Ironclad – Slay the Spire 2 character overview

Self-damage, strength scaling, and big finishing blows.

Recommended difficulty: Beginner friendly

The Ironclad leans on straightforward damage, self-healing, and strength scaling to close out fights with powerful attacks.

Max HP

80 / 80

Starting ability

Burning Blood

At the end of combat, heal 6 HP.

Overview

This page will become the main hub for everything related to Ironclad in the Slay the Spire 2 Wiki. Over time it will connect to character-specific card lists, relic synergies and deckbuilding archetypes so you can quickly understand how this character fits into different playstyles.

Core mechanics & playstyle

Future versions of this section will explain Ironclad's signature mechanics, common game plans, and how their strengths and weaknesses change across acts. It will also highlight how core mechanics interact with important keywords like Vulnerable, Weak, and scaling effects.

Key cards & relic synergies

This area will summarize the most important cards and relics for Ironclad, with links out to detailed entries on the wiki.

Link into Ironclad card pages for per-card stats and upgrade details.
Highlight powerful relics from the relic index that naturally support this character's game plan.
Call out anti-synergies or traps that new players should avoid.

Ironclad card tier list

Medium confidence • Ironclad cards ordered from the strongest clicks to the easiest cuts. Vulnerable support and premium fundamentals still matter most; the class does not need to get weird to win.

S – Run-Shaping

Grapple

Why I rate it here

This does too many useful things at once: it pressures, debuffs, and contributes to control in the same card.

Card text

Deal 7 damage. Whenever you gain Block this turn, deal 5 damage to the enemy.

A – Premium

B – Playable

C – Replaceable

D – Low trust

Bash is baseline and not truly low trust, but compared to the above options it is more of a starting point than a long-term carry in many runs.

Archetypes & deckbuilding

Here you will eventually find links to in-depth deckbuilding guides for Ironclad, each focused on a specific archetype or mechanic.

Archetype overviews will live under deckbuilding routes such as self-damage, poison control, or orb scaling.
Each archetype page will connect card choices, relic priorities, and pathing recommendations.

Tips for Slay the Spire 2 players

Later this section can host practical tips for piloting Ironclad at different difficulty levels, including advice for early-game survival, mid-act pivots, and boss routing. It will complement broader strategy guides and character tier lists.