Tips for a good start | How to start in Dead Cells? Dead Cells Guide
Check out our tips and advice for beginners in Dead Cells. Starting advice will help you survive in the first stage of the game or... it will help you understand why are you constantly dying...
Last update: 20 July 2017
In this chapter you will find 10 pieces of advice that will help you in reaching late levels and will make you more effective in combat and in exploration of areas.
- 1. Don't save gold
- 2. Always three hits
- 3. Attack is the best defense
- 4. Duck
- 5. Not only physical damage
- 6. Shop and chest
- 7. Not at your first attempt
- 8. Health is most important
- 9. Look for treasures
- 10. Phasing floor
1. Don't save gold
At each phase of the game you will have plenty of opportunities to gain additional gold and to exchange gathered currency for additional pieces of equipment or skills. It is important not to save the gold too much and not to drag too much of it if you don't have a specific thing you want to spend it on. You will make the first shopping decisions in the game based on item descriptions and maybe recommendations from this guide, but remember to keep checking new items, solutions and game styles.
If you can test something that is potentially useful, don't be afraid of buying it. The resources you gather will be lost when you die anyway - it is always better to buy a chance to reach the next safe zone and spend the cells on permanent upgrades.
2. Always three hits
No matter which basic weapon you use, you must remember that in each attack combination every third attack that hits the opponent deals more damage or causes special effects. You should always hit three times as even if the special attack won't kill the enemy, it might stun him and provide you with more time for the next combination.
3. Attack is the best defense
In most situations the best option is to annihilate the opponent. Remember about that whenever you're under pressure with few health points left. Sometimes defeating a few enemies will enable you to reach a shop in which you can find potions, food or other ways of regenerating at least part of health. You can't attack blindly, but if you time your attack well, you will manage to survive and forget that there are shields available in Dead Cells.
4. Duck
Most bullets that are flying towards you have constant trajectory that is parallel to the ground. In order to avoid these attacks, you don't need to perform special stunts. The protagonist can duck if you simply pull the analog stick down and press the right button. This will enable you to avoid most attacks. Of course, this won't save you from grenades that have area of effect. In their case you must walk out of the range.
5. Not only physical damage
Remember that various pieces of equipment enable you to attack with different types of damage. The most popular and effective way of eliminating the opponent is by using physical damage, but there are also magical and elemental types of damage. It is important because sometimes you will notice a wooden mannequin that creates an area of effect in which all enemies become invulnerable to physical damage. You can first destroy the dummy, but if you have a weapon that deals damage of different type, then you can eliminate the enemies without destroying the object.
6. Shop and chest
Each area (except for the boss arenas) consists of two repeatable pieces - a shop and a chamber with treasure chests. Both chambers can have different applications depending on the type of found chest and the characteristics of the shop. More about it can be found in the chapters about the game world, but you can be sure that if you look long enough, you will find these two pieces.
7. Not at your first attempt
As you probably noticed, despite the fact that the protagonist starts the adventure since start after each death, some of the skills are unlocked permanently. During the exploration you will encounter various interaction places that don't work until you unlock specific skills. If early in the game you can't reveal the whole map or some doors remain locked, it means you must defeat a specific boss first.
8. Health is most important
The early levels will become much easier if you decide to invest the character development scrolls you found or bought into additional health points. Despite the fact that enemies in further levels look same as the ones in the first one, they deal more damage. If you don't have enough health points, your survival since level three might depend on even the slightest mistake.
You should also spend some cells on unlocking potion that will enable you to replenish health while exploring the dungeons. This will increase your chance to reach further levels. It will also enable you to gather more cells and improve the permanent skills of the protagonist.
9. Look for treasures
During the exploration you will frequently discover pieces of equipment hidden in walls. The treasures hidden in the edges of walls are marked with special icon presented on the above picture. In stashes you can find weapon, food, gold or pieces of equipment. A treasure stash can be broken with a few basic attacks. Once you do it, you can interact with the items and collect them.
If you find an identical rune on the ground, by interacting with it you can open a special portal that will take you to an additional chamber with a challenge. There you must defeat all enemies in specific time and under specific conditions. If you succeed, you will receive a special reward.
10. Phasing floor
Notice that some bullets and grenades can reach you even through floors. Some floors are designed in such way that they enable you to freely jump higher or lower without having to use chains or ladders. These floors also enable grenades and bullets to pass, but they stop non-magical projectiles. In case of magic attacks the type of wall or floor doesn't matter as they ignore every obstacle.
If you look at above picture, you will notice the protagonist standing on such floor. Simply perform a double jump or jump with analog stick pulled down to move vertically.