I just saw Slay the Spire 2’s Ancients update—Mega Crit’s big change might upend the boss relic meta

Ancients Are Replacing Boss Relics. That’s a Big Deal for Every Run.

Mega Crit’s latest Slay the Spire 2 update finally explains the “Ancients” we’ve been seeing teased-and why they matter. Short version: these mysterious beings show up at the entrance to each act and hand you powerful boons (with catch-y tradeoffs) that effectively replace the old boss relic picks. As someone who’s sunk hundreds of hours into the original, this caught my attention because boss relics defined your power curve. Swapping that out for act-entry blessings is a fundamental shake-up to how you plan, path, and build your deck.

• Act-entry Ancients replace traditional boss relics with run-shaping boons.
• Tezcatara, an Act 2 Ancient, offers volatile blessings like a “golden path,” melting Wax Relics, or Ember-enchanted Strikes you can’t remove.
• Each act has its own pool of Ancients, dialing up variety and decision tension.
• New enemy tease: a punch-focused automaton. Early access is still targeting March 2026.

Breaking Down Tezcatara’s Fire-Fueled Blessings

We’ve known Neow-Mother of Resurrection-would return, but the star of this update is Tezcatara, “It Which Feeds The Fire,” an Act 2 Ancient. Their boons burn bright and fizzle fast, and the examples Mega Crit shared instantly change how I’d pilot a run:

Golden Path: Tezcatara can transform the upcoming act’s map into a single “golden path.” That’s wild. In Slay the Spire, your route is half the game: choosing elites, timing campfires, dodging bad event rolls. Forcing a single route compresses the decision space into a curated gauntlet. If the rewards spike accordingly, it could be a speedrunner’s dream—and a nightmare for players who lean on careful pathing to stabilize shaky decks.

Wax Relics: Get four Wax Relics that melt away over time—one disappears every three combats. That’s effectively a temporary power surge tuned to the length of an act. It’s clever design for the notorious Act 2 gear check: you trade long-term scaling for a mid-act spike. The question is whether those relics synergize with specific archetypes or are just generic boosts. If the former, we’ll see some spicy build planning; if the latter, expect them to be a safe, slightly boring pick when you’re underpowered.

Tezcatara’s Ember on Strikes: Enchant all Strikes to cost less—but lock them in so you can’t remove them. That’s a direct challenge to the classic “thin the deck” strategy that powers many StS builds. In the first game, purging Strikes was step one toward consistency. Here, you’re asked to embrace them. If Slay the Spire 2 introduces more Strike synergies—or cards that care about base tags—this could flip early-game logic. If not, it’s a devil’s bargain you only take when your curve absolutely needs cheaper plays.

Bidding Farewell to Boss Relics (Kinda): What This Changes

Boss relics in Slay the Spire 1 were a cornerstone moment: Coffee Dripper, Sozu, Cursed Key—the energy relic spike often decided whether your build would cook or stall. By replacing that structure with Ancients, Mega Crit is signaling a few things about the sequel’s philosophy:

• More dynamic runs: Temporary or act-targeted boons mean less runaway snowballing and more “adapt or die” choices between acts.
• Map as a resource: With options like the golden path, your route isn’t just a plan—it’s a mutable system the game can rewrite mid-run.
• Tradeoffs over flat power: Blessings come with strings, pushing you to solve small puzzles every act instead of just stacking permanent power.

I’m curious how energy economy is being rethought. If energy relics aren’t a staple act reward anymore, fights and cards must be balanced around a lower baseline or new, different ways to spike energy temporarily. That could be great for variety but risky for clarity—veteran players rely on predictable power inflection points. If Ancients are uneven in strength or too RNG-dependent, the meta could devolve into “find Tezcatara Ember or reset” territory. On the other hand, separate Ancient pools for Acts 2 and 3 should help smooth that by diversifying what shows up.

What Gamers Should Watch For

• Are Ancient boons permanent for the act, or do more of them decay like Wax Relics?
• Do Ancients enable archetypes (e.g., Strike decks) or just nudge your curve?
• Can you influence which Ancient appears, or is it pure RNG between pools?
• How does golden path reward you for surrendering map agency—extra elites, guaranteed shops, unique events?
• Will there be meaningful downsides comparable to classic boss relic curses (no potions, no rests, etc.)?

The Punch-Bot Tease and the Long March to 2026

Mega Crit also showed off a new automaton—“some sort of construct designed for punching.” It’s a small tease, but it aligns with Slay the Spire’s habit of folding simple enemy concepts into nasty patterns (think Spheric Guardian’s chip plus scaling, or Snecko’s confusion shenanigans). A straight-up punch machine could pressure blocking strategies or punish slow decks that want to set up.

As for timing, early access is still slated for March 2026. That’s a long runway, but I’d rather Mega Crit take their time than ship a sequel that simply rehashes old systems. The Ancients suggest they’re not playing it safe—they’re reworking the bones of a modern classic. If they stick the landing, every act will feel like a fresh, meaningful fork instead of a predictable victory lap.

TL;DR

Slay the Spire 2’s Ancients replace boss relics with act-entry boons that bring bigger tradeoffs and more map manipulation. Tezcatara’s blessings look volatile and fun, and they hint at a sequel designed for dynamic runs over flat power spikes. I’m excited—and watching balance closely.