big dave's big guide on which physical mutations you should pick

(this is for people who value winning over fun, mutations i say suck could be more fun than sliced bread so don't COMPLETELY avoid some of the worse mutations, you would miss out on some sillies if you did!)

CHIMERA

We begin with Chimera, a really nice mutation to have if you like growing tons of limbs and wearing hundreds of thousands of cool looking shoes and hats.

It's amazing to pair with builds that maximize multiweapon fighting, like axe dismemberment builds, cudgel stun builds, or shortblade builds in general.

But whatever you do, ALWAYS take this with as many Unstable Genomes as possible to maximize the amount of limbs you get.

It's a pretty fun mutation, no problems here.

ESPER

Chimera's younger brother Esper is a nice mutation to have, but is much more situational than Chimera, as it locks you out of some really nice filler mutations, and may force you to take some of the dookie mental mutations (there are a lot of them but I'll get to that another time).

However, Esper is a beast when paired with high ego builds, with each new mutation gained keeping up with your high level.

Overall, use if you like magic and have a massive ego, but you should probably avoid otherwise.

UNSTABLE GENOME

This is a weird one, as it either just gives you expensive mutations for free, or you get unlucky and have to choose between doodoo and piss and you wasted three points.

Its ok, but becomes better with Chimera builds, a whole lot better.

ADRENAL CONTROL

Adrenal Control is ok, but it doesn't give enough of a mutation level boost or quickness boost to be anything worthwhile, especially when other more powerful options exist that do the exact same thing (but better).

The mutation level upgrades can be useful on occasion, but four points is just simply too much for something that has such a short duration, long cooldown, and generally underwhelming effect.

One thing of note though is that this mutation, just like Unstable Genome, pairs very well with Chimera builds, since all your low level mutations will get buffed at once. Pretty cool stuff!

BEAK

Ego is nice, and for a one point mutation, it can be tempting.

But beware, one point mutations are generally traps, and using as many points as possible on more expensive mutations is typically the better option.

But if you have one point lying around, it wont hurt, especially if you plan on going full-esper.

BURROWING CLAWS

Claws are not that great all things considered. HOWEVER, this will change soon, as claws are getting a new ability allowing you to dig stairs up and down, which is really, really useful.

Claws as they are now though, aren't very good. Their only real use case is if you are going for a full strength build, and even then, there is a certain other mutation that's broken in every conceivable way that benefits from strength similarly well.

Claws are good for digging, I guess, but being able to make tunnels is not quite as useful as it seems in qud, so you are better off waiting for when they get buffed.

CARAPACE

An amazing mutation overall. Free AV, and if at a high enough level, immunity to burning and freezing to death!

Tighten Carapace is a mostly useless ability, but with Sunder Mind and certain other mental mutations, it can get silly real quick.

I'd recommend this for almost all build types, due to the sheer amount of AV and protection it provides, and you become a cool ass turtle. Just remember that your carapace prevents you from equipping any body armors, not like it matters though!

Plus, you get bonus tortoise reputation... yay?

CORROSIVE GAS GENERATION

Turns out, brapping on your enemies is an effective tool not only offensively, but can also serve as an amazing zoning and defensive tool! Just keep in mind that the gas density needs to be high enough to dissuade all creatures from walking into the cloud.

Combo this bad boy with high willpower and the other gas generation ability to unleash TRUE FART POWER™.

Great mutation overall, and not a bad pick by any means. It can also help with breaking down walls (for better of for worse) so keep that in mind!

...

Ok, FINE!

I've been leaving a certain speedrun tech involving Corrosive Gas Generation out of the discussion, simply because of how... well... cheesy it is. You can break the flow of the game in half with this one, diabolical trick.

You know it, you love it, it's the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Wings-sludge maneuver.

Equip wings on character generation, level them up until you can fly without falling, head to the Rainbow Wood, locate a sludge gathering, and ♥♥♥♥ all over them while in the air.

The sludges can't do anything to defend themselves, and you gain a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of exp really, really fast.

Utilize this gamer tech at your own discretion, you have been warned.

DOUBLE MUSCLED

Double Muscled has both a great on hit effect, allowing you to daze and stun enemies constantly, while also granting tons of free strength when leveled up.

Double Muscled also lets you dump attribute points into things like willpower and intelligence without having to worry about muscle atrophy, as long as you keep leveling up the mutation that is.

Or... you can go all in on slapping the ♥♥♥♥ out of anything that stands in your way and just put all your attribute points into strength, your choice.

Burrowing Claws and Horns pair amazingly with this one. If you have either of those, this is a very nice option.

ELECTRICAL GENERATION

Being able to charge artifacts endlessly is an extremely useful tool. That's what I would say if the Jacked modification ever appeared in a single one of my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ runs.

But even if you can't find any Jacked artifacts, being able to electrocute enemies is a powerful burst damage option, and it scales nicely with willpower. Plus, if you decide to use that big disgusting brain of yours, you can set up traps using force walls, since the electricity will always prioritize arcing through them first.

AND... Electrical generation doesn't recharge slower if you take mutations like Multiple Legs or Heightened Quickness, which is really, really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ good.

However, its a bit of a costly mutation, and electrocution can be unreliable as a weapon due to janky damage rolls, so take it with a grain of salt.

ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE

Electro-Pulse has one, really niche use. But good lord that one specific use comes in handy way more often than you may expect. Along with being one of the best ways to kill a chrome pyramid, the pulse can save your life in a pinch against all other robots, one of the most common run enders.

Give this mutation a shot if you find yourself getting hit in the face by robots a bunch. Or, if you want to cosplay as Mr. Electric, just take it with Electrical Generation.

Pretty nice overall, but has very limited uses.

FLAMING RAY

Flaming Ray is a handy mutation to have, and even though it does more damage than it's freezing brother, enemies not dropping a corpse can be very, very annoying. This is especially true with Ape God, as he no longer drops his fist if killed through flaming ray alone.

However, the ray has a very short cooldown, and sizable damage output to boot, so it is by no means an underwhelming mutation, just take care not to disintegrate targets that drop important corpses.

FREEZING RAY

It's like Flaming Ray, but better in most aspects. Freezing targets is an invaluable tactic that can save your ass whenever you want, with the added bonus of doing it at range. However, it does do slightly less damage than flame ray, and a five point mutation will take a big chunk out of your twelve (sixteen if you take Tonic Allergy like literally everybody) mutation points.

Also, don't forget that you become harder and harder to freeze as you level up this mutation! If only Flaming Ray made you harder to set on fire...

Combos well with Multiple Legs and Teleportation for the ultimate coward build, and can become quite deadly at higher levels with lots of willpower. Not a bad choice at all.

HEIGHTENED HEARING

This mutation has been seeing a lot more use nowadays, and for very good reason. Being able to see almost everything on screen is an amazing ability. Even at low levels, seeing a nearby dawnglider around the corner can save you when you least expect it.

However, Heightened Hearing takes a TON of points to have any significant impact, and if you don't like meddling with autoexplore, stopping whenever you see a random snapjaw thirty miles away can be quite frustrating.

But for a two point mutation this bad boy can, and will, serve you well.

HEIGHTENED QUICKNESS

Heightened Quickness grants a very sizable quickness boost that allows you to run away faster, shank enemies just a little bit more, or do whatever else you want to do with it.

Combos very well with shortblade and pistol builds, while also being useful with other rapid fire weapons. It's just a good mutation, not much else to say. Go wild.

One thing to note though, is that this mutation scales like ASS. Make sure not to dump points into it, since it is already strong enough at level one, and you are only getting a few extra points of quickness per level.

HORNS

Horns...

Yeah, they had it coming, I'm not going to lie. Being able to deal over 60 damage in a single blow while racking up absurd levels of bleed was really, REALLY stupid for a three point mutation. Not to say that I'm completely happy with these changes, since being able to shred nearly everything to bits instantly with your forehead was really fun.

But regardless of what I think about these changes, Horns, for better or worse, is just simply no longer what it used to be.

It's so ov-

Oh, haha wait a second, I FORGOT!

SINGLE WEAPON FIGHTING

KILL EVERYTHING

HIT TWICE AT ONCE FOR FREE

REFRESH COOLDOWNS

HOLD TWO RELICS AT NO COST

THIS IS REALLY BALANCED

WE ARE SO BACK

MULTIPLE ARMS

Multiple Arms is a mutation that has a plethora of uses with all builds, for the most part. Cudgel builds now stun enemies to hell and back, axe builds remove limbs absurdly fast, and shortblade builds become twice as fun once you get jab.

Obviously, multiweapon fighting will do nothing but make these combos even more powerful, so make sure to get it ASAP. Overall, a nice mutation that can make broken runs just that much more broken.

Oh also, in a similar vein to Heightened Quickness, never level up this mutation. It's good enough as is at level one, and it scales really poorly later on.

MULTIPLE LEGS

Multiple Legs simply allows you to pretty much escape any and all conflicts that you would otherwise be ♥♥♥♥♥♥ in, no cooldowns required.

However, five points is a big ask, and having to hunt down more of the same equipment for the normal AV and DV boosts can become annoying.

But, consider the following; you are deep into a run, and you find a historical site that has bigboobybob's boots of killing people. They give you +4 levels to Sunder Mind. "Wow!" you say. "I sure love these boots! If only there was a way I could duplicate them and wear TWO pairs of them at once!". Multiple legs got you covered baby.

♥♥♥♥♥ good, take it.

BONUS: thanks to a lovely person in the comments, I have been reminded that ironshank is a thing that DOES in fact exist! The movement penalty of ironshank is completely nullified with Multiple Legs, granting you essentially free AV.

NIGHT VISION

Night Vision is the definition of a noob trap. Sure, it frees up an extra hand slot from the start of a run, but it isn't long until you find a floating glowsphere, completely negating the effect of the mutation and making you feel like an idiot for wasting a mutation point.

I'd suggest staying far from this one, unless you REALLY hate killing cat herders or going into the asphalt mines for some reason.

PHASING

Hey, hey, hey, remember when I said that Phasing was stupid? And that it was dumb and bad and cringe? I was pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ wrong; like really, really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ wrong.

You can, quite easily, become completely invincible to a whopping 99% of things with Phasing, while also being able to deal damage as normal.

Get this, there's a super secret mechanic in the game called "picking any damage dealing mental mutation at the start of a run" that allows you to kill things while phased out. You can also utilize the phase-related mods for an even easier time.

But, I've been saving the best for last. You can mod a Hand-E-Nuke to be Phase-conjugate, and detonate it while phased out. This prevents you from, y'know, dying. Since almost nothing in this game can survive the blast damage of a nuke, you have access to a free insta-kill of whatever you want, whenever you want it.

Sadly, it does kinda suck that you have to be both a mutant, and in possession of the Phasing mutation in order to enjoy these benefits.

That's what I would say if I were a brainless ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ moron!

SHADE OIL INJECTORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, you don't even need Phasing to do any of this by the way. Having the Phasing mutation just makes the process a lot more convenient and reliable, but you can still pretty easily cheese out anything in the game with nukes and injectors.

With a lot of willpower, a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of drugs, or a high enough level on Phasing, you just instantly win the game.

Pretty good mutation.

PHOTOSYNTHETIC SKIN

Photo-Skin (i'm not writing that whole thing again) is another mutation seeing more and more use nowadays. Plus, it just got a buff! It now grants extra DV in foliage that scales with level. The quickness and regen bonus that simply absorbing sun juice provides for you is huge, and can easily turn the tides of a dire fight. Just, don't touch defoliant ok?

In the end, it's pretty damn good, but can become a bit annoying to manage if you aren't used to cooking builds and cooking in general.

QUILLS

Quills...

I really wish quills didn't suck, but they do, they kinda do.

Even with the 1.0 point reduction, Carapace is still essentially just Quills but better, for a whole lot of reasons.

The damage reflection provided for the player is so minor, it may as well not exist. The fling quills ability can save you, but sacrifices a decent chunk of your AV if used too much. Speaking of AV, quills provide much less AV at higher levels than carapace in exchange for these middling upsides, with no elemental resistances to speak of.

I would not recommend this one, which is a shame since it's one of the more fun and interesting mutations. Hopefully it sees... well, a more substantial buff one day.

REGENERATION

Either you avoid this one like the plague, or you always take it.

I always take it.

Being able to farm mushrooms for god knows how much exp without having to go on an annoying sidequest to get mumble mouth off your pubes is very, very useful.

Plus, free limbs! No longer must you develop an ubernostrum addiction to cure your missing pinky finger, simply grow that sucker back. Diseases also become a thing of the past, almost always vanishing in a matter of turns at higher levels.

It's good.

SLEEP GAS GENERATION

Putting all non-ooze or robot enemies to sleep, and getting free attacks whenever you want is downright filthy.

Sleep Gas Generation lets you wipe the floor with most encounters. It also combos very well with Corrosive Gas Generation, allowing for massive area denial and constant damage over time.

Just remember not to get too cocky and try to sleep gas a leering stalker.

Very, very good. Take in most cases if you want to win badly.

No absolutely bonkers tech with this gas generation though, sorry.

SPINNERETS

Yeah, they can help zone out enemies and maybe once in a blue moon you can get a brainless snapjaw stuck in a web for an easy kill (this happens more frequently after the latest patch), but that's not why you are taking this aren't you?

You want cold hard water.

You want to fill the screen with phase webs.

You want to watch as your character harvests each and every one.


...



So yeah, it's good for money farming but not much else, take it if you like doing that I guess.

Also note, you don't need to actually have Phasing in order to generate phase webs, you just need a bunch of shade oil injectors. Have fun!

THE STINGER GANG

I'm gonna just pair all the stingers together, to avoid making this long list even longer.

Confusing Venom: Pairs nicely with sunder mind for a one-two punch, and can help thin out enemy numbers by confusing them (duh).

Paralyzing Venom: I would suggest this one, if not for the existence of sleep gas generation almost completely making this mutation obsolete. It isn't a bad mutation though, just outclassed.

Poison Venom: The DOT is nice, but isn't enough to really help much in tense moments, as it takes time for the damage to add up. Still a nice bonus whenever it gets an offhand strike though, just like the other stingers.

Overall, if you are going longblade you should generally be taking one of these. Especially since they got buffed to proc more often recently. If I had to choose one I would recommend the most, it would be poison.

Just sting things, ok?

THICK FUR

Furry jokes aside, for a one point mutation, this one is surprisingly good!

The heat and cold resistance are nice, but the real meat of the mutation is the rep bonuses.

+100 Rep with apes, baboons, bears, and hedonists can go a long way, especially when trying to find Ape God's house.

Not a bad choice at all.

TRIPLE JOINTED

What if I told you, you could get a mutation that can stop time?

A mutation that grants as many free turns as you desire (with a 3% chance of failure).

Dumping all rapid advancements and points into this mutation, and going shortblades with pointed circle, juke and the other associated juke upgrades allows you to become a time wizard.

You can waltz around and shank enemies as many times as you like, and if you get that 3% failure chance? Run away for about five to ten turns, and get back to it.

I take this one quite often, as it's fun, effective, and honestly a tad broken in some regards.

Highly suggest giving it a go.

TWO HEADED

Two Headed at high levels, in a similar vein to Triple Jointed, allows you to shoot out as many mental mutations as you have without wasting turns, essentially granting time wizard powers.

Pairs very, VERY well with Light Manipulation due to the sheer number of charges, while also pairing nicely with most other mental mutations for that matter.

Oh and that's not all, mental debuffs become almost non-existent, allowing you to chow down on as much tree bark as you want big boy.

Very good mutation, and pretty cheap too!

TWO HEARTED

Out of all of the "two-something" mutations, this one is the worst.

The toughness bonus is nice I guess, but there's not much else going for this one other than a sprint boost that's outclassed by Multiple Legs in most regards. Maybe you could get some use out of it with Kah's loop?

If you want to simulate being a flesh-tank, dumping a ton of points into this one is fun, but I can't suggest it for much else.

It's meh.

WINGS

This is an odd one, since flight can be an extremely powerful ability... when it decides to work at lower levels...

That's the real issue I have with this mutation. Wings require an unholy amount of points for the flight to become usable in combat, while also locking you out of flying if you aren't on the surface, which does makes sense for both balance and logistical reasons, but really kneecaps the usefulness of swooping.

However, the charge and jump bonuses are fun. as. ♥♥♥♥.

Pretty much instant-transmissioning across the map and knocking the hell out of some poor bastard never gets old, and jumping sky high out of danger is an amazing mobility tool.

And don't forget, you wont get ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ lost nearly as often! No need to spend skill points on Wayfaring when you can just level up your wings!

Overall, it's pretty worth it for the mobility boost, but not much else.

...and yeah, Corrosive Gas Generation pairs insanely well with Wings, but you aren't a little scamp, right? You wouldn't just trivialize almost any enemy encounter on the surface... right?

SLIME GLANDS

Ok, editing this guide after about a month since I initially posted it. I forgot ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Slime Glands!

...

Slime Glands suck, the only thing somewhat worthwhile about it is the slip resistance. I assume most players know this mutation is garbage though, even newer ones.

Not worth it ever, even if it's only one point.

[billy.checkers.21]

Hmm, not sure... the pets aren't really that complex, they usually just give you one small upside in combat or navigation. Could be a fun guide, but would be pretty short. I'd have to think on that! And thank you for liking the guides! It's been a while since I've updated these, and it might be around that time.

[Quickpawmaud]

Do you ever plan to make a guide on the new pets? I am starting the game and reading all your guides now but idk if you are still interested in making more. Appreciate what you have made already though.

[billy.checkers.21]

*as they are now
I hate typing from a phone man

[billy.checkers.21]

Just imagine horns are they are now, but with way better damage scaling and it only costed 3 points, shit was bonkers!!!!!

[DiamondBot10]

What was horn's stats before it got nerfed? It feels extremely overpowered as it is now.

[billy.checkers.21]

I've been fooling around with boosting up HQ, and honestly it is starting to grow on me, but not to any crazy extent. I usually only do that if i'm going for the new secret final boss, since they move crazy fast, no big spoilers on that yet though!

[|_| Clyax]

@RedPine What if you take Brittle Bones, but you take so much damage you die before you even get to use a healing tonic?

For Quills, if you don't take it, you can wear quartzfur, or something else due to how you can switch to wearing something else. Wouldn't this be a direct down-grade?

[RedPine]

In Defense Of Quills:
You can trigger "on reflecting damage" meals without wasting an armor slot on Quartzfur.
....
Trash.

[RedPine]

In Defense of Adrenaline
Okay it's trash.

Normally.

But there are some obscure synergies:

Adrenaline + Heightened Quickness + Photo-Skin = +7 quickness per RA, assuming cooking and Adrenaline are both active. Compare +6 quickness per RA from just Heightened Quickness.

...Yeah... I'm coping. +6 passive is worth more than +7 active that I forget to set up.

Most mutations scale poorly or not at all with the measly +1 level per RA that Adrenaline grants.

[RedPine]

In Defense of Heightened Quickness
Investing mutation points and RA's in heightened quickness is surprisingly strong.

Attacks per turn go up, but debuff duration is unchanged, turning a small chance of daze into an all but guaranteed stunlock.

The most dangerous foes are neutralized not by HP damage, but by a % chance of instakill, dismemberments/disarming, meals that proc on dealing damage, etc. Quickness isn't just a flat bonus to damage, but also % to proc more often.

The same is true of the player - more quickness = 'bonus' turns free of retaliation from potential insta-killers.

Late game healing is limited by how quickly or often you can use your inventory. Quickness.

Move speed and action cost discounts are MULTIPLICATIVE with Quickness.