Slay The Spire: The Watcher Character Guide (Unlocks, Tips & Tricks)

While acclaimed card-based roguelike Slay the Spire has been out for some time, its game studio MegaCrit is still pumping out free content for the game. The game’s fourth character, the Watcher, recently came out of beta on the PC, and brings a whole new set of cards, mechanics, and play styles to tinker with. Whether you’re a long time deckbuilding game player or are just hopping into the game, read on to learn more about the Watcher, how to unlock them, and how to start thinking about playing and building decks when you’re handling their intricate Stances.

While Slay the Spire was released in early access in late 2017, MegaCrit has continued to work on and add content to the game, including the third character the Defect, balance changes, and lots of sweet art. Its full release in 2019 earned its glowing reviews, and it’s great to see that content is still coming. The Watcher plays quite differently from the other three characters, adding to the variety of a game that already delivered diverse play experiences.

How to Unlock the Watcher in Slay the Spire

The Watcher is fairly straightforward to unlock through normal gameplay. To unlock them, complete a run (defeat the Act III boss) while the first three characters, the Ironclad, Silent, and Defect, are already unlocked. The Ironclad is unlocked from the start, and each of the next two characters is unlocked by simply playing as the previous character for a run, so the main hurdle to overcome is actually beating the game for the first time.

Strategies for getting that first win vary wildly, depending on the character you use and what cards and relics are found along the way. Find a character that works for you, and beat the game for the first time. Understanding the first three characters will also be very helpful in beginning to understand the powerful but relatively frail and complicated Watcher.

Watcher Mechanics in Slay the Spire

As with all characters in Slay the Spire, the Watcher has a plethora of cards and relics to make them unique. The most notable mechanic by far is the Stances they can enter and switch between. The two main Stances the Watcher uses are Wrath and Calm. Wrath doubles all attack damage dealt and taken, so it can be an incredibly high-risk high-reward offensive tool. Calm, meanwhile, grants two extra energy when you leave the stance, either by switching to another Stance or using a card that exits the current Stance. Both Wrath and Calm have multiple cards that either enter the Stances or do something different if you’re already in that Stance. The Divinity Stance, on the other hand, is a little harder to get into. Certain cards will generate Mantra, and when your character builds up 10 Mantra they enter this Stance. The reward for all of this work is an extra three energy immediately and TRIPLE attack damage dealt, so it’s well worth trying to work towards. However, you will automatically exit Divinity after the turn is over.

In addition to the energy and damage control of weaving in and out of the different stances, the Watcher also has access to two mechanics that help with hand management and card selection. Any card with Retain will stay in your hand at the end of your turn, potentially getting cheaper or stronger in the process. Lots of Watcher cards will also shuffle powerful one-use effects with Retain, allowing you to set up for a single devastating turn. Scry, on the other hand, will help dig through your deck for the most important cards. Every Scry effect on a card has a number, and it will allow you to look at that number of cards from the top of your deck in order from left to right, discarding any number of those cards if desired. On its own Scry isn’t particularly powerful as a mechanic but it can help sort through your relatively useless Strikes and Defends to find the juicier cards you’ve accrued over the course of the run. And like lots of Slay the Spire‘s other keyworded mechanics, certain cards will become more effective as you scry!

The Watcher has many more tools in their incredibly powerful arsenal, but most are singular effects that are best experienced firsthand.

Watcher Deck Builds in Slay the Spire

The Watcher has many potential ways to build a deck, but here are a few ideas to start out with.

The Flurry of Blows deck makes extensive use of the Wrath and Calm Stances and the many ways to change between them. Prioritize cards like Flurry of Blows, a 0-cost attack that returns to your hand when you change Stances, or Mental Fortress, a 1-cost power that will grant you a small amount of block whenever you change. Empty Mind, Empty Body, and Empty Fist grant cards, block, and damage respectively while exiting your Stance. Talk to the Hand can be a useful attack to generate a lot of block with all of the attacks you’ll be throwing out. Make sure to upgrade Eruption as quickly as possible for a cheaper way to enter Wrath, and be sure to find other cards that will help transition between Stances early and often to get the most out of your most powerful cards.

The Retain deck is a lot more defensive, stocking valuable cards from turn to turn while waiting for the right opportunity to unload a lot of damage all at once. Establishment, a 1-cost power that reduces the cost of any Retained card by 1 for the entire combat, is crucial to this strategy. Attacks like Windmill Strike, Sands of Time, and to lesser extent Flying Sleeves will be the source for most of your damage, while skills like Protect and Perseverance can give you a huge amount of block for the turns it’s really necessary. Crescendo and Tranquility will help set up the right Stance at the perfect time, and Meditate lets you set up a powerful combo on the cheap by retaining and decreasing the cost of crucial cards.

Lots of other rare cards and relics offer new tools to build around, like the incredible powerful Alpha which will have you sifting through your deck for a devastating power, or the Damaru, a relic that generates one Mantra a turn and makes a Divinity deck a lot more feasible. Keep your eye out for the Watcher’s many synergies to create some truly busted combos.

Watcher Tips & Tricks in Slay the Spire

The most important thing to remember when playing the Watcher is their relative fragility. You can be going off on all sorts of crazy combos, but even a normal enemy can capitalize on a single bad hand more than they could against most other characters. The biggest aspect to try and practice quickly is Stance management. Set up Calm at the end of one turn for an energy boost on the next when you exit it or stay in Wrath on a turn enemies are not preparing to attack for a lot. That being said, getting caught in Wrath when enemies are about to deal a hefty chunk of damage can be absolutely terrifying, but the Watcher usually has some sort of out. Save some Retain cards that generate block for such an occasion, or bank on one of the many ways the Watcher can generate block passively.

As with any other character in a deckbuilding game like Slay the Spire, be intentional with the cards you add to your deck. A bigger deck is not always better, as unhelpful cards can dilute the number of cards that’ll help you work towards whatever victory conditions you’ve set up. This is especially true for cards like the ones that generate Mantra, as in small quantities they’ll do absolutely nothing. Powerful, high-cost attacks like Ragnarok can be very effective, but only with other cards to bring out their fullest potential.

With a character with this much depth, there’s always more to learn and explore. As you win runs and continue through the ascension of difficulty the game has to offer, try out lots of different builds and strategies to get the most out of this new character!

Slay the Spire is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch. The Watcher character is currently live on PC.

About The Author

Cass Cohen
(11 Articles Published)

Cass is a writer for ScreenRant focusing on game news and guides. With a wide background in games, media, and design theory, she has a lot of disparate interests, including linguistics, cool math, and LGBTQIA+ issues. When it comes to games, Cass is especially partial to strategy and rhythm games, although there’s nothing she won’t try once.

More From Cass Cohen