Slay the Spire 2 has finally hit Steam shelves (if you can get through the server clutter), meaning there’s plenty of folks scrambling the Spire as we speak.
Bosses will be your main roadblocks as you ascend, and act one’s set the tone in typical Slay the Spire fashion. You’ll need to have a game plan, and you’ll need to play around theirs.
Vantom is perhaps the simplest, but most dangerous, of the Act One bosses, requiring quick thinking and a steady hand. Let’s go over his moveset, debuffs, and how to take down this slippery foe.
Vantom’s Pattern
Every enemy in Slay the Spire 2 has a pattern, and bosses are no different. Vantom’s is simple, but very dangerous, asking you to hit the ground running while under massive threat.
Vantom also starts the fight with 7 stacks of Slippery, a buff that reduces the damage of attacks to one before being removed. You’ll need to cut through each of these to start dealing proper damage, so make sure you have a stock of quick, cheap hits to toss out.
Anger on the Ironclad and Shivs on the Silent are great choices.
Turn 1 – Slice
For the first turn and every pattern reset, Vantom will slice the Climber with his tail, dealing around 9 damage. This is decent damage, but is easy enough to block if you’ve picked up some defensive cards.
Vantom’s tail will noticeably tense up, preparing himself for the next turn.
Turn 2 – Dice
Vantom’s next turn has him swing his tail again, dealing a bit more damage before preparing his heavy hit, as his tail is hovering directly above the Climber.
It’s worth allowing the damage from this attack or the previous to go through if you’ve drawn your heavy hits. Remember, fights in Slay the Spire 2 are more often than not races.
Turn 3 – Damocles Stab
On the third turn of every pattern, Vantom will stab down with his tail to the Climber’s neck, dealing upwards of 20 damage in a single strike.
This attack is the entirety of Vantom’s threat profile, requiring either strong block options like Flame Barrier or Breakneck Damage. Each Damocles Stab also places three wounds into your discard pile, leading to potential dead draws if the fight drags out.
Luckily, Vantom doesn’t have much HP, so stacking your classes’ major offensive gimmicks can oftentimes be worth the damage.
Turn 4 – Preparation
After his wicked stab, Vantom will take a turn to grow, gaining permanent Strength and returning to the start of the pattern.
From here, Vantom will loop his attacks, raising the damage each time he gets to a prep turn. This is the fight’s timer, and you’ll need to keep up by pouring on damage and debuffs wherever you can.
After the Fight
Once you’ve bested Vantom, you’ll have cleared the Overgrowth. Your reward is plenty of gold, a legendary card drop, and a visit with an Ancient, a powerful force that’ll offer you the new form of Boss Relics.
These relics are run-defining, and can offer up serious power, so make your choice wisely as you can continue climbing.
