 45 to 50 encounters and a typical run at up to about 40 minutes, sometimes an hour or more. PC Gamer's Evan Lahti reports 30-minute wins with every character (Sep 18, 2026). On the main branch the run timer keeps counting while the single-player pause menu is open; the v0.108.0 beta pauses it there. Fast runs are on Records and Speedruns.

Most runs end early. Mega Crit's May 2026 Neowsletter counted 240 million runs with a 25% win rate, 16% at Ascension 0.

Frequently asked questions

How many acts are in Slay the Spire 2? Slay the Spire 2 has three acts in Early Access, per PCGamesN: the Overgrowth or the Underdocks, then the Hive, then Glory, after which the Architect ends the run. Mega Crit plans alternate versions of Acts 2 and 3.

How do you get the Underdocks in Slay the Spire 2? In Slay the Spire 2 Act 1 is a coin flip between the Overgrowth and the Underdocks once the alternate act is unlocked, Mega Crit explains; you cannot choose it. Destructoid lists an Underdocks Epoch on the Timeline but not its requirement.

What do the map icons mean in Slay the Spire 2? The Slay the Spire 2 map shows Monster (normal fight), Elite, ? (Unknown, usually an event), Merchant, Treasure and Rest Site rooms, plus the act's boss at the top, per TheGamer.

How many floors are in a Slay the Spire 2 act? Slay the Spire 2's game data gives the acts 15, 14 and 13 map rooms (Act 1, 2 and 3, v0.107.1). Neow counts as the first floor, and since Apr 17, 2026 Elites cannot appear on floor 6.

How long is a run in Slay the Spire 2? A Slay the Spire 2 run is about 45 to 50 encounters and typically up to about 40 minutes, sometimes an hour or more, per Game Rant.

What does the Golden Compass do in Slay the Spire 2? Tezcatara's Golden Compass replaces Slay the Spire 2's Act 2 map with one fixed path of 17 stops ending in two Elites and the boss, per TheGamer. PCGamesN calls it a less risky route.

Can you see the boss in Slay the Spire 2? Yes. In Slay the Spire 2 each act's boss icon is shown on the map from the start, per TheGamer, so you can prepare your deck for it.

Sources

Moments

Slay the Spire 2 Beginner’s Guide | Important Tips You Need to Know

IGN

  1. Slay the Spire 2 has three acts in Early Access: Act 1 is the Overgrowth or the Underdocks, Act 2 is the Hive and Act…
  2. The map shows six kinds of room before the boss. TheGamer's events guide lists Unknown (?), Merchant, Treasure, Rest…
  3. A ? room is a gamble that mostly pays in events. TheGamer says events are the most likely result, and the Juzu…
  4. Treasure rooms hold a relic. Since the v0.100.0 beta you can skip a chest's relic in single player; v0.102.0 turned…
  5. You can see the whole act before you move. The boss's icon sits at the top of the map, so, as TheGamer notes, you know…

Slay the Spire 2 - 15 Biggest Changes From Slay the Spire 1

IGN

  1. Each act has its own enemies, events, bosses and Ancients. Mega Crit described the alternate acts in September 2025…

Stop Losing Runs In Act 1 | Complete Max Ascension Guide | Slay the Spire 2

vmService

  1. You move only along the map's lines. Each room connects to one or more rooms on the next floor, and choosing a route…

Ranking every Ancient boon in Spire 2 | Thoughts from a top STS player

JapaneseExport

  1. The Golden Compass trades choice for a known route. TheGamer lists its Act 2 path as normal fight, Unknown, normal…

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See also

Last updated Oct 26, 2026 by the Vi.ki team. Page text CC BY-SA 4.0.

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