Slay the Spire

Slay the Spire

The Buxom [UPDATE!]
Daydric 3 Apr, 2024 @ 5:44pm
An interesting character, but difficult.
(I used a translator, so please forgive me if the sentence is strange.)

It seems like there are three main mechanics for this character: the Voluptuous/Exposed build, which uses a large chest for powerful attacks, or the Repair build, which balances chest size and bra size for efficient combat, and the Chibi build, which has a lot of utility in terms of stacking and clearing status effects.

The problem with this is that it's very difficult to create a build that specializes in either.
For some reason, I get the impression that the cards related to the Voluptuous/Exposed builds are long and cumbersome to stack: in addition to losing all of the defense, the cards that give temporary health are not very effective, or most of the draw cards have removal attached to them, so cards that generate status effects are essential. The problem seems to be that even though the builds are meant to be aggressive, they have limited means to address defense and health depletion.
Also, the Repair build is a good defensive build, but the lack of offensive cards makes it a parallel to the Exposed build.
Finally, the Aberrant/Chibi build was the most complete and stable, as it didn't have to worry about voluptuousness and was able to pack a lot of damage with a single offensive card.
However, this build wasn't perfect either, as it was very easy to get out of whack in terms of energy supply and management and hand rotation.

The upside of Buxom is that the cards offer a lot of bang for the buck, but the downside is that the cards are hard to link together, so it's best to play as a hybrid rather than specializing in a specific build. The overall balance of energy and cost is unstable, and there is a tendency to over-rely on removal at the expense of having good draw cards.
The main mechanic could use some more thought on the benefits of keeping a bra versus fighting exposed.
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BaeronBubba 24 Jun, 2024 @ 3:05am 
Yeah, the builds don't have any recovery to them, as well as the initial Attack and Defense cards do not scale at all. As soon as you hit Area 2, the starter cards are mostly useless and can cost you the game just by drawing them.

The other standard characters have effects that scale as they collect something during play, whether that be a count of cards, or the number of permanent energy from their local relics.

So to fix this, the starting cards in Buxom either need a way to "Evolve" into new cards (an event could upgrade them all in theory), or the player needs to somehow have 5 energy going into Area 2. Using a boss relic is not good because doing something like preventing the upgrade at campfires destroys the run entirely, instead of making it 'more challenging'.

As for healing... It might be interesting if cards that reduced Buxom also gave HP heals to about half the value they remove.

Runs currently need a bit of "survival" or "faster ramping" because you either hit a build that lets you go all the way to the end, or you flounder as soon as you reach Area 2.
Bounce management after this new update is an absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ nightmare for voluptuous builds. If you pass ~40 buxom you get flooded with so much Bounce you'll be killed before you can draw a useful card unless you happen to also be maxing Milk already to absorb damage. Such a bad idea. I really really wish they'd make old versions available.
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