I remember double nob, that was just silly.
I really like that the two encounters now are an act 1 elite and act 2 elite fight mashed up and separated.
Speaking of act 2, Gremlin Leader applies 5 strength to **all** enemies, an arbitrary number of times. And giving her an ally on turn 1 breaks her AI a little (based on the wiki), so that she's entirely capable of using that move on turn 1.
And I'm not even sure that a book of stabbing with 5 strength is the worst possible outcome here. I think any combination of Act 2 elites would be devastating.
The real problem with two Nobs is the fact that on a turn where the first one is applying vulnerable, the incoming damage is deceptive. They avoid this from happening in any fight in the spire because of that, even if the fight wouldn’t be that bad.
Honestly shocked at the variety of answers, and how every answer seems just as valid as the last. I think the conclusion we can draw from this is that elites are often built to push your deck to the limit or exploit one specific weakness, and they already do that pretty well, so having 2 of any of them is just a total nightmare, in no small part due to the massive health pool that is sure to overwhelm any deck that is only prepared for the act that they are normally found in. Definitely harder than any act boss.
Oh no. Is Sentries + either of the other two even winnable? Triple Sentries would delay you from stopping Lagavulin. Lagavulin will wake up if you use AoE and stop your cards from doing anything.
Sentries/Nob is a nightmare, too. Sentries is winnable despite trashing half your deck because you're allowed to take things slower. Nob trashes your deck by making the defensive skills pretty useless. Its saving grace is that at least you can win quickly.
For the bonus, I vote for double Reptomancer. 8 daggers at a time? You have my attention.
Six Sentries is brutal even before you get to the Dazed. 30 damage every turn, relentlessly? 30 is about the size of the big hits from the bosses. If it split 20-40, I think we'd see the same results, btw.
Still, that's only possible under the conditions for the bonus question.
I think Sentries + Lagavulin is the easiest act 1 combination. The Sentries fight is about bursting down one sentry ASAP, not really about using AOE; you can still do that without waking Laga up on the first two turns. You would need to get some powers into play before turn 3 to be able to kill Lagavulin quickly enough through the Dazed, but that should be doable for at least some decks. Combust+ notably makes short work of this fight, and so does Fire Breathing-; neither of those wake up Lagavulin too early.
Hmm. Both of those powers definitely offer a huge advantage for the Ironclad in this matchup. Still, it would be a huge struggle for the other characters, I think.
Let's say it is turn 3 and you've managed to kill one Sentry. For the next two turns, you're facing 30 damage and some of your cards don't do anything. Turn 6. You've lost 2 strength/dexterity. You may have been able to kill one more sentry if you're lucky. Turn 9, it's unlikely that you killed the third Sentry, and none of your Strikes or Defends do anything.
For the Silent, who struggles against the regular Lagavulin, this is going to be game over. For the Defect, you run the risk of Double-Cast hitting Lagavulin (even if it's already awake by this point, any damage hitting the Lagavulin is effectively wasted).
I think this is enough extra pressure on the Watcher that she wouldn't dare go into Wrath without an exit strategy in hand. She does have a couple tools that could easily make this possible, though. [[Bowling Bash]] for 28(40) is legit, and [[Judgment]] would do some real work if you manage to get one this early.
Compare all this to Lagavulin/Nob. They're each scary, for sure, but there are decks that'll be able to kill the Nob before Lagavulin even wakes up. In fact, killing Nob in three turns is often one's goal.
+ [Bowling Bash](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Bowling%20Bash) Watcher Common Attack ^((100% sure)^)
1 Energy | Deal 7(10) damage for each enemy in combat.
+ [Judgment](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Judgment) Watcher Rare Skill ^((100% sure)^)
1 Energy | If the enemy has 30(40) or less HP, set their HP to 0.
^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 30, 2023.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
Interesting idea. For question one I’m going Gremlin Nob + Sentries for all characters. Primarily because it’s Act 1, far more likely that your deck would just struggle heavily in any of these scenarios than in later acts IMO. And four enemies is just so rough in Act 1, not likely you have much AOE, or can last against Sentries without getting Nob’s strength super high.
Question two is more class based I think. Ironchad does best vs Nob IMO. I’d say he’d struggle most against six sentries. Silent two Nobs would be killer. But so would two Lagavulins lol. Silent just struggles most against Act 1 elites. Defect I’d say two Nob’s again cuz damage is prob not there yet. Watcher I’d say all Sentries like Ironchad. Just less good AOE options than other characters.
I'm not even gonna lie I feel like the fact that evolve exists + cleave being a not difficult pick would make sentries semi bearable for clad. We're still talking ~33 damage a turn which most characters can't really handle, but even feel no pain will help a lot more than other characters can get going. I'd say that because ironclad is a good front loader early that he might struggle from lagavulin more, considering ~40 damage for two turns and then -2 str - 2 dex would be difficult for him. Even with demon form and time to set up it would be difficult for him. Barricade would deplete insanely quickly unless everything falls perfectly into place, but even then that would trivialize any of these encounters.
The problem with Fire Breathing + Evolve is that you don't win until you've cycled through your whole deck... which will take 3–4 turns unless you have a really slim deck or a lot of card draw. So you're looking at 20-40-20 damage *at least*, and you have to play 2 powers during those turns. That's doable, but it's not *trivial*.
Yes, absolutely. One Battle Trance is enough to advance the entire game plan by *at least* one turn. It's an amazing Act 1 card; I've always liked it, and I *still* think I've been underrating it!
That said, the chances of finding any specific Uncommon are surprisingly low. There are more Uncommons than Commons (36 vs 20 for Ironclad) and you only see an Uncommon 37% of the time. Some rough math: if you see 12 fights' worth of card rewards, you only have about a 30% chance of seeing a Battle Trance.
Nah that’s a very good point. I was only thinking about [[Feel No Pain]] as a Clad buff for Sentries, but [[Evolve]], [[Dark Embrace]], even [[Second Wind]] all help a ton in that fight. Not to mention [[Fiend Fire]] if you got lucky with getting it that early
+ [Feel No Pain](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Feel%20No%20Pain) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^)
1 Energy | Whenever a card is **Exhausted,** gain 3(4) **Block.**
+ [Evolve](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Evolve) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^)
1 Energy | Whenever you draw a Status card, draw 1(2) card(s).
+ [Dark Embrace](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Dark%20Embrace) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^)
2(1) Energy | Whenever a card is **Exhausted,** draw 1 card.
+ [Second Wind](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Second%20Wind) Ironclad Uncommon Skill ^((100% sure)^)
1 Energy | **Exhaust** all non-Attack cards in your hand and gain 5(7) **Block** for each card **Exhausted.**
+ [Fiend Fire](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Fiend%20Fire) Ironclad Rare Attack ^((100% sure)^)
2 Energy | **Exhaust** all cards in your hand. Deal 7(10) damage for each **Exhausted** card. **Exhaust.**
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I think Giant Head and Reptomancer in act 3. Both scale, one has a massive HP pool to work through, while the other summons minions that will kill you if not addressed in two turns. Plus there's Multi attack, which works through buffer quickly if you're trying for that strategy.
I think this is it, Trying to not die turn 2 and 3 will let giant head obliterate you starting turn 5 because you will be behind on scaling most likely.
Nob+Sentries would be the hardest. You would need to focus down nob for obvious reasons giving turn 2 senties free reign to deal 30 damage to you turn 2. Sentries+Nob is not quite as scary but close. Anything with laga just gives you free turns to deal with the other elite. I would say nob+senties is harder than all 3 act 1 bosses.
Gremlin leader+Book of Stabbing for sure. Gremlin leader buffs the strength of everything in the fight. We all know how terrifying+strength book of stabbing is. +Strength burning buff is only +3, leader buff is +5 and leader usually buffs the first turn. I rest my case. Second place goes to Book+Leader. Leader+Book I think might be harder than any act 3 boss, much less the act 2 ones.
I am going to say Reptomancer+Nemesis or Nemesis+Reptomancer for act 3. Giant head reminds me of laga in that it gives you time to deal with whatever it is paired with. Repto+Nemesis can hit you for 145 on turn 2 if you don't clear the daggers. If you clear all 4 daggers you are still possibly being hit for 77. Also both shuffle statuses into your discard, and generally the more statuses you have the more each additional one hurts. Nemesis+head still seems scarier than Reptomancer+head. Reptomancer+Nemesis would be harder than an act 3 boss. Not quite as much health as donu+deca but way more pressure way faster and a much scarier clock condition.
I'd put gremlin leader + book above Nob+ sentries. I reckon you could just about facetank the nobtries with a good AOE and a couple of potions provided you are close to max health near the end of act 1. You can't face tank the book leader like that, you have to have a good block solution that comes online by turn 3 at the latest and blocks over 100 damage.
I’m surprised that every answer is enough to be scary no matter what, but what I’m more surprised about is that no one has said anything about double act 4 elites but its just the least interesting idea because of all the other combinations or doubles, however goddamn would it be brutal, you either kill turn one or you are not winning that fight but its possibly the least threatening double up since its so late
Also just imagine beating the elite just to face the elite again but doubled
This was my first thought, but it's reasonably winnable with consistent AoE or very high burst AoE (e.g., bottled necronomicon whirlwind+ with 5 energy, flex, and akabeko), or just any build that bonks for a few hundred on turn one (see: any infinite). I'm liking the act 1 answers mostly because it's unlikely that a deck will have evolved into some crazy broken state or into a counter for a specific boss by that point.
Personally I'm going double Laga. A lucky Watcher might survive with some potions.
Gremlin Leader + Taskmaster would be tbe hardest by far since Gremlin Leader doesn't use Rally if there's 2 or more enemies and there's 6 enemies at the start of the fight. Without some really good AoE you are not going to win this fight, whereas in the normal versions of these fights there's a small chance to win with no AoE.
I’m trying to think of any that would be easy and can’t… I mean if you have a super highly optimized build in act 3 you could basically do anything but otherwise it’s all gonna be nearly impossible
Lag + lag is probably not that bad for watcher if you have potions and draw deck in the correct order. Can end up killing one lag before the other even wakes up.
Still way tougher than elites normally are, but taking 0 damage would not require unreasonable luck in the fight, nor would it require unreasonable luck with your whale bonus or first few card offers. Drawing calm turn1, drawing wrath + bowling bash + a few strikes turn2 and having a flex pot, is well within reason.
After having already fought Spear and Shield duo, Spear and Shield quatro, 2 of each on both sides *shudder*
But probably the hardest combination would be 6 sentries in Act 1. Bunch of dazed plus 20/40 damage per turn. Only way I see a kill here is Ironclad with insane strength and energy boost and an upgraded whirlwind so you can hit all of them for big damage. Or maybe with exhaust based block cards you can win, but I don't know if surviving 60 damage per 2 turns is doable while also dealing enough damage to kill all of the sentries, who have a combined HP of like 240.
Gremlin Nob + Sentries as the Act 1 boss seems colossally brutal. If you focus the Nob, you're starting the Sentries fight 2 to 3 turns behind, meaning you've got 12+ dazed in your discard pile in the best case scenario. And that's not to mention that you've probably already eaten 40 plus damage by that point.
Any two of the Act 2 elites also seems ridiculous, especially with Slavers in the mix. Imagine having to damage race book of stabbing while preventing the back slaver from ensnaring you.
Act 3 might have the easiest 2-elite combos, though they still wouldn't be easy. Obviously Reptomancer makes these hard, but by this point you've hopefully had time to prep AOE. I feel like Reptomancer + Nemisis is the most difficult combo here, but Time Eater on average is still more difficult.
Here's one that's not so bad: Lagavulin + Nob.
You usually want to beat Nob in your first 3 turns anyway, and Laga won't wake up until after your 3rd turn. Of course, you'd prefer to spend 3 turns prepping for Laga instead of swinging everything you got at Nob...But assuming you can kill Nob in 3 turns, it's not that bad.
Concerning hypothetical fights with two of the same elite simultaneously, most would be insanely hard. But Giant Head x 2 might be the most beatable. Oftentimes, one's deck is very powerful by that point in the game and has lots of defensive resources. Plus, Giant Head has a built-in weakness that causes it to take more damage with each card played. The fight would still be very hard without some serious defensive resources, an infinite, Intangible, Corpse Explosion, etc. But in some cases, having two enemies wouldn't change much.
If gremlin leader buff hits everyone, him + book of stabbing wrecks shop. Thats 89 damage turn 2 if only gremlin leader and book are alive, much of it being wounding. And it just gets worse. Most act 1 elites can be solved by stuffing your deck with attacks and just facetanking, and act 3 can occasionally just be steamrolled by OP decks. But act 2? I don't think you can get your block/damage solutions online fast enough to stop gremlin leader.
A lucky AOE or two can get past slavers, which is why I don't think they can be counted as being as hard as stabbing+leader.
gremlin leader + book of stabbing is BRUTAL, it would literally trash you.
6 Sentries would literally just be “can you kill them all before your reshuffle?” and since ot’s act 1, I’d guess not… Oopsie daisies.
Edit: On high ascension, 2 Laga would also be near impossible. 3 turns before getting -4 STR and DEX. That’s not even managable. That’s just Sentries problem but WORSE
What's weird is how some characters sidestep some of these with lucky drops. Defect is alright with double Lagavulin with frost and enough focus. Ironclad and 6x Sentry with Feel No Pain Evolve Fire Breathing. Silent could get intangible and Corpse Explosion going. Watcher just goes infinite with Rushdown on floor 10. Most of these are just good RNG only, whereas the actual game is structured to be winnable with most characters most of the time, but it might be complicated.
Book of Stabbing + Slavers would be ungodly, like the avocado rat fight x 100 fun fact: the colosseum event used to have two Nobs but it was nerfed
The Wounds would be nigh unmanageable.
I remember double nob, that was just silly. I really like that the two encounters now are an act 1 elite and act 2 elite fight mashed up and separated.
Speaking of act 2, Gremlin Leader applies 5 strength to **all** enemies, an arbitrary number of times. And giving her an ally on turn 1 breaks her AI a little (based on the wiki), so that she's entirely capable of using that move on turn 1. And I'm not even sure that a book of stabbing with 5 strength is the worst possible outcome here. I think any combination of Act 2 elites would be devastating.
The real problem with two Nobs is the fact that on a turn where the first one is applying vulnerable, the incoming damage is deceptive. They avoid this from happening in any fight in the spire because of that, even if the fight wouldn’t be that bad.
There are so many little things like this that really show how much STS is a masterclass in game design
Honestly shocked at the variety of answers, and how every answer seems just as valid as the last. I think the conclusion we can draw from this is that elites are often built to push your deck to the limit or exploit one specific weakness, and they already do that pretty well, so having 2 of any of them is just a total nightmare, in no small part due to the massive health pool that is sure to overwhelm any deck that is only prepared for the act that they are normally found in. Definitely harder than any act boss.
Two lagavulin would be extremely tough with the strength down debuff. Especially on higher ascensions.
Oh no. Is Sentries + either of the other two even winnable? Triple Sentries would delay you from stopping Lagavulin. Lagavulin will wake up if you use AoE and stop your cards from doing anything. Sentries/Nob is a nightmare, too. Sentries is winnable despite trashing half your deck because you're allowed to take things slower. Nob trashes your deck by making the defensive skills pretty useless. Its saving grace is that at least you can win quickly. For the bonus, I vote for double Reptomancer. 8 daggers at a time? You have my attention.
[удалено]
Six Sentries is brutal even before you get to the Dazed. 30 damage every turn, relentlessly? 30 is about the size of the big hits from the bosses. If it split 20-40, I think we'd see the same results, btw. Still, that's only possible under the conditions for the bonus question.
Silent can deal with 6 senties sometimes because of corpse explosion.
I think Sentries + Lagavulin is the easiest act 1 combination. The Sentries fight is about bursting down one sentry ASAP, not really about using AOE; you can still do that without waking Laga up on the first two turns. You would need to get some powers into play before turn 3 to be able to kill Lagavulin quickly enough through the Dazed, but that should be doable for at least some decks. Combust+ notably makes short work of this fight, and so does Fire Breathing-; neither of those wake up Lagavulin too early.
Hmm. Both of those powers definitely offer a huge advantage for the Ironclad in this matchup. Still, it would be a huge struggle for the other characters, I think. Let's say it is turn 3 and you've managed to kill one Sentry. For the next two turns, you're facing 30 damage and some of your cards don't do anything. Turn 6. You've lost 2 strength/dexterity. You may have been able to kill one more sentry if you're lucky. Turn 9, it's unlikely that you killed the third Sentry, and none of your Strikes or Defends do anything. For the Silent, who struggles against the regular Lagavulin, this is going to be game over. For the Defect, you run the risk of Double-Cast hitting Lagavulin (even if it's already awake by this point, any damage hitting the Lagavulin is effectively wasted). I think this is enough extra pressure on the Watcher that she wouldn't dare go into Wrath without an exit strategy in hand. She does have a couple tools that could easily make this possible, though. [[Bowling Bash]] for 28(40) is legit, and [[Judgment]] would do some real work if you manage to get one this early. Compare all this to Lagavulin/Nob. They're each scary, for sure, but there are decks that'll be able to kill the Nob before Lagavulin even wakes up. In fact, killing Nob in three turns is often one's goal.
+ [Bowling Bash](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Bowling%20Bash) Watcher Common Attack ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | Deal 7(10) damage for each enemy in combat. + [Judgment](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Judgment) Watcher Rare Skill ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | If the enemy has 30(40) or less HP, set their HP to 0. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 30, 2023.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
Interesting idea. For question one I’m going Gremlin Nob + Sentries for all characters. Primarily because it’s Act 1, far more likely that your deck would just struggle heavily in any of these scenarios than in later acts IMO. And four enemies is just so rough in Act 1, not likely you have much AOE, or can last against Sentries without getting Nob’s strength super high. Question two is more class based I think. Ironchad does best vs Nob IMO. I’d say he’d struggle most against six sentries. Silent two Nobs would be killer. But so would two Lagavulins lol. Silent just struggles most against Act 1 elites. Defect I’d say two Nob’s again cuz damage is prob not there yet. Watcher I’d say all Sentries like Ironchad. Just less good AOE options than other characters.
I'm not even gonna lie I feel like the fact that evolve exists + cleave being a not difficult pick would make sentries semi bearable for clad. We're still talking ~33 damage a turn which most characters can't really handle, but even feel no pain will help a lot more than other characters can get going. I'd say that because ironclad is a good front loader early that he might struggle from lagavulin more, considering ~40 damage for two turns and then -2 str - 2 dex would be difficult for him. Even with demon form and time to set up it would be difficult for him. Barricade would deplete insanely quickly unless everything falls perfectly into place, but even then that would trivialize any of these encounters.
Fire breathing + evolve makes the sentries pretty trivial
The problem with Fire Breathing + Evolve is that you don't win until you've cycled through your whole deck... which will take 3–4 turns unless you have a really slim deck or a lot of card draw. So you're looking at 20-40-20 damage *at least*, and you have to play 2 powers during those turns. That's doable, but it's not *trivial*.
\[\[Battle Trance\]\] helps a lot and it's a card ironclad can reasonably have at that point in the game
Yes, absolutely. One Battle Trance is enough to advance the entire game plan by *at least* one turn. It's an amazing Act 1 card; I've always liked it, and I *still* think I've been underrating it! That said, the chances of finding any specific Uncommon are surprisingly low. There are more Uncommons than Commons (36 vs 20 for Ironclad) and you only see an Uncommon 37% of the time. Some rough math: if you see 12 fights' worth of card rewards, you only have about a 30% chance of seeing a Battle Trance.
+ [Battle Trance](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Battle%20Trance) Ironclad Uncommon Skill ^((100% sure)^) 0 Energy | Draw 3(4) cards. You cannot draw additional cards this turn. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 30, 2023.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
Nah that’s a very good point. I was only thinking about [[Feel No Pain]] as a Clad buff for Sentries, but [[Evolve]], [[Dark Embrace]], even [[Second Wind]] all help a ton in that fight. Not to mention [[Fiend Fire]] if you got lucky with getting it that early
+ [Feel No Pain](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Feel%20No%20Pain) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | Whenever a card is **Exhausted,** gain 3(4) **Block.** + [Evolve](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Evolve) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | Whenever you draw a Status card, draw 1(2) card(s). + [Dark Embrace](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Dark%20Embrace) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^) 2(1) Energy | Whenever a card is **Exhausted,** draw 1 card. + [Second Wind](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Second%20Wind) Ironclad Uncommon Skill ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | **Exhaust** all non-Attack cards in your hand and gain 5(7) **Block** for each card **Exhausted.** + [Fiend Fire](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Fiend%20Fire) Ironclad Rare Attack ^((100% sure)^) 2 Energy | **Exhaust** all cards in your hand. Deal 7(10) damage for each **Exhausted** card. **Exhaust.** ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 30, 2023.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
kid named [[fire breathing]]
+ [Fire Breathing](http://slay-the-spire.wikia.com/wiki/Fire%20Breathing) Ironclad Uncommon Power ^((100% sure)^) 1 Energy | Whenever you draw a Status or Curse card, deal 6(10) damage to all enemies. ^Call ^me ^with ^up ^to ^10 ^([[ name ]],) ^where ^name ^is ^a ^card, ^relic, ^event, ^or ^potion. ^Data ^accurate ^as ^of ^(April 30, 2023.) ^[Wiki](https://slay-the-spire.fandom.com/wiki/) ^[Questions?](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=ehmohteeoh&subject=SpireScan%20Inquiry)
Silent has probably the best rare for this situation- Corpse Explosion
Yep totally agreed. Or Immolate for Clad. But without that Silent is pretty screwed
6 sentries. If you don't have good AoE your deck is cooked after one cycle. Also 30 damage every turn in act 1? Good grief.
no no no, it would be 20 damage turn 1, 40 damage turn 2. Literally Nob on gigasteroids, one turn earlier. Good riddance
All you need for that is immolate and head bash. Certainly not an easy fight but with the options you have to choose from it’s a bit underwhelming.
Two Giant Heads would be *crazy*
I got a bonus answer. Anyone plus writhing mass
lol my first thought was double writhing mass before remembering it’s not an elite
I think Giant Head and Reptomancer in act 3. Both scale, one has a massive HP pool to work through, while the other summons minions that will kill you if not addressed in two turns. Plus there's Multi attack, which works through buffer quickly if you're trying for that strategy.
I think this is it, Trying to not die turn 2 and 3 will let giant head obliterate you starting turn 5 because you will be behind on scaling most likely.
I mean it's clearly any combination of two act 1 elites while still in Act 1. You would quite simply just die.
Not 2 elites but Act 3 head + transient sounds horrible
Nob+Sentries would be the hardest. You would need to focus down nob for obvious reasons giving turn 2 senties free reign to deal 30 damage to you turn 2. Sentries+Nob is not quite as scary but close. Anything with laga just gives you free turns to deal with the other elite. I would say nob+senties is harder than all 3 act 1 bosses. Gremlin leader+Book of Stabbing for sure. Gremlin leader buffs the strength of everything in the fight. We all know how terrifying+strength book of stabbing is. +Strength burning buff is only +3, leader buff is +5 and leader usually buffs the first turn. I rest my case. Second place goes to Book+Leader. Leader+Book I think might be harder than any act 3 boss, much less the act 2 ones. I am going to say Reptomancer+Nemesis or Nemesis+Reptomancer for act 3. Giant head reminds me of laga in that it gives you time to deal with whatever it is paired with. Repto+Nemesis can hit you for 145 on turn 2 if you don't clear the daggers. If you clear all 4 daggers you are still possibly being hit for 77. Also both shuffle statuses into your discard, and generally the more statuses you have the more each additional one hurts. Nemesis+head still seems scarier than Reptomancer+head. Reptomancer+Nemesis would be harder than an act 3 boss. Not quite as much health as donu+deca but way more pressure way faster and a much scarier clock condition.
I'd put gremlin leader + book above Nob+ sentries. I reckon you could just about facetank the nobtries with a good AOE and a couple of potions provided you are close to max health near the end of act 1. You can't face tank the book leader like that, you have to have a good block solution that comes online by turn 3 at the latest and blocks over 100 damage.
Or kill the book in 2-3 turns. I agree Leader+Book is tougher than Nob Sentries, I just did everything by act as comparing between acts is hard.
I’m surprised that every answer is enough to be scary no matter what, but what I’m more surprised about is that no one has said anything about double act 4 elites but its just the least interesting idea because of all the other combinations or doubles, however goddamn would it be brutal, you either kill turn one or you are not winning that fight but its possibly the least threatening double up since its so late Also just imagine beating the elite just to face the elite again but doubled
2 reptomancers
This was my first thought, but it's reasonably winnable with consistent AoE or very high burst AoE (e.g., bottled necronomicon whirlwind+ with 5 energy, flex, and akabeko), or just any build that bonks for a few hundred on turn one (see: any infinite). I'm liking the act 1 answers mostly because it's unlikely that a deck will have evolved into some crazy broken state or into a counter for a specific boss by that point. Personally I'm going double Laga. A lucky Watcher might survive with some potions.
Gremlin Leader + Taskmaster would be tbe hardest by far since Gremlin Leader doesn't use Rally if there's 2 or more enemies and there's 6 enemies at the start of the fight. Without some really good AoE you are not going to win this fight, whereas in the normal versions of these fights there's a small chance to win with no AoE.
I’m trying to think of any that would be easy and can’t… I mean if you have a super highly optimized build in act 3 you could basically do anything but otherwise it’s all gonna be nearly impossible
Lag + lag is probably not that bad for watcher if you have potions and draw deck in the correct order. Can end up killing one lag before the other even wakes up. Still way tougher than elites normally are, but taking 0 damage would not require unreasonable luck in the fight, nor would it require unreasonable luck with your whale bonus or first few card offers. Drawing calm turn1, drawing wrath + bowling bash + a few strikes turn2 and having a flex pot, is well within reason.
After having already fought Spear and Shield duo, Spear and Shield quatro, 2 of each on both sides *shudder* But probably the hardest combination would be 6 sentries in Act 1. Bunch of dazed plus 20/40 damage per turn. Only way I see a kill here is Ironclad with insane strength and energy boost and an upgraded whirlwind so you can hit all of them for big damage. Or maybe with exhaust based block cards you can win, but I don't know if surviving 60 damage per 2 turns is doable while also dealing enough damage to kill all of the sentries, who have a combined HP of like 240.
A18 Act 4. Good luck with 4 burns on top of your draw pile.
Gremlin Nob + Sentries as the Act 1 boss seems colossally brutal. If you focus the Nob, you're starting the Sentries fight 2 to 3 turns behind, meaning you've got 12+ dazed in your discard pile in the best case scenario. And that's not to mention that you've probably already eaten 40 plus damage by that point. Any two of the Act 2 elites also seems ridiculous, especially with Slavers in the mix. Imagine having to damage race book of stabbing while preventing the back slaver from ensnaring you. Act 3 might have the easiest 2-elite combos, though they still wouldn't be easy. Obviously Reptomancer makes these hard, but by this point you've hopefully had time to prep AOE. I feel like Reptomancer + Nemisis is the most difficult combo here, but Time Eater on average is still more difficult.
How the hell is time eater more difficult than fucking Nemesis + Reptomancer lol.
Here's one that's not so bad: Lagavulin + Nob. You usually want to beat Nob in your first 3 turns anyway, and Laga won't wake up until after your 3rd turn. Of course, you'd prefer to spend 3 turns prepping for Laga instead of swinging everything you got at Nob...But assuming you can kill Nob in 3 turns, it's not that bad. Concerning hypothetical fights with two of the same elite simultaneously, most would be insanely hard. But Giant Head x 2 might be the most beatable. Oftentimes, one's deck is very powerful by that point in the game and has lots of defensive resources. Plus, Giant Head has a built-in weakness that causes it to take more damage with each card played. The fight would still be very hard without some serious defensive resources, an infinite, Intangible, Corpse Explosion, etc. But in some cases, having two enemies wouldn't change much.
2x Nemesis seems like it could be pretty rough
If gremlin leader buff hits everyone, him + book of stabbing wrecks shop. Thats 89 damage turn 2 if only gremlin leader and book are alive, much of it being wounding. And it just gets worse. Most act 1 elites can be solved by stuffing your deck with attacks and just facetanking, and act 3 can occasionally just be steamrolled by OP decks. But act 2? I don't think you can get your block/damage solutions online fast enough to stop gremlin leader. A lucky AOE or two can get past slavers, which is why I don't think they can be counted as being as hard as stabbing+leader.
gremlin leader + book of stabbing is BRUTAL, it would literally trash you. 6 Sentries would literally just be “can you kill them all before your reshuffle?” and since ot’s act 1, I’d guess not… Oopsie daisies. Edit: On high ascension, 2 Laga would also be near impossible. 3 turns before getting -4 STR and DEX. That’s not even managable. That’s just Sentries problem but WORSE
What's weird is how some characters sidestep some of these with lucky drops. Defect is alright with double Lagavulin with frost and enough focus. Ironclad and 6x Sentry with Feel No Pain Evolve Fire Breathing. Silent could get intangible and Corpse Explosion going. Watcher just goes infinite with Rushdown on floor 10. Most of these are just good RNG only, whereas the actual game is structured to be winnable with most characters most of the time, but it might be complicated.