Let's talk about Lighthouse

[Proud Facebook Mom]

I love this game, even though I suck at it.

I've unlocked 3 cells and probably won't unlock any more because GAME HARD. Also, Dead Cells is one of those titles that likes to sneak in BS damage when it thinks you're not paying attention. It's the standard rogue-like formula: the better load-out you roll, the more the game punishes you, which defeats the point of rolling a good load-out.

End rant.

Those three *****es in the Lighthouse. They are the only bosses I have yet to beat (DLC included). Never mind that getting there is an absolute chore. It's basically a chase scene until you reach the final arena since stopping to fight is flaming death. It wouldn't be so bad if you could ice them on the way up but they heal themselves (well, one of them does) between each encounter, which is a weird way to waste the player's time but whatever.

I almost always go with Necromancy, Gastronomy and the extra life as the mutations for my runs. Why wouldn't you? They are the only ones that make a difference. The Giant Slayer sword is pretty much mandatory, so unless you like your chances of picking it up along the way, have fun restarting the opening room over and over until you roll it in the store.

I digress.

Totally open to suggestions to 1) defeat this boss, and 2) adopting a play-style that doesn't suck, since I feel like I'm beating my head against a wall until the game decides to behave and let me attain the victory I've deserved about three dozen times now.

THX

[gbors]

"Necromancy, Gastronomy and the extra life as the mutations for my runs. Why wouldn't you? They are the only ones that make a difference."
"The Giant Slayer sword is pretty much mandatory"

Based on this two comments, the game has a lot to offer that you haven't tapped into yet.
Especially 3 the mutations, which are all almost completely useless in the fight (yes. even Gastronomy with the meager food sources in the Lighthouse and YOLO with the slippery lifeline it throws). I assume you're playing Survival, and you haven't mentioned the skills you're using, so the suggestions will also be pretty generic.
1) It's worth taking some time to damage the Servants on the ascent phase. A Giant's Whistle + Powerful Grenade combo is useful there, but you can also take a few secs here and there to land weapon damage. If you're doing it right, then you can send Calliope up to the "arena" in each ascent phase early, and don't have to deal with her going up.
2) Reconsider the Giantkiller. If you can't land at least 3 hits in a combo, it's not that powerful as a damage source - and in the 3-way fight at the end, it's very risky to go for 3 hits unless you're great with timing.
3) As you're playing Survival, I wonder if you're using a shield. If not, then use the Armadillopack mutation with a shield in the backpack.
4) You can consider the Soldier's Resisitance mutation if you are close to winning but missing just a bit of more duration
5) Instinct of the Master of Arms is also good if you're landing critical hits often (there actually the Giantkiller is useful) - if you have some powerful one-off skills like the two I mentioned above.
6) Go for some elemental synergy, easiest to get are bleeding and poison.
7) The Vengeance mutation is useful even if you're not playing Brutality.
8) And most importantly - learn their moves. Use the practice room.

I'm sure there are a lot of useful recommendations to be given - as I'm a Tactics person and I also happen to hate the Lighthouse, these are the ones from the top of my head.

[Proud Facebook Mom]

I play on "normal" mode, I'm not sure what "survival" is or how to access it but based on the word alone it sounds like it isn't my cup of tea. I'm just playing the vanilla experience as the developers intended.

I also switch to no cells when making a beeline for the Lighthouse for the easiest ride possible. Took your advice and got pretty far with the Stiletto combined with that card skill that infects enemies with poison. Vengeance also seemed to help, a little.

I do not believe I have unlocked the "Giant's Whistle". Then again, it's moot anyway since I am at the mercy of whatever the game decides to give me in the opening shop and drops me along the way. I have been known to restart until I roll a favorable build.

My attempt earlier today was thwarted when I made the mistake of going through the Slumbering Sanctuary, which is an automatic run-killer, seeing as there is no way to complete that biome without taking damage or losing a life. But it was incentivized so I was compelled to do it for the extra souls and coin. That's one of those levels I would be fine with the developers patching out of the game, if they still supported it.

Will definitely give the armadillopack a shot-- I tend to avoid using shields because they require you to just stand there waiting for the enemy to attack and hope your reflexes are fast enough. I'm fine having one in my backpack though since I rarely use it.

Thanks for all the valuable feedback!

[Myno]

Originally posted by JCWestenra:

I play on "normal" mode, I'm not sure what "survival" is

He's talking about your stat build, not game modes.

Brutality = Fist = Red
Survival = Cross = Green
Tactics = Bolt = Purple

[Proud Facebook Mom]

Originally posted by Myno:

Originally posted by JCWestenra:

I play on "normal" mode, I'm not sure what "survival" is

He's talking about your stat build, not game modes.

Brutality = Fist = Red
Survival = Cross = Green
Tactics = Bolt = Purple

Wow I am oblivious. Yes I tend to farm my survival kit.

Edit: Tried again with a super strong build and got killed even faster. This confirms my earlier suspicion that the game scales in challenge to match the strength of the player, which is a shame, as it defeats the point of doing good. Why bother to overcome if the game is just going to punish you for it?

Might help if you got time to react once the sisters telegraph their attacks. "Telegraph" being the operative word here as it isn't really telegraphing so much as letting you know how you are about to take damage. There is no time to react unless you are prescient. When you are required to perform split second calculations in a specific order and direction with no room for creativity it robs the player of agency. All in all it comes down to a war of attrition: can I do enough damage to them before they do enough damage to me? No? 60 minutes wasted.

The fact that they can take pot-shots at you as you flee upwards from the fire is the final nail in the coffin of shoddy game design.

Beat Dracula on the third try and his second form on the first try.

Beat the Giant on the second try.

I get that the Shores DLC is advertised as "an advanced challenge for veterans" but YIKES. I'm one of those gamers who does better at overcoming challenges when he takes a long break from something as opposed to beating his head against a brick wall until the game decides to be fair, so I think I've reached the end of what this game can offer me for the time being.

Imbalance =/= difficulty, Motion Twin.

[Cheemse]

The Lighthouse section is meant to be fought on 5 Boss Cells if you were not aware. Basically, the higher boss cell count you are on the more scrolls and scroll fragments you can get through your run which make you deal significantly more damage. i was also struggling until i got to Boss Cell 5 and they only got easier the higher the difficulty ironically.

[gbors]

You're welcome. It's also worth to invest time in researching some aspects of the game, for example, checking videos how other people deal with the Sisters. As I mentioned, I don't like the Lighthouse, the ascent irritates me and that final fight is way too frantic - if I'm not able to get rid of Calliope quickly, then I generally lose. On the other hand, some people beat them flawless with the frigging Toothpick, which is slower than the slowest weapon I can imagine :)

[AnglerKnight]

Originally posted by Proud Facebook Mom:

I love this game, even though I suck at it.

I've unlocked 3 cells and probably won't unlock any more because GAME HARD. Also, Dead Cells is one of those titles that likes to sneak in BS damage when it thinks you're not paying attention. It's the standard rogue-like formula: the better load-out you roll, the more the game punishes you, which defeats the point of rolling a good load-out.

End rant.

Those three *****es in the Lighthouse. They are the only bosses I have yet to beat (DLC included). Never mind that getting there is an absolute chore. It's basically a chase scene until you reach the final arena since stopping to fight is flaming death. It wouldn't be so bad if you could ice them on the way up but they heal themselves (well, one of them does) between each encounter, which is a weird way to waste the player's time but whatever.

I almost always go with Necromancy, Gastronomy and the extra life as the mutations for my runs. Why wouldn't you? They are the only ones that make a difference. The Giant Slayer sword is pretty much mandatory, so unless you like your chances of picking it up along the way, have fun restarting the opening room over and over until you roll it in the store.

I digress.

Totally open to suggestions to 1) defeat this boss, and 2) adopting a play-style that doesn't suck, since I feel like I'm beating my head against a wall until the game decides to behave and let me attain the victory I've deserved about three dozen times now.

THX

When I was playing bad, I found out that it was because I was going for timed doors. I know you didn’t say anything about that, but just in case

[noisyturtle]

Lighthouse is hands down the worst boss in the game. Just unfun and repetitive.

What I usually use is a subweapon or offhand that freezes/roots a target, then something that poisons in main hand for damage and dot. Snake Fangs are one of my favs because it teleports you to the target AND poisons. Fantastic weapon. Focus on one ♥♥♥♥ at a time, I usually leave the bow for last because she's the easiest to dodge and does the least damage.

[Aya]

Giantkiller is nice, though I wouldn't necessarily say mandatory, and I will admit that Necromancy hard carries me in 4BSC

However, I think it'd be better to have a weapon that can consistently crit in most situations, such as Alucard's Sword for melee, or the Explosive Crossbow for ranged. As for why you'll want to crit all the time, Instinct of the Master of Arms can shorten your cooldowns by a decent margin regardless if you're in a biome or fighting a boss.

Though if you're fighting the Servants, you'll likely want to instead reset your mutations, since the level after the Servants is yet another boss, so it won't make much sense to keep Necromancy when you're in two consecutive floors where you won't farm health from mobs. I'd instead switch it out for Extended Healing, since you'll get a moderate damage boost for all your attacks for 12 seconds.