Thanks for the writeup!

Regarding gems having X block or damage to enemies, this was the case in early development, but there are code limitations specifically regarding tooltip values that would have required a very complex and risky solution. The damage a card deals is simply !D! in the code, which is then calculated as the damage the card will deal. A card can't deal two completely different amounts of damage without one of the two being fake. "Deal 3 damage to ALL" could have been made, but it would have been a flat 3 damage, unaffected by Strength, which to me is not as interesting. This is why the Crystal Shiv and Crystal Wards exist, as they synergize with Defensive Mode's 'after image' effect and other mechanics such as Stasis Engine, while serving as a workaround to the code limitations, so Strength and Dexterity can affect those gems.

Regarding Stasis autoplaying cards, again this was the case in early development, but proved to be very confusing at the start of the turn when a lot of things were happening at once (such as 5 or 6 Stasis cards all executing simultaneously), and removed a lot of the decision-making around Stasis - as a card in your hand, you have the choice to keep it 0-cost and play it later, or put it back into Stasis to ensure it arrives in your hand again next turn.

Regarding Artifact, although the Guardian boss does not actually have Artifact itself, in my opinion it should have, as it is what ties most of the Constructs together in the Spire lore. It is a subtheme though, and as with the Beam theme, has only a small amount of synergy. It could be compared to the Silent's Discard or Ironclad's Exhaust subtheme - a minimal synergy theme, but enough to build around. I believe it is important to attempt to replicate the successful design of the vanilla characters in that way - having a few major themes, and a handful of smaller subthemes.

Regarding Multihit, the Guardian hosts more multi-hit attacks and more Strength sources than all vanilla classes put together, which is the bread and butter of the theme. It doesn't have a keyword or very targeted "multihit attacks gain this" type of direct call-out, so the theme is perhaps a bit harder to pick up on, but the offensive scaling potential of the Guardian in terms of attacks is often directly tied to how much you can take advantage of Multi-hit and Strength scaling.

I do agree that Defensive Mode is proving to be a handful to balance, and I have been toying with a change to its base power level.

Originally posted by Michael Mayhem:

Thanks for the writeup!

Regarding gems having X block or damage to enemies, this was the case in early development, but there are code limitations specifically regarding tooltip values that would have required a very complex and risky solution. The damage a card deals is simply !D! in the code, which is then calculated as the damage the card will deal. A card can't deal two completely different amounts of damage without one of the two being fake. "Deal 3 damage to ALL" could have been made, but it would have been a flat 3 damage, unaffected by Strength, which to me is not as interesting. This is why the Crystal Shiv and Crystal Wards exist, as they synergize with Defensive Mode's 'after image' effect and other mechanics such as Stasis Engine, while serving as a workaround to the code limitations, so Strength and Dexterity can affect those gems.

That is indeed a pitty that code would not allow it. But you can enhanche a card, like done in the runesmith mod. Maybe an idea?

Originally posted by Michael Mayhem:

Regarding Stasis autoplaying cards, again this was the case in early development, but proved to be very confusing at the start of the turn when a lot of things were happening at once (such as 5 or 6 Stasis cards all executing simultaneously), and removed a lot of the decision-making around Stasis - as a card in your hand, you have the choice to keep it 0-cost and play it later, or put it back into Stasis to ensure it arrives in your hand again next turn.

I have had silent runs where al kinds of stuff happend before my turn even began. That is something inharent to slay te spire

Originally posted by Michael Mayhem:

Regarding Artifact, although the Guardian boss does not actually have Artifact itself, in my opinion it should have, as it is what ties most of the Constructs together in the Spire lore. It is a subtheme though, and as with the Beam theme, has only a small amount of synergy. It could be compared to the Silent's Discard or Ironclad's Exhaust subtheme - a minimal synergy theme, but enough to build around. I believe it is important to attempt to replicate the successful design of the vanilla characters in that way - having a few major themes, and a handful of smaller subthemes.

Lore or no lore, When I played it, it didn't gell that good with the other themes.
Beam Theme is not in the way, but it is not the main reason I like your class this much

Originally posted by Michael Mayhem:

Regarding Multihit, the Guardian hosts more multi-hit attacks and more Strength sources than all vanilla classes put together, which is the bread and butter of the theme. It doesn't have a keyword or very targeted "multihit attacks gain this" type of direct call-out, so the theme is perhaps a bit harder to pick up on, but the offensive scaling potential of the Guardian in terms of attacks is often directly tied to how much you can take advantage of Multi-hit and Strength scaling.

The power does not come out of multihit, therefore I said it is more of an minor theme, then a main one

Originally posted by Michael Mayhem:

I do agree that Defensive Mode is proving to be a handful to balance, and I have been toying with a change to its base power level.

I am looking forward to your conclusion