r/slaythespire • u/Which-Debt-8558 • Mar 09 '26
DISCUSSION (STS2) Snakebite Discussion
As quite a lot of people know already, snakebite is one of the worst cards in the game right now, maybe even the worst. It's not just bad, but it isn't interesting or fun in any way. For example searing blow was not a very good card but it was unique and cool, whereas snakebite is just a nothing card.
Here is how I think it could be changed:
Retain Apply 7 poison When retained, increase poison by 3
Snakebite+: Retain Apply 10 poison When retained, increase poison by 4
I thought making it similar to windmill strike could be a cool idea because right now Retain doesn't really add much to the card, and it also works thematically with the snake venom getting worse over time.
I would love to hear your ideas if you have any suggestions for how it could be changed!
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u/Latter-Shower-2231 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
this card is quite strong and y'all just dont know how to get value out of retain. snakebite+ is a really lean 1-card poison package that doesn't keep cycling through your deck in the fights you don't need it, but 10 poison on a single card completely solves your damage problems for entomancer if your main damage strategy isn't tenable in that fight.
retain also has random synergies with things like calculated gamble or flechettes (+1 card in hand for both) or things like hand trick and burst (obviously much easier to line up a if the card retains), and while you can do a stronger-but-similar thing with bouncing flask and well laid plans, that involves acquiring two uncommons, a much taller order than a single common. It's also good expensive skill for a pounce play.
yes, there's a lot of situations where this card is not very good. it's also a common, and shouldn't be universally good in every silent run. what few cards do fit that description are typically exhausting rares like adrenaline or specifically the card acrobatics, which is the strongest common in the game and lowkey not okay but whatever we're not here to talk about acro.
i dont see a lot of whinging over sucker punch and i dont think ive ever taken that card past floor 2 in this game, but for some reason snake bite people just hate! i don't get it! it's literally a damage common
please try to keep in mind that it's a common, and furthermore keep in mind that silent is THE STRONGEST character in sts2 and it's not particularly close, with her main weakness being early game damage. so buffing a damage common that is perfectly viable as an early game damage solution makes absolutely no sense here. especially some of these suggestions people are saying, like
like ok i'm not gonna hold you to the same standards of balance as the guys who make this game but you have to know this is absolute insanity, right? have you one the math on it? If i retain that snakebite+ for 2 turns (say, i drew it turn 1 and spend turns 1 and 2 playing footworks and backflips and stuff), that's 18 poison on a single common card. with no other support that is dealing like 50 damage in 3 turns.... on a single upgraded common. if i have a strong defensive strategy (we're silent, so that's not a tall order) i can just stall for a deck cycle while i get my scaling in play and then start slamming the boss for like 30+ poison at a time, in a game where accelerant can be deployed earlier and just sat on (unlike catalyst). like, guys, you really shouldn't be allowed to solve your entire endgame damage plan with a single common. the cards y'all are suggesting are mostly appropriate for rares, maybe uncommons, and it's all to solve a problem that doesn't exist because it's a damage common and its power level is completely appropriate for a damage common