Dead Cells - Cursed Sword run 5BC (no assist mode)

I know my route is probably not optimized and could definitely be improved, but this is what felt comfortable for me. My main strategy was to maximize damage as much as possible, which meant hoarding gold to reroll or buy a better sword, and hunting down scrolls. I also planned to grab Predator by the second biome, but I ended up using Wish instead to get Ice Armor. It wasn’t a terrible choice, but it would be better if you used Wish for Ice Armor after biome 2+. Honestly, using Wish isn't even strictly necessary - you might get lucky and find the armor after bosses or on a pedestal in the middle of a biome (total RNG moment), or you can skip it entirely. Also, here's a method that for some reason barely anyone uses: stacking curses for the Demonic Strength mutation (strategy at 18:31). Please note that I intentionally stacked it up to 1000+ NOT BECAUSE A THOUSAND CURSES GIVES INFINITE DAMAGE. No, I KNOW about the cap for this mutation, which maxes out at +130% damage at 50 curses. I stacked that many just as a safety net in case I accidentally cleared too many mobs. But yeah, a thousand was definitely overkill. I honestly believe that No Mercy is completely useless in this run, it's much better to pick Combo instead. And if you didn't use Wish, you can grab Melee or Open Wounds depending on the situation. One of the most important mutations in this run is Predator - it carries the run by about 60–70%. Just don't forget to swap it out for the boss fight(s), you don't necessarily have to change it for all of them, but definitely do so for the final boss. Timestamps: 00:00 - Prisoners' Quarters 04:35 - Toxic Sewers 11:16 - Ramparts 18:31 - Demonic Strength strategy 20:22 - Black Bridge (The Concierge boss fight) 23:01 - Stilt Village 29:37 - Forgotten Sepulcher 38:47 - Guardian's Haven (The Giant boss fight) 40:21 - Throne Room (The Hand of the King boss fight) 41:53 - Astrolab 54:26 - Observatory (The Collector boss fight) 57:10 - Custom mode settings