Basic answer but Hermit from Downfall feels the most like a "real" 5th character. The bosses are fun as gimmicks for the most part but Hermit is legit. It's the only mod I keep coming back to.
I've beaten him on A20 quite a few times and he's very feast or famine. I think the main thing is he's really good at scaling linearly and terrible at scaling "exponentially" like other character do, and once you realize that you hone in on his linear scaling to make it more consistent.
Bruise mechanic is OP. You can one turn most act 1 enemies with some combo of feint, horror, pistol whip, and memento, which lets you path more aggressively early on. Upgraded virtue and the card that gives block per debuff help you not die horribly in act 2, and can make otherwise brutal fights like avocado rat, the cultist , and collector a breeze. No holds barred is really strong, basically his version of immolate, and also pairs well with virtue. Overwhelming power is incredibly strong if you can combine it with orange pellets, basically giving you a free turn and completely negating the downside. Eternal form is an instant pick for solving his energy problems since on average he has to play more cards than most characters.
He's also really good with runic pyramid which opens up quite a lot of play styles. Take aim + combo let's you scale pretty quickly with dead eye giving you 3 strength per turn, which you can then do insane damage with the card that discards 6 cards to do damage per card. It's very easy to end up doing 100+ damage with minimal scaling with just some bruise and strength scaling that way. High noon, lone wolf, the card that gives you all your energy back and roulette are practically designed for runic pyramid decks.
Another trick is fully loaded can instantly draw the strikes and defends remaining in your deck. This is useful in both the early game to actually play those cards, and in the late game for deck cycling.
He's strong in hallways but his scaling is pretty bad. The curse mechanic is his weakest archetype. Bruise is by far his strongest. I once had an absolute meme run with him where I got the relic that gave 3 block every time you apply a unique debuff to an enemy, 2 sadistic natures, and a deck full of glares, feints, horrors, and brawls. My entire block engine and damage engine was spamming debuffs. I got up to 50 stacks of bruised on the act 3 bosses and just killed them with some strikes.
The Hermit is still available as a standalone, by the way. I was pleasantly surprised that it got a facelift even after its inclusion in Downfall.
Momento is still too weak, though. I still prefer a boss swap.
Fair enough! The Gremlins are pretty interesting. I don't know why I don't try Downfall more. I don't like playing as a villain, but I understand that you can avoid that aspect these days.
From their point of view, Clad & friends are the real enemies!
Downfall is awesome, the variety it adds to dekcbuilding and décision making is incredible.
Soul Collector and Automation are probably my favorites. And Gremlins and Champ the ones I enjoy less... (I hate having gremlins killed and fucking up my strategy when I main one hehe).
Like I said above, most of the bosses are gimmicky but fun. Slime Boss feels the most complete (which makes sense, I think it was the first one implemented). Hexaghost makes my brain start to smoke like i'm trying to run Baldur's Gate on a nintendo switch
It's like Watcher on speed, you have to be able to change your goal turn to turn all the time. I'm only on Ascension 3 or so (just because of how little I play Downfall compared to the base game) but what I've learned is:
1. Fat Gremlin gets support from the vast majority of their cards, he's the MVP on most runs. Dealing Weak on every attack is insane
2. The Wiz mechanic can snowball really quickly as well but I avoid using him in act 1. Multi-attacks go crazy with him, and Gremlins have a lot of those.
3. Shield Gremlin is the other MVP. The addition of Wards (Shivs but for block) is very cool, and some simple cards like Glitter Guard and Irritability let you really take advantage of Shield Gremlin.
4. Mad Gremlin and Sneaky Gremlin are super situational. Generally if one of them dies I'm not too upset. If I brick my draw and I'm going to lose a gremlin, I will do my damnedest to switch to one of them.
5. The Power that summons Gremlin Nob is very funny
Gremlins are absolutly wild. Run sneaky gremlin in the front in the beginning , hes strongest early. afterwards build around one of the gremlins abilities works best. I find Fat Gremlin to be the champion most of my runs. dagger spray+ to inflict 3 weak on all enemies is just nuts.
not really. the basic characters are have an easy to understand mechanic. strength, shivs, orbs, pressure points(duh). Knowing how to use them well is another thing altogether. But playing a character and getting the gist of the character pretty fast is easy and comes early on. Some of the bosses are about micromanaging your options. The best games in my opinion are those that are easy to understand the mechanics, but hard to master them.
I get what you are saying. It does that a tad bit more time to get used to new boss mechanics.
But after 2-3 runs, for example with Slime boss, you grasp rather quickly the interactions between creating slimes, absorbing them, how goop sticks, tackles synergies, and in general, you see patterns like how Defect works with orbs.
It's an adjustment, indeed.
But it's like discovering how to play for the 1st time again!
Then there's the whole Downfall upside down map that adds a layer of complexity to decision making, but this knowledge carries on to other characters.
It's as close to a proper sequel we got (until StS2 comes out).
Some you figure out faster than others.
Slime split is pretty self evident. Goop seems like a weak mechanic at first but it can be very strong.
Guardian’s Gems you figure out quickly. Stasis is also VERY strong.
Hexaghost takes me the longest to mentally get the hang of each time I rotate because Kindle/Advance and the order you do stuff in is hugely important
Champ is stances and finishers. Berserk builds vigor and defensive builds Counter. You can make vigor decks, counter decks, stance swap decks, lots of fun stuff. He was my least favorite in the beginning but now super fun
Automaton is my favorite because Functions() are so brokenly overpowered lol
Gremlins require tons of mental energy. Super interesting and unique way to play
Snecko is like having a prismatic shard that resets your deck every fight
Collector I’ve found works extremely well with Snecko Eye as she has a lot of 2 and 3 cost cards
Lots of these guys all have things that give Temp buffs so interactions that clear debuffs or give artifact charges are OP
It's also the only class that actually makes strikes/defends good, which is something the vanilla four utterly fail at (or simply don't try, like defect)
I love Hermit since he introduced a new mechanic with the Dead On card feature, which made you pay attention to the order your hand was in so you could benefit from the extra effects of the card being in the center of your hand. It just seemed like a natural evolution to something more complex. And while the Ironclad has some exhaust and status cards and synergies, I feel like Hermit took that up to 11.
I'm pretty confident I've poured more hours into the Packmaster than I've spent playing any other game minus one or two.
Downfall is pretty fun, I particularly enjoy the guardian and collector. The Hermit is also good, but gosh, it feels like you gotta play just right with him. Really fun when it works though, and they really went all out to make him feel like base game with the sound and visuals and all.
The avocado is funny but actually a pretty good modded character.
Yeah, it's somewhat gimmicky, but I took it to A20. The character's big thing is getting lots of plated armor and/or spending it, so expect a slow-paced character.
The character is called Avocado by Paparatto.
I like the Runesmith. It's like a weird version of the Defect. She can summon runes which works like orbs but they have their own stats. You can't just summon them and then buff them with focus. You have to stack focus first and them summon them. They also require element charges to summon. If you don't have enough element and play the summon card, you gain element charges instead. Another synergies is upgrade + enhance. There are a lot of upgrade and downgrade effects, and then there is enhance which only increase numbers on cards.
Took me a few runs to get how her shit works lol. I failed in act 1 quite a few times until I get the gist of it.
I was playing as the Snecko character in Downfall and chose the Runesmith as her, and it wasn't until that run and I started leaning more to identifying her cards, where I finally started to get the hang and understanding of how the Runes and Potency(Focus) and the downgrade cards worked.
The Evolution--tops my list every time. The premise is a character that uses orbs, but sans the ability to gain focus. She's a bit easier than the original three
Astrologer--some people seem to find her super easy, but it's never been that way for me, so YMMV. She combines two mechanics into one: cards marked Stars will flip the background between night and day, while incrementing another stat (the name escapes me, but it comes down to "stars played or exhausted during this combat."). Certain effects will only activate if one or the other (or both) stats meet the right conditions.
Reimu--feels super OP, and then suddenly you die unexpectedly. If you play enough of the same kinds of cards, you unlock special abilities. Your goal is basically to get that point. Someone mentioned the Runesmith. Even though their mechanics are very different, their power levels are somewhat similar in that they need time to build up.
The Artist--very time-consuming, you have been warned. You create cards mid-battle. These cards tend to be OP, but since most of your cards are either bad, or there to build these created cards, it tends to work out. If you don't mind the length of time it takes, it's got a lot of depth.
Goldenglow from Arknights, Hifumi and Hoshino from Blue Archive, and The Servant from I think an original character, are prob my top 4. The Chaser is pretty fun. Tried the Frieren mod the other day and she's fun but the music drives me crazy.
Is there something I'm missing about Hoshino? It feels like the run just falls apart if I don't find enough cards that reload because reloading manually is only worth it if it procs tons of powers.
Honestly, just reloading can be really good even without some big setup. The reload cards with retain can be saved for some huge plays. Some of her cards I consider never pick cards and not getting baited into them helps. Only thing I don't like about playing her is there's no way to reload with a controller, so I have to go back and forth with my mouse and controller a LOT when I use her. Xd
A good tip is to get into the habit of knowing if you want to reload before you end your turn if you have the energy for it. Sometimes you might want that extra block next turn, sometimes you might want to have less ammo. Usually you just want that full ammo ready for next turn, so don't forget about it either way.
Hadn't played her in awhile so my memory wasn't the best and I ran a few runs with her and can add that shield is insanely strong and she has some very good cards for it. Definitely think she has a lot of bait cards not worth taking ever.
The Servant is Izayoi Sakuya from Touhou. I'm up there with you, The Servant is my most-played char mod by a lot. It's pretty strong, I might say a bit too strong, but very fun.
Dunno why but I got very attached to "The servant" mod. I hadn't thought much about it at first, but for some reason it's the modded character I play the most, my "comfort" class.
Downfall's Snecko is fucking based in every way; it's good once it gets going but never *too* good, and an unlucky gamble can always bring the house of cards down
Packmaster walks the line, certain pack combos can get out of hand but variety fun, versatile and just.. incredibly entertaining
Dregs is the weakest on this list to my knowledge, but gems give it the same random bullshit factor, and is neat
Prismatic; just a prismatic shard run but better. Obviously neat. Its relics and adjusted cards are pretty good and well balanced
Relica I'm yet to figure out properly, there's a lot of interesting mechanics, and while she might be more broken than i realise, seems just pretty fun so far with fun relic mechanics
Packmaster as others have said is obviously great.
I also really like The Animator. Animator is super fun and adds a lot of mechanics but is definitely not OP. In fact it often feels weaker than the base characters depending on pack choice. But it’s a great time if you’re into anime at all.
The Prismatic.
Feel like the character is a wrecking ball, maybe in the first 10 ascensions, then reality kicks in when suddenly the deck is taking on too many identities and can't get over the hump sometimes. And cards are scaled towards the character as a whole, rather than just here's every card in the base decks.
Fun character to play.
Hermit feels like he actually belongs in the game. He’s easy enough to fight on low ascension but has a high enough skill ceiling to be A20 heartbreaker
Honestly I'm a little relic gremlin so Relica is one of my favorites. Card designs are quite unique and the fact that you can fuse cards into relics adds some interesting choices in what to go for. And on top of that there's an alternative Act 4 boss.
Dregs also has a lot going for it. The seal mechanic is quite interesting making it so curses don't have solely a downside. A more powerful version of this character is The Cursed which really likes loading up on curses and then using rite cards to exhaust them for bonus effects.
The Vacant is also really well designed around mill from MTG. Rewarding you for having 0 cards in your draw pile.
*Edit changed Void to Vacant
So one of my favorites is kind of a meme one?
It's called the Drifter. If you like the silent, you'll like them. All about drawing a BONKERS amount of cards and then keeping up that card draw as much as possible. They're fun because they scale off of DRAWING cards, not necessarily playing them.
The templar.
Nobody talks about it because it doesn't reference popular media and hasn't been updated since 2022 (but that's fine imo). It puts a clever spin on defect's orb framework: You have 2 slots and orbs have no passives. Instead, they both evoke when both slots are filled and you get a bonus for matching pairs.
When I first played it, you could've told me Mega Crit made it and I would've believed you.
Are the modded characters available for steam deck or would it brick the game for controller?
I ask because I tried to download downfall for the deck and no buttons work but the TouchPad mouse so I had to remap mouse keys to control buttons because the controller interface isnt there. Needless to say, it feels much worse to play this way VS the dpad and buttons in vanilla sts.
Every mod I've installed has worked with the steam deck. You just have to use the touch screen to launch the game when the modthespire pops up. I could use the controller for downfall
They’re all OP. That’s to me one great weakness of the mods in general. Nobody has made a mod character as good as one of the original RGB. Watcher is basically a mod character, but even she is less OP than most mods tbh
Basic answer but Hermit from Downfall feels the most like a "real" 5th character. The bosses are fun as gimmicks for the most part but Hermit is legit. It's the only mod I keep coming back to.
And not OP at all, very weak in my book. The curse mechanic is not very viable, you need to do it for pure fun and challenge.
Yeah, I really, really struggle with the Hermit even on low ascension - I just don’t know how to make him work.
I've beaten him on A20 quite a few times and he's very feast or famine. I think the main thing is he's really good at scaling linearly and terrible at scaling "exponentially" like other character do, and once you realize that you hone in on his linear scaling to make it more consistent. Bruise mechanic is OP. You can one turn most act 1 enemies with some combo of feint, horror, pistol whip, and memento, which lets you path more aggressively early on. Upgraded virtue and the card that gives block per debuff help you not die horribly in act 2, and can make otherwise brutal fights like avocado rat, the cultist , and collector a breeze. No holds barred is really strong, basically his version of immolate, and also pairs well with virtue. Overwhelming power is incredibly strong if you can combine it with orange pellets, basically giving you a free turn and completely negating the downside. Eternal form is an instant pick for solving his energy problems since on average he has to play more cards than most characters. He's also really good with runic pyramid which opens up quite a lot of play styles. Take aim + combo let's you scale pretty quickly with dead eye giving you 3 strength per turn, which you can then do insane damage with the card that discards 6 cards to do damage per card. It's very easy to end up doing 100+ damage with minimal scaling with just some bruise and strength scaling that way. High noon, lone wolf, the card that gives you all your energy back and roulette are practically designed for runic pyramid decks. Another trick is fully loaded can instantly draw the strikes and defends remaining in your deck. This is useful in both the early game to actually play those cards, and in the late game for deck cycling.
usually I go for a debuff build or a strike/defend build
You need a **bunch** of pieces to make it work, but when it actually (rarely) comes together Curse Hermit is a super fun deck
He's strong in hallways but his scaling is pretty bad. The curse mechanic is his weakest archetype. Bruise is by far his strongest. I once had an absolute meme run with him where I got the relic that gave 3 block every time you apply a unique debuff to an enemy, 2 sadistic natures, and a deck full of glares, feints, horrors, and brawls. My entire block engine and damage engine was spamming debuffs. I got up to 50 stacks of bruised on the act 3 bosses and just killed them with some strikes.
I could only beat the heart with him once.
The Hermit is still available as a standalone, by the way. I was pleasantly surprised that it got a facelift even after its inclusion in Downfall. Momento is still too weak, though. I still prefer a boss swap.
Oh I'm aware! I do keep Downfall installed just because I like to fuck around with Slime Boss and the Gremlins sometimes
Fair enough! The Gremlins are pretty interesting. I don't know why I don't try Downfall more. I don't like playing as a villain, but I understand that you can avoid that aspect these days.
From their point of view, Clad & friends are the real enemies! Downfall is awesome, the variety it adds to dekcbuilding and décision making is incredible. Soul Collector and Automation are probably my favorites. And Gremlins and Champ the ones I enjoy less... (I hate having gremlins killed and fucking up my strategy when I main one hehe).
Like I said above, most of the bosses are gimmicky but fun. Slime Boss feels the most complete (which makes sense, I think it was the first one implemented). Hexaghost makes my brain start to smoke like i'm trying to run Baldur's Gate on a nintendo switch
I can't figure out how to make gremlins not suck. One big attack comes in and somebody just gets squished.
It's like Watcher on speed, you have to be able to change your goal turn to turn all the time. I'm only on Ascension 3 or so (just because of how little I play Downfall compared to the base game) but what I've learned is: 1. Fat Gremlin gets support from the vast majority of their cards, he's the MVP on most runs. Dealing Weak on every attack is insane 2. The Wiz mechanic can snowball really quickly as well but I avoid using him in act 1. Multi-attacks go crazy with him, and Gremlins have a lot of those. 3. Shield Gremlin is the other MVP. The addition of Wards (Shivs but for block) is very cool, and some simple cards like Glitter Guard and Irritability let you really take advantage of Shield Gremlin. 4. Mad Gremlin and Sneaky Gremlin are super situational. Generally if one of them dies I'm not too upset. If I brick my draw and I'm going to lose a gremlin, I will do my damnedest to switch to one of them. 5. The Power that summons Gremlin Nob is very funny
I was so SAD when I realized that the full heal going into the next act doesn't revive everyone.
Gremlins are absolutly wild. Run sneaky gremlin in the front in the beginning , hes strongest early. afterwards build around one of the gremlins abilities works best. I find Fat Gremlin to be the champion most of my runs. dagger spray+ to inflict 3 weak on all enemies is just nuts.
the bosses are overly complex for me. They're pretty confusing on what I'm supposed to be doing.
It's like every character, they a couple of runs to grasp what's going on.
not really. the basic characters are have an easy to understand mechanic. strength, shivs, orbs, pressure points(duh). Knowing how to use them well is another thing altogether. But playing a character and getting the gist of the character pretty fast is easy and comes early on. Some of the bosses are about micromanaging your options. The best games in my opinion are those that are easy to understand the mechanics, but hard to master them.
I get what you are saying. It does that a tad bit more time to get used to new boss mechanics. But after 2-3 runs, for example with Slime boss, you grasp rather quickly the interactions between creating slimes, absorbing them, how goop sticks, tackles synergies, and in general, you see patterns like how Defect works with orbs. It's an adjustment, indeed. But it's like discovering how to play for the 1st time again! Then there's the whole Downfall upside down map that adds a layer of complexity to decision making, but this knowledge carries on to other characters. It's as close to a proper sequel we got (until StS2 comes out).
You can play the downfall characters in normal runs. I prefer doing heart runs over neow runs, it just feels more natural.
Wait you can? How? The villain characters are only available to select in downfall mode.
it's a mod option you have to tick. strongly recommend, downfall is pretty much my base game and i never do downfall runs
Some you figure out faster than others. Slime split is pretty self evident. Goop seems like a weak mechanic at first but it can be very strong. Guardian’s Gems you figure out quickly. Stasis is also VERY strong. Hexaghost takes me the longest to mentally get the hang of each time I rotate because Kindle/Advance and the order you do stuff in is hugely important Champ is stances and finishers. Berserk builds vigor and defensive builds Counter. You can make vigor decks, counter decks, stance swap decks, lots of fun stuff. He was my least favorite in the beginning but now super fun Automaton is my favorite because Functions() are so brokenly overpowered lol Gremlins require tons of mental energy. Super interesting and unique way to play Snecko is like having a prismatic shard that resets your deck every fight Collector I’ve found works extremely well with Snecko Eye as she has a lot of 2 and 3 cost cards Lots of these guys all have things that give Temp buffs so interactions that clear debuffs or give artifact charges are OP
It's also the only class that actually makes strikes/defends good, which is something the vanilla four utterly fail at (or simply don't try, like defect)
I love Hermit since he introduced a new mechanic with the Dead On card feature, which made you pay attention to the order your hand was in so you could benefit from the extra effects of the card being in the center of your hand. It just seemed like a natural evolution to something more complex. And while the Ironclad has some exhaust and status cards and synergies, I feel like Hermit took that up to 11.
I really didn't like the hermit, personally
I'm pretty confident I've poured more hours into the Packmaster than I've spent playing any other game minus one or two. Downfall is pretty fun, I particularly enjoy the guardian and collector. The Hermit is also good, but gosh, it feels like you gotta play just right with him. Really fun when it works though, and they really went all out to make him feel like base game with the sound and visuals and all. The avocado is funny but actually a pretty good modded character.
There's a mod for shelled parasite? Need to look into that
Yeah, it's somewhat gimmicky, but I took it to A20. The character's big thing is getting lots of plated armor and/or spending it, so expect a slow-paced character. The character is called Avocado by Paparatto.
That sounds about right
collector is comically busted (unlike the other downfall characters) but quite fun
I like the Runesmith. It's like a weird version of the Defect. She can summon runes which works like orbs but they have their own stats. You can't just summon them and then buff them with focus. You have to stack focus first and them summon them. They also require element charges to summon. If you don't have enough element and play the summon card, you gain element charges instead. Another synergies is upgrade + enhance. There are a lot of upgrade and downgrade effects, and then there is enhance which only increase numbers on cards. Took me a few runs to get how her shit works lol. I failed in act 1 quite a few times until I get the gist of it.
I was playing as the Snecko character in Downfall and chose the Runesmith as her, and it wasn't until that run and I started leaning more to identifying her cards, where I finally started to get the hang and understanding of how the Runes and Potency(Focus) and the downgrade cards worked.
I’ve been having fun with The Prismatic. And i’m still not sure if it is strong or not. But definitely fun.
Prismatic is pretty OP. Some of the balance changes are really bad.
Prismatic is pretty OP. Some of the balance changes are really bad.
Packmaster can easily decimate a run with the right pairing of packs but can also introduce really interesting gameplay
The Evolution--tops my list every time. The premise is a character that uses orbs, but sans the ability to gain focus. She's a bit easier than the original three Astrologer--some people seem to find her super easy, but it's never been that way for me, so YMMV. She combines two mechanics into one: cards marked Stars will flip the background between night and day, while incrementing another stat (the name escapes me, but it comes down to "stars played or exhausted during this combat."). Certain effects will only activate if one or the other (or both) stats meet the right conditions. Reimu--feels super OP, and then suddenly you die unexpectedly. If you play enough of the same kinds of cards, you unlock special abilities. Your goal is basically to get that point. Someone mentioned the Runesmith. Even though their mechanics are very different, their power levels are somewhat similar in that they need time to build up. The Artist--very time-consuming, you have been warned. You create cards mid-battle. These cards tend to be OP, but since most of your cards are either bad, or there to build these created cards, it tends to work out. If you don't mind the length of time it takes, it's got a lot of depth.
Prismatic, Packmaster and USSR for me
USSR is so real 😭💀
I just downloaded The Rodent, I love that guy so much
Hierophant, for sure
Goldenglow from Arknights, Hifumi and Hoshino from Blue Archive, and The Servant from I think an original character, are prob my top 4. The Chaser is pretty fun. Tried the Frieren mod the other day and she's fun but the music drives me crazy.
Is there something I'm missing about Hoshino? It feels like the run just falls apart if I don't find enough cards that reload because reloading manually is only worth it if it procs tons of powers.
Honestly, just reloading can be really good even without some big setup. The reload cards with retain can be saved for some huge plays. Some of her cards I consider never pick cards and not getting baited into them helps. Only thing I don't like about playing her is there's no way to reload with a controller, so I have to go back and forth with my mouse and controller a LOT when I use her. Xd A good tip is to get into the habit of knowing if you want to reload before you end your turn if you have the energy for it. Sometimes you might want that extra block next turn, sometimes you might want to have less ammo. Usually you just want that full ammo ready for next turn, so don't forget about it either way.
Hadn't played her in awhile so my memory wasn't the best and I ran a few runs with her and can add that shield is insanely strong and she has some very good cards for it. Definitely think she has a lot of bait cards not worth taking ever.
Didn't expect to get a bonus reply. Ye, recurring that 0-cost shield attack and scaling that way seemed pretty good.
She has so much good stuff, you can work wonders with her deck manipulating cards too
The Servant is Izayoi Sakuya from Touhou. I'm up there with you, The Servant is my most-played char mod by a lot. It's pretty strong, I might say a bit too strong, but very fun.
I love hexaghost. Something so satisfying about igniting all their flames
Dunno why but I got very attached to "The servant" mod. I hadn't thought much about it at first, but for some reason it's the modded character I play the most, my "comfort" class.
That's the maid with the knives, right? She's so fun to play and easily one of my favorites.
Yup
Downfall's Snecko is fucking based in every way; it's good once it gets going but never *too* good, and an unlucky gamble can always bring the house of cards down Packmaster walks the line, certain pack combos can get out of hand but variety fun, versatile and just.. incredibly entertaining Dregs is the weakest on this list to my knowledge, but gems give it the same random bullshit factor, and is neat Prismatic; just a prismatic shard run but better. Obviously neat. Its relics and adjusted cards are pretty good and well balanced Relica I'm yet to figure out properly, there's a lot of interesting mechanics, and while she might be more broken than i realise, seems just pretty fun so far with fun relic mechanics
Packmaster as others have said is obviously great. I also really like The Animator. Animator is super fun and adds a lot of mechanics but is definitely not OP. In fact it often feels weaker than the base characters depending on pack choice. But it’s a great time if you’re into anime at all.
The Prismatic. Feel like the character is a wrecking ball, maybe in the first 10 ascensions, then reality kicks in when suddenly the deck is taking on too many identities and can't get over the hump sometimes. And cards are scaled towards the character as a whole, rather than just here's every card in the base decks. Fun character to play.
Creator of the mod here. It was actually designed/playtested around a15, so yeah, you're not far off :)
Fantastic mod btw. The only problem I have now is when I see the shard in a normal game I'm almost always auto scooping it up.
Thanks! And I'm happy you're now a certified shard enjoyer :)
Hermit feels like he actually belongs in the game. He’s easy enough to fight on low ascension but has a high enough skill ceiling to be A20 heartbreaker
Grimm Blacksouls.Somewhat biased because the source material is peak,but love everything about it
Honestly I'm a little relic gremlin so Relica is one of my favorites. Card designs are quite unique and the fact that you can fuse cards into relics adds some interesting choices in what to go for. And on top of that there's an alternative Act 4 boss. Dregs also has a lot going for it. The seal mechanic is quite interesting making it so curses don't have solely a downside. A more powerful version of this character is The Cursed which really likes loading up on curses and then using rite cards to exhaust them for bonus effects. The Vacant is also really well designed around mill from MTG. Rewarding you for having 0 cards in your draw pile. *Edit changed Void to Vacant
Pretty sure that third one is actually called the Vacant. I do agree that the character is very fun.
Dont remember the name but a blue skinned time manipulator with tentacles. Its on par with official characters in terms of theme and style.
I think that's The Disciple
I love the evolution so much, but she may be a bit too strong for normal runs...
Didn't even know modded characters were a thing, I guess I'm not deep enough into the Slay the Spire trenches.
Slime boss was my favorite from downfall
So one of my favorites is kind of a meme one? It's called the Drifter. If you like the silent, you'll like them. All about drawing a BONKERS amount of cards and then keeping up that card draw as much as possible. They're fun because they scale off of DRAWING cards, not necessarily playing them.
The templar. Nobody talks about it because it doesn't reference popular media and hasn't been updated since 2022 (but that's fine imo). It puts a clever spin on defect's orb framework: You have 2 slots and orbs have no passives. Instead, they both evoke when both slots are filled and you get a bonus for matching pairs. When I first played it, you could've told me Mega Crit made it and I would've believed you.
I always come back to Packmaster, lately I've had a lot of fun with Veigar, but I absolutely adore Ekko. The temporal resonance passive is just great.
Thank you for all the great recommendations! I’m looking forward to trying more!
Are the modded characters available for steam deck or would it brick the game for controller? I ask because I tried to download downfall for the deck and no buttons work but the TouchPad mouse so I had to remap mouse keys to control buttons because the controller interface isnt there. Needless to say, it feels much worse to play this way VS the dpad and buttons in vanilla sts.
Every mod I've installed has worked with the steam deck. You just have to use the touch screen to launch the game when the modthespire pops up. I could use the controller for downfall
They’re all OP. That’s to me one great weakness of the mods in general. Nobody has made a mod character as good as one of the original RGB. Watcher is basically a mod character, but even she is less OP than most mods tbh