Slay the Spire 2's Biggest Early Access Update Adds The Fool, Blitz, and Dread

Slay the Spire 2 has received what developer Mega Crit calls its biggest Early Access update yet. Version 0.113.0 is now available on the game's public beta branch, bringing the first new character added during Early Access, two new ways to play, and another substantial sign of how the sequel's development priorities are taking shape.

The headline addition is The Fool, a whimsical musician who fights with a bow. The character is not yet part of the main branch, and Mega Crit has made clear that considerable content and balance work is still expected before The Fool is considered ready for the standard version of the game. For players willing to test an evolving work in progress, though, the beta offers an early chance to discover the character's strategies, cards, and story.

Version 0.113.0 also introduces Blitz, a compressed deckbuilding mode that removes the usual map and changes the value of familiar resources, as well as Dread, an exceptionally difficult challenge intended for players who have reached Ascension with every character. Together, the additions make this update about more than one new playable option. They widen the kinds of runs Slay the Spire 2 can support while Early Access continues.

The Fool arrives as Slay the Spire 2's first new Early Access character

The Fool is described as a "silly musician" wielding a bow, an intentionally odd combination that fits the series' willingness to make its heroes feel mechanically and visually distinct. Mega Crit has positioned the character as a gentle bard whose survival in the Spire will depend on the player's choices and ability to uncover effective combinations.

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That framing is important because a new Slay the Spire character is not simply a new visual model or a small batch of cards. Each playable hero changes the core deckbuilding puzzle: which effects are available, which synergies can be pursued, how combat turns are sequenced, what risks are worth taking, and how a player responds to each encounter. A character's design has to stand up across a large range of possible decks and enemies, while still offering enough flexibility that repeated runs do not settle into one obvious formula.

Mega Crit is being direct that The Fool is still in that tuning process. The developer expects a great number of content and balance changes before moving the character to the main game. That means beta players should expect the character's current state to be provisional. Cards, interactions, power levels, and perhaps the overall feel of a run may change as testing continues.

For an Early Access roguelike deckbuilder, that kind of public iteration is especially useful. New characters create a large number of variables, and players often uncover combinations or edge cases that are difficult to fully anticipate internally. The beta branch lets Mega Crit collect practical feedback from runs with a wide range of deck choices and player skill levels without immediately presenting the character as finalized for the entire player base.

How to access The Fool beta

Players who want to try version 0.113.0 can opt into Slay the Spire 2's public beta branch through Steam. From the game's properties menu, open the Game Versions & Betas tab and select public-beta from the available dropdown menu.

Because The Fool remains in active development, players choosing that branch should approach it as a testing environment rather than a final release. The benefit is immediate access to the new character and modes; the tradeoff is that further adjustments are expected before those additions reach the main branch. Anyone who would rather wait for a more settled version can remain on the standard game branch until Mega Crit completes that work.

Blitz reshapes the deckbuilding loop

While The Fool is the update's most obvious new feature, Blitz may prove just as interesting for experienced players. Mega Crit describes it as a condensed, chaotic mode focused on deckbuilding. Its changes go beyond simply making a normal run shorter or harder.

Most notably, Blitz removes the map. In the usual structure of a Spire climb, the map is a major strategic layer: players choose routes based on enemies, rewards, shops, rest opportunities, and unknown events. Choosing a path is often as meaningful as playing a hand in combat. Take that map away, and the mode strips out one of the game's defining planning tools.

The Merchant also behaves differently in Blitz, with wares that "feel a bit off," while Gold no longer matters. Those details suggest a mode built to disrupt standard assumptions about economy and progression. In a conventional run, Gold can influence decisions long before a shop appears, affecting whether a player takes a costly opportunity, holds resources for later, or tries to shape a deck around future purchases. If Gold is irrelevant, that entire chain of planning is replaced by a different set of pressures.

Blitz therefore sounds designed for players who want a faster, less predictable form of deck construction. Without map routing and with a distorted merchant economy, success should hinge more sharply on making the most of what the mode puts in front of the player. The word "chaotic" is doing meaningful work here: this is not presented as a streamlined alternative for players seeking a gentle introduction, but as a condensed ruleset intended to force adaptation.

It is also a useful addition during Early Access because it gives Mega Crit another way to see how its cards and systems function outside the regular run structure. Modes that remove or alter major decision layers can reveal which strategies are robust, which are too dependent on normal progression, and which mechanics become unexpectedly powerful or weak when the rules change.

Dread is reserved for the most accomplished climbers

The other new mode, Dread, is aimed in the opposite direction from quick experimentation. Mega Crit describes it as brutally difficult, and access is gated behind a major requirement: players must reach Ascension on every character, including The Fool, before they can attempt it.

That condition makes Dread an endgame target rather than an option players will casually encounter in their first hours. Ascension is the game's escalating challenge framework, so requiring progress with every available character asks players to demonstrate broad knowledge rather than mastery of a single preferred style. With The Fool included in the requirement, Dread also gives dedicated players an incentive to learn the newcomer deeply once the character is available.

The precise rules that make Dread so punishing have not been detailed here, but the mode's name and unlock requirement set clear expectations. It is intended for players who have already put substantial time into mastering standard systems and want a fresh wall to climb. For a game built around repeated runs, difficult optional modes can be valuable long after players have become comfortable with the normal loop.

There is a notable contrast between the two additions. Blitz changes the rhythm and resource logic of a run, emphasizing a condensed and destabilized deckbuilding experience. Dread, meanwhile, is a high-level proving ground locked behind extensive Ascension progress. One expands variety through alternative rules; the other extends the game's mastery curve. Adding both in the same update gives different types of committed players a reason to revisit the Spire.

A shift toward larger Early Access drops

The scale of version 0.113.0 follows Mega Crit's earlier decision to slow the pace of updates in order to focus on bigger, more impactful content. The Fool, Blitz, and Dread make that change in approach easy to see. Rather than a smaller collection of incremental tweaks, this beta contains a new hero and two modes that can materially change how players engage with the game.

Slay the Spire 2 launched into Early Access in March. Mega Crit has indicated that the Early Access period may resemble the roughly year-and-a-half path the first Slay the Spire took before reaching version 1.0. That leaves room for further updates, balancing work, and additions before the sequel's full release.

The Fool's beta status is a reminder that the process is ongoing. Mega Crit is not treating the new character as a finished checkbox; it is inviting players into the process of finding strategies and helping reveal where adjustments are needed. At the same time, Blitz and Dread show that the studio is thinking beyond the baseline climb, building new formats for those who want either rapid upheaval or punishing long-term goals.

For now, players on the public beta branch can begin experimenting with all three additions. The biggest questions will be how The Fool evolves through feedback, what deckbuilding patterns emerge in Blitz's mapless economy, and whether Dread lives up to its fearsome name for veterans who meet its demanding unlock conditions.