Ascension 1–10: modifiers and preparation — Slay the Spire 2

Level	Modifier	Change
0	No Ascension	Play without any Ascension modifiers.
1	Swarming Elites	Elites spawn more often.
2	Weary Traveler	Ancients only heal 80% of your missing HP.
3	Poverty	Enemies and Treasure Chests drop 25% less Gold.
4	Tight Belt	Start each run with 1 less potion slot.
5	Ascender's Bane	Start each run Cursed.
6	Inflation	Removing cards from your deck at the Merchant is more expensive.
7	Scarcity	Rare and Upgraded cards appear less often.
8	Tough Enemies	All enemies are harder to kill.
9	Deadly Enemies	All enemies have deadlier attacks.
10	Double Boss	Fight two bosses at the end of Act 3.

Defeat an Act 3 boss with a character to unlock that character’s Ascension progression. Winning at the next selected difficulty opens the following level. The modifiers accumulate: Ascension 8 includes the restrictions from levels 1 through 7.

Level	Modifier	Effect
1	Swarming Elites	More elite rooms appear.
2	Weary Traveler	Ancient visits restore 80% of missing HP.
3	Poverty	Enemies and treasure chests award 25% less Gold.
4	Tight Belt	Begin with one fewer potion slot.
5	Ascender’s Bane	Begin with a Curse in the deck.
6	Inflation	Merchant card removal becomes more expensive.
7	Scarcity	Rare and upgraded cards appear less often.
8	Tough Enemies	Enemies become harder to kill.
9	Deadly Enemies	Enemy attacks become deadlier.
10	Double Boss	Fight two bosses at the end of Act 3.

Healing and potion slots

At Ascension 2, calculate recovery from missing health. A character at 30 of 70 HP is missing 40; an Ancient restores 32 of those points. Arriving with almost no health therefore leaves some damage unhealed. An optional fight immediately before the act transition still has a cost.

Tight Belt makes unused potion capacity more expensive. Use a potion when it changes the result of a dangerous elite turn instead of saving every consumable for the final boss. Consider the potion reward you would otherwise have to discard because every slot is full.

Removal and card rewards

Inflation replaces the old Gloom modifier. The first Merchant removal costs 100 Gold, and the price rises by 50 for subsequent removals. Plan the shop visit around that price before buying optional cards. More expensive removal also makes an unnecessary card purchase harder to undo.

Ascender’s Bane has Eternal, so normal removal cannot remove it. Budget removals for removable Curses, weak starter cards or another identified obstacle. Scarcity further reduces the chance that a later rare reward will repair a deck with insufficient damage or Block.

Two final bosses

At Ascension 10, the first Act 3 boss cannot be treated as the last encounter. Account for remaining HP, potions and the next possible matchup. A strategy that spends every consumable to win one favorable fight may enter the second without its answer to sustained damage or deck disruption.