Vantom is a boss in Slay the Spire 2. Here is what she or he does, the moves to expect, and the order that actually wins.
A shadow creature that shields itself with Slippery stacks, absorbing your first hits before revealing its true vulnerability.
The fight at a glance
| Act | Act 1a |
| Location | Overgrowth |
| Difficulty | Medium |
| HP | 173 |
| Key mechanic | Slippery |
The rotation
Vantom follows a strict four-turn cycle: Ink Blot → Inky Lance → Dismember → Prepare, then repeats. Damage escalates each cycle as Strength stacks.
Moves
| Move | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ink Blot | Light attack dealing 7 damage. |
| Inky Lance | Medium attack dealing 14 damage. |
| Dismember | Heavy attack dealing ~20 damage and shuffling 3 Wound status cards into your deck. |
| Prepare | Vantom buffs itself with Strength, increasing all future damage. |
How to beat Vantom
- Bring multi-hit cards to burn through the 9 Slippery stacks as fast as possible. Low-cost attacks and cards like Pummel or Shivs are ideal. Once Slippery is gone, switch to your strongest attacks to finish the fight before Strength stacking gets out of hand. Save Block for the Dismember turn (turn 3 of each cycle).
- Multi-hit attacks remove Slippery stacks fastest — each individual hit consumes one stack
- Wounds clog your deck, so card removal after this fight is valuable
- The Prepare turn is a free setup turn — use it to play Powers or buff cards
Where to go next
The boss table lists every boss with HP and key mechanic. The deckbuilding basics page covers building for fights like this one. For the exact HP, Ascension HP and every move’s damage per hit, see the Vantom monster entry.