Dead Cells Explorer's Guide

Progression map

Here you have a full progression map showing you all possible routes you can take. Of course progressing trough all paths require acquisition of the runes. For those you need to beat an elite monster in a certain biome. But about that in a moment and for now - the map.

The Runes

The Vine rune can be picked up in the Promenade of the Condemned by fighting with an elite Undead Archer (tip: dodge a lot)
The Teleportation Rune in the Toxic Sewers unlocked by fighting with an elite Slasher (tip: bring a shield)
The Belier's Rune in Ossuary by fighting with an elite Slasher yet again.
The Spider's Rune in Slumbering Sanctuary by fighting with an elite Orb Caster (tip: bring a ranged weapon)

So if you're in a hurry to get them all your routes would be:

• The Prisoners' Cells > The Promenade of the Condemned
• The Prisoners' Cells > The Toxic Sewers
• The Prisoners' Cells > The Promenade of the Condemned > Ossuary
• The Prisoners' Cells > The Toxic Sewers > The Old Sewers > The Insufferable Crypt > Slumbering Sanctuary

You can't do them all in one swoop, so once you've unlocked one either carry on or die and start from the beginning. There's also Challenger's Rune that unlocks daily runs in the starting zone and can be found after defeating boss in The Black Bridge, but that one isn't needed for progression and you'll get it eventually.

Loot and item levels

You'll notice that every biome on the map has a zone level. It inffluences items that you'll get inside that biome. There's set of rules that have effect on the item. Add the number to the zone level according to the condition:

0 - for items found loosely on the ground
0 - dropped from a monster
0 - behind a paywall (golden door)
+1 - bought from the vendor
+1 - regular chest
+1 - cursed chest, together with a gem and scroll of power, additionally the item will be colorless (scales with your higest tier regardless of it's original affiliation)
+2 - from elites
+2 - reward for completing a challenge secret area

Weapons and skills tier affiliation

As of Brutal Update we have reworked 3 tiers of stats that we can pick up during our progress. Brutality, Tactics and Survival - red, violet, green respectively. The general rule is that every weapon is red, every skill is violet and every shield is green. Aside from that rule there are some items that scale with two tiers. The more points in each tier you have, the more powerful your item will be. For those weapons that scale with two tiers it scales only with your highest tier. So for example having 10 brutality and 5 tactics for a Throwing Knife it will scale the weapon only with brutality and investing in tactics won't strengthen it (unless you reach 11 tactcs).

And a quick reminder what each of those tiers are doing:

Brutality	Tactics	Survival
+25% damage for RED equipment	+25% damage for VIOLET equipment	+25% damage for GREEN equipment
After you kill an enemy your attacks inflict +X damage/s	-20% cool-down for all active skills	After you parry with a shield your attacks inflict +X damage/s
+7% health	+7% health	+20% health

Following infographic shows you exactly which item belongs to which tier.

You have only icons here, mainly because they're easier to manage like that and update later if needed, but if you need a name of any of the items and where to grab a blueprint for it you can go check the gear page on Dead Cells wiki