It is useless to deny it. Dead Cells is not a simple game. Sure, the past year in Early Access has given savvy shoppers plenty of time to practice, but some players have only just joined the game now, with the official release. We told you about the game in our review: you can read it at this address.
We therefore want to help you with some tips for your initial stages. Who starts well, is half done, right?
Where do I start…?
Each game of Dead Cells begins in the Prisoners' Quarters - this is a simple area that you should be able to master quickly. The speech is different with the second area: the Path of the Condemned. It's not an insurmountable challenge, but if you're struggling to survive, don't despair. The Quarters is a great place to farm Cells and get the first key upgrades: Healing. The first two can be achieved quickly, so focus on those. You will notice that the second vial is locked and requires you to unlock other power ups / weapon projects: our advice is to aim for the cheaper ones and then move on to the cure. Two is the minimum number to advance with a little more peace of mind.
Fast!!! But take it easy ...
Yes, Dead Cells is a quick game. Not only do fights often end in one or two seconds if done correctly (we'll talk about it soon, don't worry) but above all the game itself hurries us, increasing our movement speed after a kill combo. And we want to talk about timed doors? The first one you will encounter will be set to 2 minutes: you will certainly want to try to reach it immediately.
Mistaken. If you are struggling to advance, aiming for the power-ups hidden behind the timed doors is the worst thing as haste, coupled with a fighting skill not yet well honed, leads to death. It's much better to take it slow, especially in the Prisoners' Quarters. Don't ignore any corridors, defeat every enemy: more opponents downed means more likely to get Cells. Those are your real goal, in the early stages.
Fight: think about the environment
The focus of the game is one: to destroy everything that moves in front of us. More or less. Sometimes, remember, you can even avoid fighting: if you have low life points and no more healing, don't commit suicide by facing enemies you are not familiar with. Choose the right fights and, above all, use the environment. Doors can be smashed to stun enemies immediately behind them, while falling attacks have the same effect with the addition of good damage. The best way to start a fight is to fall into the head of the enemy.
Fighting: hits the rapier more than the club
Weapons, however, must be unsheathed. You will notice that the blades at your disposal, in the initial stages, are mostly quick: yes, you will also unlock broadswords and axes, but our advice is to prefer speed. Powerful but slow weapons are more difficult to exploit, while fast ones have the advantage of being able to hit the enemy just before his attack, even without doing it on purpose.
Why is it useful, you say? Simple: you will stun the opponents and you can finish them. Many of the initial enemies can be eliminated by simply attacking as hard as they can, permanently stunning them. Obviously as long as you are one on one. The groups can create some problems and this is why it is better to use their patrols to gather them and hit them all together, or wait until they are far away from each other.
Fighting: I feel a thrill
But attack weapons aren't everything. To start, shields are useful, especially for performing parry: they are not really basic moves, but with a little practice you will learn how to use them. Sure, dodging is more instinctive and will often get you out of trouble, but don't completely ignore the ability to stun your opponent while simultaneously nullifying the damage. In the long run it will be very useful.
A second tip is to get and take advantage of blocking moves, all of them freezing. Bombs, bows or magical powers: freezing your opponent (or a whole group, why not) is perfect for taking a breath for a couple of seconds and healing yourself. Or to go behind them and hit them treacherously. Also, after the freeze ends the enemies are slowed down - a few more precious moments to finish them off.
Dead Cells first obstacle: the elite archer
The first real enemy you won't be able to simply take down the frets quickly will be the elite archer, halfway down the Path of the Doomed. Visually it is very similar to a normal archer: the differences will soon be clear. To start, shoot two arrows instead of one. Like any elite enemy, it summons mini enemies, weak but annoying. Plus, of course, he has a lot more life.
The tactics to eliminate it are varied: the most trivial is not to get hit. Dodge to get behind him, attack once or twice (depending on the speed of the weapon) and then dodge again. Arrows can also be jumped, but be careful not to cross paths with his minions. A second method is to block it, as mentioned above, with freezing moves: even in this case you will still have to dodge some attacks. Minions are mostly to be ignored if you are mobile enough: if you have slow weapons, move away from the archer to have more time to dodge his arrows as you thin the ranks of minions.
The latter, however, continue to appear, so your target must always be the elite enemy. Bows are not recommended as the archer will often be covered by minions that will parry shots. Finally, powerful grenades can help hit all enemies together.
Defeating the elite archer means get the first rune and then be able to advance in the second part of the Path of the Condemned, arriving at the safe area. You will also have access to the Sewers, starting with the Prisoners' Quarters. This is a slightly more difficult area to deal with, due to enemies popping out of the ground and poisoning you. At this point, however, you will have learned the basics and, by dying and trying again, you will have obtained the manual skill sufficient to advance with a little more tranquility.
We hope we've helped you understand how to handle the early stages of Dead Cells. Keep following us for tips and guides on all the major games out there.
► Dead Cells is an Adventure-indie-Platform game developed and published by Motion Twin for Linux, PC, Mac, iOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam and Nintendo Switch, the video game was released on 07/08/2018
Dead Cells is a beautiful game that cannot be missing from your collection: we have decided to evaluate it with a 84%, if you are interested in learning more you can read the Dead Cells Review
