Dead Cells Catch-All

kyrieee wrote:

Last run I got the by far highest damage weapon I've ever gotten, and I was even a bit unlucky with my attributes. I could easily have had 50% more damage!

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/rUPZQmd.png)

Then I completely blew it on the final boss >:(

This is also what I had for the final boss. I think the set-up time for it is a little to slow to be effective in that fight, however.

Beat The Concierge for the second time last night. Frost Blast + Assassin's Daggers seem to be my jam. Add +1% health per hit plus Vampirism, and I actually got the same amount of health back he was draining with his shield when he got me in a corner.

Had to put it to sleep to go to bed, but maybe this time through the Stilt Village, I won't try a cursed item.

I was just listening to an archived twitch stream in which one of the Dead Cells devs spoke at length about the development of the game, and also said a couple of interesting things about what's next for Dead Cells. It's an hour long and the video is of one of the interviewers playing so I just had the audio in the background.

Apparently we can expect a couple of big updates at some stage. One dealing mainly with balancing, performance, etc. and another which will add a lot of new content to the game. So that's something to look forward to.

He also mentioned something they're thinking of removing too:

Spoiler:

He said that the colourless legendary weapons break the game (not for me!) and that they're going to do something about that that some people might not like. I didn't catch if he meant that they wouldn't be colourless anymore or if he meant they'd be debuffing or removing them altogether.

I think it's worth listening to if you like hearing behind-the-scenes stuff.

Yeah I've tried lightning but don't think I will anymore. Just too slow.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

maybe this time through the Stilt Village, I won't try a cursed item.

Yeah I've mostly given up on those too. Unless I'm in a good spot with a ranged trap already and know I can avoid enemies to cure the curse.

I had a fun run yesterday where I got up to the Clock Tower and proceeded to do several things incorrectly, leading to having only 128 health left and no potions. And I had to pass an Elite dark tracer to get to the exit. My solution was to lead it down to one of the crosswalks and kite like crazy while throwing my grenades at it. Which somehow worked. Got mowed down in the next area, but that was to be expected.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

Beat The Concierge for the second time last night. Frost Blast + Assassin's Daggers seem to be my jam. Add +1% health per hit plus Vampirism, and I actually got the same amount of health back he was draining with his shield when he got me in a corner.

Had to put it to sleep to go to bed, but maybe this time through the Stilt Village, I won't try a cursed item.

That is a fun combo! When he does the red shield attack and corners you, you can roll past him, taking a little bit of damage but not as much as hanging out in it.

Kicking enemies off ledges is the new kicking enemies into spikes.

SANDALS 4EVER!!!

Spoiler:

Seriously though, once the penny dropped that that entire point of the sandals is the interrupt + knockback, a sandals build turns into a super strategic run of figuring out how to kite enemies next to ledges then put the boot in.

My main issues is I’m not seeing how well Spartan Sandals would work on the later levels or against bosses.

Apparently it's really easy to take down The Concierge with a good shield and parrying, but I've never tried it, because I can barely get out of the first biome with a shield.

Jonman wrote:

Kicking enemies off ledges is the new kicking enemies into spikes.

SANDALS 4EVER!!!

Spoiler:

Seriously though, once the penny dropped that that entire point of the sandals is the interrupt + knockback, a sandals build turns into a super strategic run of figuring out how to kite enemies next to ledges then put the boot in.

I played for about an hour the other day (while I waited for Hollow Knight to download) and ended up messing around with the sandles for a while. They're a lot of fun once you get the hang of them! I don't think I'd given them a proper try before.

I had 3 runs this week where I got to the castle, which I think is the final level? I just can't seem to finish.

I had some amazing weapons, with 2 or 3 colorless slots, and just killer damage. But the regular enemies just hit so hard, if I slip up at all half my health is gone.

I guess I'll get it one of these days, but it's frustrating to have a 30-40 min run and still feel like I didn't accomplish anything. At this point I have all the runes and have got achievements for visiting every level and can beat both Concierge and Clock guy without any trouble. But the castle gets me every time.

Stele wrote:

I had 3 runs this week where I got to the castle, which I think is the final level? I just can't seem to finish.

I had some amazing weapons, with 2 or 3 colorless slots, and just killer damage. But the regular enemies just hit so hard, if I slip up at all half my health is gone.

I guess I'll get it one of these days, but it's frustrating to have a 30-40 min run and still feel like I didn't accomplish anything. At this point I have all the runes and have got achievements for visiting every level and can beat both Concierge and Clock guy without any trouble. But the castle gets me every time.

I've played a little bit recently but I'm not enjoying it as much since I saw first hand just how difficult it gets at the end. I think it was kyrieee who said to try and just enjoy the run and the combat, I'm hoping I'll get back to that eventually.

Stele wrote:

I had some amazing weapons, with 2 or 3 colorless slots, and just killer damage. But the regular enemies just hit so hard, if I slip up at all half my health is gone.

Enemies level up with every scroll you consume. Consider skipping a scroll or two along the way.

Jonman wrote:
Stele wrote:

I had some amazing weapons, with 2 or 3 colorless slots, and just killer damage. But the regular enemies just hit so hard, if I slip up at all half my health is gone.

Enemies level up with every scroll you consume. Consider skipping a scroll or two along the way.

I’ve put in 48 hours and never noticed this.

Vector wrote:
Jonman wrote:
Stele wrote:

I had some amazing weapons, with 2 or 3 colorless slots, and just killer damage. But the regular enemies just hit so hard, if I slip up at all half my health is gone.

Enemies level up with every scroll you consume. Consider skipping a scroll or two along the way.

I’ve put in 48 hours and never noticed this.

I'm at 20 hours, and neither had I until Steam helpfully posted this article to the game's feed.

8 things I wish I'd known about Dead Cells before I played Dead Cells for dozens of hours

Heads up, it's totally spoileriffic.

Comments are helpful. Apparently 8-7-13 is the target you want to aim for with scrolls and then stop.

I may take a Hollow Knight break and try that today

Jonman wrote:

I'm at 20 hours, and neither had I until Steam helpfully posted this article to the game's feed.

8 things I wish I'd known about Dead Cells before I played Dead Cells for dozens of hours

Heads up, it's totally spoileriffic.

Stele wrote:

Comments are helpful. Apparently 8-7-13 is the target you want to aim for with scrolls and then stop.

That article's very useful, and the comments even more so! One comment describes my experience perfectly...feeling good getting to the end game, then getting completely and utterly destroyed! I might try their tips if - like Stele - I can put Hollow Knight down.

Stele wrote:

Comments are helpful. Apparently 8-7-13 is the target you want to aim for with scrolls and then stop.

I may take a Hollow Knight break and try that today

Try it, by all means, but in my experience distributing your stats someone evenly makes the game harder in practice, even if it's optimal. The reason being that your damage is so much lower, meaning you have to stay alive longer and probably make more mistakes, to the point where the extra HP isn't useful. The thing is that the damage bonuses you get are multiplicative, so every five scrolls in your main stat doubles your damage.

What's worked the best for me is making sure I have gear that gives -% damage taken. These are additive and cap at 75%, but if you get to the cap you essentially have 4x more health. The best items for this are Hotoku's Bow, the Ice Bow and several of the grenades, so generally it's easiest with Brutality builds. Something that can help get you that gear more consistently is the upgrade that lets you pick the shop category (and to some extent the one that lets you re-roll the shop, though it's rarely worth it).

I had another run to the final castle trying the 8-7-13. Had a couple colorless weapons. Got 2 bosses finished on that stage, which might be farther than I got before. And got cursed or something where I was taking double damage. So I died anyway.

Found a new weapon though. Fireball that auto-tracks. Had a ton of fun with it. Really effective.

Jonman wrote:
Vector wrote:
Jonman wrote:
Stele wrote:

I had some amazing weapons, with 2 or 3 colorless slots, and just killer damage. But the regular enemies just hit so hard, if I slip up at all half my health is gone.

Enemies level up with every scroll you consume. Consider skipping a scroll or two along the way.

I’ve put in 48 hours and never noticed this.

I'm at 20 hours, and neither had I until Steam helpfully posted this article to the game's feed.

8 things I wish I'd known about Dead Cells before I played Dead Cells for dozens of hours

Heads up, it's totally spoileriffic.

Scrolls are bad, that is such flipping bs. No wonder the end levels were pissing me off so much.

The hand of the king boss is also complete bs and has soured much of the game for me. There is nothing i cannot tolerate less is combo damage on me into spikes. No, no, no, fu no. I haven't been so pissed off at a boss of a game since death adder2 on Golden Axe on the genesis. Take one hit and magic, now you've taken two. Ticks me off so much.

The other thing that pissed me off is the grind to get better odds of plus weapons, which screw you over 2ith changing their stats afterwards... but then i read from the link....

Spoiler:

The Collector is a damned, dirty liar

fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

I think I'll go back to doing runs in A Robot Named Fight and 20XX. I find these to be a bit more "fair".

Yeah I finally made it to the final boss today. WTF.

Was doing pretty well, down to about 60%, and then those damned spikes.

Yeah this is not fun anymore.

I was basically untouched for 3 levels with this dual bow combo. Yet I had no chance against the final boss.

IMAGE(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/958592200491390304/EB663A5E81D09020D2EED777F801B1643BA3D3AF/)

Ice > Explosive, nearly every enemy was dead with one combo, some elite enemies even. Some elites took 2 combos. Didn't even use my traps because everything was frozen and not a threat.

So awesome.

Until the final boss. Ugh.

CatPhoenix wrote:

The hand of the king boss is also complete bs and has soured much of the game for me.

Stele wrote:

Yeah I finally made it to the final boss today. WTF.

Sounds like we've had similar experiences... It's actually nice to see you use the word 'soured' CatPhoenix, cause that's exactly how I feel. I want to still enjoy playing the game as much as I did before I experienced the final boss but I just don't... Which is a pity cause it's a while since I fell for a game as quickly as I did Dead Cells.

There are two big updates coming at some stage so maybe they'll do something about this then?

After about 15 hours on Switch, I finally beat the last boss for the first time.

Man, the castle and last boss just feel like a huge jump I difficulty. Finally did it with a brutality build. And i lucked into a really strong sword. Frantic sword I think.

I keep telling myself I'm going to play something else after one more run. But this is about all I've played since it came out.

So easy to keep playing. And there's a to. Of things to unlock.

The first person to platinum the game on PS4 sent me this guide they wrote: https://www.justpushstart.com/2018/0...

Lots of great tips in there.

vlox_km wrote:

After about 15 hours on Switch, I finally beat the last boss for the first time.

Man, the castle and last boss just feel like a huge jump I difficulty. Finally did it with a brutality build. And i lucked into a really strong sword. Frantic sword I think.

I keep telling myself I'm going to play something else after one more run. But this is about all I've played since it came out.

So easy to keep playing. And there's a to. Of things to unlock.

I've been on 2-Cell for a while now, finally beat it with a great set of gear (on 2-Cell you only get two one-use refills of your flask throughout the entire game). What I've been finding is that the Castle is actually one of if not the easiest area now, because if you spec right you can be so overpowered that the enemies die before they can get a shot off. Most of my runs ended in the Promenade or Ramparts, because you are so much less powerful, you need to conserve your heals and get the timed doors, and the patterns of the enemies are tougher. You have teleporting guys, the practice dummies, the annoying flying bombs and also the guys who throw cluster bombs.

After Concierge you probably have two good secondary weapons, and the timed doors have a ton of time, so you can just sit back and take it very easy.

Also, I have to add that I find the damage of traps to be inconsistent and often annoyingly high. It feels wrong when I lose 70% of my health bar from a single spike in the second level. Then other times I lose maybe 15%. I guess because you can have such drastically different amounts of health, but it still feels wrong.

Beat the final boss on my second attempt a short while ago. Came down to just a sliver of health too. Had a bit of an unorthodox, for me, load out.

Twin Daggers (Legendary)
Hokuto’s Bow (Legendary) (poisons)
Fire Grenade
Cluster Grenade (bonus against poison)

Very heavy on DoT and weakening instead of straight damage. I prefer turrets and a tactics build but spamming grenades and dodging ultimately won out.

There’s quite a few things I’ve yet to unlock so I’ll leave it installed and hop in to complete my collection. Barely found any of the power skills.

Really loved this game. Just felt so good.

Almost beat The Concierge and Timekeeper last night without being hit, until the last second. Frost Blast V + Exploding Crossbow + 2 turrets, with everything causing multiple double damage to poisoned, freezing, burning, or bleeding, and one of the turrets both causing bleeding and turning bleeding into poisoned. Pretty much just froze both in place while the turrets chipped away very quickly. Just happened to mistime a jump on both, and The Concierge jumped into me, while The Timekeeper caught me with the chain.

Almost made it to the second key in the castle, but died to one of those tornado guys. Still haven't fought the Hand yet, but this was my best run, with something like 1-18-5 on my scrolls. Could toss down new turrets every 2.1s, and just wall-climb and hang there to avoid enemies. That guide I posted above is a good one.

Got to the Hand twice this week by maxing brutality with grenades, but never beat him. Finally got him tonight with the cheesiest strategy, double Wings of the Crow, activating one as soon as the other expires.

Yeah looks like a sweet spot where he gets stuck between turns. Interesting.

The Dead Cells Devs have shared some details on the future if the game.

...

In fact, the first major post-release update is currently under construction and we’re hoping to have it in the beta branch late October/ early November. This patch will focus on heavily balancing, polishing and bug fixing, as well as new possibilities for customization with better mod support, and a new Custom Mode.

The Custom Mode is designed to give you a new layer of control over the game, really giving you the ability to make “your” Dead Cells. For instance, one of the most requested feature was to be able to ban some weapons from the loot table once unlocked, or choose your starting gear. Many other modifications of the standard gameplay will also be possible.

Then, we will get busy with a first (free) DLC, focused on new playable content. No ETA yet, but we’re already playing with a few ideas: 

After that, we would like to sit down and have an honest discussion about future content. We would love to keep supporting Dead Cells on the long run, but we haven't really figured out exactly how yet. What do you guys think about paid DLC? Would you prefer regular light updates or more packaged, themed ones? More playable content in the vein of what’s already existing or exploring new ways to play the game through different modes? Everything is on the table... Let us know what you want to see. 

Cheers! 
Joan & Steve