Pumpkin Candle just got fixed in Slay the Spire 2 and it changes your whole run

Slay the Spire 2’s v0.105.0 beta patch finally reworks Tezcatara’s Pumpkin Candle so it feels like a real payoff instead of a weird liability that dies at the start of Act 3. The relic still gives 1 Energy at the start of every turn, but it now extinguishes after 5 combats and can be Kindled again at rest sites, which opens up a lot of planning and abuse cases for PC, console, and Steam Deck players who live in the beta branch.

Slay the Spire 2: v0.105.0 Beta Patch Tracker

At the same time, Mega Crit quietly removed Doormaker from Act 3 and slotted in a new boss called Aeonglass, then layered on new Neow relics, a buff to Defect’s Infused Core, and a stack of card and enemy tweaks that all feed into how your late game looks. For NA and EU deckbuilders who have pushed dozens of runs already, this patch changes which relics you snap pick, which acts you route for, and how you think about Tezcatara and Ancients in general.

What Pumpkin Candle actually does after v0.105.0

The official v0.105.0 patch notes list a full rework for Tezcatara’s Pumpkin Candle. The old version read “Gain 1 Energy at the start of each turn. Extinguishes at the start of Act 3.”, which meant it felt great for a while then bricked on you just before some of the hardest fights in the game.

The new version reads “Gain 1 Energy at the start of each turn. Extinguishes after 5 combats. Can be Kindled at rest sites.” which changes the whole rhythm of the relic. Instead of thinking about acts, you are thinking in 5 fight chunks and how many campfires you can hit on your route to refresh it.

Because Kindling is a rest site action, you have to choose between keeping your Pumpkin Candle online and upgrading cards, healing, or doing other campfire events, so there is a real tradeoff. On the flip side, you can time your Kindles so that your Candle is burning during key elites and bosses, then accept a few normal fights where it is off to save your rest actions.

Why Pumpkin Candle is suddenly worth picking

The big question for long time Slay the Spire players is simple, is Pumpkin Candle actually good now. The answer is much closer to yes than it has ever been. Five fights of extra Energy is a huge tempo boost if you play decks that can convert that into damage, scaling, or draw, and the fact you can refresh it means it no longer falls off right before Act 3.

On Ancients specifically, where Pumpkin Candle belongs, that extra Energy every turn lets you chain expensive Tez cards, keep more block and curse management online, and slam bigger payoff cards earlier in the run. Since this character already leans on high impact plays and tricky relic interactions, any repeatable Energy relic that you can manage yourself becomes a real centerpiece.

There is a community PSA on r/slaythespire pointing out that you can Kindle your Pumpkin Candle “higher than 5 combats”, especially with Miniature Tent, and that it “never ran out” for that player. That is the core reason the relic jumps in power, with Tent giving you an extra rest site action, you can top up the Candle without giving up as many upgrades or heals, and your Energy buff covers far more fights over the course of a run.

The busted interaction with Miniature Tent

Miniature Tent, sometimes called the “Tent” relic, lets you take a rest site action without consuming the campfire in the usual way, which already made it a strong pickup in the first game. In Slay the Spire 2’s v0.105.0 patch, Tent and Pumpkin Candle together form one of the most abusable pairings in the Ancients pool because of how Kindle works.

Since Pumpkin Candle can be Kindled at rest sites and Tent gives you an extra rest site action, you can keep refreshing the Candle while still upgrading key cards or doing other campfire actions. That is how players are reporting runs where the Candle “never ran out” and stayed active far beyond the basic 5 fight duration, turning what should be a limited resource into something that can carry entire acts.

For NA and EU grinders who love routing puzzles, this means you now look at campfire density and event paths in a different light. If you see both Pumpkin Candle and Tent in the same run, it is almost always correct to grab them and lean into an Energy heavy gameplan because the ceiling is absurd.

New Act 3 boss Aeonglass replaces Doormaker

On top of relic changes, v0.105.0 pulls Doormaker out of the game and replaces it with a new Act 3 boss called Aeonglass. Mega Crit confirmed in their Steam announcement that Doormaker has been removed from the beta build and that Aeonglass is the new encounter.

Aeonglass comes with a passive tied to Wither, a status card that hits you for damage if you let it sit in your hand at the start of turn, and that you can exhaust by paying Energy. One Reddit thread summarises it as “it put a status into your hand every 4 cards played” and describes Wither as a retained card that pings you unless you pay to clear it.

The key point is that this boss taxes both your hand space and your Energy, which makes relics like Pumpkin Candle and Infused Core more valuable in that fight. Since Aeonglass also scales its strength over time, slow decks that played a long, grindy game into Doormaker now feel a lot more pressured to finish things before the multi hits become lethal.

New Neow relics that shape your first steps

The patch notes list several new Neow relics that sit right alongside Pumpkin Candle in terms of early run impact. These include Fishing Rod, which upgrades a random card in your deck every 3 normal combats, and Kaleidoscope, which gives you two card rewards from other characters.

Fishing Rod looks slow at first, but for players who route through a bunch of hallway fights early, those upgrades stack up fast and can hard carry you into Act 2. Kaleidoscope, on the other hand, is all about early spikes and cross class synergy, since two off character card rewards can hand you synergies you would never see in a normal pool.

There is also a Glam themed Neow effect, sometimes referred to as Sacred Bark or a similar enchant in coverage, that enchants the first card reward with Glam. Glam makes the first time you play an enchanted card replay itself, so a strong early power or attack turns into a huge accelerant if you see it in that first reward screen.

Card buffs that help Defect and more

Defect fans also get some love in this update. Infused Core, which replaces the starter relic through the Orobouros ancient bonus, now gives 1 extra damage on all Lightning orbs in addition to channeling three Lightning at the start of each combat. This shifts Lightning from feeling weak in the late game to something closer to a real endgame plan, especially when you pick up scaling powers.

Shatter is another standout. The patch changes it so that instead of evoking all your orbs once, it now evokes all of them twice, effectively turning it into a dual cast for every slot you have filled. Since Untapped.gg’s patch breakdown explicitly calls Shatter “one of the best rares on Defect” after this change, it is fair to say this card moved to the top of your rare priority list.

Tesla Coil’s upgrade was also reworked. The improved version no longer just raises the damage number, it makes all Lightning hits trigger twice, which is especially nasty when combined with the Infused Core buff and any Lightning focus scaling. For PC and console players who enjoy orb heavy Defect lines, this patch feels very friendly.

Enemy tweaks that punish lazy routing

A couple of enemies got targeted buffs. The v0.105.0 notes mention Soul Fysh’s Scream attack now does 13 or 15 damage instead of 11 or 12 which means that early fight has more bite, especially for decks that walk in with low block or poor pathing. There are also adjustments to Underdogs encounters like Haunted Ship, which now applies 3 Weak on turn 1.

These changes are not going to kill a polished run on their own, but they prevent autopilot through certain fights that used to be free. When you pair them with a boss like Aeonglass that punishes slow decks and a relic like Pumpkin Candle that rewards aggressive planning, you get a beta build that clearly wants you to think harder about each act.

How PC and console grinders should adapt

If you are grinding Slay the Spire 2 on PC or Steam Deck with the beta branch toggled on, the priority list after v0.105.0 is pretty clear. If you see Pumpkin Candle, you now treat it like a high value Energy relic instead of a trap, especially if your route has decent rest site density and you have any chance to grab Miniature Tent.

On Ancients, you lean into expensive Tez cards and big payoff turns, trusting that you can Kindle as needed to keep your Energy high through elites and bosses. On Defect, you keep an eye out for Infused Core, Shatter, and Tesla Coil upgrades, since these now form a Lightning shell that can stand up to the late game and bosses like Aeonglass.

If you are more of a casual console player, the main takeaway is simpler. Runs feel spikier now, both in your favor and against you, so respecting enemy damage and making smarter campfire choices pays off more. When you see Pumpkin Candle, do not auto skip it, think about your next 5 fights, where your rest sites are, and whether that Energy window could be the difference between dying and snowballing.

What to test next on your runs

Your first test after this patch should be a run where you commit to Pumpkin Candle if you see it, then actively route around Kindling opportunities. Track how often you are willing to give up upgrades or heals to keep that 1 Energy per turn online, and how it feels against elites and bosses, especially Aeonglass.

If you love Defect, queue into the beta with an eye toward Infused Core, Shatter, and Tesla Coil, then build a Lightning heavy deck to see how the new damage profile feels through Act 3. Pay attention to how much safer it feels compared to old Lightning builds, since that extra orb damage and the new Shatter effect can end fights before Wither stacks get out of control.

Given how vocal the community has been about bosses and high end difficulty, there is a decent chance Mega Crit keeps tuning Aeonglass and other late game pieces over the next few patches. If that happens, expect more relic and card adjustments that either support faster kills or open new lines against Wither style mechanics.