Being Cursed 
in Dead Cells is a punishment on the Beheaded for angering the gods. Curse causes any amount of damage to one-hit kill the player, and a certain number of enemies must be killed in order to lift it.
The amount depends on the source of the curse and the amounts stack. There are a few different ways to gain curse. Curse sources are risk-reward choices that can greatly benefit the player with rewards being Scrolls, Gems and healing. Curse also has synergies with some weapons and Mutations.
Sources
- Opening a cursed chest (10)
- Breaking a golden door (10 for regular, 50 for specialist shop, 30 for crypt door)
- Picking up a Corrupted Artifact (20)
- Eating food when having the
Acceptance mutation (5) - Equipping the Cursed Sword (As long as the weapon is equipped)
Insta-kills
The following damage sources insta-kill 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
- Poison DoT
- Damage from using Lightning Bolt too long
The following damage sources do NOT insta-kill while Cursed:
- Darkness in the Forgotten Sepulcher
- Malaise damage
Synergies
- While cursed Spite Sword does critical hits
Alienation makes it so decreasing the curse counter restores 5% HP but increases the number of enemies required to lift the curse by 50%. Reducing a curse 5 times removes 2 Malaise.
Acceptance reduces gained curse counter from sources by half, but consuming food curses you.
- Having both equipped will reduce curse gain by 25% rounded up.
Notes
- Ice Armor will prevent insta-death on getting hit when active.
- Gaining curse while having the Cursed Sword equipped still gives you a curse counter.
- The amount of curse received from cursed chests can be changed using custom mode to any number between 1 and 99. This blocks achievements.
Trivia
- Curse is the only mention of gods in the entire game.