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Boss Stem Cells (or simply Boss Cells) are permanent items that increase the difficulty of the game when active. The first one is acquired by beating the Hand of the King or the QueenTQatS with no Boss Stem Cells active, the second by beating either with one active, and so on. However, the fifth Boss Stem Cell is obtained by beating the GiantRotG with four active. The use of Aspects prevents the acquirement of the next Boss Stem Cell.

Boss Stem Cells can be injected and removed at the start of the game in the Tube, as long as one hasn't left the starting area. Each one makes the game significantly harder by increasing enemy tier, density, variety, and limiting healing options. On the other hand, higher difficulty levels also increase cells dropped from enemies and the level of the Legendary Forge, and allow access to new blueprints and bonus doors scattered through the levels, as well as some that are dropped by enemies exclusive to high BSCs. The bonus doors show the number of Boss Stem Cells required to enter and will shine blue if enough are currently active.

Modifiers[]

# of Boss Stem Cells Modifiers
Boss Stem Cell Icon
2 Boss Cells
3 Boss Cells
  • BSC 3 Expert difficulty
  • The early phases of bosses change.
  • Broken flask 4 Passages now only contain 2 Flask charges in total, one after the first boss and the other before the second boss.
  • Advanced Forge Icon Improves the cap of the Legendary Forge, allowing you to upgrade the frequency of S items to 50%.
  • Cell multiplier 2 Multiplies the amount of cells dropped by enemies by 2.
  • Scroll Fragments Allows you to collect Scroll Fragments.
  • Increases item levels by +1.
  • EpicPower Colorless items from Cursed Chests are improved from ++ to S-quality.
  • Unlocks a door in Ramparts that leads to the Insufferable Crypt.
  • Allows you to collect the 4th Boss Stem Cell from The Queen or The Hand of the King.
4 Boss Cells
  • BSC 4 Nightmare difficulty
  • The early phases of bosses change.
  • Increases the detection range of mobs and gives most of them the ability to teleport to you.
  • Broken flask 4 Passages don't contain any Flask charges.
  • Advanced Forge Icon Improves the cap of the Legendary Forge, allowing you to upgrade the frequency of S items to 100%.
  • Cell multiplier 3 Multiplies the amount of cells by enemies by 3.
  • Scroll Fragments Allows you to collect more Scroll Fragments than on the Expert Difficulty.
  • Increases item levels by +3.
  • EpicPower Colorless items from Cursed Chests are improved from ++ to S-quality.
  • Allows you to collect the 5th Boss Stem Cell from the GiantRotG.
5 Boss Cells
  • BSC 5 Hell difficulty
  • The early phases of bosses change.
  • Increases the detection range of mobs and gives most of them the ability to teleport to you.
  • Malaise Icon The Malaise is activated.
  • Broken flask 4 Passages don't contain any Flask charges.
  • Advanced Forge Icon Improves the cap of the Legendary Forge, allowing you to upgrade the frequency of S items to 100%.
  • Cell multiplier 3 Multiplies the amount of cells dropped by enemies by 3.
  • Scroll Fragments Allows you to collect more Scroll Fragments than on the Expert Difficulty.
  • Increases item levels by +3.
  • EpicPower Colorless items from Cursed Chests are improved from ++ to S-quality.
  • Gives access to the AstrolabRotG and the ObservatoryRotG, which are located at the end of Throne Room.
  • The Collector's Intern replaces the Collector in Passages.

Trivia[]

  • When Boss Stem Cells, then named Boss Runes, were added in the v0.5.3 patch of the Foundry Update, they could all be obtained on 0 BSC difficulty and each was dropped by a different boss.

History[]

  • 0.5: Introduced.
  • 1.2: Introduced 5 BSC difficulty.
  • 1.9: Removed Legendary item improvements from 3+ BSC that added one stat of each color.
  • 2.3: Adjusted BSC difficulty curve:
    • 2 BSC now grants a flask recharge in every Passage.
    • 3 BSC now grants a flask recharge before the first boss and after the second boss.
    • 4 BSC no longer has the Malaise mechanic.
  • 3.0: The Hunter's Grenade no longer provides stats.

Gallery[]

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