Slay The Spire Silent Guide
January 24, 2021 - Games
Slay the Spire is a game I'd started playing around the 2020 holiday break, but I've gotten into it pretty hardcore since. I love the game. For those who may not know, Slay the Spire is a roguelike deck-building card game dungeon dive. You can play as one of four characters, fighting monsters, improving your deck of cards, buying better equipment, and eventually reaching the end boss, who will kill you.
I'd beaten the game with the Ironclad (it's all about Barricade and Body Slam) and The Defect (channel tons of ice!), but it wasn't until today that I'd beat the game with my favorite character, The Silent.
The Silent
In reading multiple guides, I've learned that some people will recommend something which other people say to avoid. Everyone has their own take. This is mine.
Moreso than with any of the other classes, the Silent wants a small deck. This means you shouldn't be picking a card reward after every single fight. If you do, you'll just be receiving those cards you really want less often. Ideally, you'll hit every store you can, and choose the remove card option at every single one, getting rid of your base Strike and Defend cards, as well as removing whatever you can during events.
You will need to be sure to grab some cards during the first act just to get by, even if they're not great ones. More than once, I've died to an act one elite because I had only Strike and Defend cards. One or two so-so cards can get you by, even if they're garbage like Flying Knee or Masterful Stab.
Another thing I've learned about the Silent is that you won't want to hit every Elite you can. When playing the Ironclad or the Defect, I tend to hit every elite possible, in order to gather relics. But I die so often when facing elites as The Silent - especially in the first act - that I've begun avoiding them, and it's helped. I've found that it can also be helpful to have one card (no more than one!) which attacks all enemies. Personally, I like Die Die Die because it exhausts after played, which means it won't clog up your deck, but Dagger Spray and All-Out Attack are also options.
Best Cards
There are a lot of cards for The Silent which I'll grab as soon as I see them, no matter which build I might be going for.
Blur
In my mind, Blur is absolutely the best card you can get for The Silent. It gets you 5 block, or 8 if upgraded. This isn't massive, but playing the card will allow whatever block remains at the end of your turn to carry over to the next turn. This means that you can play defense even on a turn when you don't expect damage. Additionally, each Blur card you play will extend that non-expiration time by an additional turn. If you play three in a turn, then any block that remains will carry over for up to three turns. Get enough of them, and it's like you've got the Ironclad's Barricade card.Footwork
Footwork is amazing, and if you can I'd get two or three of them. Each increases your dexterity by two or three, which will give you extra block for any block card you play, whether it's a Blur or just a vanilla Defend card.Adrenaline
Adrenaline is a card you should never be afraid to pick up. It costs zero, and it gives you both energy and card draw. The only reason to not play it is if you're saving it for later in the fight.Terror
Terror is a card I'd always like to have one (no more!) of in my deck. It works best on a single enemy, but when played it ensures that the enemy has vulnerable for the entire fight, which means that he's taking an additional 50% damage from each attack. When upgraded, it costs zero.Caltrops
Another passive damage-doer, Caltrops will do 3 or 5 damage to anyone who attacks you, even if the attack is blocked. I've had very good runs with two upgraded caltrops in my deck. If the enemy attacks three times, that's 30 damage I'm doing on the enemy's turn!Corpse Explosion
I've seen a number of other articles dissuade people from getting Corpse Explosion, but think of this. In battles against tough enemies such as The Three Sentries, The Red-Masked Bandits, or even Donu and Deca, you can hit one with Corpse Explosion, and now you only need to defeat one of them. After that, the enemy explodes and kills all the others. To be sure, I generally choose the enemy with the highest HP.Noxious Fumes
Noxious Fumes is the slow and steady grind which will always guarantee a win if you can live long enough. Poison every turn to every enemy. It's a fantastic card, and I'd grab it every time.A Thousand Cuts
It wasn't high on anyone else's list, but I love A Thousand Cuts. It costs two, which is a bit expensive, but after that it does damage every single time you play any card, even powers and block cards. It's especially effective with shiv builds, since in those you're often playing a great many cards.Backflip
I've not been a huge fan of the Backflip card. Granted, it's better than Defend by a long shot. But given how highly it's regarded in other guides, I'm going to try to have one in my deck from here on out. Card draw is a thing with The Silent.After Image
Another card that doesn't seem highly regarded, but I love it. It works best with Shiv builds, but getting one block per card played can be immensely helpful to your survival.Escape Plan
Paying zero energy to draw a card would essentially be a wash. But this one gives you the chance to get a few points of block, and in addition, it triggers cards such as A Thousand Cuts or After Image.Tools of the Trade
I've often avoided this card. Setting up lots of powers takes time and energy, and this one was never high on my list. But having the ability to draw and discard at the start of each round can be really helpful, especially when enemies are flooding you with status cards.Burst
The first thing that will come to mind with a Burst card is using it to double-play a card with a value of more than one so that you're getting value better than simply having two of the same 1-energy cost card. But the card's real value is doubling high-value cards rather than high-cost cards. Depending on your situation, you can double whichever card suits you. It's about flexibility. When you upgrade it, it doubles two skills.Nightmare
Nightmare is like Burst, but turbocharged. It will add three copies of any card into your deck. It's expensive. But with a poison build, it takes a single Catalyst card and turns it into a boss-killer. It can take that single upgraded Blur card and make it all you need to stay alive. I'm sure it's got plenty of other uses, adding rare high-value cards.
It seems an odd addition to this list. But as a Silent, you're likely to have a ton of cards which discard something: Survivor, Acrobatics, Prepared, Calculated Gamble, even Dagger Throw. If you have Tools of the Trade active, you're guaranteed that extra point of energy every time Tactician comes around.
Styles and Builds
The entire idea of a “build“ in Slay the Spire is a bit tricky, because you don't exactly have a perfect choice of cards. You may start off getting all the perfect cards for one build, and then see nothing but junk cards and/or cards for a different build. It isn't easy, and it's seldom perfect. As such, consider these “builds“ ideals to work towards rather than something you can perfectly achieve every time.
Poison Build
The goal of the poison build is to apply poison to enemies, and let it do its work while the Defect continues blocking as much as is required. With enough poison, you might only need a round or two. Here follow the most essential cards for the poison build.
One or more Noxious Fumes will do a good job alone, but once the poison hits a certain level, Catalyst can push the poison up to an insane level. Bouncing Flask is also a good card, especially against a single enemy. The other two cards, Deadly Poison and Poisoned Stab, are okay, but I'd try not to take more than one.
Shiv Build
The idea behind the Shiv build is to play as many cost 0 shivs as possible, and to get the damage of each as high as possible. Because you're playing so many cards, things like After Image, A Thousand Cuts, and Envenom become much more valuable.
Turtle Build
I'd initially only been aware of the above two builds, as those are two victory conditions. Two ways to do damage. But when researching this article, I found a very interesting guide: Turtle Style, by lacker on the Steam Community Forums. He recommends focusing on block, card draw, and energy gain. He recommends keeping a small deck. And he recommends using a bunch of Noxious Fumes to do the job while you continue blocking for as long as necessary. It's an intersting take.
Other Guides
Other Guides
And if you're interested, here's the deck I used to win with The Silent.
