The Prisoners' Quarters level in Dead Cells Dead Cells Guide
Last update: 21 August 2018
In this chapter you will find most important information about the location The Prisoners' Quarters in the game Dead Cells. Here you will learn the characteristics of the location and what dangers and opponents await you here. You will also discover where you can go from this location and what conditions you must fulfill to do it.
Characteristics of the location
This is the starting location. You go back here every time you die. The first visit in this location (the first time when you run the game) looks a little bit different. However, your consecutive visits here (after every death) will always begin in the same way.
The prison's starting area has no enemies. Here, you can choose your first weapons (owning Random Starter Bow / Shield / Melee Weapon permanent perks will give you a greater variety of weapons), speak with an NPC (the Scribe) in order to check your stats (number of unlocked blueprints, killed monsters, number of deaths etc.) and to open the door that lead to a daily challenge (unlocked after obtaining Challenger's Rune).
The part with monsters is generated randomly. Always remember to explore the prison carefully, unless you want to reach the timed doors (spawned in later locations - you must reach them in less than 2 minutes). By exploring this area, you will be able to find your first scrolls, treasure chests, new weapons or traders. You can also look for secret locations and treasures hidden in stashes (marked with a characteristic symbol on a wall - destroy them).
Vine Rune is required to reach some of the parts of the prison (this includes the passage to Toxic Sewers). Don't worry that you can't explore this location in 100% right from the start.
Enemies and other threats
This is a starting location and there are no traps here. You can freely test various solutions and learn the gameplay mechanics.
On the training grounds there are first opponents. They are mostly single enemies with low level - you can beat them with a few basic attacks.
Note! The list below consists of monsters encountered on the normal difficulty level. Boss Stem Cells, received by defeating the final boss, unlock higher difficulties. After that you can come across new and more powerful versions of the monsters.
Look | Name | Characteristics and ways of defeating |
| Undead archer | His attacks are limited to shooting a single bow arrow and jumping back to increase distance. Roll under his arrows or crouch (the down button). An Undead Archer can be attacked with a ranged or a melee weapon (the latter is a better choice). You can also stun an enemy if he is a part of a larger group of opponents. |
| Zombie | When he sees you, he will flex his silhouette and leaps towards the hero. Touching the zombie deals you more damage. If you're nearby, attack him with many hits. You can also jump over him to avoid the charge or roll during it so that he misses you. You can avoid his leap by jumping over the Zombie or by rolling under him. |
| Grenadier | After bending (similarly to a Zombie) he will throw a grenade (note - a grenade goes through walls and floors!) that will explode one second after it hits the ground. Wait until you see where the grenade will fall and then jump out of its reach. During the dodge get as close to the opponent as possible and eliminate him before he performs another attack. |
| Shield bearer | This is the only tougher enemy in the prison. Attacking the shield won't be effective at all and after a short preparation the enemy will perform a shield charge that will stun you and deal large number of damage. The only way to avoid it is jump over it or roll behind the shield bearer's back where you must perform a quick attack. The enemy quickly reacts to all attempts at attacking him from the back, but a single effective attack is enough to knock him off balance and make helpless. Later, you will be able to rely on weapons and skills that can, e.g. set enemies on fire or poison them. These negative statuses can be inflicted on a Shieldbearer even when he hides behind his shield. |
Other locations
Below there is a list of locations to which you can get from The Prisoners' Quarters.
Name | Condition |
The Promenade of the Condemned | No limits. The first location you can visit after leaving the starting area. |
The Toxic Sewers | Access to the location is possible only with the Vine Rune. To get it you need to defeat an elite monster in the Promenade of the Condemned. This rune creates climbable vines. |