The Return to Castlevania DLC for Dead Cells is a beautiful homage to one of the progenitors of the Metroidvania genre. Roguelike fans will get a taste of classic Castlevania weapons, meet up with famous characters from the beloved franchise, and battle through Dracula’s multifarious hordes of night creatures in this DLC.
If you’re wondering how to gallivant off into your brand-new vampire slaying adventures with Richter, Alucard, and Maria, then you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a guide to help you find out how to start the DLC and how to get past the first few puzzles.
How To Access The Castlevania DLC
The biggest requirement to start the Castlevania DLC is to make sure you’ve attempted two runs or died twice. After that, when you start your third run, a cloud of red bats will fly past the screen. This is a signal that the Castlevania DLC is now available for you to access.
Proceed through the first level and keep an eye out for any part of the stage with sloping stairs. Standing on those stairs, you’ll find a man dressed in blue clothes with white stripes. Long time Castlevania fans will recognize him as Richter Belmont. Talk to him and he’ll ask you to proceed ahead to help him slay Dracula. Continue down the stairs, travel through the hallway, and the DLC will officially begin.
How To Get Past The Moat
After you’ve been greeted by Shanoa, you’ll enter into the first biome and come across a closed moat. To get past it, jump into the water, and there should be a rope you can climb just below it. Descend the rope and fight through the hordes of night creatures that live in the sewers. Climb upward out of the sewers until you travel through a doorway that leads to a switch just above the moat. Activate it, and the drawbridge will lower.
Lowering the drawbridge only needs to be done once. It will remain open for your future runs.
How To Open The First Locked Door
A short jog away from the moat is a locked door that requires a switch to open. This puzzle can come in a few different variations, with most of them being fairly easy to solve. However, there’s one specific configuration that can be a little confusing for newer players.
If the switch isn’t immediately discoverable for you, backtrack a short distance from the locked door and keep an eye out for a small crawlspace in the map. The Prisoner is able to roll through these crawlspaces to gain access to other rooms. Find the crawlspace and roll through it, and it will lead to the switch you’re looking for. Another crawlspace in that room will lead you to a teleporter to take you back to the locked door.
