Should I upgrade Cruelty in Slay the Spire 2?

Compare the upgraded text: Vulnerable enemies take an additional 50% damage.. If the upgrade lowers cost, adds damage/block, or enables a combo piece, it is usually high priority.

What builds use Cruelty?

Cruelty appears in 1 tracked build: Cruel Hand of Reckoning (B-tier, hero card).

What character uses Cruelty?

Cruelty is tagged as a Ironclad card. See the Ironclad build hub for archetypes that care about it.

Updated for Data 2026-03-17Early Access — numbers may shift with patches.

Cruelty

Ironclad · Power · Rare · 1 cost

Base

Cruelty

Upgraded

Cruelty+

Card text

Vulnerable enemies take an additional 25% damage.

Cruelty+

Vulnerable enemies take an additional 50% damage.

Builds that use Cruelty

Archetypes that draft this card in real runs, with the role it plays.

BCruel Hand of ReckoningIronclad · Hero card

Keywords

Vulnerable

Build context

See the Ironclad build hub for archetypes that feature this card in real runs.

Related cards

Cruelty FAQ

Should I upgrade Cruelty in Slay the Spire 2?: Compare the upgraded text: Vulnerable enemies take an additional 50% damage.. If the upgrade lowers cost, adds damage/block, or enables a combo piece, it is usually high priority.
What builds use Cruelty?: Cruelty appears in 1 tracked build: Cruel Hand of Reckoning (B-tier, hero card).
What character uses Cruelty?: Cruelty is tagged as a Ironclad card. See the Ironclad build hub for archetypes that care about it.

Patch history

SpireForge snapshots card text from Untapped exports dated 2026-03-17. When Mega Crit ships a balance patch, we re-run the scraper and refresh every affected URL—see /patches for the editorial log.