Dead Cells (2021+) - How To Pick Mutations + Tier List (Advanced Guides)

The Ultimate Mutations Guide

In this video, Psyche provides tips on picking mutations and analyzes each mutation in the game up to version 2.3. He categorizes mutations loadouts into two different scenarios: one for biomes and one for bosses.

General Tips for Picking Mutations

• Mutations can make or break a run.

• There is no commitment to mutations; you can change them anytime during transition areas.

• You can reset your mutations, but the cost of re-rolling doubles every time you do it.

• Categorize your mutations loadouts into two different scenarios: one for biomes and one for bosses.

• Plan ahead when rerolling mutations; sometimes, you have to make sure that you have enough gold by the time you get to the next biome if you want to reroll again.

Analysis of Every Single Mutation in the Game

Very Viable Section

Brutality Mutations

• Berserker

• Increases damage dealt by 30% when at max health.

• Good mutation in general; no synergy needed.

• Blind Faith

• Grants a shield that absorbs damage equal to 15% of your max health after using a healing potion.

• Useful in every single scenario.

Tactics Mutations

• Support

• Reduces skill cooldown by 45% after using a healing potion.

• Useful in every single scenario.

Survival Mutations

• Necromancy

• Restores 1% of your health after killing an enemy.

• Useful in every single scenario.

Situational Section

Brutality Mutations

• Adrenaline

• Reduces skill cooldown by 0.5 seconds for each enemy killed without taking damage.

• Good mutation, but requires a specific playstyle to be effective.

• Open Wounds

• Critical hits cause bleeding on the enemy, dealing damage over time.

• Good mutation, but requires a specific build to be effective.

Tactics Mutations

• Initiative

• Increases critical hit chance by 20% for 2 seconds after dodging through an attack.

• Good mutation, but requires a specific playstyle to be effective.

Survival Mutations

• Extended Healing

• Increases the duration of healing effects by 100%.

• Useful in certain scenarios where you have access to multiple healing sources.

Niche Section

Brutality Mutations

• Frenzy

• Increases movement speed and attack speed by 15% for 8 seconds after killing an elite enemy.

• Niche mutation that is only useful against elite enemies.

Tactics Mutations

• Masochist

• Reduces skill cooldown by 1 second after being hit by an enemy's melee attack.

• Niche mutation that is only useful if you can consistently get hit by melee attacks.

Survival Mutations

• Ripper

• Causes bleeding on enemies when they hit you with a melee attack.

• Niche mutation that is only useful if you can consistently get hit by melee attacks.

Mutation Tier List

This section covers the viability of different mutations in Dead Cells.

Colorless Mutations

• YOLO is not very viable and beginners tend to fall into this trap.

• Recovery is not useful and rarely taken by players.

• Velocity can be useful when running Swift Sword, but some players don't even pick it up.

• Acceptance is a beginner trap that's not very beneficial. It reduces the number of curses you have to lift by 5, which isn't significant.

• Dead Inside used to be good, but it's not very helpful in 5BC since bosses deal too much damage.

Very Viable Category for Colorless Mutations

• Emergency Triage is a staple for end game bosses as it allows you to use your health flask whenever you want without being vulnerable.

Dead Cells Mutation Tier List

In this video, the speaker provides a tier list of mutations in Dead Cells. The mutations are categorized into three tiers: S-tier, A-tier, and situational tier.

S-Tier Mutations

• Yolo: This mutation grants an extra life to the player.

• Dead Inside: This mutation increases the maximum health of the player by 50%.

• Extended Healing: This mutation increases the amount of healing received from food by 300%.

A-Tier Mutations

• Tough Nut: This mutation reduces damage taken by 60% when rolling or dashing.

• Disengagement: This mutation makes the player invulnerable when their health drops below 20%, allowing for easier healing.

• Alienation: This mutation increases the number of curses that need to be lifted by 50%, but also increases healing received from killing enemies with curses.

Situational Tier Mutations

• Masochist: This mutation allows players to deal damage to themselves in exchange for ammo or other resources.

• Instinct of the Master of Arms: This mutation increases critical hit chance for fast weapons that deal critical damage quickly.

• Ammo: This mutation provides additional ammunition for ranged weapons, but is not necessary if using a grenade that replenishes arrows.

• No Mercy: This newly added mutation provides bonus damage against enemies with low health.

Brutality Tier Mutations

• Vengeance: Reduces damage taken after being hit, but is not recommended on higher BC levels where avoiding hits is crucial.

• Adrenaline and Frenzy: These mutations provide healing based on how many enemies have been killed recently, but are not recommended as they do not increase damage output.

• Tainted Flask: This mutation provides a flask charge when killing elites, but only triggers if the flask is completely empty.

• Porcupack: This mutation causes enemies to take damage when they hit the player, but is not recommended as it does not provide significant damage output.

Overall, the speaker recommends prioritizing S-tier and A-tier mutations over situational and brutality tier mutations.

Brutality Mutations

This section covers the different mutations available for a brutality build.

Initiative

• Initiative is not bad, but other mutations do its job better.

• It can be useful in a katana run since the dash one-shots every mob in biomes.

Open Wounds

• Very effective in general and increases damage output.

• Useful even without bleeding synergy.

Combo

• Unlocked from the beginning of the game and provides a substantial damage boost.

• A generally good pick if unsure about what build to go for when running brutality.

Scheme

• Only useful when running skills with fast cooldowns such as grappling hook or phaser.

Predator

• Invisibility is substantial and can wipe out an entire biome without enemies noticing you're there.

• Effective with weapons like the katana that allow you to dash while invisible.

Killer Instinct

• Unlocked from the beginning of the game and useful for very oriented builds.

• Melee mutation that is situational but powerful.

Tactics Mutations

This section covers the different mutations available for a tactics build.

Tactical Retreat

• Goes against every essence of tactics.

• Defensive option, but other mutations do its job better.

Ripper

• Interesting combo with shrapnel axe, but not consequential enough.

• Requires both melee weapon and range which is awkward.

Hardening Gift

• Possibly most powerful mutation in game right now.

• Premier choice if running ranged setup since it kills everything on screen without doing anything else.

Mutations Overview

This section provides an overview of the mutations in Dead Cells.

Mutation Tiers

• There are three tiers of mutations: Viable, Situational, and Not Viable.

• The viability of a mutation depends on the build and playstyle.

Tactics Mutations

• Tranquility is a situational mutation that promotes a unique playstyle. It's useful when running specific weapons like Marksman's Bow or Barrel Launcher.

• Crow's Foot is a defensive option for melee tactics builds since it synergizes well with them. It outranks Tactical Retreat in terms of usefulness.

• Networking is not very good but can be experimented with to create new playstyles. It has potential if used correctly.

Brutality Mutations

• Acrobatic Pack is useful when running specific weapons like Forged Bow or Alchemic Carbine as it pairs well with them. Echo Battery Pack can be useful in certain scenarios but isn't necessary otherwise.

• Point Blank is introduced in the 2.3 update and works well with weapons like Infantry Bow, Fire Blast, and Electric Whip by providing percentage damage boosts instead of flat damage increases from Ranger's Gear Hunter Instinct mutation which is always viable regardless of build or skill level.

• Support boosts double turret setups' damage output significantly and works better against bosses than biomes.

Survival Mutations

• Soldier Resistance gives a flat health increase that stacks up to 25%, but it's not consequential enough on later BC levels where enemies do more damage.

• Shield mutations like Blind Faith, Counter Attack, What Doesn't Kill Me, and Spite are not viable except for What Doesn't Kill Me which is situational. Shields are an offhand mechanic that's not worth using since it's better to kill enemies outright than parry them for healing.

Dead Cells Mutation Tier List

In this section, the speaker discusses the viability of different mutations in Dead Cells.

Healing Mutations

• Extended Healing is not recommended as it requires waiting for low health to heal and is risky during boss fights. Emergency Triage is a better option.

• Gastronomy is a powerful healing mutation that guarantees double healing from food items and should be picked if unsure about build.

• Necromancy used to be overpowered but now only heals up to 50% of health, making it less viable on higher BC's.

Survival Mutations

• Frostbite is considered the best survival mutation in the game due to its ability to slow down enemies and synergize with weapons like ice shards.

• Berserker can provide substantial damage reduction but has limited use during boss fights.

• Heart of Ice works well with skills like Seismic Strike and Freeze, while Kill Rhythm benefits dual binding builds and two-handed weapons.

The speaker also provides examples of how these mutations can be used effectively in gameplay.

Mutations Guide

This section covers mutations in the game Dead Cells, including how they work, which ones are better, and how to pick them throughout your runs.

Armadillo Pack

• Armadillo Pack is a mutation that allows you to roll through enemies and deal damage.

• It doesn't have a cooldown if you roll away bombs and projectiles.

• In the Hand of the King fight, when he throws bombs at you, rolling once gets rid of all the bombs instantly.

• Whether or not to use Armadillo Pack comes down to personal preference.

Shield vs Backpack

• The speaker prefers having a shield in their off-hand rather than in their backpack.

Conclusion

• That's it for the mutations guide.

• The speaker hopes that viewers found this guide helpful and informative.

• They also post Dead Cells content on their YouTube channel in the form of guides as well as gameplay runs.

• If interested, viewers can subscribe to the channel.

• The speaker plans on putting out a 3 BC guide sometime in the future and then moving on to 4/5 BC guides.