#Motivation

With each new major verion of Dead Cells published by Motion Twin and Evil Empire, there have been additions in the form of weapons, balance changes, quality of life updates, and bug fixes that can and have impacted all of the speedrun categories. Certain patches are faster than others under a given category ruleset, so being able to revert to these patches is a must for any serious speedrunner.

#Requirements

A Steam copy of Dead Cells.

• This is needed since the only platform that has the infrastructure to support downpatching is Steam. Console versions cannot downpatch at all, and although other PC platforms might be capable of downpatching, that is outside of the scope of this guide. A save file for this version
• Again, the Resources section has a few 100% save files. If there is a particular patch that you need a save file for that you cannot find, you might have luck asking in the Discord.

#Method 1 (Legacy Update)

The first method we will discuss is the officially available downpatching method that was introduced in the 1.6 Legacy Update. It is also the easiest method.

1. Open the Dead Cells page in the Steam Launcher's Library, and click on the gear icon. Then, go to Properties.

2. In the Betas tab, select the version you wish to play from the "Select the beta you would like to opt into:" dropdown menu.

3. The game will download in the background. After it has finished downloading, you can start up the game as you would normally and do your speedruns.

4. If you want to revert back to the current patch, you can go back to the Betas tab in Properties and select "NONE - Opt out of all beta programs" and wait for the game to download.

Note that some patches are not accessible via this method, with some specific updates never being in this list and some eventually removed due to a cap on the number of "beta versions" allowed for the devs to allow public access to on Steam.

#Method 2 (Steam download_depot command)

The second method we will discuss is a bit more involved, but is needed for some patches that do not show up in the Betas tab in the Properties window.

1. Download and install this tool created by a member of the Hollow Knight speedrunning community: https://github.com/fifty-six/zig.SteamManifestPatcher/releases/ This will re-add the correct functionality for the download_depot command in the steam console.

2. Open the Steam Console by clicking on this link: steam://open/console

• You can also use the Windows run dialog [Win]+[R] and type in the above link.

3. In the console, you will enter the following command, depending on the version you wish to downpatch to: 1.2 (Rise of the Giant): First introduction of 5 BC

• download_depot 588650 588651 2452101538192318499 1.6 (Legacy Update): Telluric Shock invulnerability glitch for 5 BC speedruns
• download_depot 588650 588651 8049293241854982288 1.7.1 (Bad Seed): Pause to Main Menu Unlinked Lightspeed glitch for Fresh File <2.1
• download_depot 588650 588651 6653679237023719496 2.0 (Barrels of Fun): Distillery accessible from a Fresh File, allowing alternate routing for 0-5 BC
• download_depot 588650 588651 6287404664801251333 2.2 (Fatal Falls): Current fastest patch for any% and 5 BC
• download_depot 588650 588651 1309788145573545353 2.3 (Whack a Mole): Current fastest patch for 0-5 BC
• download_depot 588650 588651 7662201242351143075 2.4 (What's the Damage): Current fastest patch for Fresh File
• download_depot 588650 588651 7550215563791432682 2.5 (Practice makes Perfect): First iteration of the Training Room, for boss rush speedruns w/o the Queen or Servants.
• download_depot 588650 588651 7732583766188059471

If other versions are desired or needed, feel free to ask in the Discord, or look up the manifests yourself on SteamDB.

4. Although it does not look like it, Steam will download the game in the background. When it has finished, it will state in the console where it was downloaded to. In general, on Windows, this will be in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\content\app_588650\depot_588651

5. Copy the contents of this folder to a separate location. You can either replace the files in Dead Cells's installation directory (found through clicking "Browse Local Files" in the Steam Properties) or to a location of your choosing. If you do the second option, you will need to create a file called "steam_appid.txt" into that new folder with the contents "588650" (without the quotes).

You can now run Dead Cells as normal and you will be on the previous patch.

If you replaced the files in the default steam directory and wish to revert back to the current patch manually, go to Dead Cells's Properties, in the Local Files tab, and select "Verify Integrity of Game Files...". Steam will then download and replace the files that are different.

#Method 3 (External Tool)

An alternative option that does not require modifying the steam client is to use DepotDownloader, an open source project built on the open sourced SteamKit2.

1. Download DepotDownloader .zip release from https://github.com/SteamRE/DepotDownloader/releases and the Microsoft Windows Desktop Runtime (.NET core) from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-core/current/runtime

2. Extract the DepotDownloader.#.#.#.zip into a folder. Note that some users have issues if this folder has spaces in its name. In this extracted folder, shift right click and select "Open PowerShell window here"

3. Type the following command depending on the version desired: 1.2 (Rise of the Giant): First introduction of 5 BC

• .\DepotDownloader.exe -app 588650 -depot 588651 -manifest 2452101538192318499 -username R30hedron 1.6 (Legacy Update): Telluric Shock invulnerability glitch for 5 BC speedruns
• .\DepotDownloader.exe -app 588650 -depot 588651 -manifest 8049293241854982288 -username R30hedron 1.7.1 (Bad Seed): Pause to Main Menu Unlinked Lightspeed glitch for Fresh File <2.1
• .\DepotDownloader.exe -app 588650 -depot 588651 -manifest 6653679237023719496 -username R30hedron 2.0 (Barrels of Fun): Distillery accessible from a Fresh File, allowing alternate routing for 0-5 BC
• .\DepotDownloader.exe -app 588650 -depot 588651 -manifest 6287404664801251333 -username R30hedron 2.2 (Fatal Falls): Current fastest patch for any% and 5 BC
• .\DepotDownloader.exe -app 588650 -depot 588651 -manifest 1309788145573545353 -username R30hedron 2.3 (Whack a Mole): Current fastest patch for 0-5 BC
• .\DepotDownloader.exe -app 588650 -depot 588651 -manifest 7662201242351143075 -username R30hedron 2.4 (What's the Damage): Current fastest patch for Fresh File
• .\DepotDownloader.exe -app 588650 -depot 588651 -manifest 7550215563791432682 -username R30hedron 2.5 (Practice makes Perfect): First iteration of the Training Room, for boss rush speedruns w/o the Queen or Servants.
• .\DepotDownloader.exe -app 588650 -depot 588651 -manifest 7732583766188059471 -username R30hedron

Replace "R30hedron" with your Steam username. It will ask for your Steam password, and if you have Steam Guard enabled, it will ask for a Steam Guard code from your email or Steam phone app.

If the command fails, make sure that you installed the .NET core runtime.

DepotDownloader will download the correct manifest to the depots/588651 folder.

4. Copy the contents of this folder to a separate location. You can either replace the files in Dead Cells's installation directory (found through clicking "Browse Local Files" in the Steam Properties) or to a location of your choosing. If you do the second option, you will need to create a file called "steam_appid.txt" into that new folder with the contents "588650" (without the quotes).

You can now run Dead Cells as normal and you will be on the previous patch.

If you replaced the files in the default steam directory and wish to revert back to the current patch manually, go to Dead Cells's Properties, in the Local Files tab, and select "Verify Integrity of Game Files...". Steam will then download and replace the files that are different.

If this method still does not work for you, please contact me on Discord (R30hedron#9520) so I can help step you through the process.