Dead Cells 2021 Guide - Builds/Colours Explained (Beginner's Guide)

Welcome to episode 1 of Dead Cells beginners guides. Here I talk about the basics of colour selection and colour scaling. This guide is intended for players just starting out (0BC/1BC).
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
1:16 - Common Beginner Mistake
3:59 - Brutality
4:36 - Tactics
5:22 - Survival
6:05 - Colourless
Music used:
Audio Hertz - T-Rex
Cxdy - Ha
Otis McDonald - Bit Coin
v1.0

[@schunando]

Quick clarification: Remember that damage per scroll is increased by PERCENTAGE, which increases damage EXPONENTIALLY. This means the dps increase becomes larger with each stat point. If you start with 100 dps, and each scroll increases dmg by 15%, After scroll 1: 100 + 15% = 115 (15 dps increase) S2: 115 + 15% = 132 (17 dps increase) S3: 132 + 15% = 152. (20 dps increase) By the time you get to the 10th scroll, the dps isn't increased by 150. It's increased by 304. By the 15th scroll, you get up to 813 dps. So if you have 15 scroll and give 7 to other skills, your 813 dps doesn't drop by half to about 400. It drops MORE than half to 306. Just stack one skill. Because math.

[@dtczyk8976]

Oh wow cool

[@fishsick]

thank you, that made sense - the video just confused the matter for me

[@dansmith6300]

So that's why my twin daggers were doing so much damage.

[@minimum850]

I remember when the scrolls were health damage and skills and in every choice-scroll i always picked health

[@runo4155]

I mean if you know what you're doing it's not a horrible tactic Edit: it is recommended to stick to one colour but you could get a new colour every once in a while

[@minimum850]

@@runo4155 this was in ye olde times when i, in fact, did not know what i was doing

[@attilagama168]

Builds: 100 health Cursed sword damage Useless skills

[@rubemevangelista3868]

damn this brought me back

[@Keelyn1984]

I must thank you for your easy to understand guides. Been stuck in 1BC for a while and couldn't even consistently make it to clock tower. I found your guides yesterday and decided to give them a try. I planned to implement the easy things first (Go for all the curse chests, skip the first shops, plan the route). During the very first try I got an E-Whip and a magnetic granate so I went for Mama Tick (and Giant). I had no affinities, it wasn't pretty and it wasn't flawless. But you know what? I directly made it to 2BC in that first try :). So thanks for that!

[@wl1861]

Thanks for these two beginners guides. Picked up the game for the first time right after the newest dlc was released. It's been kinda hard to find accurate information because I am never sure if info from 1 or 2 years is accurate still, as it is my understanding that many things have changed over time! So thanks bro

[@oneguy9349]

Guide to win the game: Ice Blast + Nut Cracker.

[@RazorDire]

Ice blast and bone now

[@Acefdiamonds]

Or broad sword for me

[@surestrange]

@@RazorDire an Icy Mike and some bone broth

[@johnramirez1388]

Well for me is Rusty sword and wood sheild I can win the games with that's

[@ahmetkeremcetin9284]

I've finished 5bsc but still watching.

[@braindamage1013]

Went into full green, suddenly got frantic sword in cursed chest, I have no regrets for taking it.

[@hannovercoitino8208]

I just play tactics builds and every once in a while one brutality build, I simply enjoy playing tactics builds way more than the other weapons/items

[@lyrix19]

I just don't have anything green relevant yet so I'm doing the same with my playthroughs

[@awoken8infinite]

same. I like the skills and stuff. purple made sense for me.

[@johnmarstall]

Tactics is what I find the most fun, but it does tend to be a little harder.

[@lonewolf1592]

@@johnmarstall I also prefer tactics but i tried playing with survival and it is very good as well as it gives very good amount of health which relieves some pains xD. I recommend trying it sometimes (My recommendation: Use Ice crossbow + spiked shield(in backpack) + armodillopack, Giant boss: use giantkiller + parryshield (or spiked).)

[@johnmarstall]

@@lonewolf1592 I recently beat 0BC and it was with a Survival build! It does seem a little more forgiving, while still being fun.

[@mysticmarauder4842]

HOLY THIS HELPS SO MUCH ive been trying to find which colors scale best with what weapons and elements so thanks so much for this vid even if it was made a while ago ❤

[@iansimiyu6952]

Good to see that now there's a difference btn Legendary and Colourless. Still 0bc, it's tough but I'm learning. Make more 0bc/1bc videos when you have the chance

[@dumb.luck36]

The amount of times that I nearly broke my remote in anger is insane… how can a game be fun and so DAMN enraging

[@elia3043]

Try playing on mobile 😂😂

[@paranormalexterminationbyc313]

@@elia3043 I play on mobile eryday

[@guipinus]

Need a pro tip to get bc on first try? If you die just close the game before the reload screen and you will be spawned in the beginning of the map you died. It’s like restart from checkpoint. I don’t do that but highly recommend for anyone who want to looks better but are not

[@Neobelmont1]

This answered questions I had for awhile, and now I can hopefully create my own dead cells content that is of the quality that I want.

[@michaeldunaev5264]

2:22 I think you forgot to one key detail about scroll stats. The damage does not increase by the same absolute value as you showed in your example, but actually increases following the function f(x) = damage * 1,15^x, while x is number of current scroll stats. If we then draw the respecting graph to this function, we quickly see that the damage increases exponentially the more scroll stats you have. Therefore, your example would be more precise if you would show that your weapon that does 100 damage for example does +15 damage after the first scroll stat, then +17 damage, then +20 damage and so on. After 10 scroll stats, the damage of the weapon would have already quadrupled, making the focus on one single stat much more effective

[@xXChaoticRavenXx]

I didn’t even beat 0 BC until this week and I’ve put in 35 hours 😭😭 I can’t even beat 1BC yet lmao

[@ilhamsipemakanotak2160]

I cleared 0bc just in half hour. But i can't beat last boss in 1bc, too random

[@datsuperbia]

guys what is BC

[@_Vikki_1]

@@datsuperbia boss cell

[@gravy4708]

How? 0bc is supposed to be just a tutorial for the game.

[@floppaalt9700]

Finished it for the first time in 25-30 hours, it was good, or was I slow?

[@OriginalZanman]

Super Helpful! Thank you for the Upload!

[@Wyrmixx]

I'm currently at 2bc and have 100+ hours, and this video showed me that I have zero understanding of the game. I'm still doing the "pick a scroll that gives most health" and "distribute scrolls to the colors evenly," and other wrong stuff. Thanks for making this video! It's really helpful

[@darkdestructer]

Legit never played a roguelike game and heard so much good stuff from dead cells I gave it a go. I beat games like darksouls with ease,but damn this game is hard. Some appreciated tips would be like weapons to choose early and mutations, Having the same colored gear in the earlygame is nothing easy to accomplish tbh.

[@HiFisch94]

Don't care to much about getting same colored gear early. You'll find better stuff later on anyways. Find something you are comfortable with, like melee weapons, ranged weapons or shields. Then skill accordingly. For me personally, I love the sword and shield combo. For example: you can pretty effectively counter strong enemies and then deal extra damage with your main weapon. Combine bonuses: for example take weapons with extra damage after freezing and something to freeze enemies with. Also: take your time. Don't rush, try to fight as many enemies as possible. It probably won't help you in your next runs, but on one side you'll get more scrolls, on the other hand you'll have more training on the stages. Choose mutations that help your play style or counter your weaknesses. I like to take the vampirism mutation, because I take a lot of hits and it helps me to recover to 50%. Then I can take food from the ground, if there's need, before challenging strong elites

[@digaddog6099]

In defense of picking only health scrolls, I've once seen someone use that strategy at a high (at least 3) bc using that strategy, and it actually seems kind of viable. Nothing conjunctivitis did could really hurt them. The flipside to this, if course, is that he did next to no damage to the boss either, it took 10 minutes to kill him.

[@SzabolcsParragh]

Fantastic, pls continue!

[@Cyrus_Shokan]

Very helpful. Thank you!

[@palerite7526]

I completed 5BC but watching this because I’m interested in your content)

[@mraxe5270]

I've always preferred the survival build more and ever since i baught the dlc ive just been making new build for the iron staff since you can parry with it and it brings a lot of combos in my opinion such as if you have the thunder shield with it.

[@clink969]

just started so this helps allot

[@mrkaro7468]

Tnx a lot it really helped me. Im new to the game and still have nit finished it yet.. But i will

[@JacobOlli]

Good video, i just started playing

[@awoken8infinite]

I played this on Switch a little bit, and always went with tactics because I liked the skills associated with it. I actually got to hand of the king on like my 4th run or something as well. It's been a long time since I played though, and just picked it up on steam in the Halloween sales. I had no idea the purple build was considered more difficult. I must try a red build then.

[@crankheart]

its not really that much harder

[@awoken8infinite]

@@crankheart I always play purple TBH.

[@dragonsswarm1987]

I remember trying to distribute stats evenly early on then I just slowly transitioned into only going for survival.

[@alexcampbell4297]

I love running tactic runs cause I enjoy the bows I use but I usually balance it out with brutality I won my first run with that

[@LaggyPizza101]

I like brutality because I like getting up close but I go with survival because I use the necromancy mutation and I don’t know what to pick

[@jonathansorenson6840]

didn't know legendaries let you stack skills, thanks

[@aigid7050]

Nice Vid

[@Only-Hitotsu]

When i complete the game with 5BC why i can't play that game save anymore. It just show up start new game. Why like that? Can someone explain? I have many blueprints that can't used because that collector shit betrayed. Wtf

[@markusphenix8343]

So should I skip minotaur scroll because most of the time it doesn't have tactics on it, this is for tactics build.

[@PotofGlue]

Why would you pick the one with more health for a bad dual scroll? Isn’t it better to just pick a dump stat in case you get a good legendary?

[@chandlerrenteria9043]

Could you talk more about specific survival builds beginner can try to win with?

[@Pseychie_DC]

Yeah, I was planning to release a guide on synergy/affixes later this or next week

[@Iatepie]

when i die am i meant to always completely restart or am i missing some kind of checkpoint?

[@sacta]

My least favorite build is Brutality. I feel with tactics I can be more strategic, throw in a couple traps and hang back to avoid getting hurt. With Survival, the damage output of the biggest weapons, like the Sym Blade or Cinder make me feel better about taking my time to ram them with a big hit, I can focus more on finding that opening. Brutality, though, it requires me to be up close and in your face with enemies, but whatever hits I get in don't feel as rewarding. Any hints on how to get a better grip on the Brutality build?

[@it6647]

Invest into certain quality brutality specific mutations, porcupack is good too

[@crinsim7536]

assault shield is hard carry for brutality imo

[@djnekroman]

lol. I've put way more time into this game than I'd care to acknowledge and just now learned that Legendary items allow you equip two of the same item... To be honest, though. I love this game, but I've never really read into builds and stuff. Just kinda play what I like to play... But I've been stuck in 4BC for so long that I think it's finally time I start learning how to improve. Just stumbled on your channel and really appreciate your content!

[@notjohn100]

My duel scrolls are always lacking the color im building up

[@Its_Syxx]

Isn't damage also calculated exponentially? So you'd actually get a lot more than 110 dmg.

[@jex-the-notebook-guy1002]

ah so it looks like the game Space Gladiators takes the color system from dead cells and reworks it. i just didn't know how colors worked in dead cells so i came over. In SG colors are used for scaling, and higher stats. green is max health, yellow is armor, red is strength (dmg), and blue is tech (ability exclusive aside from one character's vertical attacks). you might want to increase all of them. armor is really nice but once you lose it, it's gone. if you take dmg, you don't lose max health. tech is by far the easiest to stack. (come to think of it. another character might use tech too. I'll have to test) Just thought I share it. it's nice getting inspiration from another game without directly copying it right? I prefer this system. if anyone reads this you can try the demo out to see if you like the game. it may not have as much stuff to do as dead cells but it's definitely fun. it just sucks how little known the game is. I'm hoping if it gets showed around enough it'll get popular which in turn will give the solo dev (yes solo) motivation to add more things.

[@_akranium_]

what about distrubuting 10 scolls like 1 survival 1 tactics 8 brutality for more balanced gameplay??

[@codOZZY]

You will run into scrolls that only let you choose between two options, and eventually the two options will be both the stats that arent your primary and that is the only time you should be selecting secondary stats. Anytime you have the chance for a scroll to boost your primary stat you should take it. More health is nice but it will come in time later in the run. Its more important to be able to deal more damage and kill the enemies before they can deal damage to you

[@eintopfmitschinken1596]

What about items that only show a corner of a second colour? Like the shovel in the beginning of this video?

[@koveltskiis8391]

that just means the secondary color is not the higher one at the moment. it has no effect other than visual feedback

[@cl4p509]

How do you get amor in dead cells?

[@JOE24467]

Nut cracker is my fav

[@stevenwilson5827]

I just started and tried using green since I'm new but I find purple to be a lot easier and I get farther when I use purple. Is there a set up I should be looking for when I use green

[@mreggshells8020]

Personal favorite survival build is flint, giant killer, giant whistle and ice armor. Flint and giant whistle are great for clearing biomes, and the giant killer is for the bosses and the ice armor saves you from a mistake in bosses or biomes. Favorite mutations are gastronomy, extended healing and recovery.

[@winged_crow8826]

Poweful grenade and any sheild

[@reddygame3063]

7:19 why is ur first and secondary weapon were in the same button? Can we do that with weapon and shield or both range only?

[@keiran6395]

This is dual binding technique.. in this setup you can freeze the enemy and make them bleed at the same time.. For example if you have frost blast and a slow survival weapon, dual binding helps as the frost will freeze or slow down the enemy and you wont have trouble while charging the survival crit hits

[@it6647]

@@keiran6395 However now, dual binding is custom mode only

[@muncus9599]

What's a bc?

[@robinlaszlo]

I starte playing this game a couple month's ago and kinda knew that skill stacking was a thing but still managed to play and do a lot of shit eith balanced out skills and a touch screen(I got the game free with Google play pass.) I have discovered that like 12 scrolls in one and 2 or 3 in the others is wayyyyyyyyyyyy better though

[@Photon210]

*Cries in 5 BC*

[@janderson9413]

How do you pick a color? Do you just pick one and hope you get the right color weapons? Or should you pick a color based on the weapons you already have?

[@RanomTrixie]

Basically, spend points into the colour of the weapon you have, and switch weapons to the same colour as your max stat

[@nightmare-king5822]

At least I wasn't the only one struggling on 2 bc

[@cruspetz2515]

Should i use my blueprints? I currently dont know what to do with it

[@Cooling1200]

You mean the ones you unlock as you play if so then yes but it’s smart to unlock too many because it can be annoying when your looking for a certain weapon and you get a weapon you never use so be careful what blueprints to invest in

[@cruspetz2515]

@@Cooling1200 do I spend my cells on weapon blueprints?

[@Cooling1200]

@@cruspetz2515 well that’s a good idea because if you do you can find the weapons in chests the shop and even at the start (depending on your upgrade) and when you unlock the weapon from the collector you get it immediately so you can use it as soon you get it but you should also spend it on the mutations and the abilities like a bigger health flask and recycling

[@winged_crow8826]

@@cruspetz2515 short answer ye

[@intriguinglyenigmatic1743]

I can't beat 0BC...I can beat concierge most times but die in the next stage. The farthest I've gone was the place where you die if you don't get in the light.

[@ahmadzulfadli296]

After concierge go to stilt village and then straight to clock tower. It's much easier

[@luckycatdad8369]

What's 0BC or 1BC mean?

[@ilhamsipemakanotak2160]

Boss Cell

[@luckycatdad8369]

@@ilhamsipemakanotak2160 ok. What does boss cell mean? Like if you beat a boss? What do Cells do and do boss cells do something different? For a beginner guide, nothing really has been explained here.

[@n_aniki]

​@@luckycatdad8369 Boss Stem Cells (or simply Boss Cells) are permanent items that increase the difficulty of the game when active. The first one is acquired by beating the Hand of the King with no Boss Stem Cells active, the second by beating him with one active, and so on. However, the fifth Boss Stem Cell is obtained by beating the Giant with four active. Boss Stem Cells can be injected and removed at the start of the game in the Tube. Each one makes the game significantly harder by increasing enemy tier, density, variety, and limiting healing options. On the other hand, higher difficulty levels also increase cells dropped from enemies and the level of the Legendary Forge, and allow access to new blueprints and bonus doors scattered through the levels, as well as some ones dropped by enemies exclusive to high BSCs. The doors show the number of Boss Stem Cells required to enter and shine blue if enough are currently active. The fifth Boss Cell is special in that it doesn't modify anything compared to the fourth until the Throne Room, where it grants access to a secret biome, the Astrolab, and the hidden final boss of the game in the Observatory. Source: deadcells.gamepedia.com/Boss_Stem_Cells

[@winged_crow8826]

Short answer makes the game harder tho once you got 5 you can finish the game

[@thatisnotachannel3542]

7:07 what is happening!

[@Nike-iv2ni]

I will never understand why beginner videos don't also have beginner gameplay in the background and instead spoil enemys, areas, and bosses to new players.

[@CS-en5xz]

As a new player i have no idea what youre talking about 1bc 2bc

[@hectormeneses9930]

BC means Boss Cells. Some bosses will drop that item when defeated. These cells are how you can scale up the difficulty of the game if you want.

[@CS-en5xz]

Thanks for the info

[@konkeydonk]

Love the implication that dead cells isn’t a video game

[@guipinus]

5bc gamer here watching this video just to realize I’m not gud

[@thecyberrabbit1440]

“Survival is probably the easiest build to win with” …that’s just incorrect, survival is almost impossible to use, especially for new players. Brutality is the easiest to play, and will consistently get you far, but it’s hard to win. Tactics is harder to play, harder to progress early on, but shreds through the end. And then Survival doesn’t let you dodge, in exchange for extra(mostly useless) health, and big hits. Basically, get the Quick Bow and the mutation that makes arrows do DoT effects, and melt everything that moves

[@koenhaan2045]

Me: 5 BC, hmm interesting

[@PotofGlue]

🤦🏻‍♂️ legendaries also scale with the highest 2 colors.

[@Nobody18718]

I can't even beat the game once 😅😥😭

[@AccordYeen]

I've beaten 0bc once.

[@winged_crow8826]

Nc job

[@teecchnoboy]

my name is *sucky*

[@gamingdrain1047]

e

[@julien2231]

everything you are saying about damage and scrolls is so wrong... i played only 10 hours and i figured that out already. smh

[@ock538]

ign likes kids

[@smolcataf]

BTS

[@mehir3004]

They changes the game so much since I last played, it is more "balanced" now and so much more boring to me. It was so fun when it first launched, to be strong and have a nice amount of hp... And the passives was better imo. I really dont get why single player game needs to be balanced.

[@2bussy]

It's single player but there are leaderboards and shit. Balance is important for ANY GAME my dude not just multiplayer. Demon's Souls wouldn't have been very fun or very challenging if you started the game with Northern Regalia now would it?

[@leeprice133]

@@2bussy can't agree with that. A single-player doesn't need to be balanced per se, it just needs to have a good number of viable builds etc.

[@sand7861]

@@leeprice133 A game with a good number of viable builds is balanced, just like dead cells