Dead Cells Releases Its Final Update

Highlights

Dead Cells‘ Update 35 is live, marking the end of continuous support and adding new weapons, curses, and balance adjustments.
The update focuses on the curse mechanic, introducing new cursed enemies and enhancing strategic options with new weapons and mutations.
In addition to gameplay changes, the update brings customization options, accessibility features, and extensive improvements for players to enjoy.

As a seasoned gamer with decades of experience under my belt, I must say that this update from the developers of Hollow Knight is truly impressive! The double use for certain skills, while maintaining individual cooldowns, is a feature I’ve long wished for in many games. It adds a strategic depth that caters to both casual and hardcore players alike.

The widely acclaimed 2018 game “Dead Cells”, a blend of roguelike and Metroidvania elements created by Motion Twin, has recently rolled out its final update (Update 35). This marks the conclusion of several years of dedicated support and content enrichments. The latest update introduces an array of new items such as weapons, Curses, fine-tuned balance adjustments, and additional features to enhance the gaming experience.

In February, Motion Twin declared on the Dead Cells Steam page that Update 35 would mark the end of the game’s updates. They expressed heartfelt thanks to the millions of players who stood by the game throughout its journey, recognizing their passion and commitment. Simultaneously, they promised fans that the Dead Cells universe would persist in different forms beyond the game itself.

On July 31st, Motion Twin officially announced that the latest update for the game “Dead Cells,” named “The End is Near,” would go live on August 19th. This update brings about substantial improvements and innovations centered around the curse mechanic. In this update, you’ll encounter three fresh cursed enemies: Sore Loser, Doom Bringer, and Curser. Each enemy introduces distinct gameplay mechanics that amplify curse stacks, creating a more intricate gaming experience. For instance, when defeated, Sore Loser imposes a curse on the player, whereas Doom Bringer applies numerous curse stacks and momentarily stuns the player, making encounters tougher. The new environment effect, Cursed Biomes, includes these cursed enemies and offers heightened rewards like higher-level gear and a greater likelihood of discovering cursed chests.

Dead Cells Update 35 Introduces New Weapons

The recent update adds more tactical possibilities for gamers by introducing three fresh weapons and mutations linked to the curse system. Weapons such as Anathema and Misericorde offer unique approaches to dealing with curses, enhancing combat techniques. The new mutations, Cursed Flask, Damned Vigor, and Demonic Strength, grant potent abilities in exchange for an increase in curse stacks, forcing players to weigh power against risk. Additionally, about twenty new legendary affixes like “Filthy Rich” and “Punish Combo” are included, providing opportunities to boost gear and personalize builds, encouraging experimentation with various strategies when managing cursed material.

As a gamer, I’m super excited about this update! Not only does it enhance the gaming experience, but it also significantly boosts the customization and accessibility features. There are over 40 fresh head skins to choose from, inspired by legendary characters from our favorite games, like the Queen and Time Keeper from Dead Cells. Plus, for those who need it, there are new control icon sets, adjustable camera behavior, and multiple input options, making the game more inclusive and easy to play for gamers with different tastes and abilities. This update truly makes the gaming world a better place!

With this latest update, we’re wrapping up new content for Dead Cells, which might disappoint some enthusiastic players. It’s important to mention that the declaration of Update 35 as the last update has received negative feedback, even drawing criticism from the original designer of Dead Cells.

Dead Cells Update 35 Patch Notes

New Curse Additions:

3 new mobs:

Sore Loser: a cutie who can’t hurt you but is super clingy and annoying, always trying to be close to you and dash through you. When you kill it, you get cursed.
Doom Bringer: every melee attack from it won’t cause damage, but will apply 2 stacks of curse and stun you, and you will instantly die if you have already got 50 stacks of curse. Sounds pretty fair right?
Curser: it launches a slow homing projectile that can go through the walls. If you “accidentally” get caught by this projectile, you take damage and 5 stacks of curse. One more surprise! If you get close to it, it will bonk you with its staff.

Just a heads up, you won’t encounter cursed mobs spontaneously during your gameplay. (We understand that mobs causing curses can be rather unsettling and frustrating.)

A fresh biome experience, called Cursed Biomes, introduces new troublesome creatures known as ‘cursed mobs.’ In return for these extra rewards, you can decide whether to venture into this biome or opt for other biomes that don’t include any frightening cursed entities.

Here is more info about how Cursed Biome works in your run:

Cursed biomes only spawn in runs with a Boss Cell level 2 or higher (boss fight biomes won’t be cursed).
Just like biome incentives, there will be a specific icon above the exit to a cursed biome, so that you can have the choice of taking this challenge or just going to the other normal biomes.
A cursed biome always contains 9 (+/-2) cursed mobs randomly selected from Curser, Sore Loser and Doom Bringer.
There is, of course, a reward for that risk: all the items dropped in a cursed biome will drop 1 gear level higher, regardless of their source (shop, loots, etc.). The spawn chance of cursed chests also increases by 10% in such biomes.
There is a cap to the number of cursed biomes that you can go through on your route, depending on the BC level, set as follows: from BC 2 to 5 respectively: 2, 3, 5 and 8 (i.e. in 5BC, there is no cap).
This cap only limits the number of Cursed Biomes that you can go to in a run, it doesn’t mean that you must go through that many Cursed Biomes to finish your run.
Once you have hit the cap, no more cursed biomes will appear in that run. Until you have hit the cap, cursed biomes will continue to appear.
As long as you haven’t reached the cap, biomes always have a 25% chance of being cursed. There will always be at least 1 biome without cursed mobs at any point in your run, no exceptions.

With new infested monsters, we of course prepared more powerful weapons and mutations for you:

3 new weapons:

Anathema: rip a Mushroom Boi’s heart out to fire a heavy indirect projectile dealing AOE damage. However, there is a price for being an utter savage – you will get cursed if your attack hits anything. Yep, you only get cursed if you hit something. Whoever is creating these curses doesn’t care how many mushrooms you tear apart, just if you hit anything afterwards. Makes you think…
Indulgence: Calls down a ray of vengeful light on the nearest enemy dealing critical damage if you are not cursed. Targets killed by the ray purge you of 3 stacks of curse instead of 1. Fires 1 additional ray per 5 stacks of curse you have (max: 5 per cast).
Misericorde: inflicts crits if the victim has less than 50% HP. Curses you if the crit doesn’t kill its target.

3 new mutations (all colorless):

Cursed Flask: your health flask has infinite charges but also curses you 20 times each time you use it. But can you survive from those 20 stacks of curse? TAKE CARE, my friends…
Damned Vigor: upon being dealt fatal damage, you stay alive at 1 HP for 2 seconds. If you kill any enemy while under this effect, you will be saved. Otherwise, when the effect disappears or you get hit while under it, you instantly die without any sort of protection applicable.
Demonic Strength: Damage increases by 30% if you are cursed. This bonus is increased by 2% per curse stack you have. Cursed Sword counts as 1 stack for this effect (no special bonus for it, but you can still stack curses on top of it).

After carefully considering all your valuable input, I’ve dived back into refining and adjusting our legendary weapons, ensuring they maintain their intended balance and power.

New legendary affixes:

Flawless: NEW Almost Perfect: Killing an enemy within one second after getting hit allows you continue causing crits.
Gold Digger: NEW Filthy Rich: Crit multiplier increases with your gold.
Punishment: NEW Punish Combo: Recasts the AOE effect if it kills at least one target.
Rampart: NEW Mirror Coating: Reflects damage of attacks received while under the effect of the shield’s force field. This damage scales with the attack received (i.e., the stronger the attack is, the more damage the shield reflects).
Cocoon: NEW Parry Streak: Each consecutive parry reduces Cocoon’s cooldown the next time it starts.
Emergency Door: NEW Armoured Door: The door can’t be destroyed by enemies (except for bosses).
Bone: NEW Whirlwind: Increases the last attack’s whirlwind duration by 2 sec with every enemy it kills.
Wrenching Whip: NEW Retiarus: The first attack throws 3 crow’s feet in front of you (with the same internal cooldown as the grenade affix).
Explosive Decoy: NEW Foolproof: The cooldown of the item is instantly reset if its explosion doesn’t hit at least one target.
Barrel Launcher: Triple Bullet (i.e. not a new affix, but we changed the one it had before).
Leghugger: NEW Mitosis: Summons 2 Leghuggers instead of 1.
Assault Shield: NEW Charged Dash: Holding the shield button will charge a stronger version of the dash, which can then be used by releasing the button.
Ice Shards: NEW Bouncy: Projectiles bounce on the ground twice before disappearing.
Quick Bow: NEW Sharpshooter: Critical hits will refill one ammo.
Bladed Tonfas: NEW Lacerator: Only uses the first attack of the combo.
Grappling Hook: NEW Octavio: Also fires a chain behind you.
Tesla Coil: NEW Double Use: You can use the skill twice. Each use has its own cooldown.
Lightning Rods: NEW Double Use: You can use the skill twice. Each use has its own cooldown.

Some notable balances:

The Bank is slightly easier in 2, 4 and 5BC. Yeah, SLIGHTLY…
The Throw Master’s bone projectile deals less damage in Return to Castlevania DLC.
Alienation rework: Instead of healing the player per curse reduced, it will now heal the player when the curse is lifted, with the amount of health recovered based on the max amount of curses you had (for that curse instance). The effect only starts triggering when the player had more than 5 curses, and requires 35 stacks of curse to fully heal you.

New head customization:

What do we have in the Tailor’s Daughter’s secret stash?

Flame heads based on various appearances of the Beheaded along the years to make sure you are always in a suit and tie.
Bosses’ heads such as the Queen, the Time keeper, etc. As if you could become as badass as those bosses with their smart brain.
And lots of strange and secret heads, such as the Cell Head, are waiting for you!

New routing

We’ve also changed the connections between biomes:
Added an exit to Master’s Keep in High Peak Castle.
Added exits to Corrupted Prison and Ossuary in Castle’s Outskirts.
Added an exit to Dracula’s Castle (early) in Corrupted Prison and Toxic Sewers.
Added an exit to Black Bridge in Dracula’s Castle (early).
Added an exit to Defiled Necropolis in Ossuary.
Replaced the exit to Fractured Shrines in Defiled Necropolis by an exit to Graveyard.
Added a light source in the Mimic Hint lore room, when it spawns in Forgotten Sepulcher.
Added an exit to Dracula’s Castle (late) in Mausoleum, Guardian’s Haven and Clock Room.

Yes, this does mean that you can now go to both Return to Castlevania biomes in one run…

More accessibility options:

Added two new sets of control icons and an option to select them. You can select either “Legacy” (current icons), “New” (a new, cleaner set) or “Big” (accessibility focused, easier to read).
Changed the Daily Challenge’s boss arrow opacity, for better visibility.
Added new input options for the “going through platform” action.
Added options to change the controller triggers’ deadzone.
Reworked the Auto-hit assist mode option. It will no longer force the use of a melee weapon in the first slot.
Added an option to add a background to most texts in the game. The background’s color and opacity can be adjusted.
The left stick can now be used to scroll through item descriptions in the pause menu.
Added options to fully invert the player and camera movement.
Added a bunch of options to tweak the camera’s behavior. The influence of the player’s movement, combat, or points of interest can be customized.
Split the “controller sticks deadzone” into two options, one for each stick.
Added an outline option for spikes.
Added a button to center the minimap on the player.

2024-08-19 16:23