Dead Cells: Complete Walkthrough & Boss Guide
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🗺️ Main Story Walkthrough
Tick off each step as you go — your progress saves locally, no account needed.
Every run begins in the Prisoners Quarters, the starting biome that teaches Dead Cells core loop: explore the cell, kill enemies for gold and cells, and find a scroll to boost your primary stat. Prioritize picking up a ranged weapon or a shield before leaving — the Prisoners Quarters regularly spawns the Soldier shield and several bows. The Vine Rune is located here in a giant green blob on the floor, though you need to reach the Promenade of the Condemned first to acquire it from an Elite Undead Archer. Return with the rune to access vine-gated passages that lead to extra scroll rooms.
The Promenade of the Condemned is the first proper biome after Prisoners Quarters and the location where you find the Vine Rune — kill the Elite Undead Archer that drops it, then immediately backtrack through vine-gated passages for extra scrolls. The Promenade branches toward Toxic Sewers (via a sewer grate) or continues to the Ramparts. For early meta-progression, take the Toxic Sewers detour to find the Teleportation Rune held by an Elite Slasher hidden somewhere in that biome. Both runes dramatically expand map access across all future runs.
The standard route leads from the Promenade through either the Ossuary or the Prison Depths into the Black Bridge arena, where the Concierge waits. The Concierge is a straightforward melee bruiser in a flat arena — defeating him for the first time drops a Boss Cell, which permanently increases difficulty and rewards on all future runs. Keep at least one flask charge for the phase transition when he gains armor. After the Concierge falls, proceed to Stilt Village and then the Slumbering Sanctuary.
Conjunctivius is reached through the Insufferable Crypt, which requires the Ram Rune to access. She is an eye-and-tentacle boss in a wide arena: four tentacles anchor her to the edges of the room and must be broken before her central eye becomes fully vulnerable. This route rewards a second Boss Cell path and unique blueprints unavailable on the Black Bridge route. Bring a weapon with good area coverage such as the Frost Blast or Explosive Crossbow to handle tentacle-breaking efficiently.
Past the Slumbering Sanctuary or Stilt Village, the Clock Room holds the Time Keeper, the first tier-two boss. By this point in a run you should have two primary weapons synergizing with your chosen stat — Brutality (red), Tactics (purple), or Survival (green) — and at least three mutations active. The Time Keeper fight has three phases, each faster than the last, so mutations that trigger on parry or on dodge (such as Predator or Soldier Resistance) pay high dividends here. Freeze and root effects also stop her phase transitions cold.
The Sepulcher is a tense, dimly lit biome full of elite undead enemies that respawn unless you move quickly. Scrolls here are plentiful but guarded by high-health enemies; prioritize clearing with a fast weapon rather than a slow power weapon. The Sepulcher connects directly to the Clock Room as an alternative path, making it a key detour for scroll maximization runs. Mama Tick is found through a special path in the Graveyard biome, accessible with the Spider Rune, and rewards the Spider Rune itself on first defeat.
The penultimate route — Castle then Throne Room — brings you to the Hand of the King, the main game final boss at 0BC through 4BC. The arena is small, which limits dodge space but also means your AOE weapons hit reliably. Phase one sees him throw bombs, sweep with a lance, and drop red flags that explode if not destroyed within six seconds. Phase two and three add enemy summons that must be cleared while he waits invulnerable. Builds centered on poison-cloud weapons (Wrenching Whip, Vengeance) or freeze effects make his summon phases significantly faster.
Between runs, spend Boss Cells at the Collector to permanently unlock weapon blueprints and passive upgrades. Prioritize the Predator, Soldier Resistance, and Vengeance mutations early — they provide consistent value across weapon types. The Ram Rune (found in the Ossuary from a Gardener elite), Teleportation Rune (Toxic Sewers), and Spider Rune (Graveyard, after Mama Tick) are all required to fully explore every biome and access all scroll rooms. At 1BC, a new starting weapon appears in the Prisoners Quarters; always evaluate whether it out-synergizes your default starting options.
At five Boss Cells active, the Giant becomes available as a third-tier boss alongside the Time Keeper, found via the Cavern. Defeating the Giant at 5BC and then the Hand of the King unlocks the Homunculus Rune — which lets you detach your head to access hidden passages — and triggers the true ending sequence where you confront and kill the King himself. 5BC runs demand near-perfect builds and synergy; the Cursed Sword, which triples damage but kills you in one hit, is paradoxically powerful here because the damage output can shortcut boss phases before they escalate.
⚔️ Boss Guides
The Concierge
Attack Patterns
The Concierge fights in three escalating phases. Phase one features a three-hit lance combo where the second strike hits both forward and backward, a charged stomp that sends shockwaves along the floor, and a telegraphed shoulder charge. In phase two he gains speed and begins throwing volleys of homing bombs. Phase three adds an armor buff that must be stripped before your hits deal full damage.
Strategy
Stay aggressive in phase one — the Concierge has long recovery windows after his lance combos that allow two or three free hits. When he raises his lance overhead for the stomp, dodge sideways rather than backward to avoid the radial shockwave. In phase two, parry or roll through the bomb volley rather than running away, as the bombs home over long distances. Save your flask for the phase-three armor strip, which typically costs one or two hits. AOE weapons like the Thunder Shield or Explosive Crossbow can strip armor and deal phase damage simultaneously.
Conjunctivius
Attack Patterns
Conjunctivius anchors herself to the arena with four tentacles and attacks with pulsing eye beams that sweep horizontally, tentacle slam waves that roll along the floor, and a central eye laser fired when all tentacles are intact. Each tentacle has its own health pool and will regenerate slowly if you focus entirely on the eye. Her eye blinks shut briefly between beam attacks — this is the only window for safe melee damage to the core.
Strategy
Break all four tentacles first using a weapon with wide horizontal coverage — the Frost Blast hits multiple tentacles per cast and applies slow, buying extra time between eye beam pulses. Once tentacles are down, the central eye opens fully and becomes permanently vulnerable: use your strongest burst-damage weapon to shred her health before tentacles respawn. The Vengeance mutation returns a portion of damage taken as reflected damage to the nearest enemy, which makes tanking one eye beam actually deal damage back. Platform on the raised edges of the arena to avoid floor-rolling tentacle slams.
The Time Keeper
Attack Patterns
The Time Keeper has three phases, each faster than the last. She uses a forward sword sweep (single hit in phase one, triple consecutive hits in phase three), a hook-and-pull that roots you in place before a heavy follow-up, one-to-three shurikens thrown in a spread, and a sword rain that drops blades randomly across the arena floor that cannot be parried but can be blocked. In the final phase she also teleports aggressively, making spacing unreliable.
Strategy
Open with a freeze weapon immediately to delay her phase transitions — a frozen Time Keeper cannot enter phase two or three until the ice breaks. Parry her shuriken throws rather than dodging; successful parries knock her off balance and create free melee windows. During the sword rain phase, stand near the center of the arena and watch for clear patches to stand in rather than running. Save powerful skills like the Grapppling Hook or Ballista for the moment immediately after a parry. The Predator mutation, which resets its cooldown on kill, has no use here, so favor Vengeance or Acrobatics for sustained pressure.
Mama Tick
Attack Patterns
Mama Tick is a giant spider boss found in the Graveyard behind a Spider Rune gate. She crawls along walls and ceilings, drops baby spiders that swarm the arena floor, charges across the room with an overhead body slam, and fires a web projectile that roots you briefly. Baby spiders deal modest individual damage but overwhelm players who ignore them.
Strategy
Clear baby spiders continuously with any weapon that has floor-level AOE — Fire Brands placed on the ground ignite clusters efficiently. For Mama Tick herself, wait for her to descend from the ceiling after a charge and combo her with your primary weapon during the landing recovery. Her body slam is heavily telegraphed by a slow ceiling crawl phase; position yourself away from the wall she is approaching. Defeating Mama Tick for the first time grants the Spider Rune itself, which unlocks ceiling-mounted passages throughout all biomes.
The Hand of the King
Attack Patterns
The Hand of the King fights in three phases in the cramped Throne Room. Phase one: he throws six homing bombs (parryable), performs a wide lance sweep preceded by a long moan, executes a three-hit lance combo where the second strike also hits behind him, and periodically drops three red flags that explode after six seconds if not destroyed. Phase two adds a summon phase where he turns invulnerable and retreats while waves of enemies appear. Phase three brings increased speed and more frequent summons.
Strategy
Destroy red flags immediately — let the Hand approach while you break them, then punish his movement toward you. During summon phases, lay down poison clouds or fire zones in the center of the arena so they damage the Hand when he returns to the fight. The compact arena makes AOE weapons like the Wrenching Whip highly effective as its chain lightning reliably hits him at most ranges. Save your strongest skill for after a successful parry on his lance sweep, which has the longest recovery of all his attacks. At 5BC, bring a damage-reduction mutation like Predator or Vengeance to survive his significantly boosted phase-three attack speed.