Slay the Spire has become a bit of a force in gaming recently and it’s not surprising as to why: It’s a game that’s simple on the surface, yet has a ton of complexity and replayability.
For me personally, I thoroughly enjoy the mastery involved in trying to build an efficient deck with picks being almost completely random. On top of that, the item/relic management involved and the merchant both add an extra layer of strategy if you want to hit the third act and kill the spire boss.
Of course, the game has been out for a while now, and with the addition of mod-support by the devs, it’s no surprise that there’s been a ton of interesting and fun mods. Some mods are character mods and give you a few new options as compared to the 4 characters that come with the base model. Yet other mods are similar to total-overhaul mods which add everything from new cards to new mob types.
Before you go jumping into this wonderful world though, there are some base mods you have to get before you can get some other mods to work. BaseMod and ModTheSpire are two simple ones that you can get on the steam community and just subscribe to. StSLib is a bit more complicated and requires you to play around with the game files, although it’s relatively straightforward, so anybody can do it.
Once you have those three mods installed, pretty much any mod will work with your game, whether it’s the ones below or ones you find in the steam community workshop. Nonetheless, always make sure that a mod you’re going to install isn’t going to cause issues with any other mods and that you have all its dependencies.
Utility Mods
#1 Coloured Map
One thing that has always been kind of annoying is how simply colored the map is, and sometimes it makes it a bit hard to actually see all the paths at a glance. Colored map fixes this glaring issue by making each icon a unique color, so you can just look and see where exactly you want to go. In fact, this mod even allows you to set your own colors for different icons, so you don’t have to stare at an annoying color that hurts your eyes.
It may seem like a simple mod, but it’s actually incredibly helpful when it comes to planning routes.
#2 Highlight Paths
Another similar mod to the one above, and it does exactly what’s written on the box; it allows you to highlight specific paths. That way, you don’t have to be constantly trying retrace your plan and you can just focus on powering through.
Unfortunately though, unlike the previous mod you can’t change the color of the marker, so you’re sort of stuck with the purpleish marker that the mod comes with.
Character Mods
#3 The Slimebound
One enemy that can somehow be both annoying and pretty easy is the slime. One the one hand, if you have a ton of damage or you can time it just right, you can split the slime before it gets to attack you. On the other, once it does split, you now have more enemies to deal with than you had before.
Of course, naturally, somebody went and created a slime character mod for you to play with. Not only that, but it completely functions like a slime as well, complete with splitting when you reach half health and the ability to absorb yourself again to heal up. This mod even adds all the tricks you see slime throw at you such as corrosive spit and goop sprays. In fact, there’s a total of 75 new cards added with this mod.
So if you’re looking to conquer the spire as a slime, this is the mod for you.
#4 The Snek
Unsurprisingly, slimes aren’t the only enemy to feature in their own character mod, and the snecko also makes an appearance. Also, it’s just as chaotic as you can imagine.
For those who are unfamiliar, the snecko randomizes the cost of cards so even your single point cards can cost dozens, or none, or whatever the heck the snecko feels like! Well, that exact chaos comes to this new character, with every single character changing cost every single fight . . . . and every single turn. If you think you’re a master tactician, good luck trying to get around this complete and utter chaos, because you’re not gonna have an easy time of it.
Aside from the random point-cost chaos, The Snek character mod adds a sort of ‘mystery card’ that can spontaneously turn into attack or skill cards. These mystery cards also add multipliers to certain cards, depending on how many of these mystery cards you have in your deck. So really, you can test your skill by going completely random if you wish.
Good luck! (you’re gonna need it)
#5 The Animator
While at face value this character addition might seem a bit . . . weird, considering it’s very anime-focused, it’s actually surprisingly fleshed out, probably as much as any top-tier mod.
Since this is a very anime-centric mod, the cards are all based on anime shows, a total of 14 spanning 160 cards. Not only that, but the playing cards within the same show provides a bunch of synergies and bonuses, so there’s lots of incentive to specialize in specific shows. Even more than that is the thematic element to the decks, so for example, one punch man cards tend to be a bit more hard-hitting but also cost more.
You also get your own progression system which is pretty interesting, plus a whopping 26 new relics to play around with. Of course, it is true that this mod is slightly easier than vanilla Slay the Spire, but that’s leveled out by the option fifth act which you can join. To get in, you have to sacrifice all your relics, so if your deck isn’t top-notch and you haven’t mastered it, then you’re going to have a pretty hard time of it.
All in all it’s a pretty interesting character mod that adds a bunch of fun complexity to the game. Also, anime, which is also pretty fun.
#6 The Servant
If you’re a fan of the Touhou franchise of games, then this mod is probably right up your alley, as the main character here is Sakuya. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then know that Touhou is a bullet-hell, shoot’em up with a bit of a metroidvania slant. It’s a great little game if you want to check it out.
What makes this character really stand out is just the overall quality and effort put into it, which isn’t surprising when you consider this is the first ever character mod. The cards are slick and very detailed, and you can find pretty much every attack from Sakuya in them.
Where it gets interesting though is that Sakuya is very much all about turn order and moving cards around. You have a lot of abilities and relics that allow you to resurrect cards from your discard pile and play them immediately, and like some of the most perfect fights, you can have dozens of attacks in just one round.
Of course, that tends to make you a little bit OP, although the balance is that it takes a bit of time to actually get Sakuya to that point, and you’ll be struggling a bit until you do.
If you like a bit more of an intense character with lots of build-up, The Servant is probably your best option.
#7 The Disciple
A very . . . . time-based character, the Disciple is all about timing your cards to chain a variety of synergies, so mastering your deck is almost a prerequisite with playing this character well. Along with the standard cards you’d expect with this type of character, such as temporary and long term buffs, there’are also cards that are even able to push a mob forward in their turn. So essentially, you could skip over an attack that could potentially kill you.
Much like The Servant, The Disciple is really well polished, such as the clock-themed cards that are thematically awesome. Similarly, there’s a considerable effort put into balancing the cards, the relics, and the general skills involved here, so you never feel as if you’re too overpowered or weak. This isn’t something you in the majority of fan-created mods, so it’s nice to have that as well.
All in all, though, The Servant and The Disciple are very similar in regards to effort put in to create them, and their level of quality. The big differentiator is how you go about playing, whether it’s a slow burn with an insane ramp at the end, or subtle mastery of timing and card usage. Either way, The Disciple is a must-play character mod.
Other Mods
#8 Shop Mod
I’m almost 100% certain you’ve run into the same exact issue I’ve had: You have too many relics that are nearly completely useless. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating the ‘too many’ part, but certainly there are relics that you have to accept that aren’t always useful.
Well, thankfully you can force that rubbish onto somebody else with this mod, and that somebody is the merchant. It’s a pretty straightforward mod all things told, although I certainly love the fact that to unlock selling, you have to buy the merchants rug from under them. Even better, once you do, they appear the rest of the game sitting on the cold, stone floor.
Ha! Take that merchant!
. . . . ok, I might feel a little bad about that.
#9 Challenge The Spire
Another pretty straightforward mod, this adds a few new extra challenges to Slay the Spire . . . you know, for if you’re already bored of the challenges that are already there.
The first two challenges are essentially variations of the same thing: Boss rush and Elite rush. You get a bunch of gold, and a couple of relics, and depending on what you chose, you only run into bosses and elites. It’s a pretty intense thing, which is made even more intense by the fact that you can ramp each up to three level difficulties high.
I don’t know, maybe you’re a masochist.
Anyway, the third type is a bit more fun and meant to be a little ‘up yours’ to the infamous bad advice that any Twitch chat always gives; Sneaky Strike. Basically, this loads up your deck with Sneaky Strike at almost every opportunity, including in the middle treasure room, the camp before the boss, and as an option with every reward screen. Your job is basically to finish the game with as many Sneaky Strikes as you can.
#10 vexMod
While the art-style of the stuff added with vexMod isn’t exactly show-stopping, it belays a much more interesting interior that will make your game tons more fun.
For starters, you have 6 new cards, most of which are meta and weird. One example is the tweet card, which will tweet out when you use it to kill an enemy. Another example is a card whose effect changes depending on what day of the week it is. Yet another interface with a Twitch bot. It’s literally a mixed bag of weird and wonderful.
Adding on to that is a bunch of that is a whopping 94 new relics, 5 new events, and a few new elites and bosses, so there’s a lot of extra content added here. Unfortunately, it can be a bit unbalanced here and there, but for the most part, it’s still a ton of fun.
So if you want a mod that just mixes things up a bit without any clear specific goal, this is probably the one to go for.
#11 Replay The Spire
If you like what vexMod has to offer but want something a little more polished, then Replay the Spire is the mod you should be looking at. Much like the previous mod on the list, it adds a bunch of cards, relics, elites/bosses, and things of that nature. Unfortunately, things aren’t as esoteric like in vexMod, but they are well made and balanced.
You also get some new starting options and some interesting deals in the shops which should make your shopping more fun.
What really stands out with Replay the Spire though, is how many other Spire mods it integrates with, a whopping 17, including The Disciple and The Servant. Obviously, trying to stack so many mods and integrations can certainly cause issues, so try not to go too overboard with that feature.
Replay the Spire is a great sort of all-in-one mod that’s polished and takes a bunch of other mods into account. If you want an overall revamp of the game, this is the mod to go for.
#12 Googly Eyes
Ok, admittedly I added this mod to the list because I think it’s incredibly funny. It does exactly what it says on the box; it adds googly eyes to everything, and I mean literally everything.
Whether it’s the static on-screen characters or mob that you’re fighting, they all get a pair of googly eyes that go crazy at every jiggle. Even some cards and relics where eyes would apply get the treatment, so there’s always a pair of funny-looking peekers around the corner.
I will warn you, though, if you go with this mod you might find it hard to take some bosses seriously. Regardless, it’s a fun little mod if you just want to blow some steam and enjoy yourself.
Conclusion
As you can see, there’s an absolute ton of interesting and fun mods to try out for Slay the Spire, which is great if you’ve already played the base game a hundred times over. So whether you go for a new character, or just want to add some extra utility to your game, I wish you the best of luck modding!
Oh, and try not to crash your game too hard.
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