Dead Cells
Dead Cells

Mutations List

Acquire powerful passive abilities with this Dead Cells mutations list. Obtain blueprints and use Cells at the Collector to unlock varied run-altering perks.

·Multi-source verified (69/69)

Mutations List

Mutations are powerful passive abilities that can significantly alter your gameplay strategy in Dead Cells. You unlock them by finding blueprints and spending Cells at the Collector. Once unlocked, you can select up to three Mutations at specific points during your run: at the start in the Prisoner's Quarters, after defeating a boss, or at specific Mutation altars found in biomes. The third Mutation slot becomes available after you defeat the first boss of your run (typically The Concierge, Conjunctivius, or Mama Tick), allowing for even greater build customization.

Choosing the right Mutations for your current build and the challenges ahead is crucial for survival, especially on higher Boss Stem Cell difficulties. Mutations are categorized by their associated scroll color (Brutality, Tactics, Survival), and generally, you'll want to pick Mutations that align with your primary stat to maximize their effectiveness. While you can mix and match, focusing on one color often yields the most potent results due to stat scaling.

Brutality Mutations (Red)

These Mutations typically focus on offensive capabilities, often involving direct damage, speed, or aggressive playstyles. They synergize well with red-scaled weapons and skills, empowering close-quarters combat and rapid enemy elimination.

  • Vengeance: Gain increased damage (up to +60%) and damage reduction (up to -30%) for 8 seconds after taking damage.
    • Strategy: Excellent for aggressive players who don't mind trading blows. This Mutation shines in high-pressure situations or against bosses with predictable attack patterns. Pair with weapons that have high burst damage or skills that allow for quick retaliation, such as the Assault Shield or Blood Sword. Be mindful of enemy attack patterns to maximize the uptime of this buff without overextending.
  • Soldier's Resistance: Reduces the cooldown of your skills by 1 second when you parry an attack.
    • Strategy: A must-have for shield users, particularly those relying on skills with longer cooldowns. This allows for rapid skill cycling, especially powerful with high-cooldown skills like powerful grenades (Cluster Grenade, Heavy Grenade) or deployable turrets. Practice your parry timing to keep your skills constantly available.
  • Frenzy: Recover a small amount of health (0.5% - 2% of max HP) after killing an enemy. The amount scales with your Brutality stat.
    • Strategy: Fantastic for clearing biomes quickly and maintaining health throughout a run. Best used with fast-hitting weapons or builds that can chain kills effectively, such as the Twin Daggers or Rapier. Less useful against bosses or in situations with sparse enemies, making it a prime candidate for swapping out before boss fights.
  • Melee: Increases your melee weapon damage by 15% when an enemy is within melee range (approx. 2.5 tiles).
    • Strategy: A straightforward damage boost for any melee-focused build. Simple, effective, and always a solid choice if your primary damage comes from close-quarters combat. Synergizes well with weapons like the Broadsword or Nutcracker. Consider pairing with Vengeance for an even more aggressive playstyle.
  • Combo: Increases your damage by 5% for 3 seconds after every hit, stacking up to 5 times (max 25% damage). Stacks reset if you don't hit an enemy for 3 seconds.
    • Strategy: Rewards continuous aggression and fast-hitting weapons. Ideal for builds that maintain constant pressure on enemies. Weapons like the Swift Sword or Valmont's Whip can easily maintain full stacks. Be wary in biomes with spaced-out enemies, as maintaining the combo can be challenging.
  • Initiative: Your first hit on an enemy deals +100% damage.
    • Strategy: Excellent for burst damage and quickly eliminating high-priority targets or elite enemies. Pair with high-damage, slower weapons like the Symmetrical Lance or skills that hit hard initially. It's less effective against bosses where you'll be hitting repeatedly, so consider swapping it out.
  • Open Wounds: Your critical hits inflict bleeding on enemies for 3 seconds.
    • Strategy: A powerful damage-over-time mutation for builds that frequently crit. Pair with weapons like the Blood Sword, Rapier (after a dodge), or the Valmont's Whip (at max range). Bleeding synergizes well with other damage-over-time effects and can help melt tougher enemies.

Tactics Mutations (Purple)

Tactics Mutations enhance ranged combat, skill usage, and utility. They are ideal for players who prefer to keep their distance, rely on traps, turrets, or bows, and manage cooldowns effectively. These mutations often provide tactical advantages and crowd control.

  • Tranquility: Increases your damage (up to +30%) when no enemies are nearby (approx. 5 tiles).
    • Strategy: Perfect for ranged builds that prioritize kiting and maintaining distance. Combine with long-range bows like the Heavy Crossbow or Ice Bow, or skills that create space, like the Wolf Trap or Powerful Grenade. Be aware that the bonus is lost as soon as an enemy gets close, so precise positioning is key.
  • Support: Increases your damage by 20% when enemies are affected by your deployable skills (turrets, traps).
    • Strategy: Essential for any build heavily relying on deployables. Place your turrets (Heavy Turret, Sinew Slicer) and traps (Wolf Trap, Crusher) strategically to keep enemies debuffed and maximize your damage output. This mutation makes your deployables not just damage dealers, but also powerful damage amplifiers for your main weapon.
  • Acrobatipack: Allows you to use a secondary ranged weapon while rolling, and increases its damage by 30%.
    • Strategy: Offers incredible mobility and damage potential. Equip a powerful secondary bow or ranged weapon (e.g., Quick Bow, Hokuto's Bow) and use your rolls not just for evasion, but for offense. Great for maintaining pressure and dealing damage while repositioning, especially against fast enemies or bosses.
  • Scheme: Increases your damage by 40% for 3 seconds after using a skill.
    • Strategy: Encourages active skill usage. Any skill will trigger this, so even low-cooldown skills like Phaser or Grappling Hook can provide a consistent damage buff. Synergizes well with builds that have multiple skills or fast skill cooldowns, allowing for near-constant uptime of the damage bonus.
  • Parting Gift: When a deployable skill (turret, trap) expires or is destroyed, it explodes, dealing damage to nearby enemies.
    • Strategy: Adds an extra layer of damage and utility to your deployables. This is particularly effective with skills that have a short duration or are easily destroyed, turning them into miniature grenades. Can be surprisingly effective for clearing groups of enemies or adding burst damage to boss fights.
  • Point Blank: Increases your ranged weapon damage by 15% when an enemy is within close range (approx. 2.5 tiles).
    • Strategy: A niche but powerful mutation for aggressive ranged builds. This allows you to get extra damage out of bows and crossbows even when enemies close the distance. Works well with weapons like the Quick Bow or Repeater Crossbow, which are effective at closer ranges.
  • Barbed Tips: Arrows and projectiles stuck in enemies deal 10 damage per second for 5 seconds. This damage scales with your Tactics stat and the number of stuck projectiles.
    • Strategy: Incredibly potent for builds using multi-shot bows or weapons that leave projectiles embedded, like the Repeater Crossbow or Multi-Nocks Bow. The damage can stack up quickly, making it a boss-melting mutation if you can land enough shots.

Survival Mutations (Green)

Survival Mutations focus on defensive capabilities, health regeneration, and crowd control. They are excellent for tankier builds, those who prefer slower, more deliberate combat, or players struggling with survivability. These mutations emphasize resilience and sustained combat.

  • Gastronomy: Increases the healing from food by 100% and allows you to eat food even at full health for a temporary damage boost (20% for 10 seconds).
    • Strategy: A fantastic sustain option. Eating food at full health before a boss fight can provide a crucial damage buff, making it a versatile choice. Prioritize finding food items in biomes and consider routes that offer more food drops. This mutation significantly reduces reliance on Flask charges.
  • What Doesn't Kill You: Recovers a small amount of health (0.5% - 2% of max HP) after destroying an enemy projectile with a parry.
    • Strategy: Another strong option for shield users, especially against projectile-heavy enemies or bosses like the Concierge or Conjunctivius. Master your parry timing to turn enemy attacks into healing opportunities. This can provide significant passive healing throughout a biome if you're proficient with shields.
  • Recovery: Increases the duration of the "recovery" window after taking damage by 3 seconds, allowing you to regain more health by dealing damage quickly.
    • Strategy: Forgiving for players who sometimes take hits. Pair with fast-hitting weapons or skills that can quickly deal damage to multiple enemies, allowing you to recoup lost health effectively. This mutation essentially gives you more time to "undo" a mistake by aggressively counter-attacking.
  • Necromancy: Recovers a percentage of your maximum health (0.5% - 5%) upon killing an enemy. The amount scales with your Survival stat.
    • Strategy: The ultimate sustain Mutation for Survival builds. This allows for incredible health regeneration throughout biomes, making it easier to push through tough encounters without using Flask charges. Less impactful against bosses due to fewer enemies, so consider swapping it out before a boss fight if you have other options.
  • Dead Inside: Increases your maximum health by 50% but prevents all healing from Flask charges. Food and other healing sources are still effective.
    • Strategy: A high-risk, high-reward mutation for experienced players confident in their ability to avoid damage or rely solely on food/passive healing. The massive health boost makes you incredibly tanky, but losing Flask healing means every hit counts more. Best paired with Gastronomy or Necromancy for alternative healing.
  • Disengagement: Activates a shield for 5 seconds that prevents all damage when your health drops below 15%. This effect has a 120-second cooldown.
    • Strategy: A powerful "panic button" that can save your run in critical moments. This mutation provides a crucial window to heal, reposition, or finish off a dangerous enemy. It's particularly useful in boss fights or crowded elite encounters. Remember the long cooldown, so don't rely on it repeatedly in a single fight.
  • Counterattack: After parrying an attack, your next attack deals +30% damage.
    • Strategy: Enhances the offensive capabilities of shield users. This mutation rewards precise parries with a significant damage boost, turning defensive maneuvers into offensive opportunities. Pair with high-damage weapons like the Broadsword or Nutcracker to maximize the follow-up damage.
  • Armour Plating: Reduces damage taken from all sources by 10%.
    • Strategy: A straightforward and reliable defensive mutation. This flat damage reduction is always active and applies to all incoming damage, making you generally tankier. It's a solid choice for any Survival build, especially when you're struggling with overall survivability.

Remember to experiment with different Mutation combinations to find what works best for your playstyle and the challenges of each run! Don't be afraid to respec your mutations at the cost of some gold at the transition areas between biomes, especially before confronting a boss, to optimize your build for the upcoming challenge.