Playtest notes 18 Sep 2025

Internal playtest172 entries56 balance changes50 content additions29 bug fixes14 interface changes13 wording fixes10 art updates

This is a pre-release internal note from the closed playtest, quoted as it was written for testers. It describes a build that no longer exists; treat it as history, not as a description of the current game.

This week's patch brings a big content and balance pass, especially when it comes to The Necrobinder and The Regent. We're also saying goodbye to our old friend, the "Strength Down" power; whenever you would lose temporary Strength at the end of your turn you will now see a unique power based on the source of the temporary Strength. We're especially interested in getting feedback on how this change feels!

Items in this note

59 cards

Summon 3 X times.
Add X Souls into your Draw Pile.
Exhaust.

Deal 5 damage.
Deals 3 additional damage for each card you created this combat.

Sly.
Gain 1 Dexterity.
Gain 4 Thorns.

Poison is triggered 1 additional time.

Whenever you create a card, gain 1 Strength.

Deal 33 damage to ALL enemies.
Costs less for each Ethereal card played this combat.

Deal 18 damage.
At the start of your turn, if this is in your Exhaust Pile, play it.
Exhaust.

If the enemy has Poison, apply 9 Poison.

Deal 52 damage.

Forge 3.
Sovereign Blade deals double damage to the enemy this turn.

Next turn,
gain and .
Retain your Hand this turn.

Deal 8 damage.
Deals 2 additional damage for ALL your cards that have a cost.

At the start of your turn, lose 1 HP and gain 8 Block.

Deal 8 damage.
Deals 4 additional damage for each card drawn during your turn.

Gain 11 Block.
Next turn,
gain .

Exhaust your Hand.
If 9 cards were Exhausted this way, gain 1 Intangible.

Apply 29 Doom to ALL enemies.
Kill enemies with at least as much Doom as HP.

Reduce the cost of ALL cards in your Hand to 1 this turn.
Exhaust.

Whenever an Attack deals unblocked damage, apply 1 Poison.

Gain for each Attack in your Hand.
You cannot gain
additional this turn.

Ethereal.
Deal 7 damage.
Apply 1 Vulnerable.

Osty deals 3 damage.
If this is the first time this card has been played this turn, draw 1 card.

Osty deals 12 damage.
This card costs 0 if Osty has attacked this turn.

Foregone Conclusion

Next turn, put 2 cards from your Draw Pile into your Hand.

Deal 12 damage.
Draw 2 cards.

Deal 10 damage.
Double the damage ALL Hang cards deal to this enemy.

Whenever you play a Soul, a random enemy loses 6 HP.

Sly.
Apply 4 Poison to ALL enemies.

Deal 8 damage X times.
Double X if it's 4 or more.

Ethereal.
The first Attack each turn deals 50% additional damage.

Manifest Authority

Gain 7 Block.
Add 1 random Colorless card into your Hand.

Gain 8 Plating.

Apply 10 Doom, plus an additional 5 Doom for every 10 Doom already on this enemy.

Deal 8 damage.
Damage ALL other enemies equal to the damage dealt.

Shivs gain Retain.
The first Shiv you play each turn deals 9 additional damage.

Deal 13 damage.
Deals 2 less damage for each other card in your Hand.

Gain 1 Strength.
Gain 1 Dexterity.

Pull from Below

Deal 5 damage for each Ethereal card played this combat.

Sly.
Draw 2 cards.

Gain 1 Strength. ALL enemies lose 1 Strength.

Retain.
If your Hand is empty, draw 2 cards and gain .

Right Hand Hand

Osty deals 4 damage.
Whenever you play a card that costs or more, return this to your Hand from the Discard Pile.

Whenever you lose HP on your turn, gain 1 Strength.

Deal 7 damage.
Draw 4 cards.
Discard all cards drawn this way that do not cost 0 .

Deal 13 damage.
Add a Soul into your Draw Pile, Hand, and Discard Pile.

Deal 8 damage.
Gain .
Put this card on top of your Draw Pile.

Osty deals 7 damage.
Add Retain to a card in your Hand.

Deal 5 damage.
If you lost HP this turn,
hits 2 times.

Put Sovereign Blade into your Hand from anywhere.
Forge 8.

The Sealed Throne

Whenever you play a card, gain .

Thrumming Hatchet

Deal 11 damage.
At the start of your next turn, return this to your Hand.

Weak enemies take double damage from Attacks.

Gain 7 Block.
Add a copy of this card into your Discard Pile.

The first time you gain Block from a card each turn, double the amount gained.

Deal 10 damage.
The next Ethereal card you play costs 0 .

Whenever you apply Vulnerable, draw 1 card.

Deal 10 damage to a random enemy X times.

Relics, potions and powers

Enemies and events

Content

Ironclad

Reworked Grapple card

Silent

Reworked Phantom Blades card

Defect

Deprecated Electrodynamics card

Necrobinder

Added new card, Death March
Reworked the following cards:
Bone Wall (now Dirge)
Fear
Mischief (now Twist)
Death's Visage
No Escape
Pull From Below
Right Hand Hand
Symbiosis
Snap
Deprecated Spectral card

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Regent

Reworked the following cards:
Conqueror
Heavenly Drill
Convergence
Crescent Spear
Stars in His Eyes
Resonance
Supermassive

Colorless

Added new card, Volley

Potions & Relics

The following relics are now locked until their respective Epochs have been revealed:
Scribbles Epoch
Dybbuk Cube
Intimidating Helmet
Ancients Epoch
Book of Five Rings
Ice Cream
Kusarigama
Buy Something! Epoch
Bellows
Ripple Basin
Starter Flare
Greenery Epoch
Chain Links
Tungsten Rod
White Star
Insects Epoch
Beating Remnant
Joss Paper
Tiny Mailbox

Enemies

Reworked Ceremonial Beast
Reworked Illusionist boss (now Dreamer)

Events

The following events are now locked until their respective Epochs have been revealed:
The Calm Epoch: Tinker Time
The Capital Epoch: Reflections
The Spire Epoch: Colorful Philosophers

Balance

Ironclad

Nerfed Smolder card: Strength gain decreased from 2(3) -> 1(2)
Nerfed Vicious card:
Energy cost increased from 1(1) -> 2(1)
Card draw amount no longer upgrades

Silent

Unplayable cards with Sly can no longer be played by being discarded
Changed Abrasive card:
Dexterity decreased from 2(3) -> 1(2)
Thorns increased from 4(6) -> 5(7)
Changed Accelerant card: rarity increased from Uncommon -> Rare
Nerfed Bubble Bubble card:
Poison decreased from 5(7) -> 3(4)
Rarity decreased from Rare -> Uncommon
Nerfed Envenom card:
Energy cost increased from 1 -> 2
Rarity decreased from Rare -> Uncommon
Nerfed Haze card: poison decreased from 5(7) -> 4(6)

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Silent (continued)

Buffed Reflex card: no longer Unplayable, now costs 2 Energy
Buffed Tactician card: no longer Unplayable, now costs 3 Energy
Changed Tracking card: rarity increased from Uncommon -> Rare

Necrobinder

Buffed Banshee's Cry card: energy cost reduction on ability from 1 less per Ethereal card -> 2 less per
Buffed Bury card: additional damage increased from 2(3) -> 3(4)
Nerfed Eidolon card: now Exhausts
Buffed Fetch card: no longer Exhausts
Nerfed Flatten card: damage scaling decreased from 3(4) -> 2(3)
Buffed Haunt card: HP loss from 4(6) -> 5(7)
Nerfed Severance card: damage decreased from 16(20) -> 15(20)
Buffed Undeath card:
Block increased from 5(7) -> 6(8)
Rarity from increased Common -> Uncommon
Buffed Veilpiercer card: damage increased from 9(13) -> 10(13)

Regent

Changed Guiding Star card:
Star cost increased from 1 -> 2
Damage increased from 11(13) -> 12(13)
Buffed Shining Strike card: damage increased from 7(11) -> 8(11)
Changed Summon Forth card:
Forge decreased from 10(14) -> 8(11)
No longer costs Stars
Nerfed Supermassive card: damage decreased from 9 -> 5

Colorless

Nerfed Omnislice card: damage decreased from 8(12) -> 8(11)
Changed Prowess card: rarity decreased from Rare -> Uncommon
Nerfed Thrumming Hatchet card: damage decreased from 12(15) -> 11(14)

Ancients

Nerfed Nonupeipe's Blessed Antlers relic: Regen decreased from 15 -> 10
Buffed Pael's Magic Pot relic: cards removed to later be upgraded increased from 5 -> 6
Changed Zlatir's Little Ghost relic: now affects Attacks instead of Skills

Enemies

Changed Thieving Hopper: if you kill it after it steals a card, it now offers the card back as a reward, giving you the opportunity to skip it if it stole a card you didn't want
Buffed Fossil Stalker: HP increased from 46(47)-48(49) -> 51(53)-53(55)
Buffed Haunted Ship: now applies 2 stacks of debuffs instead of 1
Buffed Mad Crab: moveset AI tweaked to be slightly harder and more offensive
Changed Owl Magistrate:
Cards afflicted with Scrutiny are no longer given Exhaust
Cards afflicted with Scrutiny now deal 3 damage to their owner when played instead of 2
Buffed Punch Construct: Fast Punch damage increased from 4(4) -> 6(5)
Buffed Ruby Raider: Strength gain increased from 2 -> 3
Buffed Terror Eel: now gets thrash damage increased on Ascension
Changed Two Tailed Rat: can no longer constantly repeat Scratch move

Multiplayer

Changed Jungle Maze Adventure: now is a shared event

Art

Added portrait art for the following cards:
Arsenal
Bombardment
Foregone Conclusion
Manifest Authority
Neutron Aegis
The Sealed Throne
Delay card now uses old Spectral portrait art
Added new asset for inspect cursor
The Regent now has his own map marker icon instead of using The Ironclad's

User interace & experience

General

Health bars of creatures spawned during combat now animate in faster
Keyword formatting has been removed from the word "Hangs" in Hang card's description
Replaced Strength Down power with card/potion/relic-specific powers
Right click now cancels out of drawing if started from the bottom-right buttons
Room history nodes no longer show overhealing
Updated hover UX for new drawing buttons
Updated map drawing related cursors, their hotspots, and button highlight behavior
Updated map drawing tools to be less buttony looking; moved to bottom right corner

Multiplayer

Added animation for when votes are split on an event
Hands animate in when entering the treasure room
Overlay menus are now closed when the host abandons the climb
Player states at top-right no longer display a selected indicator when a player is hovered while dragging an untargeted card
Removed pointy map marker (still present in singleplayer)
Added controller navigation to the multiplayer submenu

Writing

Renamed Bone Wall card -> Dirge
Renamed Mischief card -> Twist
Renamed Wasp Prism -> Infested Prism
Renamed Illusionist -> Dreamer
Renamed Echoing enchantment -> Spiral
Doom power and End of Days card wording now accurately reflect that the creature will also die if its Doom is equal to its HP
Unplayable keyword's wording has been updated to reflect that Unplayable cards cannot be played from anywhere
Updated the wording of relics that increase your max energy to be more consistent with each other
Updated text for the following events:
Slippery Bridge
Self-Help Book
Spiraling Whirlpool

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Multiplayer

It is now noted that enemies hit everyone in their intent hovertip

Bug fixes

General

A newly-unlocked character's starter relic is now "discovered" in the Relic Collection once a run is started with that character
Actually fixed the unlock requirements for Ascension 1 Epochs
Fixed post-combat rewards softlock that would happen on your first run
Player intents no longer get stuck after being hovered over
If you cancel targeting while hovering over an enemy, the arrow no longer stays red
Pressing Tab no longer navigates through character select buttons
Self-damaging afflictions like Galvanized and Scrutinized now properly trigger card-damage-based effects like Rupture
Settings tab hotkeys no longer show up if you aren't using a controller
When a card will cause you to gain 0 energy (such as Expect a Fight card with 0 attacks in hand), the text now reads as "Gain 0 Energy" instead of "Gain ."

Ironclad

Spite card no longer activates if you take blocked damage
Unmovable card is now properly triggered by delayed Block gain effects from cards like Crimson Mantle

Silent

Precise Cut card can no longer displays negative damage

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Necrobinder

Lethality no longer applies its damage preview to cards if player already played an attack that turn
Scrape card no longer discards your entire hand when cards' costs are set to 0 due to a global effect like Brilliant Scarf

Colorless Cards

Enlightenment card's energy cost reduction now properly applies to temporarily 0-cost cards after their 0-cost effect wears off
Restlessness card no longer glows gold if it's the only card in your hand during the enemy turn

Potions & Relics

Bread relic now properly updates the max energy showed in the player's energy orb
Cunning Potion now gives upgraded Shivs like in StS1
Fixed boss discovery order issues when playing multiple runs in the same game session
Mystic Lighter relic now properly increases the damage of Osty attack cards
White Star relic now generates a Rare card reward

Ancients

Nonupeipe's Merchant's Robes relic no longer lets you back out of the card removal choice
Neow's Silver Crucible relic now only applies to combat card rewards

Enemies

Eye With Teeth monster now properly plays its death animation after you win the combat
Fixed softlock between the Sloth status card and Infinite Blades power
Mediocrity status card no longer puts extra cards just at the bottom of your draw pile
Test Subject monster's Painful Stabs power now properly gives Wound cards even when its owner dies to Thorns power
Test Subject no longer briefly fades out when transitioning between phases

Events

Duplicates are no longer generated in event rewards with fixed rarity

Newer: 25 Sep 2025 All patch notes Older: 11 Sep 2025

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