Mutations

Mutations, introduced in the Foundry Update, are passive modifiers which replace Stat-based secondary effects from the Brutal Update. They can be obtained between levels from Guillain.

Most mutations are not available initially - to unlock them for future selection, one must first bring their blueprints to the Collector, then spend the requisite amounts of cells.

Mechanics
The player can only benefit from a certain number of mutations at once. Each area cleared in a run allows the player to use one more mutation up to a hard limit of 3 mutations. However, the player can choose to spend gold between levels (cost starts at 2500 and greatly increases after each reroll, up to 50000) to remove all current mutations, allowing for a new set of mutations to be chosen to replace the old set.

Most mutations are associated with a specific stat (Brutality, Tactics or Survival), scaling their benefits based on their current levels. Specifically, base damage and healing magnitudes for these mutations are multiplied by (1.15^(n-1)), where n is the current level of the appropriate stat, and rounded to produce the final effect magnitudes (e.g. if a Brutality-scaling mutation provides 90 base extra DPS and the player's Brutality level is at 2, the final extra DPS is (90 × (1.15^(2-1))) = 90 × 1.15 = 103.5 ≈ 104). Note that damage and DPS bonuses on attacks from mutations are not affected by gear-specific damage bonuses or Affixes.

Colorless mutations, however, have fixed benefits which are not affected by the player's stat levels, except for Instinct of the Master of Arms mutation.

Cooldown reduction mutations
In this table, you will find the effect value (in seconds) of the cooldown reduction mutations based on how many stats you have. Red and Green CDR mutations both cap at 25 stats, while Instinct of the Master of Arms caps at 24 and Hunter's Instinct caps at 19 Tactics.

Health mutations
In this table, you will find the effect value (in % of total HP) of the health mutations based on how many stats you have. Soldier Endurance's effect is to increase your health by a % of your current total HP. Soldier Endurance's effect caps at 25%, which is the bonus total HP obtained with 19+ Brutality stats. What Doesn't Kill Me and Necromancy heal a % of your current total HP after a parry and after killing an enemy, respectively. Necromancy caps at 18 Survival, while What Doesn't Kill Me caps at 15.

All 3 of these mutations follow the classic formula used for calculation of DPS values (e.g. see DPS mutations), which is base value x 1.15^(Stat-1).

DPS mutations
In this table, you will find the effect value (added DPS) of all mutations that grant extra DPS based on certain conditions. All of these mutations scale in the same manner, which follows the formula : In the case of the Melee mutation, its base DPS bonus is 120, and it scales on Brutality, so if you have 4 Brutality stats, taking the Melee mutation will add 120 x 1.15^(4-1) = 183 DPS to your attacks.

Removed Mutations
These mutations were removed from the game in v1.1 (December 2018/Jaunary 2019). Efficiency's/Fireworks Technician's scaling with Tactics/Brutality are given in the following table: