Strength · Block · Exhaust · Self-Damage
The Ironclad is the most straightforward character in Slay the Spire 2, built around raw strength, defensive stacking, and high-risk self-damage synergies. His starting relic, Burning Blood (heal 6 HP after each combat), provides built-in sustain that forgives misplays — making him the ideal choice for beginners. At higher Ascensions, master his exhaust engine and strength scaling to unleash devastating one-turn kills.
Stack Strength via Demon Form, Spot Weakness, or Inflame to multiply damage on multi-hit attacks like Heavy Blade and Twin Strike. At high Ascension, Strength defines Ironclad's win condition.
Use Corruption, Feel No Pain, and Dark Embrace to thin your deck mid-combat while generating block and draw. Exhausting cards is not a downside — it's a win condition.
Cards like Hemokinesis, Bloodletting, and Offering trade HP for powerful effects. Pair with Rupture to gain Strength whenever you lose HP from cards.
Barricade prevents block from decaying between turns. Entrench doubles your block. Body Slam converts all that block into direct damage — one of the safest win conditions in the game.
Stack massive Strength and multiply it with Limit Break. Heavy Blade scales 3× with Strength for one-shot potential. The most consistent high-Ascension build.
Build impenetrable block that persists between turns, then convert it into damage with Body Slam. Excellent for long fights and boss encounters where you need to survive big attacks.
Exhaust your entire deck for block, draw, and damage. Dead Branch + Corruption is one of the strongest combos in the entire game. Fiend Fire provides a massive finisher.