Dead Cells: Strategy for 5 Boss Cell Difficulty

Just some general things before I get started:

Incase you don’t know what 5BC is or simply don’t want to, warning: this guide contains spoilers for the endgame of Dead Cells.

This is a guide based on using the custom mode feature to make the run as smooth as possible.
Since you managed to unlock 5BC in the first place, I assume you are aware of what that is.

1. 5 Boss Cell Difficulty is by far the hardest content the game has to offer as of update 12: Rise of the Giant DLC
In order to unlock it you must first beat the The Giant boss on 4 Boss Cells difficulty.
The dialogue upon defeat changes slightly saying you beat him “fairly”, afterwards he offers you the 5th boss cell.
Changing the difficulty to 5BC is the same as with any other difficulty.

2. Due to the insane health scaling of enemies on 5BC compared to any other difficulty in the game you are (almost) forced to take every single cursed chest. So you should certainly bring some dodging and/or parrying skills along for the ride while that skull is above your character.

3. If you rage easily at video games I HIGHLY recommend you to try taking it especially slowly and easily on this particular set of difficulty.
The recommended amount of attempts per day in your case should be around 1 to 3, with a few hours (~1-2) of breaktime between every one of them.
Don’t make the same mistake as me thinking that the more you attempt it consecutively, the better you get since, atleast in my case, that was the furthest thing from what happened. With every death my mood got worse, my hands got shakier and I started taking more and more stupid damage earlier and earlier on, so I reduced my amount of daily attempts from about 20, down to 5, then 3, then 2, then took a week off from trying at all and then got back into it with about 2 daily runs.

Without further ado, let’s get to it….

The Marksman’s bow is an essential piece to this strategy to keep you safe throughout most of the game.

The Giantkiller (unlocked from killing The Giant for the first time) will be used for the endgame.

The Rampart is my most favourite choice of shield since if you managed to parry the first attack of a combo, it won’t matter if you mess up the rest of it (Especially important during Time Keeper and Hand of the King)

The Heavy Grenade was chosen as the only ability to ensure you finding it as commonly as possible. It helps a great deal after taking cursed chests to clear as many enemies in one hit as possible, aswell as dealing a considerable amount of damage to bosses and tougher enemies, such as elites.

As for mutations you have several choices yet these few are a must:
– Necromancy: for guaranteed reduction of infection after every boss fight.
– Dead Inside: for a large increase in health (enemies hit hard!) aswell as an increase cap for malaise infection.
– Disengagement: For either regular gameplay or during bosses so you have time to heal.
– Emergency Triage: For the very final showdown.
Optionally you can take Soldier’s resistance to resist a bunch of malaise during clustered situations and Extended Healing for further reduction to malaise per chance after defeating an elite enemy.

Settingswise I chose to disable legendary weapons as when they spawn on a pedestal out in a world, every enemy around them becomes near impossible to kill within an acceptable amount of time. You could lure them away but you might run into more enemies which then chase you until the end of days. Aditionally legendary weapons are not quite worth taking due to their lack of attribute bonuses and the fact that they are not affected by the gear-limitations you set in custom mode. They can generate as any item.

One tip right off the bat:
Try saving up as much money early on as possible, the gear you will be able to find from chests, elites and bosses are good enough to get you atleast to the castle…
You should rather use your money then, when the gear that is for sale is of a much higher level than any gear that can be dropped.

As starting gear: Take the Marksman’s bow and the Rampart.
If possible: Try gathering some Heavy Grenades as soon as possible.

Recommended gear modifiers:
Marksman’s bow: +2 Survival (optionally +1 Tactics, +1 Survival)
+Critical damage
+Shoots and arrow…
–in front of you
—above you
—-behind you
+Throws a grenade
+Shots pierce (all) targets

Rampart: +2 Survival (unchangeable)
+Attacking after successful parry deals 300% increased damage
Avoid: Freezes enemies on parry, as this might make it more difficult for you to parry at the right time due to the enemies being slowed down.

Heavy Grenade: +2 Survival (optionally +1 Brutality, +1 Survival)
+20% damage
+Victims’ remains explode
+Victims burn when they die
+Victims emit a toxic cloud when they die
+Arrows stuck in enemies return after being hit

Enemies found in this area:

– Failed Experiment
– Knife Thrower
– Bombardier
– Shieldbearer

Elite encounters possible.
Encounters with cursed chests not possible.

No special tips I can give for this area, just take it slowly and get through as safely as possible.
Hint: there are guaranteed to be 2 food items on the first level, 1 one of them is guaranteed to reduce malaise infection, the other is not but still has a chance to not be infected.

Take Mutation:
Necromancy.

Enemies found in this area:

– Failed Experiment
– Bombardier
– Runner
– Protector
– Kamikaze

Elite encounters possible.
Encounter with a cursed chest possible.

Avoid encounters with defenders in the middle of large crowds. Other than that, take it slowly and get through as safely as possible.

Take Mutation:
Dead Inside.

Enemies found in this area:

– Failed Experiment
– Lacerator
– Shocker
– Thorny
– Spawner (+Corpse Juice)
– Shieldbearer

Elite encounters possible.
Elite room-spawn highly likely.
Encounters with cursed chests guaranteed behind 2- and 4-Boss Cell Doors.
Additional encounters with cursed chests possible.

Try exploring the long, empty hallways first to be able to find the cursed chests as one of the first things you do on the level, to make sure you don’t run out of enemies to kill, having to encounter the boss with some curse left on you.
While cursed: Be extremely careful, ESPECIALLY when descending into a combat room. Due to the fact that your Homunculus Rune is deactivated while you are cursed, taking out shockers using it is impossible, also exploring what’s around you becomes a lot harder. Shockers tend to like to hide in secrets hidden by breakeable floors, secrets hidden behind a climbable wall and they like to spawn in the middle-height-level of rooms, making them able to cover the entire height of the room with their shocking aura. If you fall and hear the charge-up noise, it is most likely already too late.
While cursed: Don’t be afraid to step out of combat for a while waiting for your heavy grenades to recharge and try to take out as many enemies at once with them as possible. Also don’t be afraid to just throw them below you before entering a new combat room as taking out shockers this way might just save your life. Your first (successful) run on 5BC is not meant to be a world-record speedrun. so TAKE IT SLOWLY.

Optional 3rd Mutation: Recommended are:
Disengagement, Emergency Triage.

Enemy found in this area:

– THE CONCIERGE

No elite encounters possible.
No encounters with cursed chests possible.

When damaging the boss it will cast an undodgeable aura that damages the player and inflicts malaise each hit.
Try turning around when the boss enters the outer thirds of the arena on both the left and ride sides so you have enough space to get the critical hits from your Marksman’s bow.
Try lowering the bosses health to 60-50% as fast as possible as then it gains the ability to leap, making you able to dodge the aura while the boss is in mid-air.
From this point on the fight shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Try saving your grenades for when you are low/out of ammo to return arrows back to you.

Enemies encountered in this area:

– Failed Experiment
– Bomber
– Pirate Captain
– Purulent Zombie (Sewers) (+Corpse Worm)
– Masker
– Weaver Worm (inside the sub-areas for keys, chests, shops, etc.)
– Kamikaze

Elite encounters possible.
Encounters with cursed chests guaranteed in: 2- and 3- Boss cell doors aswell as 1 of the sub-areas with the item-room symbol.
Additional encounters with cursed chests not possible.

Be very careful around Bombers. Aggrovate them to come to you, then dodge them at the right time as they fall down from above using their multi-sword-attack.
You can also try killing them with your homunculus rune while outside of their aggrovation range;
here it is important to note that while the cells are stuck to bombers, they will not be able to take off, TWICE, if they do not die before their 3rd attempt at taking off, they WILL be able to fly towards you regardless as it will become nearly impossible breaching their stun-threshold a third time.
If a masker is nearby, stand still in a safe-zone for a while to see if anything transparent is moving around you, you might be able to tell what the enemy type is, if it is something big, it is most likely a pirate captain, if it makes a metallic noise and leaves grey-particles behind on the ground it is a failed experiment and if it stops, then starts moving towards you, it is certainly a bomber.
Try ridding your curses BEFORE going into any sub areas past the first key-door as any door past this point has a high chance of spawning with Weaver Worms which are likely to spawn in swarms, surrounding you and due to their incredible bite-speed, they will almost certainly end your run.

Enemies encountered in this area:

– Failed Experiment
– Cleaver
– Dark Tracker
– Shieldbearer
– Kamikaze

Elite encounters possible.
Guaranteed (optional) Elite encounter:
Double Dark Tracker elite.
Encounters with cursed chests guaranteed in: 1- and 3-Boss Cell doors.
Additional encounters with cursed chests possible.

If your grenades are on a cooldown, search for any light source and wait for them to recharge.
Try, if at all possible, to kill every elite enemy you find as they will spawn a permanent light sourcearound their spot of death. Also look around for wall-secrets as they will also spawn a permanent source upon discovery. Keep in mind that floor-secrets will NOT spawn a lightsource.
Other than that, and most importantly: RID YOUR CURSE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE as a single tick-damage from the darkness WILL end you.

Enemies encountered in this area:

– THE TIME KEEPER
– Falling Blades (Time Keeper – Phase 2)

Let her make the first move, it is highly likely for her to run up to you, attacking you with her sword-combo, parry it with your Rampart, then dodge through her and try staying at range to get a bit of damage in with your bow.
If she aggressively chases after you it means she is trying to perform another sword combo, try your best parrying atleast the first hit and make use of your invincibility afterwards to get some damage in.
For her large left and right charge-move I found it most useful to stand in the middle to have the most reaction time, no matter which side she comes from, to be able to parry her, cancelling the second move. (She only performs one dash in Phase 1)

Enemies encountered in this area:

– Failed Experiment
– Catcher
– Bomber
– Lancer
– Guardian Knight
– Demon
– A R B I T E R

Elite encounters guaranteed in the sub-areas:
– Elite Thorny (Green Sub-area)
– Elite Slasher (Blue Sub-area)
– Double Elite Dark Tracker (Red Sub-area)
Additional Elite encounters possible.
Encounters with cursed chests not possible.

Take it especially slow in the castle, aggrovate bombers towards you, making them easier to kill (or use your homunculus rune)
Use your homunculus rune to get rid of Arbiters from a safe distance.
Beware of Lancers stabbing through walls, roofs and floors.
Beware of demons flying towards you, if possible try dodging in the opposite direction of their current position until their fireball-phase has worn off, they will spit fire 3 times consecutively, but are relatively easy to have their stun threshold breached. Regardless I would not recommend trying to breach them while they are after you.
Hint: it is recommended to get all 3 of the keys to enter the special area behind the Boss room for an additional power-scroll and potentially useful items.

TRY OBTAINING A GIANTKILLER BEFORE ENTERING THE THRONE ROOM!
It is nearly impossible keeping a great distance to the boss in order to get critical hits in.
Additionally the bastard can block projectile damage completely.
From this point onwards the “Arrows stuck in enemies return on hit” modifier for grenades is no longer necessary.

Enemies encountered in this area:

– HAND OF THE KING
– Zombie
– Inquisitor (Elite-version encounter very likely)
– Disgusting Worm (Elite-version encounter possible)
– Grenadier
– Slasher (Elite-version encounter very likely)
– Lacerator (Elite-version encounter very likely)
– Cleaver (Elite-version encounter possible)

Elite encounter guaranteed:
A total of 3 Elites is guaranteed to spawn per fight.
1 in the second Phase,
2 in the fourth Phase.
Encounters with cursed chests are not possible.

I’m not necessarely great at this fight, just try parrying the hand’s first attack of the combo then get in there with your sword.
Try to only get 1 of your Giantkiller-combos in per attack to make sure you don’t get stuck in an animation for too long making you an easy target for the boss.
Try saving your grenades for when the banners fall down.
For the minion phases, focus on the bottom-level enemies first, then take on the elite(s).