Curse of the Dead Gods is another new entry into the growing canon of roguelikes out there, this time from Passtech Games and Focus Home Interactive. It's okay if you missed this game with Loop Hero and Hades dominating the narrative this year. We understand: there are only so many hours in the day.

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However, the Curse of the Dead Gods is another brilliant roguelike. It's difficult, gritty, and complicated. Beautiful (but also pretty scary) temples swarming with monsters and traps await you. Go in blind and you might be punished repeatedly by the game's mechanics. Here's a list of what you should know before starting your first run.

Updated June 25th, 2022 By Matthew Mckeown: It can feel like quite the trial by fire for first-timers getting into Curse Of The Dead Gods, but it does get easier as you go on. Either through unlocks, finding killer combos, or just getting the combat down through the sheer act of repetition.

However, that doesn’t help beginners who might be hitting a brick wall within a few minutes. So to help out those that might be having a hard time or to make those first few steps easier if you’re completely new, here are some more helpful Curse Of The Dead Gods tips for beginners.

15 Practice Those Fundamentals

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Engaging In Combat With Multiple Aztec Monsters

In most Roguelike games you can dive straight in and just repeatedly bash your head against the game until you hit that final boss. But in Curse Of The Dead Gods, you’ll need to rethink that and pay some attention if you want to survive as getting the combat down can make things so much easier.

There’s your standard light attack for bros, heavy attack for pros, and ranged options if you don’t like getting too close to whatever Aztec monster you’re locked in a room with. Mixing them together to create combinations can help you string together some serious damage and get into a good rhythm of dash, smack, dodge, repeat. It’s not something that’s too crucial early on, but in the later rooms where tons of ghouls get thrown at you, especially during boss fights, being able to breeze through minions quickly can be a massive help.

14 Not All Curses Are Bad

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Inflicted With A Curse

One of the core game mechanics of Curse Of The Dead Gods is the titular Hexes that you’ll run into. Every time that corruption gauge hits 100 you’ll be dropped with a new one as you enter a new room. But it’s not all bad, because even though there are plenty of Curses that are pretty detrimental to your run, there are also some beneficial ones that can help you grab some extra rewards.

For example, Blinding Greed makes Gold disappear faster but increases the amount gained. So if you’re quick on your gathering you can get quite the cash haul. There’s also Dark Swiftness which makes you intangible when you dodge, perfect for some of the riskier boss fights but Perfect Dodges no longer restore Stamina, so you’ll need to play less aggressively. Finally, Sincere Offerings swaps Corruption for Health when choosing Blood Offerings, powerful bonuses that you can easily counter the cost of if you have a weapon or perk that regens health.

13 Do Not Spam Dodge

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Ranged Combat And The Stamina Bar

Anyone that’s spent any time playing a Roguelike will have a button constantly hovering over the dodge button. In most games, dodging near constantly or often keeps you out of the way of hits and can often save your ass in fights where there are a lot of projectiles swarming the screen. Sticking to that is a Curse Of The Dead Gods strategy that will just get you killed quickly.

Dodges are bound to a Stamina bar, so you can only roll out of the way a few times before you need to let it regen as your hero catches his breath. It can be filled quicker with Perfect Dodges, but those are riskier. Ideally, you should always have one Stamina Pip in reserve as a safety net to get out of the way of attacks, so try to keep that in mind as you’re liberally rolling around the floor like a heavily armed Sonic The Hedgehog.

12 Think About Your Route

Curse Of The Dead Gods: A Map Of The Area And The Upcoming Rooms

As you make your way through the story of Curse Of The Dead Gods it won't be just the same rooms again and again, you do still fight a level boss after a certain number of them, you can still choose your fate somewhat at small Hub sections. It's highly encouraged that you take a minute to think about how you want your run to play out.

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For example, you may need more health, stronger weapons, better buffs or credits and these special sections can let you build your character accordingly. Planning ahead is especially crucial in the early game as you can often accidentally set yourself up for failure by going a route that doesn't land you a lot of strong perks or rewards.

11 Runs Are Not Short

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Clovis The Final Boss Of The Game

One thing worth remembering is that runs in Curse Of The Dead Gods are not short, they go for quite a while if you manage to get close to the final boss. They're not too long, on average around 20 to 30 minutes or so depending on how lucky you get with rooms, but you'll be there for a while.

Also worth knowing is that the longer you survive, the harder the game gets. By the end you'll be overburdened with Curses, but the reward for finishing the game is definitely worth it. If you're struggling to hit those end credits, try to focus on clearing a particularly tough section or find a way to create a build that works for you. Each run puts you in for a long haul, so prep yourself accordingly.

10 Whatever You Do, Keep The Light On

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Lighting Up The Way With A Torch

Curse of the Dead Gods utilizes light as a key mechanic. These temples are dark. Really dark. Do you know what's really hard in the dark? Fighting. Swinging a sword. Surviving. To make matters worse, the lovely developers at Passtech made it so you take extra damage in the dark.

What did Dumbledore say? Something about remembering to turn on the light. Listen to the wizard and light up each room. Use your torch to set enemies on fire or use some of the handy flammable items dotted around. Balance smashing your enemies over the head and lighting everything up and you're going to be in a much better state for your next run.

9 The Blazing Shield Is An Amazing Early Game Weapon

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Using The Blazing Shield In Combat

So, we've established it's pretty dark in Curse of the Dead Gods. If you don't want to bother with your torch or feel like you keep getting caught out while you're trying to set something on fire, try the Blazing Shield.

This early-game off-hand weapon is dropped by enemies, can be found in chests, or at one of the run's Sanctuaries. The Blazing Shield does all the work of setting your foes on fire, so you don't have to worry about it. Its charged attack is a dash, which is pretty useful as well.

8 Slow And Steady Usually Wins

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Cursed Protagonist Heading Further In

Managing your stamina is important in Curse of the Dead Gods, especially at the start of the game when you have no buffs at all. Stamina governs every movement and attack you make, which means if you go in with your legs whirling and your sword spinning you're going to run out of energy. Fast.

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Take your time. Slow it down. Jog in a little circle. Read a book. Whatever it might be, let your stamina recharge. Then begin your attack anew. Later in the game, you get a lot more stamina, so don't worry, it's not slow-going all the way through.

7 Traps Suck... Until You Know How To Use Them

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Triggering Fire Traps In A Tomb

We've died to traps in Hades and Curse of the Dead Gods more times than we can count. They appear out of nowhere, every single time. If you can look past your seething hatred for the traps, they can actually become extremely useful.

Traps do massive damage to you and your opponents. Lead a couple of shambling temple-dwelling weirdos onto an explosive trap and watch the magic happen. Just make sure you're not standing too close. Later in your run, you can pick up relics that boost damage done by traps.

6 Parrying Is Crucial, But It's Not Easy

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Discovering Treasure Within The Tombs

Curse of the Dead Gods feels like it has a higher skill level than some other recent roguelikes, and that's mostly because of the parrying. Parrying is overpowered, but it's not easy to master. You've got to get the timing right.

Shields make parrying a bit easier, but you might not always have a shield to hand. Keep practicing parrying: it will keep you alive in tricky situations and is essential if you want to progress further into the game.

5 Avoid Corruption Where Possible

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Ending Scene Of Protagonist Being Cursed

A little bit of corruption is inevitable during a temple run, but that doesn't mean you should just accept it every turn. Sure, going into the next room costs Corruption, and getting buffs does as well, but avoid Corruption damage from enemies at all costs.

Corruption can stack up very quickly. Let it get out of hand and your run is going to be crippled by these toppling debuffs. You won't ever make it to the late stages of your temple, as the last curse, Xbeltz'aloc's Truth (try and say that with a mouthful of coffee) basically deletes your HP.

4 Hidden Rooms And Secrets

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Finding A Hidden Room

Of course! These ancient spooky temples are riddled with hidden rooms and secrets. You can blow open dodgy-looking walls with nearby traps or exploding enemies, or use a heavy weapon to smash through.

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These rooms will have some monsters in, but at least you get a nice juicy treasure reward at the end. You won't have a weapon capable of opening the hidden rooms at the start of the game, so just wander past those cracks in the walls with your eyes closed, okay?

3 Relics, Attributes, Curses, What Does It All Mean?

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Using An Alter Ingame

Yeah, the mechanics are a bit tricky at first, and when it first launched there wasn't a handy Curse Of The Dead Gods guide to explain it all, but it's the same with any roguelike. Generally, as a new player, you just want to keep an eye out for the different attributes: Red, Blue, and Green.

Red increases your max HP and gives you a flat +50 HP for each point. Blue buffs your damage, with 5 percent extra for each point. Green increases your chances of finding gold and gear, and a 5 percent boost for each point. Everything is reset at the end of a run. This is a roguelike, after all.

2 Just Shoot The Boss

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Encountering An Aztec Demon Boss

There are a few different Bosses and Champions in the game, and we don't want to spoil the horrible surprise of meeting them for the first time, so just know that the best way to tackle them is to shoot them. From really far away.

The Bosses and Champs have a mix of AOE and ranged attacks that occur in identical patterns. Learn the patterns early on and you can maybe try and shield bash them to pieces the next time around.

1 Play With A Controller

Curse Of The Dead Gods: Avoiding Large Area Effect Attacks During Combat

If we hadn't spent several hours wrestling with the controls in Hades we might never have picked up the controller for this game. It is 100 percent recommended and one of our most important Curse Of The Dead Gods tips. Not only will you save your fingers from carpal tunnel, the combat and movement feel much smoother on a controller.

Don't worry, the game itself recommends players pick up a controller, so look past your anti-controller prejudices and embrace it. The controller makes a huge difference.

NEXT: Curse Of The Dead Gods: Tips For Beating The Final Boss