Should I upgrade Vicious in Slay the Spire 2?

Compare the upgraded text: Whenever you apply Vulnerable, draw 2 cards.. If the upgrade lowers cost, adds damage/block, or enables a combo piece, it is usually high priority.

What builds use Vicious?

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

What character uses Vicious?

Vicious 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.

Vicious

Ironclad · Power · Uncommon · 1 cost

Base

Upgraded

Card text

Whenever you apply Vulnerable, draw 1 card.

Vicious+

Whenever you apply Vulnerable, draw 2 cards.

Builds that use Vicious

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

BCruel Hand of ReckoningIronclad · Core card

Keywords

Vulnerable

Build context

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

Related cards

Vicious FAQ

Should I upgrade Vicious in Slay the Spire 2?: Compare the upgraded text: Whenever you apply Vulnerable, draw 2 cards.. If the upgrade lowers cost, adds damage/block, or enables a combo piece, it is usually high priority.
What builds use Vicious?: Vicious appears in 1 tracked build: Cruel Hand of Reckoning (B-tier, core card).
What character uses Vicious?: Vicious 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.