Dead Cells has a big new update that adds horrible death birds

News
By published

The Corrupted Update includes a new biome, runes, and mutations

Dead Cells developer Motion Twin has just released a substantial new update for its roguelike platformer. The Corrupted Update adds a new challenge biome full of horrible blue birds to fight, and it makes key changes to Dead Cells' balance in order to keep things interesting.

The new area is called The Corrupted Confinement, and it's accessible from the Toxic Sewers. From there, you'll go either to the Ancient Sewers or the Ramparts (via the Boss Cell level one door).

Motion Twin informs us that this area is the home to some angry blue birds, who "ain't kidding around," according to the update. They're large and mean and their main hobby is murdering you, so keep an eye out for them if you head into the Corrupted Confinement.

There are some other big changes in the Corrupted Update as well. If you can defeat the Hand of the King on hard, you'll unlock the Recycling Tubes. These give you the option of selecting one of four five-piece gear loadouts when you begin a run, the idea being to make the early areas of the game less tedious and RNG-dependent.

You'll also be able to unlock a new rune called Explorer Instinct. This marks important points of interest on your map once you've uncovered a majority of a level. There are three new Tactic Mutations too: Crow's Foot lets you drop damaging caltrops behind you when you roll, Tactical Retreat slows enemies when you perform a perfect dodge, and Networking links up enemies you've struck with projectiles so they share damage.

Motion Twin has also done a lot of balancing to keep any particular path through the game from becoming dominant, so expect to find fewer cursed chests and colorless weapons.

It's a significant update, and you can read the full patch notes here.