Slay the Spire 2 Boss

Test Subject #C14 Boss Guide

Boss • Act 3 - Glory
Base HP
null
Ascension HP
—
Moves
7
Encounters
1
Boss Strategy

How to Beat Test Subject #C14

Quick Strategy

Treat Test Subject as three different fights chained together. Phase 1 is a frontload and Skill-discipline check: finish the 111-HP phase before the dangerous turn-three attack if possible, because every Skill played makes the phase hit harder. Phase 2 is a pure damage and multi-hit mitigation race, starting around 11x3 and gaining another hit as the phase continues while unblocked hits add Wounds. Phase 3 changes completely: it begins on an Intangible turn, alternates Intangible windows, and eventually floods the deck with Burns. Use Intangible turns for defense, setup, draw fixing, or charging delayed damage, then make sure your real damage is available on the non-Intangible turns. Doom is a major exception because it can bypass the normal Intangible timing problem.

What This Fight Tests

Phase-one frontload

The first phase only has 111 HP, but it punishes Skill-heavy setup and becomes dangerous on turn three. The cleanest answer is enough immediate damage to phase it before that turn.

Phase-two damage race

The second phase starts with a multi-hit pattern around 11x3 and adds another hit as the phase continues. A deck that needs several additional setup turns can quickly reach an attack that ordinary Block cannot cover.

Multi-hit mitigation

Strength reduction becomes premium in Phase 2 because every point removed applies across several hits. Preventing damage also matters for draw quality because unblocked hits create Wounds.

Phase-three consistency

The final phase is not mainly a raw damage test. The deck must line up meaningful damage with non-Intangible turns while Burns steadily reduce the chance of drawing the correct cards.

Key Decisions

A Skill in Phase 1 has an extra hidden cost

I do not evaluate Phase 1 Skills only by their printed effect. Every unnecessary Skill also increases Test Subject’s Strength, so a mediocre Block or setup Skill can make the turn-three attack worse than the value the card provided. Powers and Attacks are much easier to justify when they advance the kill without feeding that scaling.

Turn three is a deadline unless you already have the answer

With only 111 HP in Phase 1, I first ask whether the deck can simply phase Test Subject before the dangerous third turn. If not, I want a defensive solution that does not require stacking several Skills immediately before the attack.

Enter Phase 2 with the engine already working

Phase 2 is not a good place to begin a slow scaling package. The multi-hit grows from roughly 11x3 to 11x4, 11x5, and beyond. I want most important Powers or scaling pieces established before that attack count becomes unreasonable.

Strength reduction is more valuable than ordinary Block density in Phase 2

Every point of enemy Strength removed is multiplied across every hit. When the attack contains four, five, or more hits, one Strength-down effect can prevent much more damage than another ordinary Block card.

Phase 3 asks when damage is drawn, not only how much damage exists

A huge attack is nearly worthless if it appears on an Intangible turn and cannot be retained or redrawn in time. I care about Retain, draw control, card generation, recursion, and consistent damage because they determine whether the payoff actually appears on a vulnerable turn.

Intangible turns are setup turns

When normal damage is heavily suppressed, I use the turn for Block, Powers, draw fixing, resource generation, Status cleanup, or delayed damage preparation. Spending the deck’s largest immediate attack there is usually the worst possible timing.

A phase change on the enemy turn can create a free setup window

If delayed damage such as Doom or reactive damage such as Thorns finishes a phase during Test Subject’s turn, the battlefield can temporarily have no target and you effectively gain the following turn for non-targeted setup. That can be a major tempo advantage when the deck is able to plan around it.

Doom changes Phase 3 completely

Necrobinder Doom does not care about the normal Intangible damage window in the same way direct attacks do. A functioning Doom plan can keep progressing toward lethal even when Test Subject is Intangible, removing much of the final phase’s central timing problem.

Combat State

Innate Powers

Adaptable
Starts combat with this power
1 →
Enrage
Starts combat with this power
2 → 3 →
Combat Data

Moves

7 moves

Bite

Attack
BITE
Damage
20 → 22

Multi-Claw

Attack
MULTI_CLAW
Damage
10 → 11

Lacerate

Attack
PHASE3_LACERATE
Damage
10 × 3 → 11 × 3
30 → 33 total

Big Pounce

Attack
BIG_POUNCE
Damage
45
Enemy AI

Attack Pattern

Conditional

Starts: Bite → Skull Bash; then conditional: Multi-Claw (if respawns < 2) / Lacerate (if respawns >= 2)

Initial move: Bite
View pattern states
Bite
move
Next: SKULL_BASH_MOVE
Skull Bash
move
Next: BITE_MOVE
Multi-Claw
move
Next: MULTI_CLAW_MOVE
Lacerate
move
Next: BIG_POUNCE
Big Pounce
move
Next: BURNING_GROWL_MOVE
Burning Growl
move
Next: PHASE3_LACERATE_MOVE
Respawn
move
Next: REVIVE_BRANCH
Must perform once
REVIVE_BRANCH
conditional
Multi-Claw — Respawns < 2
Lacerate — Respawns >= 2
Fight Plan

Test Subject #C14 Fight Plan

The raw move pattern tells you what is coming. This plan focuses on what I want the deck to accomplish before each dangerous part of the fight.

Phase 01

Phase 1 — beat the turn-three check

Remove the 111-HP first phase quickly without giving unnecessary Strength through Skill spam.

  • Prioritize frontloaded Attacks and fast damage. By Act 3, 111 HP should be treated as a short damage threshold rather than a long scaling target.
  • Play only the Skills that materially improve survival or accelerate the kill. Every marginal Skill makes the later attack more dangerous.
  • Establish high-value Powers when the tempo allows it, because entering Phase 2 with the engine already active is much better than trying to build everything during the escalating multi-hit phase.
  • If turn-three lethal is slightly out of reach, use a damage potion to bridge the gap rather than accepting an entire extra dangerous attack when possible.
Watch for
  • Playing several low-impact Skills simply because the first two turns feel safe.
  • Saving offensive resources even though using them would phase the Boss before the dangerous third turn.
Phase 02

Phase 2 — escalating multi-hit

Kill the second phase before the growing hit count and Wound generation overwhelm both defense and draw quality.

  • Start converting the scaling established during Phase 1 immediately. Phase 2 damage rises too quickly to support several turns of optional setup.
  • Preserve Weak or Strength-down effects for the largest multi-hit windows. Their value increases every time another hit is added.
  • Prioritize full or near-full mitigation when possible because every unblocked hit can create another Wound and make later draws less reliable.
  • Use temporary damage resources aggressively when they prevent the fight from reaching another larger multi-hit.
Watch for
  • Judging the attack only by 11 damage and forgetting that the important number is the increasing hit count.
  • Taking several small unblocked hits and ignoring the Wounds because they are not immediately drawn.
Phase 03

Phase 3 — Intangible timing

Line damage up with non-Intangible turns and end the fight before repeated Burns destroy draw consistency.

  • Expect the phase to begin on an Intangible turn. Use that first turn for defense, Powers, resource generation, Status control, or preparing damage rather than forcing immediate direct damage.
  • Retain, redraw, recur, or generate the important damage card so it appears when Intangible is down.
  • On Intangible turns, prepare the next damage window. On vulnerable turns, prioritize conversion over additional optional setup.
  • Remove or filter Burns when the deck needs multiple cycles to win. Every Burning Growl makes future damage timing less reliable.
  • If Doom is the active win condition, continue progressing it instead of forcing the deck into a normal non-Intangible burst pattern.
Watch for
  • Drawing the main finisher on an Intangible turn and spending it for negligible damage.
  • Playing too slowly while five-Burn additions repeatedly reduce the chance of seeing the right cards on the right turn.

Dangerous Turns & Windows

Danger Window
Phase 1 Skill scaling

On high Ascension, Test Subject gains 3 Strength for every Skill played during the first phase. Small defensive or setup Skills can therefore increase the damage of the later attack faster than expected.

Response: Use Skills deliberately. Favor fast damage, Powers, and only the defensive Skills that materially change whether the turn-three check is survivable.
Danger Window
Turn-three Phase 1 attack

The dangerous first-phase window arrives around turn three after Vulnerable has entered the sequence. If the Boss is still alive after several Skill-triggered Strength gains, the hit can become extremely expensive.

Response: Prefer phasing the Boss before this turn. If that is impossible, reserve a dense defensive answer, defensive potion, Buffer-like protection, or enough HP rather than attempting to assemble the defense from several additional Skills.
Danger Window
First Phase 2 multi-hit

Phase 2 begins around 11x3 and adds another hit as turns pass. Even the first attack is already a significant total, and the scaling is immediate rather than gradual over many cycles.

Response: Enter Phase 2 with scaling online and start racing immediately. Save Strength reduction for these multi-hit turns whenever possible.
Danger Window
Later Phase 2 multi-hit

The pattern progresses toward 11x4, 11x5, and higher. Unblocked hits also generate Wounds, so failed defense makes both HP and future card access worse.

Response: Treat every additional hit count as a practical deadline. Spend temporary damage, Weak, Strength-down, or potions before the phase reaches an attack your deck cannot realistically cover.
Danger Window
First Intangible turn

Phase 3 starts Intangible, so a deck built around one large direct hit cannot simply finish the new 313-HP phase immediately.

Response: Use the Intangible turn for setup and ensure the major damage payoff can be retained, redrawn, generated, or otherwise accessed when the next real damage window opens.
Danger Window
Burning Growl

Burning Growl adds a large batch of Burns while also increasing Strength. Several repetitions can turn later hands into Status-heavy failures exactly when non-Intangible damage windows need reliable card access.

Response: Finish before repeated Burn cycles when possible. If the fight must continue, prioritize draw, discard, Exhaust, transformation, or card generation that keeps the deck functional through the pollution.
Before the Fight

How to Prepare for Test Subject #C14

I use these checks before committing the final rewards, upgrades, shop purchases, and potions leading into the Boss.

FrontloadCritical

Can I deal 111 damage before Phase 1 turn three?

Ready when

The deck has enough immediate Attacks, burst, potion support, or already-established damage to remove the first phase before its main danger turn.

Warning

Slow scaling that depends on several Skills can actively make Phase 1 harder instead of merely taking longer.

Phase-two scalingCritical

Can I kill 212 HP before 11x3 becomes 11x5 or worse?

Ready when

The main damage engine is already online by the time Phase 2 begins and can make large progress every turn.

Warning

Phase 2 does not provide enough time to begin a slow scaling package from scratch.

Draw consistencyCritical

Can I find damage on the non-Intangible turn?

Ready when

Retain, draw, recursion, card generation, or enough consistent damage prevents the deck from depending on one payoff being naturally drawn on exactly the correct turn.

Warning

Having enough total damage is not enough if the largest payoff repeatedly appears while Intangible is active.

Strength reductionHigh

What is my answer to the growing multi-hit?

Ready when

Weak or Strength-down can be available for the Phase 2 attack sequence and later Phase 3 Lacerate turns.

Warning

Ordinary Block becomes increasingly inefficient as hit count and Strength rise.

Status controlHigh

Can the deck still function after Burns and Wounds enter it?

Ready when

Draw, discard, Exhaust, transformation, card generation, or a sufficiently fast kill prevents Status cards from consuming critical hands.

Warning

Test Subject attacks consistency in both Phase 2 and Phase 3, so a deck that needs perfect five-card hands can deteriorate quickly.

PotionHigh

Which phase does my potion actually solve?

Ready when

A damage potion bridges Phase 1 or Phase 2 lethal, a defensive potion covers the turn-three check, or a Strength-down / draw resource has a defined later window.

Warning

Saving every potion for Phase 3 can be wrong if the run dies to the much faster damage checks in the first two phases.

Character Matchups

Test Subject #C14 by Character

The Boss does not change between characters, but the part of the fight that matters most often does. These notes focus on what each character should adjust rather than repeating the general strategy.

Ironclad usually has enough raw damage for the first two phases; the more distinctive problem is Phase 3 consistency. A huge finisher is only valuable if it can be lined up with a non-Intangible turn. Draw control and Block storage become much more valuable than adding still more theoretical peak damage.

Prioritize
  • Use strong frontload to clear Phase 1 before Skill scaling turns the third turn into a serious problem.
  • Enter Phase 2 with Strength or another damage engine already online and convert quickly through the growing multi-hit.
  • Use draw control or recursion to line the main damage payoff up with a non-Intangible Phase 3 turn.
  • When the deck can store Block, use Intangible turns to accumulate defense instead of wasting large attacks into damage suppression.
Watch for
  • Drawing the main finisher on an Intangible turn with no way to retain or recover it for the next window.
  • Adding more peak damage when the actual problem is timing and card access.

Silent’s main problem is Phase 1 because slow Poison setup uses Skills and often does not remove 111 HP before the turn-three check. Physical frontload is usually the safer opening answer. Piercing Wail becomes excellent in Phase 2, while Retain is one of the strongest Phase 3 tools because it lets important damage wait through an Intangible turn.

Prioritize
  • Bring enough physical frontload or another fast damage source for Phase 1 instead of assuming slow Poison will solve the opening.
  • Use Piercing Wail or another Strength-down effect against the escalating Phase 2 multi-hit.
  • Retain major damage through Intangible so it is available on the next vulnerable turn.
  • Use value-oriented Powers and card access to keep Phase 3 functional as Burns begin entering the deck.
Watch for
  • Playing several Poison Skills in Phase 1 while Test Subject gains Strength faster than the damage plan comes online.
  • Using Piercing Wail on a small hit instead of the multi-hit phase where every Strength point matters several times.
  • Spending a retained damage payoff into Intangible instead of waiting one turn.

Defect mainly needs enough damage for Phase 1 and Phase 2. Dark Orbs are particularly strong across the whole encounter because they can charge while other phases are being handled, delete a phase when evoked, and continue charging through Phase 3 Intangible before being evoked on a vulnerable turn. Defect also has enough Status-control tools that the Burn phase is often less threatening than it is for other characters.

Prioritize
  • Solve Phase 1 frontload first; use a defensive or damage potion when the deck cannot naturally beat the turn-three window.
  • Build enough Orb scaling to end Phase 2 before the increasing multi-hit reaches an unrealistic level.
  • Charge Dark Orbs during Intangible turns and evoke them when Test Subject becomes vulnerable again.
  • Use the character’s Status control to prevent Burns from turning Phase 3 into a draw-quality failure.
Watch for
  • Entering Phase 1 with excellent long-term Orb scaling but insufficient immediate damage.
  • Evoking a high-value Dark Orb while Intangible is active instead of allowing it to charge for the real damage window.

Necrobinder must respect Phase 1 more than the later phases. Doom that kills only after the turn-three attack is too slow, so the deck needs either fast direct damage, enough Doom to resolve before that window, or potion help. Once Phase 3 begins, Doom becomes one of the cleanest solutions because it bypasses the normal Intangible timing problem.

Prioritize
  • Use fast physical damage, a strong burst line, or potion support to make sure Phase 1 does not survive into its dangerous third-turn attack.
  • If Doom is the opening plan, make sure the stack actually resolves before the dangerous turn rather than one turn afterward.
  • Use Strength reduction and the established engine to handle Phase 2 without allowing several expanding multi-hit turns.
  • Lean on Doom in Phase 3 because it can continue progressing toward lethal without waiting for the same direct-damage windows as normal attacks.
Watch for
  • Stacking enough Doom to kill eventually but only after the Phase 1 turn-three attack has already landed.
  • Forcing direct damage into Phase 3 Intangible when the existing Doom engine already solves that mechanic more cleanly.

Regent is generally comfortable if the deck clears Phase 2 quickly. The main Phase 3 warning is for small, tightly cycling Star decks: repeated Burns can disrupt the compact loop much more severely than they disrupt a card-generation-heavy deck. Generation gives Regent additional functional options even when the natural draw becomes polluted.

Prioritize
  • Treat Phase 2 as the main damage deadline and convert the Regent engine before the expanding multi-hit becomes too large.
  • If the deck relies on a very small repeated Star cycle, account for how quickly Burns can break that loop in Phase 3.
  • Use card generation to maintain functional turns even when natural draws contain Status cards.
  • Do not continue generating resources after enough damage already exists to end a non-Intangible window.
Watch for
  • Allowing Phase 2 to continue because the resource engine is still theoretically improving.
  • Assuming a tiny cycling deck will remain consistent after repeated Burn additions.
  • Spending the vulnerable Phase 3 turn on additional setup instead of converting existing resources into damage.
Failure Analysis

Common Test Subject #C14 Mistakes

These are the decisions that can make a deck look strong on paper but still fail this specific fight.

01

Playing too many Skills in Phase 1

You use several marginal draw, Block, or setup Skills because the opening turns look manageable.

Why it fails

Every Skill increases Test Subject’s Strength. By the dangerous third-turn window, the extra Strength can make the attack far more expensive than the Skills were worth.

Better decision

Use only the Skills that materially improve the kill or survival line and prioritize fast Attacks, Powers, and frontload.

02

Saving damage resources past Phase 1

You hold a Fire Potion or another burst resource because later phases have more HP.

Why it fails

Phase 1 is only 111 HP, so even a modest damage potion can move the phase transition an entire turn earlier and avoid the dangerous third-turn attack.

Better decision

Spend the resource when it changes the phase timing. Avoided damage and avoided Skill scaling can be worth more than the same potion later.

03

Starting Phase 2 setup from zero

You clear Phase 1 and then begin playing several turns of slow scaling cards.

Why it fails

The Phase 2 multi-hit rises from roughly 11x3 to 11x4, 11x5, and beyond. The fight becomes lethal much faster than a normal scaling encounter.

Better decision

Establish important Powers in Phase 1 whenever possible and enter Phase 2 ready to convert immediately.

04

Letting Phase 2 chip damage through

You accept several small unblocked hits because each individual hit looks manageable.

Why it fails

Every leaked hit can add another Wound. The damage is therefore also a future consistency penalty, and the attack keeps adding more hits each turn.

Better decision

Use Strength reduction, dense defense, or faster damage to prevent both HP loss and Wound accumulation.

05

Using the biggest attack on an Intangible turn

You draw the primary finisher in Phase 3 and immediately play it despite Intangible being active.

Why it fails

The payoff is compressed to negligible direct damage, and the card may not be available on the next vulnerable turn when it could have ended the phase.

Better decision

Retain, recur, redraw, or otherwise preserve the damage for the next non-Intangible window.

06

Treating Intangible turns as wasted turns

You pass most of the turn because direct damage is inefficient.

Why it fails

Those turns are valuable for Block, Powers, Status cleanup, resource generation, card manipulation, or charging delayed damage such as Dark Orbs.

Better decision

Use Intangible turns to build the exact hand and resources needed for the next damage window.

07

Ignoring Burn accumulation

You focus only on Test Subject’s Phase 3 attack values because the early Burns have not yet ruined a hand.

Why it fails

Repeated batches of Burns progressively replace the real cards needed to line damage up with non-Intangible turns.

Better decision

Either finish before repeated Burning Growl cycles or maintain enough draw, discard, Exhaust, transformation, or generation to preserve functional hands.

08

Forgetting the no-target transition window

A delayed or reactive effect phases Test Subject during its own turn, but your following hand is sequenced as though a target will already be available.

Why it fails

During the transition there can temporarily be no enemy target, so targeted Ethereal cards or other target-dependent plays may not be usable before they disappear.

Better decision

When planning a Doom or Thorns phase change, use the targetless turn for Powers and other non-targeted setup, and account for any Ethereal targeted cards before triggering the transition.

Entity Relationships

Appears In

1 encounter

Test Subject

Boss
Act 3 - Glory →
Game ID: TEST_SUBJECT Data version: v0.107.1 · Main Type: Boss