I love Metroid-Vania games like this.

I've devoured almost all of the preview videos of this game on YouTube.
My concern...the perma-death aspect of the game.
There are no check points, so essentially when you die (which is a lot),
you go back to the beginning.
The comment section has been full of people complaining about it.

The offset (from what I've been hearing in the reviews) is that
there are multiple ways to play the game so you can go different routes.
Or, you need to go through it multiple times to obtain certain weapons, items, etc.

Thoughts?

Dead Cells Review (Gamespot)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbfxPptEU6M

Dead Cells Is An Instant Classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trTQQljBEok

the "flow state" of the game is not hard to achieve and it feels great when it's active. there is a lot of variety to the builds you can create and it seems like most weapons and powers are effective in their own right or in combination with other weapons, powers, and mutations. the controls are top notch (even though the double jump is trash and misleading) which facilitates getting into that flow state. the level design is fantastic. each area ("biome") feels discrete from the others, most of them having unique mechanics and layouts, i.e. the clock tower being a mostly vertical affair, as opposed to more horizontal levels like the ramparts and promenade of the condemned. the progression system is well done, letting the player organically unlock new weapons, powers, and biomes by simply getting better at the game. great stuff. people should play this game

The weapons system and level design hit me first.
I just didn't understand the mechanics of the blueprints
and how you progress through the game.

But yeah, the overall consensus is that the game is amazing.

>The weapons system and level design hit me first.
>I just didn't understand the mechanics of the blueprints
>and how you progress through the game.

it seems like you have to prove that you have a good grip on the movement and combat before the game reveals its depth. it took me longer than expected to grasp everything but once i did the blueprints and runes started flowing in and the game really started to open up. my impression is that in order to have a successful run you need to acquire the most powerful weapon/power/mutation combination as quickly as possible, then run through the biomes 1- or 2-shotting everything and picking up as many resources as you want/need at a rapid pace so you can unlock the timed doors for more resources

look for complementary attributes on weapons. i think one of the earliest blueprints you can get is the assassin's dagger, which inflicts critical hits when you're behind an enemy. you can pair the dagger with a freezing weapon like the ice bow or frost blast to freeze the enemy while you roll behind it for some crits. you can also re-roll the attributes on the dagger. it's possible to get an attribute on the dagger that does +175% damage to frozen enemies or +15% backstab damage, or +20% critical hit damage

there are also weapons and powers that can stack damaging status effects on enemies, put enemies into a state for constant critical attacks, or draw enemies into one concentrated area so you can drop big area of effect attacks on them. there are a lot of possibilities for builds and the game encourages experimentation and re-rolling attributes until a powerful combination is achieved. just keep making runs and you'll unlock more and more ways to facilitate getting that perfect combination that lets you cut through enemies and bosses

Dunno how many hours I put into it already but it's a lot.

A few weeks in on the Switch.

It's really fun but I burn out on it pretty quickly. I'm noticing that I need more narrative to drive me to continue games nowadays. But it's a good game to pick up, play for an hour or so and put away and feel like I made a lil progress.

I figured it was gonna be a 2D Soul’s game….punishingly hard until you ‘git gud’, but I was surprised at how breazy it was. When I get a bad ‘roll’ as far as gear is concerned I just make it work. And since death is never random or cheap I don’t get the same controller destroying urge. I also appreciate the controls; many of the 16 bit homages feel weird/floaty, this is perfect.

For instance In a session I was maybe 60% through the game, had godly weapon combinations and was pretty sure the run was good enough to get a crack at the last boss. Cleared everything out and decided to double back and knowingly hit a cursed chest i skilled on the way out...50% sure the next level was a boss level. So when the gate closed and the boss music came on, all I could do was laugh and try to avoid the inevitable one hit as long as I could, lol.

I get PI’s point above on the lack of story but in contrast to other games that try hard and fail miserably (Vanilla Destiny 2, im talking to you) ill take the in-jokes and breezy vibe to everything. It’s a nice little palate cleanser after playing something more ‘hardcore’.

It's nice and painful. Just how I like my games.

I love this game.

I didn't really know what I was doing at first, but now that I get how to use the upgrades and how to attack certain enemies, it's mad fun. The broad sword, while heavy, is extremely satisfying. I love mixing it up with the shooting traps. The one thing I wish I knew when I first started is that I didn't have to rush to those timed doors. I end up with a much more powerful character when I take my time in the 1st Prisoner level.

Again, love this game.

The weapon they add to the item pool is relatively rare but it's always a super fun time when you get it.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

1. I'm obsessed with this game. I love it.

2. Beat it on normal (I guess that would be 0BC). Went to 1BC and couldn't get out of the prisoner's quarters. That next level difficulty is no joke.

3. I prefer melee weapons, specifically the nutcracker. I pair that up w/ something frozen and can do pretty good.

4. Oh, and I'm kinda getting used to using the Hokuto Bow. Not so great for running through biomes, but fantastic for end bosses.

5. I DO NOT for the life of me, understand the + and ++ weapon tiers. I would love an explanation for this. The roman numeral numbers are pretty straight forward. But does a Blood Sword I+ beat out a Blood Sword III? Or a better question, is it better to upgrade your level 1 melee weapon with (++) over looking for a higher roman numeral? Again, I'm not exactly sure how the tiers work. I basically just look at the DPS and compare.

6. I hate that I unlocked the boots. Other weapons I hate: The Repeater's Crossbow, Cursed Sword, Balanced Blade and the Blood Sword.

7. HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME the new suits didn't do anything?!

>1. I'm obsessed with this game. I love it.
>
>2. Beat it on normal (I guess that would be 0BC). Went to 1BC
>and couldn't get out of the prisoner's quarters. That next
>level difficulty is no joke.

it's really just that one new enemy that throws me off. i find the triple daggers hard to evade. this is probably where shields help but i'd rather have a melee/ranged setup

>3. I prefer melee weapons, specifically the nutcracker. I
>pair that up w/ something frozen and can do pretty good.
>
>4. Oh, and I'm kinda getting used to using the Hokuto Bow. Not
>so great for running through biomes, but fantastic for end
>bosses.

it's fantastic with something that can crit reliably from a distance. the nutcracker is a little slow for me. i think my favorite setup is freezing cone + anything that swings quickly and crits on frozen enemies

>5. I DO NOT for the life of me, understand the + and ++ weapon
>tiers. I would love an explanation for this. The roman
>numeral numbers are pretty straight forward. But does a Blood
>Sword I+ beat out a Blood Sword III? Or a better question,
>is it better to upgrade your level 1 melee weapon with (++)
>over looking for a higher roman numeral? Again, I'm not
>exactly sure how the tiers work. I basically just look at the
>DPS and compare.

from https://deadcells.gamepedia.com/Gear

• + quality generates the item with 2 more gear levels than usual.
• ++ quality generates the item with 4 more gear levels than usual, and gives +1 to one scaling Stat .
• S quality generates the item with 6 more gear levels than usual, and gives either +2 to one scaling stat or +1 to two scaling stats (if the item's base form is two-color).

>6. I hate that I unlocked the boots. Other weapons I hate:
>The Repeater's Crossbow, Cursed Sword, Balanced Blade and the
>Blood Sword.

this happened to me in early access. when the 1.0 release hit i took the reset as opportunity to "re-roll" my weapon and power pool. the blood sword is pretty good with the right attribute rolls but otherwise it's not great

>7. HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME the new suits didn't do anything?!

they provide variety for your eyes?

>>3. I prefer melee weapons, specifically the nutcracker. I
>>pair that up w/ something frozen and can do pretty good.
>>
>>4. Oh, and I'm kinda getting used to using the Hokuto Bow.
>Not
>>so great for running through biomes, but fantastic for end
>>bosses.
>
>it's fantastic with something that can crit reliably from a
>distance. the nutcracker is a little slow for me. i think my
>favorite setup is freezing cone + anything that swings quickly
>and crits on frozen enemies

Yeah both the nutcracker, broadsword and the Symmetrical Lance are mad slow, but for some reason they're my favorites. I find pleasure in trying to find a way to immobilize an enemy, and then go in with the kill.


>from https://deadcells.gamepedia.com/Gear
>
>• + quality generates the item with 2 more gear levels than
>usual.
>• ++ quality generates the item with 4 more gear levels than
>usual, and gives +1 to one scaling Stat .
>• S quality generates the item with 6 more gear levels than
>usual, and gives either +2 to one scaling stat or +1 to two
>scaling stats (if the item's base form is two-color).

Thank you. I've been to the wiki page a lot.
So basically if I'm in the forge with a Weapon I" and pay money
to upgrade it with a (+), it's now equal to a Weapon III?


>>7. HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME the new suits didn't do
>anything?!
>
>they provide variety for your eyes?


Joy.

>Thank you. I've been to the wiki page a lot.
>So basically if I'm in the forge with a Weapon I" and pay
>money
>to upgrade it with a (+), it's now equal to a Weapon III?


i believe that's the case. the above Weapon I+ should be a +25% weapon. it might be about the ability to house additional attributes as well. i noticed that legendary weapons always had 3+ attributes that could be rerolled

again from the wiki:

Gear with high enough gear levels can have special effects which scale with gear level:
Weapons and skills that deal significant damage get a + 25% damage multiplier for every 2 gear levels above gear level 1, including the bonus gear levels added by "+", "++", "S", or "L" variants. A damage multiplier increases the base damage dealt by its item, before it scales up to its final value by Stats . It is always shown in the displayed damage output since it's always active - unlike situational damage multipliers like most damage-boosting Affixes .

>>>7. HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME the new suits didn't do
>>anything?!
>>
>>they provide variety for your eyes?
>
>
>Joy.

this concept of cosmetics is commonplace in roguelikes and other games that are meant to be played over and over. you're constantly running the same levels with the same character so it's nice to have a slight visual break from the default costume. persona 5 has additional costumes. bayonetta does too, as does spelunky

Oil Grenade
Ice Shards

I was building a tactic build last night
(I should have did a screen capture...next time).

I'm getting better at matching different weapons to take advantage of higher DPS.

Ice Shards, Hokuto's Bow, Oil Grenade and the Double Crossb-o-matic.

One of these days I'm gonna master shield work.

Messed with 2 cell for a little, and it's no joke.

But yeah, I'm slowly getting there.
Can't even imagine what 3, 4 or 5 cell is.

the oil grenade + ice shards combo sounds nice, and it still leaves room for the Wave of Denial, which I've slowly realized is hands-down one of the best weapons to have in your repertoire.

....but never get it when I'm building tactics.
I've also never really used it at full power.
I'll have to start making an effort to use it again.

But yeah, Ice Shards and Oil Grenade are very powerful.
I actually think Motion Twin nerfed Ice Shards recently so it's not as strong, but it still gets the job done.

used this build: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1945212345

the build was great for everything but the final boss. definitely should have put more points into purple and not red. i was using a sinew slicer until i unlocked death orb after the castle. path was sewers -> corrupted prison -> ancient sewers -> graveyard -> forgotten sepulcher. i feel good about how to handle enemies after having run most of the boss cell 1 biomes. ranged seems like it's very effective but i want to try a shield + spear run with death orb and wave of denial

The unlocking of weapons is still a crap shoot to me. I've looked on the Dead Cells wiki and reddit pages, and they all point to "___ weapon can be found ___", but I never find it. THEN I realized that if you're not unlocking things (cause I had been avoiding unlocking boots and shields), new weapon plans won't pop up. As soon as I started unlocking stuff, I'd get new plans all the time.

Anyway, I'm learning how to better pair weapons together. That will really help you in the later cell biomes. Now when I have a weapon that let's say causes bleeding, I try to pair the rest of my weapons to effect bleeding. I had a great run last week that was caused bleeding AND poison, and then had subsequent weapons that benefitted from both. HUGE difference. But of course I died on a curse run..ha ha.

>The unlocking of weapons is still a crap shoot to me. I've
>looked on the Dead Cells wiki and reddit pages, and they all
>point to "___ weapon can be found ___", but I never find it.
>THEN I realized that if you're not unlocking things (cause I
>had been avoiding unlocking boots and shields), new weapon
>plans won't pop up. As soon as I started unlocking stuff, I'd
>get new plans all the time.

the key to unlocking more blueprints is to buy the hunter's grenade in the first biome. it's in the area with the 3 doors that cost gold to open. the door holding the grenade costs 7500 gold. equip the grenade as a skill then throw it at an enemy who holds a blueprint that you don't have. they can be identified with a symbol over their head that kind of looks like the grenade. hit them with the grenade and an elite will spawn, along with another skill. pick up the dropped skill, get the elite to < 40% health, then use the new skill on them to extract the blueprint. i'm making runs now trying to collect every blueprint

Yo, soon as I get home I'm on it. Thank you..ha ha.

TEASER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBtfG1R8_OY

https://steamcommunity.com/games/588650/announcements/detail/1710735679732079657
Two new levels, a boss and all the good stuff that comes with.

- Announcing a new DLC with two levels and a boss over here (please wishlist it).
- $4.99 paid DLC will help us continue building more Dead Cells and MT’s next game.
- AMA on Reddit right now over here.
- We’ve got two years of Dead Cells content we hope to build.
- MT are finding the outlines of their next prototype.
- HD wallpapers available here.

...tried Sundered, Hollow Knight and Bloodstained but the enjoyment started to fizzle ...Dead Cells seems like the obvious next one to try out

1. Tons of weapon combinations keeps the game fresh (along w/ the constant updates).
2. I always...ALWAYS yell "fuck" when I die. I hate the game and love it in the same breath.

...not sure exactly what i'm supposed to do, but i think i'm trying to unlock the ice bow?? when you unlock something, do you get to keep it?

it goes into the pool of weapons that appear in chests or that you can buy. It helps to explore different biomes so you can get different weapons blueprints. Also check the revelation bearfield brought up above on how to unlock weapons. I was originally just waiting for them to appear after beating certain enemies. There's also a more straight forward approach to unlocking them too.

What have been your favorites so far?

But i couldn't get the boomerang blueprints because of the spikes. I see you guys talking about favorites. Now that I've finished once, i just need to keep unlocking things i guess? Are there any new areas to go to?


>it goes into the pool of weapons that appear in chests or
>that you can buy. It helps to explore different biomes so you
>can get different weapons blueprints. Also check the
>revelation bearfield brought up above on how to unlock
>weapons.


nice, gotta try this out.


>What have been your favorites so far?

not even sure of the names... but the triple bow? the ice bow and that electric shock weapon that reaches out to kill the enemies are all dope.

>But i couldn't get the boomerang blueprints because of the
>spikes.


you need to get a certain ability on an amulet to get it, or use the assault shield. there might be another way to do it

>Now that I've finished once, i just need to keep unlocking things i
>guess? Are there any new areas to go to?

some of the areas have multiple exits and most of those are only accessible after getting all the runes. i think you're supposed to have all the runes except one after you beat the hand of the king. just keep playing and exploring and you'll find new biomes and weapons. i do recommend boss cell level 1 to expedite the unlocking process

...keep running into spots i cant climb up to ...almost finished the game last night and died because i accidentally opened a cursed chest then got slightly scratched by a random enemy

...ive been just doing normal mode and leaving everything up to rng ..is there any reason not to use custom mode? do you get less cell drops or money?

i don't think the mutation unlocks are affected by RNG. my recollection is that you get funneled into the room with a mutation, which happens somewhat naturally within the flow of the game. you might need to make use of the most recent mutation unlock to access the next one

which biomes have you been to? in order to unlock more stuff you need to play and explore. don't worry about the bonus doors. just take your time and pick each biome clean before advancing to the next one and you should be swimming in cells and unlocks

And bearfield is right, your goal should be unlocking runes and weapons.

...and yes, custom mode sucks, so boring

i want to do one this weekend to provide demonstrable playing advice and to compare notes

...on another note ..I can't find the Ram Rune for my life ..i've spent the last 2 nights in the Ossuary looking everywhere ...it's destroying me lol

...finally!!! my heart was racing when i finally got to smash through the ground! this game makes me feel like a little kid again, haha

I can get to HOTK on a good run, but he beats me every time.

On 0BC and 1BC, no matter the weapons I had, I could get to and beat HOTK.
I'm on 2BC now, and if I don't have a good build it's a wrap.

Getting the tubes at the start of the Prisoner's Quarters really helped.
I'm getting better and I'm learning better weapon combinations, but it ain't easy.

...anything that teleports really fucks me up because i never feel safe and i'm panicking lol

.BTW what "tubes" are you talking about at the start of the Prisoner's Quarters?

https://youtu.be/rdCmDVwT6PE?t=00m26s

...getting my ass kicked over and over ..i'll figure it out eventually

mostly the difficulty stems from enemy placement remixes, e.g. seeing enemies normally found in the castle in < BC1 hanging out in the ramparts in BC2

I've been hitting my head up against the Boss-Cell-1 Hand of the King for way too long now. I've already maxed out two levels of the legendary forge and the third is locked, so I don't even have anything to spend cells on anymore. it's like the game is telling me, "You should've beaten this already."

no matter how strong of a build I'm workin' with, I almost always get totally steamrolled by HOTK. even when I don't, I merely survive a bit longer, but I don't do significantly more damage.

another frustrating factor is that sometimes single hits from bosses will eliminate nearly my entire health bar. and that's *without* weapons that have "100% damage taken" attributes. I just don't understand it. the game is super addictive, but it's time for something else for a while.

basically put points only into brutality and/or tactics for most of the run then while you're in the castle — or just before you reach the castle — grab a few survival scrolls so you get +70%, +60%, and +50% (not exact numbers) bonus to your 3-4k hp. you can really get a lot of hp just before hotk by doing the above and resetting your mutations and picking dead inside for another +50%. i've definitely walked into a hotk fight with ~11k hp and didn't have much trouble beating it even with underpowered weapons

those are some good tips. and I've never used the Dead Inside mutation even once (I usually pick Emergency Triage and Vengence). maybe I'll give it once more shot after all.

Definitely push your scrolls for one color. By the time I get to the High Peak Castle, I want to have at least 20 scrolls in one of the colors. When you push your scrolls in one color, and then collect (at least a majority) the same colors, your HP is stronger.

Here's a tactic build I'd suggest:

+ (insert whatever tactic melee or ranged weapon)
+ Hokuto's Bow
+ Sinew Slicer
+ Double Cross-bo-matic

+ Ice Shards (critical w/ oil grenade)
+ Hokuto's Bow (this weapon IMO makes everything better)
+ Oil Grenade
+ Double Cross-bo-matic


+ Throwing Knife (one of my personal favorites)
+ Ice Shards
+ Oil Grenade
+ Double Cross-bo-matic

I've already started Hollow Knight for a taste of something else, but I can never stay away from this game for long (despite my efforts).

during my last playthrough, I concentrated my Brutality/Tactics upgrades more than before and switched to the Dead Inside mutation before the final battle. did better than I ever had before. victory is within my grasp...!

My job has been on hiatus since March 15th so I had some time to really get after it.

3BC with the tubes for starting equipment makes things *seem* easier, but the lack of health refills gets you later on.

Cause I need all of them...ha ha.

I've tried to step away, and yet...

so at some point, 'The Bad Seed' DLC was downloaded and that's currently the version I'm playing. BUT, when I try to enter the Dilapidated Arboretum from the first stage, it says it "requires The Bad Seed DLC." huh??

I've since been able to enter a couple of the other new biomes (the names escape me now). one was a little glitchy, but I could still play it. anyone else run into this issue?

....i had no issues with PS4, but on my Mac/Steam i had to re-download/install the bad seed dlc a few times before it actually was seen as ready to play in the game

I tried restarting the console and starting a new game rather than continuing a save (per other posts on the issue I found on the net), but still no dice.

incidentally, I never actually paid for this DLC. it wasn't free right? I turned on my PS4 one day and it was just there, so I guess I can't really be too upset.

>I tried restarting the console and starting a new game rather
>than continuing a save (per other posts on the issue I found
>on the net), but still no dice.
>
>incidentally, I never actually paid for this DLC. it wasn't
>free right? I turned on my PS4 one day and it was just there,
>so I guess I can't really be too upset.

it's not free. it's a little intrusive, misleading, and can be legitimately detrimental to a run because you waste time going to an exit that you can't access. there should be an option to exclude that section of the biome for those that haven't purchased the DLC

Obsessed with Survival builds as of late.
Specifically, boomerang.
Been loving this build:

+ Boomerang
+ Ice Bow
+ Mushroom Boi
+ Crusher

I never used to like Crusher cause it took so long
for the attack to land on quicker enemies.
Now I just freeze them with the Ice Bow, and it lands.
The Mushroom Boi and the boomerang also provide a nice 1-2 combo.

But this is what I go with:

SURVIVAL
_Necromancy
_Gastronomy
_Alienation (colorless)

I'll also use Frostbite if I know I'm going to stick with Ice Bow for a run.

TACTICS
_Networking
_Scheme
_Initiative

I don't run Brutality much.

What have you found works for you?

>But this is what I go with:
>
>SURVIVAL
>_Necromancy
>_Gastronomy
>_Alienation (colorless)
>
>I'll also use Frostbite if I know I'm going to stick with Ice
>Bow for a run.
>
>TACTICS
>_Networking
>_Scheme
>_Initiative
>
>I don't run Brutality much.
>
>What have you found works for you?




i'm still on 2BC and have been doing cell farming runs mostly..

SURVIVAL:
Necromancy
Gastronomy
Ygdar Orus Li Ox

TACTICS:
Tranquility
Support
Ygdar Orus Li Ox

I have to get back to the giant to try taking it down.

Boomerang V (colorless) *caused poison
Ice Shards 100% to poison
Wolf Trap 100% to poison
Oil Grenade 175% to poison

I ripped through the Clock Tower and the High Preist Castle
like I had never before. It was wild.

after downloading an update from, uh, a few updates ago, I encountered a new, mummy-type enemy (in the Forgotten Sepulcher, I believe) who proceeded to erradicate 97% of my health bar with a single hit. it had happened a few times before, but that was the last straw; I shut the game off and never went back.

I WANT to play, but I feel like the game isn't respecting me with stuff like that.

...game is just to punishing, and i'm having way more fun this way

...and I recently started doing this.
Start a custom game instead of a regular game.
Highlight only the equipment you want.
For me, a successful runs depended on what weapons I got.
Which kinda sucked. I realized I had more fun when I used the weapons I was good at.

Now every once in a while I'll add a couple new weapons to the fold
and practice with those.
So I'm expanding my abilities so I'm not so limited.

But yeah, it can be hard to get through the game when you get a legendary boot.

y'know, I've never touched Custom mode even once. I wasn't even sure what it was about, to be honest. I guess I can give it a try before I sell my disc off, but even getting the exact load-out I want won't save me from unfair damage *taken*.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ3TH9eTvGo

Our latest free update introduces a whole new level, The Derelict Distillery!

This biome is an alternative path to High Peak Castle, giving you more variety in your runs at the end of the game. We're throwing in new enemies, weapons and exploding barrels that you'll need to master in order to make it through to the Throne Room.

On top of that we're giving you an option for a complete new soundtrack, reworking the classic Dead Cells tracks in an 8-bit style!

Coming Summer 2020...

Veedotme made a video using that barrel gun thing and I was like,

I'm good.

The new level looks tight though.
Glad to see they're still finding ways to add levels, weapons, etc.

Almost the same build I had for beating 2BC:

SURVIVOR BUILD / 25 scrolls

_ Ice Shards VII
_ Boomerang VI (caused poison)
_ Wolf Trap VI
_ Crusher IX

Paired both the Ice Shards and boomerang to the X button.
That alone with the poison was good enough for most enemies.
By the time I got to the High Priest Castle, I had everything slanted towards poison damage.
Plus the Crusher spread oil which raised my Ice Shards up.
When I tossed the trap and crusher together? It was a wrap.
The 3 mini bosses you fight to get the 3 keys in the Castle went down in seconds every time.

I need to learn the timing on that R&B Guitar melee weapon.
I kept seeing it in the store and the hit points were crazy.

>Paired both the Ice Shards and boomerang to the X button.
>That alone with the poison was good enough for most enemies.


How? I didn't know this was possible.

Try pairing these together on one button:

Firebrands
Oiled Sword
(this creates an instant crit hit with every swing)

Boomerang
Ice Shards

Electric Whip
Ice Shards

Throwing Knife
Ice Shards
(then see if you can reload Ice Shards to effect bleeding
and if you can find a colorless oil grenade, you're set.)

Throwing Knife
Sadists Stiletto
(again, instant crit hits)

Throwing Knife
Hokuto's Bow


Remember that the item in the left box shoots out first,
so make sure you get the order correct to inflict the critical hits.
It doesn't work with everything, but when it does, it's powerful.

...the new Fatal Falls update makes it...man.

They revamped how malaise works, so you're subject to enemies
spawning out of no where the higher your malaise gets.
Even when I have custom settings to only drop weapons I like,
I rarely can get to a 3rd biome on 4BC.

But the new levels are tight.
I haven't unlocked everything.

I bought this months ago when I was deep into Hades cause it popped up as half off on the Nintendo e-shop and I knew it was the game most compared to Hades. I put it to the side because after I finished with Hades I needed a break from the genre, but after getting too frustrated (again) with Hollow Knight I finally decided to jump into this.

While the story is nowhere near as interesting as Hades (and I'd have to say subjectively that Hades is the better game) I find myself enjoying my Dead Cell runs and exploring much more, maybe due to the metroidvania-style map rather than the linear room-to-room journey of Hades.

Still working on my first successful run (only made it as far as the last room before the final boss) but can't stop playing.

Like Hades, Dead Cells made me realize how thoroughly subpar I am at video games (I just recently beat Hades for the first time a couple weeks ago on run 48 or something like that) because it took me almost a full year to finally beat The Hand of the King and I rarely make it to the Castle on BC1, but I really loved everything about the progression to that first victory and really internalizing how Dead Cells operates and mastering those speed or murder runs depending on the style of play I wanted that evening.


But after the last two huge updates, all the new stuff kinda made the game feel like it was for the people who totally mastered it, not the people like me who slammed their head against the wall over and over until a few breaks finally went my way in terms of build and upgrades. Kinda reminded me of the original Destiny, where I was weirdly into the overly simplistic grind of its original run but by the time The Taken King dropped and was unanimously praised for "saving" Destiny from itself, I was like...this is too much, I'm out! LOL


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Are those the levels I can't get to until I DL certain DLC?

But when the fFIRST came to consoles, it had something like seven sections... (I don't know all the names anymore)

First Level
Ramparts or Sewers
Crypt or Towers or (that third one)
Castle

Maybe a little different than that.


Now there's like four or five other biomes I think (I know the first level has at least one new branch that really fucked me up every time I tried it, with the pygmy spear dive bomby fuckers) and the behavior of the enemies is all different as well as the weapon balance.

I get why they made the changes they did because I also got into watching DC speedruns when I couldn't play for a while since a lot of them were so short and insane, clearly those people were the game's main audience and they needed fresh challenges (I think if I remember the game even launched WITHOUT a final boss, but people kept mastering runs anyway?) but for barely more than casual players like me the new stuff made it feel like a half-step to a sequel.

I know The Bad Seed was one of the DLC titles, but like I said seemed like PS4 just auto-installed them as they came. One cool feature is you can roll back to previous versions, I'm just on Hades now.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

>Are those the levels I can't get to until I DL certain DLC?

On Steam and XBOX, I had to buy them before those levels would open up.
Most major updates like this add new weapons as well.

1. XBOX ONE
2. Steam
3. Android/Chromebook

I play it THAT much. It was great having it on my chromebook and playing at the airport a month back. I love it.

I finally beat 4BC, and runs on 5BC are no joke (I think I've said that every time I obtain a boss cell..ha).

My current favorite builds:

Infantry Bow
Firebrand
Crusher
Wold Trap
BACKPACK: Hokuto's Bow
Acrobatipack
Point Blank
Barbed Tips

This build is honestly broken. Cause by the time you get to the later stages, it kills almost ALL enemies in one shot.
Even elites. The Point Blank mutation starts at like %40 damage.
By the time you get to the end it's near $80! Couple that with Barbed Tips if you're using arrows and it's a wrap.
So I expect Motion Twin to nerf those.

Boomerang (w/ inflammable oil)
Fireblast

I'm determined to make this work. It's easy to find a boomerang that spreads oil,
but for some reason I can't beat the game with it.
I think it's because it's slightly slower than what I normally use.

Ferryman's Lantern
Grapple hook

I don't care for the new two-handed weapons, but pairing the lantern with the hook has been
a LOT of fun to play with. I'm still learning how to use these two weapons but I'm slowly getting the hang of it.
I'm trying to learn it cause the damage the laterns secondary puts out is HUGE!

It’s like I get to the end and my weapons aren’t strong enough and I can only take a hit or 2 before I’m wiped out.

reroll those weapon abilities (or find them) until you break the game. get that +80% damage to poisoned enemies on your sadist's stilleto and find a reliable way to poison enemies before you stab them. you should be one- or two-shotting mostly everything except bosses throughout the whole run if your build is good

it also helps to make several "unlock only" runs where all you do is get the hunters grenade and throw it at the first enemy that has the grenade icon over their head. you'll get a lot of outfits this way but you'll eventually run out of outfits to unlock and start getting strong weapons and mutations. i picked up the game again about a week ago and dedicated about 15 runs to unlocking and got a lot of weapons and mutations i didn't even know existed

leveling up the forge on BC1 is effective too. take your time and clear out every biome for max cells and don't spend any until you beat the first boss, then dump all your cells into the forge. strong weapon spawns with multiple effects are key to finding broken synergies that allow for deep runs

lastly — and this has been mentioned before in this thread — try to focus your build on one color so you can output max damage *and* get giant HP boosts in the last few levels. a good build looks something like

4 brutality
12 tactics
3 survival

with the 2 survivals being picked up on the last biome for a +110% HP boost and the 3 brutality being picked up here and there for HP boosts when you feel like you're too fragile. you can also reset mutations just before the final boss and select "dead inside" for another 50% HP boost

https://youtu.be/K9FrY1pBFLQ

Yes. I wish I could get in two runs everyday, but my schedule just doesn't permit it.

There are so many weapons now, it's hard to keep up!
Like as soon as I get a grasp of something new, they add in 5 more.

That boomerang looking weapon looks cool. Not sure about the shovel knight one.
I'm never good at attacking from the top of enemies.
That magic bow from a couple updates ago is one of my favorite backpack weapons.

The new skins look good. And I'm glad I don't have to pry the
new weapons out of some enemies (cause that's a pain).

Look, I'm in on this game until the wheels fall off.

..I really hope they get a chance to do a full Castlevania game at some point