How Slay The Spire 2 multiplayer works and what's different

Multiplayer Slay The Spire 2 changes much of the game like enemy scaling, combat, rewards and more. In doing so it creates a wildly fun experience that's a transformative game compared to singleplayer.

The way you build characters and approach combat completely changes and, if you can form a party of four, this otherwise methodical game starts to feel chaotic in the best kind of way. Here’s what that means in Slay The Spire 2 multiplayer and how it works.

If you want the best Slay the Spire 2 characters to bring into matches then check out how how to unlock characters in Slay the Spire 2 (spoilers, it's pretty easy).

How Slay The Spire 2 multiplayer combat work

Slay the Spire 2 multiplayer combat follows the same turn order as the single player - combat opens on your party’s turn, where you and your teammates can play cards. Anyone in your party can play any cards in any order, which you should use to your advantage. For example, if a teammate can apply Vulnerable to an enemy, they’ll want to do that first so everyone can inflict bonus damage after. If everyone is playing cards at once, each attack resolves in a stack, meaning it might take a few seconds before a card actually takes effect.

Additionally, some cards like The Silent’s Strangle, which inflicts damage whenever you play a card, will proc when your friends play cards as well. Admittedly, I can’t tell if this is an intentional mechanic, as other cards with similar wording do not do this. Basically, pay close attention to see which cards have multiplayer synergy.

After all party members have attacked, they’ll each have to declare their turn has ended before the enemy’s turn begins. At this point you’ll have to watch out, as enemies will hit every party member. So if an enemy is about to inflict 10 damage and inflict Weak, everyone in your party will need to block for 10 and prepare to deal less damage next round. You can keep track of each party member’s health and block by looking in the top left corner of the battle screen.

How Slay The Spire 2 multiplayer enemy scaling works

Naturally, with the added firepower you have as a team, enemies scale to get stronger. Enemy HP increases with the number of players, to the point that common enemies will practically match the HP of a singleplayer Elite when playing with four players. Fortunately, attacks otherwise remain the same as in singleplayer since enemies hit everyone at once.

These big numbers can look scary, but good multiplayer strategy can land huge damage on enemies if you play carefully - much more damage than four average players could inflict individually. Personally, my first four player run of the game was probably four times easier than even my most busted runs of the game by myself. You can get into trouble if your party isn’t synergizing well (playing with two players feels trickier), but otherwise multiplayer generally pushes the odds in your favor.

Fortunately, each player gets their own pool of rewards from combat, so whatever you see in your results screen is yours for the taking.

Slay The Spire 2 multiplayer map, shops, and events

As well as fighting as a team you’ll also have to pick your path forward together in each Act, as you work your way to the boss. Each player will vote on which path to take, like selecting a course online in Mario Kart. If players differ on which path to take, one player’s decision will be chosen at random, and everyone will enter whichever battle or event is picked.

Fortunately, players can draw on the map to aid in discussions about what the best path forward is. Nothing’s stopping you from just drawing on the map in your downtime for the fun of it, which was my preferred way of using the drawing tools.

Treasure chests work similarly in multiplayer - a number of relics will pop out matching your player count, and each player will decide which relic they want from the pool. If two or more players want the same relic, they’ll play Rock Paper Scissors to see who will get it. The loser then has to select a new relic to pick if more than one is left afterwards.

These are the most competitive elements of the game. Each player will choose whatever they want during Events, and Shops will also spawn unique screens for everyone (even though the entire party will be shown). So in these cases, you don’t have to worry about stepping on anyone else’s toes and just take what’s best for you.

Slay the Spire 2 multiplayer rewards

You can find co-op specific cards in Slay The Spire 2 multiplayer that give you and your friends boosts in combat. For instance, The Necrobinder can summon Osty for all players, effectively blocking 6 damage for everyone. Meanwhile, The Defect can give Energy to everyone. You need to find these cards first of course, during your run, but this does add an additional layer of strategy depending on your party composition.

Slay The Spire 2 multiplayer has its own progression as well, so your Ascensions won’t carry over between that and single player. Also, just like in singleplayer mode, you can pause and resume runs later, as long as the host reconnects with the same player(s) when starting again. The mode is well worth rallying your friends together to get going, but if you’re focusing on singleplayer for the time being, you can check out our rankings for each character here while you learn exactly what each deck can do.

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