The Slippery Bridge in Slay the Spire 2 is an event that forces you to permanently remove a card from your deck. The game randomly selects a card, and you can either accept the removal or lose 3 HP to draw a different card to remove. With that out of the way, let’s see how we can make the best out of this event.
What you will read
What Is Slippery Bridge in Slay the Spire 2?
First things first, let’s see when you may encounter the Slippery Bridge in STS2. This is one of those rare events that doesn’t have a fixed chapter. You may encounter it in Act 1A: Overgrowth, Act 2: Hive, or Act 3: Glory. When you do encounter this event, you get two options:
- Overcome: Your randomized card name appears here, is removed from your Deck.
- Hold On: Lose 3 HP. The card in the above option is randomized.
Remember that every time you select “Hold On,” it increases the HP cost by one. So, the first time you lose 3 HP, the second time 4 HP, and so on and so forth.
How the Card Selection Algorithm Works in STS2
Like the event description says, the card selection is randomized. However, according to this post on Reddit, that may not be the case. The decompiled code for this event actually reveals a specific, predictable algorithm behind the card selection process.
The game compiles a list of your removable cards. Any Eternal card you may have is not included in that list, as they can’t be removed. However, it does include Curse cards in its selection pool. If any of your Curse cards gets removed during this event, then you’re lucky.
One thing is for sure: the first drawn card will never be a basic starter card. Period. So your starting Strikes and Defends are still safe. If you choose to lose HP to reroll, know that the same card will never be drawn back-to-back.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that it doesn’t remember your entire history of choices either. That’s why a lot of players don’t like this event. It creates a loop where the game can select back and forth from a very small pool of your most important cards.
For instance, it can be Gather Light, Debt, then Gather Light again. Because players don’t expect this back-and-forth pattern, they can fall for this trap. And before they know it, they lose more HP than they can afford just to remove a Strike card. It’s absolutely not worth it.
Slippery Bridge Tips and Strategies
The most common fatal mistake players often commit in this event is to keep paying HP to get a perfect removal. You should rarely roll more than once or twice. If you want to get a Strike card removal, it’s definitely not worth the escalating health.
What you should do instead is sacrifice a non-essential card in the first or second roll. If you lose a solid uncommon card, it’s a lot better than to lose 25 HP and continue your run with low health. At the end of the day, remember that this event heavily punishes highly optimized, thin decks.
If every single one of your cards is essential, then there’s no more room to sacrifice a card that doesn’t ruin your run. So, the thicker your deck is, the better your chances are at this event.
The funny thing is, when you do select the card to remove, the next thing on the screen besides “Proceed” is, “I hate bridges.”
