Dead Cells Guide#
Dead Cells is a roguelike action game from Motion Twin — Metroidvania-style exploration fused with roguelike randomness. Fast, fluid combat, rich weapon builds, and extremely high replayability.
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, iOS, Android | Release: August 7, 2018 (version 1.0)
Game Overview#
| Item |
Detail |
| Developer |
Motion Twin |
| Publisher |
Motion Twin |
| Genre |
Action roguelite |
| Setting |
A plague-ravaged island — you are an immortal prisoner, reborn again and again |
| Bosses |
20+ including DLC |
| Difficulty tiers |
0-5 Boss Cells plus a Custom Mode |
| Signature traits |
High-speed combat, randomized levels, weapon forging, permanent upgrades |
Core Features#
| Feature |
How it works |
| Attributes |
Purple (Tactics), red (Brutality), and green (Survival) each pair with different weapons and skills. Focused investment beats even spreading by a wide margin |
| Boss Cells |
Clearing the game unlocks higher difficulty tiers — 0 to 5 cells. More cells mean stronger enemies, better rewards, and new areas unlocked |
| Weapon forging |
Defeat enemies or open chests to earn blueprints — unlock them at the Collector with cells. Once unlocked, they can drop |
| Legendary Forge |
Spend cells at the Collector to upgrade weapon/skill quality — up to S tier. Raises the odds of high-quality gear dropping |
| Mutations |
Pick passive skills after each level (up to 3) — they can be reset inside a run at any time. The core of your build |
| Scrolls |
Attribute scrolls inside each level — picking your stat multiplies damage (stacking multiplicatively). Full collection is the key to clearing |
Getting-Started Priorities#
- Focus your points — don’t spread attributes evenly; put everything into one. Damage in Dead Cells stacks multiplicatively — pick purple, red, or green as your main stat.
- Explore every level fully — every level has scrolls, and missing one means 30%+ less damage. Time bonuses are never worth more than scrolls.
- Shields are your friend — many players ignore them, but a shield block negates all damage and stuns the enemy. Timing the raise is everything.
- Pick the right route — not all routes are equal: some are scroll-rich, some have easier bosses. Knowing the routes is half the battle.
- Don’t fear dying — death is part of this game; every death unlocks more weapons and mutations. Death equals progress.
- Recycle early — unlock the recycling perk with cells to break equipment down into gold, then spend the gold in shops on scrolls and strong gear.
- Custom Mode is friendly — if the default difficulty is too much, Custom Mode lets you disable certain weapons and adjust the difficulty; trophies are not affected.
DLC Overview#
| DLC |
Release |
What it adds |
| The Bad Seed |
June 2020 |
2 new areas (a vineyard and a swamp) + 2 new bosses (the Tick and Venom) |
| Fatal Falls |
January 2021 |
3 new areas as alternate routes + a new boss |
| The Queen and the Sea |
January 2022 |
2 new areas — a new endgame route — 2 new bosses |
| Return to Castlevania |
March 2023 |
A Castlevania-themed area + 2 classic bosses (Death and Dracula) + new weapons and music |
The Three Stat Builds#
| Attribute |
Recommended weapons |
Style |
Traits |
| Brutality (red) |
Swords, daggers, claws — melee weapons |
Melee burst — high risk, high reward |
Fast attack speed, close-range fighting, medium HP |
| Tactics (purple) |
Bows, whips, grenades — ranged + traps |
Ranged kiting — deal damage from a distance |
Highest damage, lowest HP — fragile but explosive |
| Survival (green) |
Hammers, greatswords, shields — heavy weapons |
Defense and counterattacks — walk in and soak hits |
Highest HP, slowest attack speed — shield blocks reduce damage |
Weapon Types by Build#
| Weapon type |
Brutality (red) |
Tactics (purple) |
Survival (green) |
Notes |
| Swords |
Mainstay |
— |
Yes |
Balanced — even attack speed and damage |
| Daggers |
Mainstay |
— |
Yes |
Fastest attack speed — crit builds |
| Bows |
— |
Mainstay |
— |
Ranged — the faster the fire rate, the better |
| Shields |
Yes |
— |
Mainstay |
Blocking mitigates damage — the core of Survival |
| Traps |
— |
Mainstay |
Yes |
Place-and-forget — AI enemies won’t dodge them |
| Grenades |
Mainstay |
Yes |
Yes |
AOE — the crowd-clearing tool |
| Magic |
— |
Yes |
— |
Added in DLC — ranged AOE |
Recommended Routes#
| Difficulty |
Recommended route |
Scrolls |
Challenge |
| 0-1 cells |
Prison → Promenade of the Condemned → Prison Depths → Ramparts → Clock Tower → Clock Room |
~24-26 scrolls |
Medium |
| 2-3 cells |
Prison → Ramparts → Prison Depths → Graveyard → Cave → Guardian’s Haven |
~26-28 scrolls |
High |
| 4-5 cells |
Prison → Toxic Sewers → Prison Depths → the Swamp → the Cathedral → the Temple |
~28-32 scrolls |
Very high |
| Queen route |
Prison → Crown Towers → Crown Peak → the Queen |
~22-24 scrolls |
High |
Mutation Picks#
| Attribute |
Recommended mutations |
Effects |
| Brutality (red) |
Vengeance + Berserker + Adrenaline |
+40% damage while injured — faster kills — heal when hurt |
| Tactics (purple) |
Support + Networking + Hunter’s Instinct |
+15% damage against nearby enemies — damage shared across multiple enemies — shorter skill cooldowns |
| Survival (green) |
Necromancy + Isolation + What Doesn’t Kill Me |
Heal on kill — +20% damage with a single weapon — shield blocks heal you |
Hidden Mechanics#
| Mechanic |
What it does |
| Challenge rooms |
Rare hidden entrances appear in levels — inside is a small platform, 1 scroll, and a pile of gold |
| Clock tower puzzle |
In the Clock Tower, ring the bells in a specific order — it unlocks a powerful weapon (the Clock Tower key) |
| Moonflower key |
Collect 3 moonflowers in specific levels — combine them into a key — open a hidden door for legendary gear |
| Timed doors |
Reach a specific level within 2 minutes and a door opens — inside are strong equipment and gold, but it may cost you full exploration |
| Cursed chests |
Open one for powerful gear, but you become cursed — kill 10 enemies to break the curse; while cursed, a single touch kills you |
FAQ#
| Question |
Answer |
| How do I clear 0 BC? |
Stack one attribute — Brutality (red) is recommended — find a good weapon plus a shield, and fully explore every level for its scrolls |
| When should I use a shield? |
At all times. A block negates damage and stuns the enemy — the most efficient defense in the game |
| How should I allocate scrolls? |
All into one attribute. Even spreading means you can’t kill anything |
| Which DLC is best? |
Return to Castlevania — the most content plus Castlevania nostalgia. The Queen and the Sea is next |
| How do I unlock 5 BC? |
Defeat the Hand of the King at 0/1/2/3/4 BC — each kill grants one Boss Cell |
Boss Cell Difficulty Scaling#
| Difficulty |
Enemy scaling |
| 0 BC |
Baseline |
| 1 BC |
+50% damage / +40% HP |
| 2 BC |
+100% damage / +80% HP |
| 3 BC |
+150% damage / +120% HP |
| 4 BC |
+200% damage / +160% HP |
| 5 BC |
+300% damage / +200% HP |
0 BC unlocks every area and is the right tier for learning the game; 1 BC adds new enemy variants and calls for S-tier weapons plus a shield. Beyond that, the scaling above is the whole table — the standing rule from Core Features holds: more cells mean stronger enemies, better rewards, and new areas unlocked.
Playtime Milestones#
| Milestone |
Estimated time |
Notes |
| First 0 BC clear |
10-30 hours |
Depends on your action-game experience |
| Clearing with all DLC |
50-100 hours |
Includes The Bad Seed, Fatal Falls, The Queen and the Sea, and Return to Castlevania |
| 5 BC clear |
100-300 hours |
Requires a lot of practice |
| Full collection |
200-500 hours |
Every blueprint, weapon, mutation, and outfit |
Update History#
| Version |
Date |
Highlights |
| Early Access |
May 2017 |
Steam Early Access — 2 areas + the early bosses |
| Version 1.0 |
August 7, 2018 |
Full release — all areas + the Hand of the King boss |
| The Bad Seed |
June 2020 |
The first DLC — 2 areas + 2 bosses + new weapons |
| Fatal Falls |
January 2021 |
Alternate-route areas — new boss, the Colossus |
| The Queen and the Sea |
January 2022 |
New endgame route — the Queen boss — new weapon variants |
| Return to Castlevania |
March 2023 |
The final major DLC — the Castlevania crossover — Death and Dracula bosses |
| v3.4 update |
2024 |
The final content update — balance adjustments + brand-new weapons + quality improvements |
- Hollow Knight — a metroidvania action game with the same explore-and-master rhythm
- Hades — a Greek-mythology roguelike action game built on death-as-progress
- The Binding of Isaac — a randomized roguelike about assembling runs from item synergies
- Skyrim — an open-world RPG that remains a timeless classic
- The Witcher 3 — the benchmark open-world action RPG
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Full Guides#
In-depth sub-guides — beginner basics, levels and routes, boss strategies, weapons and builds, item collection, and achievements — are available in Chinese on NTGame’s Dead Cells section.
If you read Chinese, the weapons sub-guide there carries the full blueprint and build analysis behind the tables above.