Dead Cells - Mutations
Mutations are Dead Cells' build perks: permanent unlocks bought with cells that are equipped into three slots at the start of a run and can be swapped for free at the start of each new biome. Each mutation belongs to a colour, Brutality, Tactics or Survival, and most scale their effect off that stat...
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of 13 entries
· updated 2026-09-15
| Name | Type | Description | Tree | Cost | Prerequisite | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vengeance | Mutation | Turns damage taken into damage dealt: for several seconds after being hit, melee damage is increased substantially. | Brutality | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Brutality Trigger: Taking damage Effect: Temporary melee damage increase |
| Combo | Mutation | Rewards keeping an unbroken hit chain: each consecutive strike adds damage, so a player who never disengages out-damages one who trades blows. | Brutality | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Brutality Trigger: Consecutive hits Effect: Stacking damage bonus |
| Open Wounds | Mutation | Makes melee attacks inflict bleeding, effectively turning every weapon into a bleed source. | Brutality | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Brutality Trigger: Melee hits Effect: Applies bleeding |
| Predator | Mutation | Makes the player briefly invisible after a kill, which breaks enemy aggro and lets a melee build reposition inside a crowd. | Brutality | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Brutality Trigger: Killing an enemy Effect: Short invisibility that drops enemy targeting |
| Scheme | Mutation | Grants a critical hit on the next melee attack after using a skill, which turns skill usage into a damage rotation rather than a panic button. | Brutality | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Brutality Trigger: Using a skill Effect: Next melee attack lands a critical hit |
| Point Blank | Mutation | Ranged attacks land critical hits at close range, which rewards a Tactics build that fights inside melee distance instead of kiting. | Tactics | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Tactics Trigger: Ranged hit at close range Effect: Critical hit |
| Tranquility | Mutation | Increases damage while no enemy is nearby, which is the pure ranged-build mutation: it pays for keeping distance, picking off targets one at a time and never letting the crowd close. | Tactics | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Tactics Trigger: No enemies within close range Effect: Damage increase |
| Support | Mutation | Increases the damage of deployed skills such as turrets and traps, so a Tactics build can lean on placed damage while the player dodges. | Tactics | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Tactics Trigger: Deployed skills Effect: Higher skill damage |
| Ammo | Mutation | Adds extra ammunition to ranged weapons that use it, effectively raising sustained damage for bows and crossbows. | Tactics | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Tactics Trigger: Passive Effect: Extra ammo for ranged weapons |
| Heart of Ice | Mutation | Kills reduce skill cooldowns, which lets a Survival build cycle shields, traps and area skills far more often. | Survival | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Survival Trigger: Killing an enemy Effect: Reduces skill cooldowns |
| Gastronomy | Mutation | Increases the healing from food, which in a game where healing is scarce is effectively extra health per biome. | Survival | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Survival Trigger: Eating food Effect: Increased healing |
| Emergency Triage | Mutation | Makes the health flask heal more and faster, which changes flask usage from a slow commitment into something usable mid-fight. | Survival | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Survival Trigger: Using a health flask Effect: Stronger and faster healing |
| Disengagement | Mutation | Grants a protective shield and a burst of speed when health drops below a threshold, once per biome. | Survival | Blueprint unlock, then one of three mutation slots | Unlocked with cells at the Collector | Colour: Survival Trigger: Health drops below a threshold Effect: Shield plus speed burst, once per biome |
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