TheCorrupt Heart, thefinal boss found in Act 4, is at the top of the tower and is pumping foul blood about the eponymous peak ofSlay the Spire. To pierce this huge organ of hatred and dominance, one will first need to know what it does in order to counter its great might. Following that, the player can then develop a strategy based on their preferences, the character that they are using, and the kind of luck they get in their next run.
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While there are plenty of tactics that could be used to take down this end-game boss, some are simply more viable and easy to pull off than others. However, as mentioned before, one must first know their enemy to defeat them.
Updated on June 18, 2025, by Reyadh Rahaman:Deciding on a unique strategy for each character inSlay the Spireis often the best way toachieve success against the final boss. Each character has different strengths and weaknesses that should be emboldened or negated respectively before or during the confrontation with the Corrupt Heart.
Whether one takes a defensive or offensive approach will depend heavily on the cards one can acquire as the player rises through the various rooms of The Spire. However, with some characters (and a bit of luck), it’s possible to assemble truly overpowered builds.
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Buff
While the Buff counts as an Attack, it is quite complex and warrants greater attention. Here are its effects that differ for the first 5 times it is used; following the 5th use, the effects do not change again.Furthermore, each time this Buff is used, it removes all Strength debuffs from the Corrupt Heart as well as gives the boss +2 Strength.
Buff Counters
How To Hurt & Kill The Corrupt Heart
Depending on the character chosen, one’s strategy will be different, however,a good rule of thumb for players seeking to kill the Corrupt Heart is to balance countering the boss’s Attacks and Powers while also trying to add on as many passive damaging effects as possible, for these can be built up to great effect on a single foe with high health.
Ironclad
Fire Breathingpower card: An excellent way to deal automatic damage to the boss upon drawing status cards and can pair very well with attack and skill cards that add more status cards into the draw pile, such as thePower Throughskill card and theReckless Chargeattack card.
Silent
Poison cards: Stacking up poison upon this boss (theDeadly Poisonskill card and theNoxious Fumespower card are ideal for this) is a great way to deal incrementally greater damage each turn that can help the player defeat the Corrupt Heart ridiculously fast if one uses multiple upgradedCatalystskill cards (the regular version doubles the enemy’s total poison and the upgraded version triples it).
Defect
Lightning cards: Using power cards likeStatic Discharge(channel 1 lightning orb each time the player takes damage) andStorm(whenever the player plays a power card, channel 1 lightning orb) can allow one to deal constant damage via repetitive evocation of lightning orbs that can occur passively many times and pairing these effects with theThunder Strikeattack card (deals 7 damage [9 if upgraded] for each lightning orb channeled in combat) can result in bigger and bigger shocking attacks with short intervals.
Watcher
Calm cards: This character is easily the best to use as the base for an impregnable defensive build. Entering the Calm stance will allow many other cards to trigger with excellent synergy for a ton of block points. TheLike Waterpurple skill card is a great choice for a defensive Calm build as it grants 5 block points (or 7 if upgraded). It’s important not to bother entering the Wrath stance, as the effect of taking double damage will not warrant the doubled damage output and will only result in the player dying quicker.
Passive damage skill cards: When it comes to the offense with this defensive tactic, theAlphaandPressure Pointspurple skill cards work the best, as the former will eventually allow one to play the powerfulOmegagrey power card, which will deal a passive 50 damage (60 if upgraded) to all enemies every turn. As for Pressure Points, using multiples of this card to trigger the Mark effect that gets built-up on foes by using it will allow one to snowball Mark effect damage for consistent and increasing returns.
Slay the Spireis available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, and Android.
