Rounding off my week of Dead Cells coverage, I think it would be appropriate for a veteran Dead Cells player, such as myself, to share some tips on how to be better (aka “git gud”) at this wonderful game. And what better way to impart my knowledge on the unwitting masses than with a top 10 list? So here we go. Here’s 10 tips on how to git gud at Dead Cells:

1. Get all the runes. These not only give you new abilities and movement tech, but help you progress farther in the game. You can unlock different levels, new items, and more thanks to the runes.

2. Be cautious. Look before you leap. There could be traps or hordes of enemies. I like to do the power drop (by pressing down + jump) while I’m falling to drop faster and make a cool smash attack that can kill or stun enemies. What’s not cool is power dropping straight into a bed of spikes and losing tons of HP. Caution is needed (especially in the Slumbering Sanctuary because of those stupid spike traps).

3. Save cells to spend at the Legendary Forge. Normally you can’t progress past a safe zone without spending all your souls at The Collector. But you can break the doors in the safe zones by attacking them. Save up those souls for the Legendary Forge, and you can unlock permanent item level upgrades (+, ++, and S rank) quicker than using just the meager 20 cells you get from beating the prior boss.

4. Alternate routes. Are the Toxic Sewers too hard for you because all the enemies there are stupid and there’s also stupid poison everywhere? Go through the Promenade of the Condemned instead! There are multiple paths you can take on your quest to slay The Hand of the King. I avoid the Forgotten Sepulcher as much as possible because that level is a runkiller just waiting to happen.

5. Elite enemies have good loot, but are much tougher than their normal counterparts. Definitely worth fighting them, as the weapons and necklaces you can find off their corpses are almost assuredly better than what you currently have equipped. Just remember to dodge!

6. Cursed Chests: Speaking of better equipment, cursed chests have the best equipment in them. The caveat is that you will become cursed upon opening them. You can lift the curse by killing 10 enemies, but if you take even a single point of damage before the curse is lifted, it means instant death for you. If you’re confident in your abilities, you can benefit greatly from these chests. And don’t worry, you can tell a Cursed Chest apart from a regular one because the Cursed Chest has a face and goads you into opening it with remarks about how it wants to be hit and has been very naughty.

7. Unlock all the health vial upgrades as soon as possible from The Collector. You can get up to 4 health potions, and they can save your life in dire circumstances. They get replenished at every safe zone (in easy mode at least), so drink ‘em if you got ‘em!

8. Learn when to retreat. So you ran into a room full of wizards, traps, and those ninja sword guys. Sure, you can jump in there and start flailing, but you’re probably going to get overwhelmed and killed. There’s no shame in backing off and picking off single enemies as they patrol closer to you. Bows are particularly helpful in this department.

9. Don’t give up! Although I make it look easy, Dead Cells is actually a very difficult game. That said, with it being in the roguelite genre, it will get easier over time. Not only do you unlock newer, stronger weapons and upgrades, but your skills, knowledge, and reactions improve as well. Keep plugging away and you’ll progress farther and farther with each run.

10. Have fun! At the end of the day, Dead Cells is a video game, and video games are supposed to be fun! If you’re not enjoying your time with the game, maybe try a different build/playstyle (here’s where I shamelessly plug my last 6 articles about different playstyles), or turn the difficulty down. Don’t let anybody tell you you’re playing Dead Cells wrong, because as long as you’re having fun, you’re playing it right.

And there you have it, mateys! The Good Reverend’s 10 tips on how to git gud at Dead Cells. I hope you’ve enjoyed my last week of writing about this fantastic game. I sure have! Gave me more excuses to keep playing it (like I needed excuses)! Thanks for sticking with me on my journey.

And just a reminder: If you have any suggestions for playstyles you’d like to see me overanalyze, hit me up in the comments of any of my posts. Maybe I’ll give your ideas a shot.

Sources: steam store, steam community, gamepedia, giphy, giantbomb