Skill List

Skill List

Skills in Dead Cells are powerful, often tactical abilities that can turn the tide of battle. Unlike weapons, which are typically used for direct damage, skills offer a wider range of effects, from area-of-effect damage and crowd control to defensive buffs and utility. Understanding how to acquire and effectively utilize skills is crucial for surviving the ever-increasing difficulty of the biomes.

Most skills are unlocked by finding their blueprints, typically dropped by specific enemies or found in secret areas. Once a blueprint is acquired, you must spend a certain amount of cells at the Collector in the Prisoner's Quarters to permanently unlock the skill for future runs. The cost of skills varies, with more powerful or versatile skills often requiring a higher cell investment.

Acquisition and Unlocking

To add a new skill to your arsenal, follow these steps:

1. Locate the Blueprint: Skills are primarily unlocked by finding their blueprints. These can be dropped by specific enemies, found in hidden rooms, or awarded for defeating bosses. For instance, the Cluster Bomb blueprint is a common drop from Grenadiers in the Promenade of the Condemned, while the Wolf Trap blueprint can often be found after defeating the Concierge in the Black Bridge.
2. Survive the Run: Once you pick up a blueprint, you must successfully complete the current biome and reach the next safe area (e.g., the transition between biomes) or die with the blueprint in your possession. If you die before reaching a safe area, the blueprint is lost.
3. Visit the Collector: After a successful blueprint acquisition (or death with one), return to the Prisoner's Quarters and interact with the Collector.
4. Spend Cells: The Collector will allow you to spend your collected cells to permanently unlock the skill. The cost will be displayed next to the skill. Prioritize unlocking skills that complement your preferred playstyle or offer strong utility early on.

Skill Categories and Strategic Use

Skills generally fall into a few broad categories, each with its own strategic applications. Understanding these categories will help you build a balanced and effective loadout for any run.

Damage Skills

These skills are designed to deal direct damage to enemies, often in an area of effect or with high burst potential. They are excellent for clearing groups or quickly eliminating tough targets. They typically scale with Brutality or Tactics.

• Cluster Bomb: Throws a grenade that explodes into multiple smaller grenades.
  • Location: Blueprint dropped by Grenadiers in the Promenade of the Condemned.
  • Strategy: Ideal for clearing out tightly packed groups of enemies or dealing significant damage to larger foes. Aim for the center of a group for maximum impact, especially in narrow corridors or when enemies are funneled. The multiple explosions can also trigger various on-hit effects from mutations or gear affixes repeatedly.
• Sinew Slicer: Deploys a stationary turret that fires projectiles at nearby enemies.
  • Location: Blueprint dropped by Scorpions in the Toxic Sewers and Ancient Sewers.
  • Strategy: Place it strategically to cover your flanks or to provide continuous damage while you focus on other threats. Excellent for boss fights to add consistent DPS without requiring your direct attention. Its projectiles can also pierce, hitting multiple enemies in a line.
• Heavy Turret: Deploys a stationary turret that fires slow but powerful projectiles.
  • Location: Blueprint dropped by Shieldbearers in the Ramparts and Prison Depths.
  • Strategy: Best for high-damage output against single, tough targets or bosses. Its slower fire rate means careful placement is key to ensure its shots connect. Can be paired with crowd control to guarantee hits.

Crowd Control Skills

These skills focus on incapacitating or hindering enemies, allowing you to control the flow of battle and create openings for attacks. They are invaluable for managing large groups or neutralizing dangerous threats. Many scale with Tactics or Survival.

• Wolf Trap: Places a trap that immobilizes the first enemy to step on it.
  • Location: Blueprint often found after defeating the Concierge in the Black Bridge.
  • Strategy: Perfect for locking down dangerous elites or bosses, giving you free hits. Can also be used to separate enemies from a group, allowing you to deal with them one by one. Place it just before an enemy charges or teleports.
• Ice Grenade: Throws a grenade that freezes enemies in an area.
  • Location: Blueprint dropped by Undead Archers in the Ramparts.
  • Strategy: Essential for dealing with fast-moving enemies or creating breathing room when overwhelmed. Frozen enemies take critical damage from your next attack, making it a cornerstone for many critical-hit builds.
• Root Grenade: Throws a grenade that roots enemies in place for a short duration.
  • Location: Blueprint dropped by Disgusting Worms in the Toxic Sewers.
  • Strategy: Similar to Ice Grenade but without the critical damage bonus. Useful for setting up area-of-effect attacks or ensuring melee hits on agile foes. Can be used to prevent enemies from reaching you while you deal with other threats.

Utility and Defensive Skills

These skills provide various benefits beyond direct damage or crowd control, such as healing, protection, or environmental manipulation. They often enhance survivability or provide strategic advantages. These can scale with any stat depending on their primary effect.

• Powerful Grenade: A simple, high-damage grenade.
  • Location: Available from the start.
  • Strategy: A reliable early-game damage option. Can be used to break destructible objects or clear pathways. Its low cooldown makes it a good utility for triggering affixes or finishing off weakened enemies.
• Corrupted Power: Temporarily increases your damage output but also increases damage taken.
  • Location: Blueprint dropped by Inquisitors in the Prison Depths and Ossuary.
  • Strategy: High-risk, high-reward. Best used during boss fights or against tough elites when you're confident in your ability to avoid damage. Combine with defensive mutations like Gastronomy or Emergency Triage for safer use, or pair with a shield for parry-based defense.
• Great Owl of War: Summons an owl companion that attacks enemies and can be commanded to perform a dive attack.
  • Location: Blueprint dropped by Buzzcutters in the Stilt Village.
  • Strategy: Provides consistent, passive damage and can draw aggro. The dive attack is excellent for burst damage or finishing off low-health enemies. Scales with Tactics, making it a staple for many ranged builds.
• Shield Skills (e.g., Rampart, Front Line Shield): While technically weapons, some shields function more like defensive skills due to their parry mechanics and cooldowns.
  • Location: Various, e.g., Rampart blueprint from Shieldbearers in the Ramparts.
  • Strategy: Parrying incoming attacks not only negates damage but often stuns enemies and can provide temporary invulnerability (like with Rampart). Essential for Survival builds and for mastering enemy attack patterns.

Synergies and Combinations

The true power of skills often lies in their synergy with other skills, weapons, and mutations. Experiment with different combinations to find what works best for your playstyle:

• Freeze and Crit: Combine Ice Grenade with a weapon that deals critical damage to frozen targets (e.g., Ice Shards, Broadsword, or Flint). This provides reliable critical hits for massive damage.
• Trap and Turret: Use Wolf Trap or Root Grenade to immobilize an elite or boss, then deploy a Sinew Slicer or Heavy Turret to melt them down without fear of retaliation.
• Damage Amplification: Activate Corrupted Power or a similar damage-boosting skill (like Acrobatic Pack's bonus after a roll) before unleashing your most damaging skills and weapon attacks for massive burst damage against bosses.
• Oil and Fire: Combine a skill that applies oil (e.g., Oil Grenade) with a fire-based skill or weapon (e.g., Fire Grenade, Flamethrower Turret) to trigger the "burning oil" status effect, which deals significant damage over time.
• Bleed and Poison: Skills that apply bleed (e.g., Lacerating Aura) or poison (e.g., Poison Cloud) can be combined with weapons or mutations that amplify damage to bleeding/poisoned enemies, creating powerful damage-over-time builds.

Remember to consider the scaling of skills with your chosen stat (Brutality, Tactics, or Survival) and look for affixes on your gear that enhance your skills, such as "reduces skill cooldown," "skills deal bonus damage to poisoned enemies," or "skills leave a trail of fire."

Managing Skill Cooldowns

Skills are powerful, but their effectiveness is tied directly to their cooldowns. Efficient cooldown management is crucial for consistent damage and crowd control.

• Cooldown Reduction Affixes: Look for gear with affixes like "reduces skill cooldown by X seconds" or "reduces skill cooldown on kill." These are invaluable, especially for high-cooldown skills.
• Tactics Builds: Tactics builds naturally benefit from lower skill cooldowns due to the scaling of the stat itself. Many Tactics mutations also focus on skill efficiency.
• Strategic Use: Don't just spam skills. Use them when they will have the most impact – to clear a dangerous group, burst down an elite, or escape a tight spot. Holding onto a skill for a few extra seconds can be more beneficial than using it off cooldown.
• Alternate Skills: If you have two skills, try to use them alternately to maintain a consistent flow of abilities, rather than waiting for both to come off cooldown simultaneously.

Mastering the timing and combination of your skills is a key element to success in Dead Cells, allowing you to overcome even the most challenging biomes and bosses.