The Dead Cells Giant is a special tier 2 boss. It was added with the Reign of the giants update for the base game. To face it, you need to pick up the Cavern Key in the Graveyard. This will give you access to the Cavern, and that’s how you can get to the boss arena. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about this boss. You might even learn something that you didn’t know prior to reading.
What is the Giant?
The Giant is an interesting boss. You’ll see its skeleton in the Prisoner’s Quarters until you kill the Hand of the King. After that, it’s implied that the skeleton awakens. This is how you’re able to face it as a boss. The Cavern will be permanently unlocked if you follow the Giant and grab the Cavern Key. This adds yet more replayability to the game. It also makes it even more enticing to jump back into.
Attacks and Strategies
There are three phases to your fight against this boss. We’ll cover the attacks of each phase below.
Phase 1
This is the initial phase that the boss will fight you in. However, it’ll skip this phase in Boss Stem Cell +1 runs.
Charge
Th Giant will close one fist and charge it. This will cause one of three stripes on the pauldron to light up. You can destroy the charging fist before the light has a chance to appear. This is something you should do if you want to survive for longer.
Punch
The boss is so big that he just lifts up one fist and punches across the entire arena. It’ll deal a lot of damage and push you into lava if you’re not quick to avoid it. You can dodge, block or parry this attack. If you parry it, you’ll stop the fist completely. This is the best course of action.
Energy Salvo
The Giant will put both hands on the ground and open one of them. That hand will generate energy orbs that you need to avoid. You can dodge, block, or parry these orbs. If you parry one, it’ll send it back at the Giant and deal some damage to it.
Slam Fist
The Giant closes a fist and then it will follow you around the arena. After a couple of seconds, the fist will drop and deal damage. Fire will erupt from the attack and spread to the sides of the fist. You can block and dodge this attack. Make sure you jump over the fire as well though.
Roar
This move is used at about 75% health. The Giant will stop doing everything and roar. This pushes you back and marks the start of the second phase of the fight. The move interrupts anything you were doing, so be prepared to lose all momentum. Even if you’re attacking the Giant’s eye, it will retract as soon as that 75% threshold has been hit.
Phase 2
The boss has all of the same attacks from phase 1 for this phase, but also the following moves. At Boss Stem Cell +1, the boss instantly moves to this phase.
Eye Lasers
The first attack in this phase of the Dead Cells Giant boss fight sees the boss blast lasers that spread from opposite sides of the arena and meet in the middle. This can be used in combination with Energy Salvo, so watch out for that. Your best bet is to leap out of the way and avoid the attack altogether.
Crystal Collapse
The boss causes giant crystals to fall from the sky. These are random and can hit you and deal massive damage. Your only way around the attack is to dodge out of the way of all incoming projectiles. If you’re pushed to do it, you can block them. This is very difficult though.
Roar 2
This second roar move is the same as the first. However, it’s caused at 50% health. Once again, any attacks you’re performing will be interrupted and that will set you right back. Be ready to have to reposition yourself and get ready for an even bigger fight.
Phase 3
Every attack from the past two phases is included in this third phase. There is only one new move the boss will pull out.
Double Slam Fist
This move is similar to the slam fist move. However, the boss will now follow you with both fists and then drop them both. This causes a bigger area of effect, and then fire spreads from the attack as well. You can block the attack, but remember to dodge the fire from whichever fist does actually land on the ground.
Charged Attacks
These attacks can only be performed when the Giant has charged his fist three times. You can interrupt this charging, but if you don’t do it a total of three times, one of these attacks will come out. They can come in any phase.
Multi Slam Fist
This move is the same as the Slam Fist move. However, the boss will slam its fist a total of six times. This is incredibly hard to dodge. (www.curlygirldesign.com) You need to keep the fist in pretty much the same area to have any point on the arena to dodge to. This particular move will be performed by the left fist.
Energy Volley
This last attack from the Dead Cells Giant boss is a good one. The boss will charge its fist over its shoulder. After the charge, energy orbs are going to orbit it in a sun pattern. Those orbs will then be fired at you. The right first does this, and you can dodge, block, and parry the orbs. If you parry, you’ll send the orb back at the boss.
Best Strategy
You just have to bring your best weapons to this fight. You need to damage the fists until they fall to the ground. Then, an eyeball will pop out. You need to damage that eyeball to damage the boss. You must be careful because the boss can still attack with its second fist whilst you’re attacking the eye. If you have any weapons that ensure damage against all opponents, they will work best since they’ll guarantee damage against both fists. Otherwise, use the best weapons in your arsenal.
Dead Cells Giant Lore
The Giant was once part of the Royal Guard. This is indicated by a colossal painting of the monster in High Peak Castle. He used to have the duty of guarding the castle. The Giant and Hand of the King hated each other, but they both hated the Alchemist more. The Giant warned the King during the Mailaise epidemic that he would lose the island if he kept on doing what he was doing. The King responded by having his men kill the Giant and dump the body in the Prisoner’s Quarters. The King ordered that the Giant should never rise again. Clearly, that wasn’t the case.