Dead Cells Weapons Tier List: Every Weapon Ranked (Version 3.5.9)

Pocket Gamer’s Dead Cells guide, updated September 18, 2026 and labelled current to version 3.5.9, places Ferryman’s Lantern, Cursed Sword, War Spear and Tombstone among the top melee weapons, and Money Shooter, Ice Crossbow and Throwable Objects among the top ranged weapons. Those S-tier placements come from the guide’s editorial judgement, not from independent testing. The guide weighs base damage first, then special effects and personal preference, and it ranks melee and ranged weapons separately. Shields, turrets, traps and grenades sit in their own categories.

How to read this ranking

The guide is an editorial ranking, and its author says so directly: placements are partly opinion. Treat each tier as a starting point for your own build rather than a fixed value. A weapon’s tier also depends on conditions the label does not show, such as whether a critical hit needs a position, a setup action or a target state. The guide’s examples of these conditions are covered below.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Edition Nintendo Switch	$28.40	Buy on Amazon
2		Dead Cells - Action Game of The Year - Nintendo Switch	$30.97	Buy on Amazon
3		Dead Cells - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]	$24.99	Buy on Amazon
4		Dragon is Dead - Nintendo Switch	$34.99	Buy on Amazon
5		Dead Cells - Action Game of the Year (Nintendo Switch)	$39.99	Buy on Amazon

When a tier does not match how you play, compare weapons on the following axes:

• Base damage and attack cadence, which the guide treats as the primary factor.
• Critical conditions: whether a critical needs a roll, a parry, a rooted target, a repositioning move or a prior hit.
• Range and safety: whether you must close distance to use the weapon.
• Control or status utility, such as root, bleed, freeze or curse.
• Dependence on another item, such as a paired weapon or skill.
• Risk, including the curse conditions on Misericorde and Anathema.

These six axes are a comparison method drawn from the guide’s examples. The guide does not publish a scoring rubric built on them.

#1 Best Overall

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Edition Nintendo Switch

• 17 Levels - Each one with its own atmosphere, foes and secrets to discover
• 5 Bosses - Made by the most sadistic of the devs, raised on the salt of the testers
• 150 or so weapons and skills - Spears, swords, bows, magic spells, shields, pets, frying pans etc; You name it, we got it
• Unlock the four original Dead Cells DLCs, giving you late-game content plus an entire new pathway to follow, with an alternative ending and tons of new enemies, weapons & outfits
• Battle through the corridors of Dracula’s Castle; Wield weapons against monsters to reach the throne room of the Dark Lord

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Version and patch context

The guide’s version label is 3.5.9. The official Dead Cells patch notes are indexed as Update 35.9, dated June 15, 2026, and they document Update 35’s additions and the balance changes that followed. The reviewed sources do not establish how the guide’s version numbering maps onto those update numbers, and they do not establish identical patch timing across PC, console and mobile. If you play on a platform other than the one the notes describe, check that platform’s release notes before relying on a specific number.

Playdigious’ update summary covers earlier additions in updates 3.4 and 3.5, including Sewing Scissors, Giant Comb, Misericorde and Anathema. The official notes date Misericorde and Anathema to Update 35.

Rank #2

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Melee weapons

The guide ranks 70 melee weapons across four tiers.

Ranged weapons

The guide ranks 42 ranged weapons across four tiers.

Rank #3

Dead Cells - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]

• RogueVania: The progressive exploration of an interconnected world, with the replayability of a rogue-lite and the adrenaline pumping threat of permadeath.
• 2D Souls-lite Action: Tough but fair combat, the iconic dodge roll, more than 90 weapons and spells with unique gameplay… The unforgiving action wed to the absence of any kind of safety net makes for an adrenalin pumping ride each and every run.
• Nonlinear progression: Sewers, Ossuary or Ramparts? Once unlocked, special permanent abilities allow you to access new paths to reach your objective. Opt for the path that suits your current build, your play style, or just your mood.
• Exploration: Secret rooms, hidden passages, charming landscapes. Take a moment to stroll the towers and breath in that fresh sea mist infused air...

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^*The guide lists Laser Glaive in both the S and A ranged tiers. The placement is internally inconsistent, so read it as falling somewhere between the two until the guide resolves it.

Anathema is the ranged weapon with the curse risk described in the patch-context section below. Its S placement assumes you accept that risk.

Rank #4

Dragon is Dead - Nintendo Switch

• Play as an immortal Successor - You are a Successor, an immortal warrior empowered by the gods Lu, Ashuran, and Harnia. When you die, you revive with your gear, runes, and unlocks intact and head back out from Cliffshire to push further into corrupted zones. Choose your Successor - You'll start as the Spellblade and unlock additional Successors as you progress. Each has its own skill tree, weapons, and playstyle
• Playable Classes - Spellblade-Element-focused hybrid with close and mid-range attacks built around fire, frost, and lightning. Berserker - Heavy melee bruiser that trades its own HP and positioning for huge damage and armor. Hunter - Mobile ranged fighter using thrown weapons, poison, and beast abilities to apply damage over time and control space.
• 2D Roguelite Hack-and-Slash Combat - Combat revolves around precise dodges, reading telegraphed attacks, and committing to aggressive combos. Areas are multi-layered 2D stages that reshuffle enemy layouts, hazards, and loot each run. When you fall, you lose gold and temporary bonuses, but your gear and runes stay with you and form the base of your next attempt.
• Loot, Runes, and Artifacts - Hunt Elites and Bosses to claim Rune Stones, then craft them into Legendary and Mythic equipment. Runes and class skill trees interact to define your build, while artifacts you pick up mid-run stack into powerful synergies.
• Bonus Goodie - Poster is packed inside.

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Shields

Shields are defensive tools that can block and parry, and their effects vary by shield. The guide ranks them separately from weapon damage, so a high shield tier says nothing about how much damage a shield deals.

Turrets, traps and grenades

The guide keeps deployables in their own categories. Turrets, traps and grenades are ranked separately from the weapons above.

Best Value

Dead Cells - Action Game of the Year (Nintendo Switch)

• RogueVania: The progressive exploration of an interconnected world, with the replayability of a rogue-lite and the adrenaline pumping threat of permadeath.
• 2D Souls-lite Action: Tough but fair combat, the iconic dodge roll, more than 90 weapons and spells with unique gameplay… The unforgiving action wed to the absence of any kind of safety net makes for an adrenalin pumping ride each and every run.
• Nonlinear progression: Sewers, Ossuary or Ramparts? Once unlocked, special permanent abilities allow you to access new paths to reach your objective. Opt for the path that suits your current build, your play style, or just your mood.
• Exploration: Secret rooms, hidden passages, charming landscapes. Take a moment to stroll the towers and breath in that fresh sea mist infused air...

$39.99

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Conditional mechanics that change a weapon’s real strength

The guide’s tiers lean on base damage, but several of its own examples show that a weapon’s practical value depends on a condition being met. These are the figures and mechanics the guide prints for illustration. They are the guide’s numbers, not measurements checked independently.

• Ferryman’s Lantern gathers souls from kills and can fire three for critical hits. The guide gives base damage of 164 and secondary damage of 107, and 429 damage on the critical example it cites.
• Maw of the Deep roots and bleeds with its shark throw, which makes rooted targets vulnerable to critical damage. The guide gives 158 base damage and 270 critical damage.
• Rapier lands critical hits after a roll or a parry, so its value depends on how often you can set that up.
• Meat Skewer moves you behind the target before its second-hit critical.
• Pure Nail supports directional attacks and an aerial bounce.
• Hard Light Sword pairs with the Hard Light Gun, and sword hits restore gun ammunition. On its own, it does not carry the same value.

Curse-linked weapons and their risk

Misericorde (Brutality/Tactics melee) and Anathema (Tactics/Survival ranged) were introduced in Update 35. The official notes record later balance changes to Anathema’s damage and curse behavior, and a curse-condition adjustment for Misericorde. Both weapons sit in the S tier in the guide. Check the official notes for the current curse conditions before building around either one, because the tier does not account for them.

Choosing a weapon for your build

• Spending limited blueprint cells. Start with the guide’s S-tier melee and ranged lists, then confirm that each weapon’s critical condition matches how you actually fight. A weapon that needs a parry or a rooted target is only worth a cell if you will reliably create that state.
• Choosing equipment for a run. Match the weapon to the run’s plan. A rooting weapon such as Maw of the Deep pairs with a setup-heavy critical, while a weapon that can be used at range suits a cautious approach. The guide’s grenade, turret and trap tiers can help you fill out the rest of the loadout.
• Using a curse-linked weapon. Bring Misericorde or Anathema only if you accept the curse conditions in the current notes. Their high tier does not offset the risk.
• Using a shield. Pick a shield for its block and parry behaviour, not for its tier as a damage source.

Because the guide is editorial and its tiers are partly opinion, the most reliable test is to try two or three weapons from the same tier in a few runs and keep the one whose conditions you can meet consistently.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1

Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania Edition Nintendo Switch

17 Levels - Each one with its own atmosphere, foes and secrets to discover; 5 Bosses - Made by the most sadistic of the devs, raised on the salt of the testers

$28.40

SaleBestseller No. 2

Dead Cells - Action Game of The Year - Nintendo Switch

$30.97

Bestseller No. 3

Dead Cells - Nintendo Switch [Digital Code]

$24.99

Bestseller No. 4

Dragon is Dead - Nintendo Switch

Bonus Goodie - Poster is packed inside.

$34.99

Bestseller No. 5

Dead Cells - Action Game of the Year (Nintendo Switch)

$39.99

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