Curse
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"Not for the faint hearted..."
This page has information about content in Dead Cells' alpha or beta branch, which means that it might change upon arrival to the stable branch |
Curse is a mechanic in Dead Cells where the Beheaded is punished for angering the gods. Curses cause any amount of damage to one-hit kill the player, and they must kill enemies in order to lift it. Curses function as a risk-reward mechanic that can greatly benefit the player with rewards such as Scrolls, Gems and healing.
Mechanics[edit]
Nearly all sources of damage kill the player while cursed, regardless of their current health or any damage-reducing abilities they may have.
- Curses work off of a point-based system, where killing enemies reduces the total points by one. Each time a curse is inflicted, another set of points is added to the total amount of curse points that are already there.
- Curses have synergies with certain Gear and Mutations.
The following damage sources instantly kill the player while Cursed:
- Any enemy hit that deals at least 1 damage, even while blocking with a shield.
- Any trap hit.
- Jumping into a bottomless pit.
- Damage-over-time due to poison.
- Self-damage from using continuously for too long.
While most sources of damage kill the player in a single hit while cursed, there are a few exceptions:
- Darkness in the Forgotten Sepulcher.
- Damage inflicted by the , petting and the use of .
While cursed, the player cannot use the Homunculus Rune.
- However, the player can still use the Homunculus Rune if the only source of curse is the .
Sources[edit]
There are a few different ways one can be afflicted with a curse:
- Opening a cursed chest (10 points).
- Breaking a golden door (10 points for normal ones, 50 points for the 3 found in the specialist's shop, 15 and 5 points for the doors on the final floor of The Bank and 30 points for the one in the Forgotten Sepulcher that bars access to the Night Light).
- Picking up a Corrupted Artifact (20 points).
- Eating food when having the mutation (5).
- Examining the altar for the (1).
- Equipping the backpack). (as long as the weapon is equipped or in the
Cursed Biomes[edit]
Biomes can randomly become cursed during a run depending on a few factors:
- Cursed Biomes start to appear in runs from 2 BSC and the maximum number of Cursed Biomes that the player can enter is capped depending on the difficulty chosen:
- 2 BSC: 2
- 3 BSC: 3
- 4 BSC: 5
- 5 BSC: 8
- When the cap is hit, no more cursed biomes will appear in the run, but as long as the cap has not been reached Cursed Biomes can keep appearing.
- In biomes at least one exit will be non-cursed and up to two exits can be cursed.
- Each exit has a 25% chance to be cursed.
- A biome must have been visited once before it can be cursed.
- The Bank can't be cursed.
Cursed Biomes offer a higher risk and reward:
- In a Cursed Biomes ~9 (+/-2) total cursed enemies will spawn, these will be Cursers, Doom Bringers and Sore Losers.
- Cursed Biomes receive a +1 in gear level to all sources of gear.
- Additionally, Cursed Biomes will have a +10% increased chance for a Cursed Chest to spawn (5% -> 15%, 110% -> 120%)
- This does not affect biomes with a 0% or 100% Cursed Chest chance (i.e. Prison Depths, Corrupted Prison and Fractured ShrinesFF).
Synergies[edit]
- While cursed, the critical hits. does
- makes it so decreasing the curse counter restores 5% HP but increases the number of enemies required to lift the curse by 50%.
- Having both alienation and acceptance will reduce curse gain by 25%, rounded up.
reduces gained curse counter from sources by half, but consuming food inflicts curses.
Notes[edit]
- will prevent instant death when getting hit while the skill is active.
- will prevent instant death when getting hit while the passive is active.
- Gaining curse while having the equipped still gives a curse counter.
- The amount of curse received from cursed chests can be changed using custom mode to any number between 0 and 999. This blocks achievements.
- While Cursed Biomes only spawn during 2 BSC or higher, it is possible to have one appear in a run where you have changed your boss cell count from above 2 to below it (needs confirmation)
Trivia[edit]
- Curses are the only mention of gods in the entire game.
History[edit]
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