A big focus for Flagbearer 2.0 is elaborating on the defensive options available to the character. I felt as though many of the cards were “stat-sticky” with some kind of archetypal effect. This meant that the dominant playstyles of the character would auto-pick certain defensive options with minimal other play and a lot of the other defensive cards being ignored.

I hope the new cards provide more interesting draft and combat decisions!

Also, March of Time.

March of Time | 3 Energy | Skill | Rare

“Scry 3 (5). Buyback the top 3(5) cards of your discard pile, they cost 0 this turn. Cards played this turn have Time Sickness 1. Exhaust.”

It’s been requested by a number of people to make a “big splashy/cool” card. Card similar to Ironclad’s Corruption or Watcher’s Blasphemy which just feel very powerful and kinda break the rules of the game in favor of huge power and interesting gameplay patterns.
This is my attempt at making a “cool splashy card” that has a lot of play to it. I hope it delivers!
(the design was heavily influenced by my brother who enjoys cards like these)

Temporal Step | 1 Energy | Skill | Common

“Gain 12(16) Block. Time Sickness 1”

This card replaces Aegis as a big upfront Block card at common.

Synchronize | 2 Energy | Skill | Uncommon

“This card cost 1 Energy less for each time is have been played this combat. Gain 10(14) Block.”

This is supposed to help give a defensive pay-off to a more Buyback focused deck. If a player wants to build towards a strong free block option, Synchronize is it.

Take Flight | 1 Energy | Skill | Uncommon

“Gain 1 Flight. Exhaust (Exhaustive 2).”

Flagbearer was really hurting for a burst defensive option. Being able to gain flight should help on early turn aggressive encounters (lookin’ at you Spire Sentries)

Guardian Protocol | 1 Energy | Skill | Uncommon

“Gain 6(9) Block. Suspend – Add a Guardian Protocol(+) to your hand.”

A suspend skill option to replace Crystallize Flow’s slot. It was somewhat unclear how to convert extra Energy next turn into advantage when card draws are typically high variance.
Guardian Protocol aims to both be an immediate suspend skill that provides clear (card) advantage.

I will apologize as I feel like I’ve made a lot of random changes (kinda for fun) as popularity of the mod died down. I didn’t have many plans for the mod after 1.5.1 so I just saw this as simply having fun exploring random thoughts I had for cards and the Flagbearer.

There may be changes which are not listed here because I forgot I changed them, sorry!

Invoke Lightning now Devout Lightning
[1 Energy] Deal 5 damage. Suspend – Deal 5 damage. Increase this card’s damage by 1 (3).

Invoke Lightning was the little brother of Consuming Light. It was just supposed to be a simple damage dealing card that had suspend (for dimension walker / 2x str scaling) however usually ended up being lackluster beside other multi-hit attack options. It now features a scaling option for decks that more readily have “Buyback” options in the deck.

Sanctuary
“Cannot have attacked. Gain Block, ALL enemies gain Block.”
now
“Cannot have attacked this turn. You and ALL enemies cannot lose HP this turn. Exhaust (Exhaustive 2).”

Sanctuary was initially supposed to be the “reliable and strong” Block card. With many new block cards being added to Flagbearer, Sanctuary lost a bit of its identity. I’ll admit, I’ve wanted Sanctuary to look like this iteration for a long time but felt hesitant as a complete immunity skill may have risked over saturating the already strong Crowd Control suite available to the Flagbearer. However, it was brought to my attention that while the abilities already available to Flagbearer are good at giving more time, none are good at cycling enemy intent and reworked Sanctuary looks to give the “truest” burst defend of burst defends.

Inspiration / Fortress

Both Inspiration and Fortress buff changed to 1 Strength and 1 Dexterity respectively with exhaust on the un-upgraded versions and no exhaust on the upgraded versions.

These initially gave a flat bonus to attack and block respectively. However, it would usually prove to be less useful when compared to Aura Accel. I wanted to give scaling options that could at least compete somehow against Aura Accel if a player was looking for scaling and Inspiration and Fortress only scaling on the axis of buff duration meant that it was too close to the function of Aura Accel while not being notably more useful.

My hope is that both of these cards can provide a slower but much higher ceiling for scaling options. This is supposed to elaborate on a more “Buyback” focused theme. It may also only be necessary for players to want a simple cantrip type buff, in which case they can be left un-upgraded and exhausted.

Futuresight

No longer exhaust on use. Upgraded Scry down to 5.

Futuresight was a 0 mana card draw spell which went through a few iterations. It carried over exhaust as it changed from a more “Seek” style spell into a pure card draw spell. Flagbearer already has a burst card draw spell to “dig” for certain cards on the first reshuffle in Cantrip. The hope with Futuresight is to let it be a deck manipulation spell that can remain in the deck for value on multiple reshuffles.

It’s a 0 mana suspend skill that allows for superior selection even on subsequent reshuffles.

Seraphim Form

Gain Flight at the start of your turn  Gain 6(10) Feather.

Feather gives Flight as old Seraphim Form did but loses a stack down each turn.

This card had some contention from a design standpoint as most design patterns in Slay the Spire avoid the concept of “Stalling” out. Basically, when StS goes really slow, it feels quite slow. A big part of this is how enemies scale over the course of a fight in an attempt to make combat not overstay its welcome.

Seraphim Form would permanently give half damage which contributed to heavy stalling that was outside the expected bounds of combat length. Feather has been introduced to make Seraphim Form a finite effect. This is both to give value to upgrading the card and prevent it from lasting for too many turns.

Parallel Universe

Energy gain and Paradox removed.

Now upgrades card draw 1(2).

The purpose of Parallel Universe was to allow for instant activation of suspend effects, kind of like a “combo finisher” but for suspend effects. I initially had concerns that this card could too easily go infinite with cards like Reveal Leyline and Divination. However, the options to do so were actually quite limited and if Parallel Universe is supposed to be a satisfying combo element it can at least allow for multiple uses per turn.

Hopeful Plea

Upfront Upgraded Block changed from 3 to 5

Suspend Block changed from 10(?) to 7

This is still one of my favorite cards. However, 3 block is really low. I wanted to continue to make this card safer with the viable upgrade of more upfront block. I think I remember this being a technical limitation on a previous patch but a solution was found for it. It is also slightly nerfed (total block) to be brought in line with other defensive options.

Blessing

In my opinion, one of Flagbearer’s iconic buff spells. I carry large baggage as it was one of my
main spells in ye old ttrpg version of the Flagbearer.

It’s getting (nerfed, not really) by being changed to a skill with Purge. This is mostly to fix a bug that would not allow the card to be played while planted with Distilled Chaos. This only half worked as intended as the card would disappear but not apply it’s effects. By making it a skill some code allowed for the bugfix. (the same solution sadly didn’t work as a power)

Formless Rapier

Upgraded damage from 6 to 7

Small Formless Rapier buff because upgrading 2 damage is kinda weak. 3 is still weak but it’s nicer than 2.

Miracle

Suspend – Play the top card now Suspend – Scry 3 then play the top card

This card was bad. Like, quite bad. There were no effective ways to set it up, despite Flagbearer having so much scry in the deck. It had some technical limitations as a Suspend effect as it triggers around the draw phase. The most stable way to implement it functioned after draw which also meant any attempts to use scry effects synergistically would not work. So, at the recommendation of a viewer (thanks Cav) it just has Scry on the effect now. It should hopefully play a little better now.

Reveal Leyline

Changed from Rare to Uncommon

Reveal Leyline provided a fairly unique effect as a huge energy battery card. I initially thought that having a unique, primarily non-stat related effect would be perfect for a rare slot. However, similar to how I discuss later about Life Magic, it was simply too awkward of an effect to merit sacrificing another rare pick. It is now more accessible at Uncommon but, again, this effect is not always needed for a Flagbearer deck and can hopefully be a more comfortable “sometimes pick”.

Aegis Bash

Apply vulnerable from 2 to 2(3)

Small bash buff for my Aegis Bash homies :>


Converge Time
This was an X cost spell which was meant to provide Flagbearer with a mana sink when using cards like Upgraded Retrace and Reveal Leyline.
Over time, other cards which allowed for suspended mana gain such as Channel have been slowly removed. Even with those cards present, Converge Time was very difficult to set up with minimal pay off when other strong multi-hit cards like Seraphim Feathers exist.

Aegis / Light Blast
Parts of the Banner Magic suite of “higher statted” cards. I mentioned in a previous patch that it was likely these cards would stay as part of the character, offering brute force for players who need a specific and simple effect. However, most standard gameplay of the Flagbearer would still not include these as the “primarily planted” style is very hostile to these cards.
The only remaining non-buff related Banner Magic is Light Beam and will be watched for the time being. I still believe it’s the most pick-able of the bunch, showing well for early elite fights in act 1. However, I could picture a future patch without it.

Stop Time
This card was really cool on inception. It was meant to act as the current iteration of parallel universe but through stunning enemies. Somewhat also as a defensive tool to load up a few suspend effects and hopefully draw better on the “pseudo time walk” turn.
Practically, this was very rarely the case. It was very risky to pick and basically only used in Runic Pyramid decks. The card also read like word soup in the most recent iteration and felt like a trap pick.

Mystical Aura
The defensive version of Recall Detonate. A lot of standard runs of Flagbearer will include acquiring at least one Aura card, as they are readily available and quite powerful in their function. Unfortunately, this means that this card ended up as a pretty frequent auto pick for Block on Flagbearer. Mystical Aura could effectively out-scale other defensive options, providing a 3x Block multiplier with the inclusion of 1 aura in a Flagbearer deck and it only gets better with the inclusion of more.
A big part of the 2.0 update was to elaborate on Flagbearer’s defensive options and I felt Mystical Aura had to go to allow for other cards to shine.

Life Magic
This card has been part of Flagbearer for a very long time. It was initially in order to counteract life loss due to the original implementation of Time Sickness (like, pre-alpha). I kept it around because it was a fairly unique effect, mirroring the utility from Defect’s Self-Repair card. However, similar to Reveal Leyline’s downgrade to Uncommon, it was hard to ever pick Life Magic when it was beside much more playable/synergistic rares.
It was a low synergy card, that was okay at best, so it’s finally being removed to make space for other cards.

Crystallize Flow
This card had been mostly overshadowed by the other defensive options of Flagbearer. It was usually hard to find a reason to pick Crystallize Flow for it’s niche, generating a Focus. It was removed to make room for new defense cards.

It was a big update this time around for 2.0! Once again, I hope these changes continue to reflect the kind of gameplay that I appreciate in card games and add depth to the defense suite of Flagbearer.

As always, thank you very much for playing Flagbearer!

Feels kinda weird to say this is a 3.0 update, so we're not doing that! There are a bunch of card changes though. Hope you enjoy!

New cards to Flagbearer 2.1. There are some additional card which have been changed or replaced other cards (effective also new cards) which will be under the “changed cards” header.

Time Fissure
Deal 6 (9) Damage
Suspend – Gain 1 Energy and draw 1 card.

Echoing Heartbeat
Retain. Pulse 2 times. Exhaust.

This is the token card produced by Sapphire Heart. It was unfortunate to lose value just because you didn’t start the combat planted.

This patch combines most of the “Gain Strength and Dexterity” effects into one buff called “Inspiration”. This was mostly to save space on cards (and Inspiration, sounds thematic and cool)

Cards which were changed, and their gameplay has been notably changed.

Inspiration
Banner Magic. Gain 1 Inspiration. Exhaust. (Removes Exhaust)

Inspiration now gives both Strength and Dexterity. Fortress has been retired.
Fortress was always a tough one because it seemed quite strong when it was used but Flagbearer definitely has a problem with going too slow sometimes. Thus, the Dexterity scaling didn’t help much. Inspiration now combines both with the primary focus being Strength with Dexterity stapled onto it.
 
Grasp Fate
Draw 4 (5). Time Sickness 2 (1)
| Now Discard your deck. Draw cards from discard until your hand is full. Time Sickness 2 (1). Exhaust.
Grasp Fate is being buffed in service of facilitating more explosive turns. It is now effectively Scrawl but sets up the discard pile for any related discard pile effects.

Aura Accel
1 Energy - (effectively) Aura gain 2 Aura: Might, draw 1 card
| Now 1 (0) Energy - Aura. When the flag is planted Gain 1 Temporary Inspiration and draw 1 card.

Aura Accel has historically been a strong card. I felt like Flagbearer needed the old version of this card to function but was one of the most auto-pick cards on the character. New Aura Accel is still quite strong but hopefully presents more of an opportunity cost for decks that aren’t heavy into stance dance.

Reveal Leyline
Add a Focus (+) to your hand Suspend – Gain 2 (3) energy.
| Now Suspend - Gain 3 (4) energy.

Now is a lot more upfront with it’s effect at lower investment. 3 energy is also a good sweet spot for helping with chunky Flagbearer scaling.

Consuming Light / Maintain Light
2 Energy – Deal (some) damage. Add a Maintain Light (+) to your hand.
| Now 1 Energy – Deal 8 (11) damage. Add a Maintain Light (+) to your hand.
| Maintain Light 1 Energy – Suspend – Deal 8 (11) damage. Add a Maintain Light (+) to your hand.

Making Consuming Light a little more lean. Is now effective Flagbearer’s “X” card (no X synergies though, sad).

Parallel Universe
| Now Retain, Activate all Suspend effects immediately. Gain 1 Energy for each effect activated.

This has always been a weird card that never quite worked. So, I am now over-tuning it to hope it does it's job. I noticed that the main result of playing this card will often be more cards. As such, it now produces energy to help combo-y suspend decks to keep going.

Pillars of Light
(Deal damage based on cards missing in hand)
| Now For each card in your hand deal 3 (5) damage.

I experimented with removing this card due to the problems it created in Flagbearer’s early game. However, I realized that Flagbearer still (similar to other characters) needs some way to convert advantage into damage for card play restricting fights such as Time Eater and The Heart.

I also thought pretty hard on what the “downside” of this card should be. Interestingly, I recognised that Storm of Steel and Fiend Fire have downsides which are basically just synergy enablers for their respective characters. As such, I felt like Pillars of Light, in order to work with the character’s kit, is simply dependent on hand size and needs to not change or discard hand size to function with the rest of Flagbearer’s kit.

Blessing (Skill) | Now Aura: Blessing (Power)
Banner Magic. Gain 4 (6) Strength and Dexterity.
| Now Aura. At the start of your turn, gain 1 Inspiration. (Gain 2 Inspiration)

Sadly, another banner magic falls. Interestingly, Blessing on multiple occasions, despite being a Demon Form adjacent card (in terms of scaling) would simply not win encounters when played correctly. I find this very funny but also not congruent with how I wanted the card to function. Aura: Blessing now offers a clear way to “turn the corner” by synergizing all the durdly cards with an infinite scaling card.
(I will note that I specifically want to watch this card and may need to revert it in the future)

March of Time
… Each card play has Time Sickness 1
|Now Scry 3 (5). Buyback the top 4 (6) cards of your discard, they cost 0 this turn. Time Sickness 3. Exhaust.

March did approximately what I intended the card to do. However, while the initial downside was very flavorful it was way too harsh. Often times Flagbearer, through using March, would play much more than the cards bought back with March. I didn’t want, what was effectively playing the card correctly, to further punish the player.

Drain Time
The target loses 4 (6) HP. Heal that much HP. Exhaust.
| Now The target loses 4 HP. Heal that much HP. Time Sickness 2 (1). Exhaust.

This card was quite strong in combination with Flagbearer’s scaling suite. I added the downside of Time Sickness, so the card is not as auto-pickable or at least presents some play / opportunity cost in fights.

Grimoire
Removed exhaust. Other deck size manipulation cards frequently do not self-exhaust. I felt like the benefits of being able to re-use Grimoire would create interesting gameplay and effective buff the card.

Divine Reckoning
Moved to Uncommon, replacing Lightning Spear as AoE card. Damage reduced to 7.

Rip Time
Move to common, nerfed 1 damage.

Cards where the numbers on them have been updated.

Holy Essence
Whenever you are attacked, ALL enemies lose 3 (5) HP
| Now Whenever you are attacked, ALL enemies lose 5 (8) HP

Divine Flash
Gain 6 (7) Block, deal 2 (3) Suspend – deal 2 (3) damage
| Now Gain 6 Block, deal 2 (4) Suspend – deal 2 (4) damage

Sacred Ground
Pulse deals 2 (3)… | Now Pulse deals 3 (4)

Synchronize
Gain 10 (14) block | Now gain 12 (16)

Excalibur
Notes relevant text for Inspiration scaling. Functionally works the same.

Shelter
Shelter was very rarely pickable. It was cool to convert super durdly decks into infinite blocking machines (phalanx/pulse strategies) but the effect is ultimately too niche so it has been removed.

Twin Slash
This card and Chaser shared a similar role as being a decent upfront damage card in the early game. It was removed to make space for other cards.

Lightning Spear
See above, Divine Reckoning.

Inspiration (old) and Fortress
See above, Inspiration.

Inspiration Potion
Gain 3 attack damage and 3 additional block from cards for 2 turns
| Now Gain 1 Inspiration.

Updating this potion to work more similarly to its namesake card.