STS2 v0.104.0: Ironclad & Regent Card Reworks — The Build Shakeup

~10 min read · How Conflagration, Drum of Battle, and Parry redesigns change your deck-building priorities

📅 Published: April 23, 2026 · Beta Patch

Patch Overview: A Design Philosophy Shift

v0.104.0 signals a clear developer intent: every card should have a home in at least one archetype. Three cards were completely redesigned — not just number tweaks — to create new build-around synergies. Alongside these reworks, Mega Crit adjusted the Ascension difficulty curve, making low Ascension more forgiving and high Ascension more punishing — a smart move for new player retention while preserving challenge for veterans.

🔥 TL;DR — Biggest Changes:
▲ CONFLAGRATION REWORK: From scaling single-target to 2-damage x 4(5) AOE — now a legitimate Strength-scaling AOE pick
▲ DRUM OF BATTLE REWORK: Draw 2, gain 2(3) energy when exhausted — exhaust engine core card
▲ PARRY REWORK: Becomes a Power that gives Sovereign Blade Block — scales with Dexterity
▲ ASCENSION CURVE: Easier low Ascensions, harder high Ascensions (A7+ notably tougher)
▲ NIGHTMARE BUFF: Now removes debuffs on copied cards — massive Silent quality-of-life
▼ REFLECT: Block 17(21) → 16(20)

🔥 Ironclad — Conflagration: From Gimmick to Powerhouse

Old Conflagration vs New Conflagration

	Old	New
Effect	Deal damage that scaled with attacks played this combat	Deal 2 damage to ALL enemies 4(5) times
Cost	2 Energy	2 Energy
Scaling	Required setup turns	Scales with Strength (8 times per play!)
Use Case	Niche boss finisher	AOE clear + boss damage + Strength payoff

💡 The Math: With just 3 Strength (Inflame + upgrade), Conflagration+ deals 8 damage x 5 hits = 40 AOE damage per play. With Demon Form active for 3 turns (+6 Strength), that's 11 x 5 = 55 AOE damage. This card now competes with Immolate and Whirlwind as Ironclad's premier AOE option — and it's arguably better because the multi-hit mechanic lets you bypass Block more efficiently.

🥁 Drum of Battle: The New Exhaust Engine Core

New effect: 1-cost Skill — Draw 2 cards. When exhausted, gain 2(3) Energy.

This is a deliberate exhaust synergy card designed to slot directly into Corruption builds. The draw-2 on play is already decent (on par with Pommel Strike), but the real power is the energy refund on exhaust. With Corruption active, Drum of Battle is essentially: free draw 2 + gain 2 Energy. That's Dark Embrace-level value on a single card.

✅ Priority Pickups: If you see Drum of Battle and already have Corruption or Feel No Pain, take it immediately. In any exhaust-oriented Ironclad deck, this card is S-tier. Even without Corruption, it's a solid draw engine that pays you back when you eventually exhaust it with True Grit or Burning Pact.

⚠ Don't Overvalue Without Exhaust: In a pure Strength deck with no exhaust plan, Drum of Battle is just "1 energy: draw 2" — decent but not game-changing. Only commit if you have reliable exhaust triggers.

👑 Regent — Parry Becomes a Power

The Parry Redesign

Old Parry: A reactive block skill (gain Block equal to unblocked damage).

New Parry: A Power — Sovereign Blade gains 10(14) Block. Scales with Dexterity and is affected by Frail/Vulnerable like any other Block source.

This is a fundamental shift: Parry went from a reactive defensive tool to a proactive build-around enabler. Now, Parry turns your base attack (Sovereign Blade) into a Block + Damage hybrid card. With 14 Block per swing and the ability to scale that with Dexterity, Regent can now generate substantial Block while still dealing damage.

The Sword Sage + Parry Combo (v0.105.0 Forward)

Combined with the later v0.105.0 Sword Sage rework (Sovereign Blade gains Replay 1), the synergy chain is:

Play Parry (Power) — Sovereign Blade now gives Block on each swing
Play Sword Sage — Sovereign Blade gains Replay (play twice)
Sovereign Blade x2 = 14 Block x 2 = 28 Block + double damage
With Dexterity scaling from relics or potions, this compounds quickly

✅ Priority Build Path: Parry → Sword Sage → any Dexterity source (Kunai, Footwork, Oddly Smooth Stone) → Star generation cards (Tactical Genius, Command). This chain makes Regent one of the most self-sufficient characters in STS2 — dealing damage AND blocking simultaneously with his basic attack.

📈 Ascension Difficulty Overhaul

New Ascension Curve Philosophy

Mega Crit explicitly stated their goal: "the base difficulty is quite hard right now." The solution: a rebalanced curve that makes A1-A5 more forgiving for new players while making A7+ genuinely harder for veterans.

Ascension	Change	Impact
A1-A5	Enemy HP and damage slightly reduced	New players have more room to experiment. First wins come sooner.
A6	Gloom → Inflation (v0.102.0)	Card removal costs increase — forces different gold priorities.
A7+	Enemy scaling increased, new Terminal behavior	Terminal no longer drops below 1 HP. Elite fights notably harder.
First Clear	Tutorial popup introduced	New players understand Ascension system immediately.

💥 Other Notable Changes

Nightmare — Major Buff

New effect: Copied cards remove all debuffs (Suffering, Wither, etc.). This is massive for Silent against status-heavy enemies. Previously, copying a debuffed card was often a trap. Now, Nightmare is not just a combo enabler — it's also a debuff cleanser. Copy Catalyst with debuffs removed, then Burst for pristine damage.

Tezcatara's Nourishing Stew — Blessing Buff

Now provides +3 damage to all Strike cards in addition to making them 0-cost and Eternal. This makes the blessing pick significantly more appealing in Act 1, where Strikes are your primary damage source. 9-damage Strikes clear most Act 1 hallway fights effortlessly.

Enemy Adjustments

Axebots: Changed from 2 enemies to 1 stronger enemy. Less RNG, more strategic.
Ruby Raider: Attack 11(12) → 10(11). Small mercy for Act 1.
Vantom: Dismember 27(30) → 26(30), Slippery 9 → 8(9). Cleaner fight.
Waterfall Giant: Heal 15 → 10(15). Less punishing stall fights.

📈 Updated Tier List Shifts (v0.104.0)

Character	Previous	New	Reason
Ironclad	A	A+	Conflagration gives Strength builds AOE; Drum of Battle perfects exhaust engine
Regent	B-	A-	Parry Power solves Regent's block problem. Higher skill ceiling, higher payoff.
Silent	S	S	Nightmare buff adds debuff cleanse to already-strongest character
Defect	A	A	No direct changes this patch
Necrobinder	B	B	No direct changes this patch

🔄 How to Adapt: 5 Actionable Takeaways

Draft Conflagration in every Ironclad run. Strength + AOE is now a single-card solution. It solves both hallway fights and multi-enemy boss phases. This card went from skip to auto-pick.
Build around Drum of Battle in Corruption decks. It's an energy-positive draw engine. Your exhaust deck now has a dedicated enabler that pays you back for doing what you already want to do.
Prioritize Parry as Regent's first Power. Before this patch, Regent's biggest weakness was block generation. Parry solves that. Draft it early and build your deck around Sovereign Blade swings.
Re-evaluate your Ascension climb strategy. If you were stuck at A5, try again — it's easier now. If you're at A7+, prepare for noticeably harder elite fights.
Use Nightmare offensively against debuff enemies. The debuff-cleanse addition turns Nightmare from a pure combo tool into a flexible answer against status-heavy fights. Don't save it only for Catalyst.