Last Updated on by Samuel Franklin
This Nuclear Throne mutation tier list details the best mutations for each level up to optimise your cap of 9 mutations. This guide ranks all available mutations which can be adjusted to your playstyle or character although I always recommend players select Bloodlust, Rabbit Paw, Rhino Skin, Scarier Face and Strong Spirit.
Best Mutations – Tier List Factors
Mutations improve damage output, survivability, economy (ammo/health/Rads) or other utility. Players should consider their character, crown, preferred playstyle and current run when choosing mutations. This tier list is based on power and flexibility of mutations:
- S Tier: The best mutations that are effective in the majority of situations and should not be missed.
- A Tier: Strong mutation perks that are important but should not be taken over S tier.
- B Tier: Decent perks for specific characters or weapons these perks are filler options if they will benefit you for that run.
- C Tier: Perks that are lacking in overall power or have highly niche playstyle considerations and should generally be avoided because of your limited mutation numbers.
Mutation Tier List Table
Each mutation below includes the in game name, icon and description and any applicable notes for players.
| Mutation | Mutation Description | Notes | Tier Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bloodlust |
Some kills regenerate HP – Chance (7.69%) of regenerating 1 HP when you kill an enemy | While a small chance of healing there are actually a large number of enemies on each Nuclear Throne level that ensure this is effective and helps maintain a decent HP pool. | S |
 Rabbit Paw |
More HP and ammo drops – Mini ammo chests and mini medkits drop more often from enemies (40% more) | While there are some mutations to buff your ability to acquire health and ammo Rabbit Paw allows players to get both in a single perk to help your resource management. | S |
 Rhino Skin |
+4 Max HP – Adds 4HP to your maximum health and heals you 4HP | A safety mutation perk that gives additional buffer to your survival and is never a poor choice given most characters will want to maximise their health pools. | S |
 Scarier Face |
Less enemy HP – Enemies spawn with 20% less health (including bosses) | Saving ammunition by killing enemies faster this is also effective at clearing enemies quickly and reducing their window of attack that also makes boss fights easier. | S |
 Strong Spirit |
Prevents death once, recharges at full HP in the next area – Players will revive with 1 HP upon death and can be recharged once per level by reaching max health (displayed by a halo above your character) | This ability recharges that makes it particularly strong and combined with one of the good healing mutations you’ll have no problem recharging this several times. | S |
 Euphoria |
Slower enemy bullets – Enemy projectiles are slower in speed by 20% | Reducing some of the requirement to have high reaction times this is an all around effective choice that will save you health in the long run as you have extra time to plan a route through the rain of enemy bullets. | A |
 Plutonium Hunger |
Attracts drops and Rads from further – Increases pickup range of the player | A notable increase to the range players can gather Rads, ammo and HP drops that can be a good convenience choice. | A |
 Trigger Fingers |
Kills lower your reload time – Each enemy killed reduces reload time for your equipped weapons (40%) | For builds that utilise powerful weapons with long reloads this is a must have to ensure they can fire often enough against large waves of incoming enemies. | A |
 Back Muscle |
Higher ammo max – Increases bullet (255 to 555) and other ammo capacity (55 to 99) | Generally you’ll find that you have enough ammunition with careful usage of your chosen weapon although some characters in Nuclear Throne may chew through it faster by design. If you want a bit of extra safety as you progress or prefer to spam weapons this perk is an option. | B |
 Boiling Veins |
No damage from explosions and fire when under 4 HP – Characters will take no damage from these sources when HP is at 4 or less and can only reduce your HP to 4 when taking this damage type | For an explosive heavy run where you find and plan to utilise these area of effect weapons this can be a decent perk to prevent accidents although you’ll have to run at a lower health pool. | B |
 Bolt Marrow |
Homing bolts – Certain weapons seek enemies (bolts, splinters, seekers and discs) | Focused on the bolt weapon type this provides some effective homing that allows you to hit essentially all of your shots with these weapons. Like the other weapon specific perks if these are going to be part of a run it is worth picking up. | B |
 Extra Feet |
More speed walk normal on all terrain – Character movement speed increased and players no longer suffer effects from slowing floor tiles | This is a useful method to get out of the way of enemies and generally makes for a faster playthrough. The ability to ignore floor tiles like spiderwebs and ice is also particularly valuable in those locations although not required. | B |
 Long Arms |
More melee range – Increases character melee range | For players that want to use melee weapons as part of their character playthrough this is an absolute must have for usability. | B |
 Lucky Shot |
Some kills regenerate ammo – Killing an enemy gives players an ammo pickup of a random ammo type (11.57% chance) | Providing a chance to regenerate ammunition with each kill this allows players to feel comfortable with ammo economy although not required. | B |
 Impact Wrists |
Corpses fly and hit harder – Corpses fly further on screen and deal increased damage on impact (increase from 1 to 2 damage) | Adds a surprisingly amount of area of effect damage when enemies are close together which creates a damage boost. | B |
 Laser Brain |
Energy weapons deal more damage – Energy weapons are modified to have increased size or duration of effects to boost damage output | This modification depends on the energy weapon equipped but will be a damage boost in some form and a must have if using this weapon type. | B |
 Second Stomach |
More HP from medkits – Doubles health from health pickups | Another health focused mutation that allows players to stay topped up on HP as they advance and improve your ability to recover health throughout your adventure. | B |
 Shotgun Shoulders |
Shells bounce further – Projectiles from shell weapons bounce and travel further | Fantastic for some of the tighter level generations this is intended for players who prefer to utilise the shell based weapons for damage (primarily shotguns). | B |
 Throne Butt |
Upgrades your character’s special ability (different for each character) | Highly dependent on your character given this has a different impact for each based on their special ability. Characters that benefit the most from this mutation include Plant, Crystal, Melting, Steroids and Rebel. | B |
 Eagle Eyes |
Better accuracy – Increases accuracy by reducing shot spread | Bullets have some variability to their path which adds another layer of randomness to your Nuclear Throne adventure. On most guns this is not significantly noticeable although some characters may want this to offset their starting weakness. | C |
 Gamma Guts |
Enemies touching you take damage – Touching enemies with your character deals damage, players can still take touch damage depending on the enemy and if they are moving or standing still | Providing some protection from the faster enemy types that charge players which generally have low health pools. The main issue with this perk is players will need to learn which enemy types are safe and which ignore this effect due to their high health values (more than 12 HP). | C |
 Hammerhead |
Push through a limited number of walls – Players can break through fire traps and up to 20 walls per level | Adding an additional tactic to utilise players can carve out a safe space or dodge enemy attacks in ways that usually wouldn’t be possible which can occasionally save you some damage. | C |
 Heavy Heart |
More weapon drops – Weapon drop rate from enemies is increased by 210% | Heavy Heart is unique compared to other mutations in that it will only appear after you have taken three weapon specific mutations that buff a particular weapon archetype and it only appears once in your entire playthrough.
For diverse weapon builds this is a great addition as you’ll be able to find all the weapons your heart desires although generally you’ll see more success with a narrower pool of weapon choices that makes this unlikely to even appear in the first place. |
C |
 Last Wish |
Get full HP and some ammo – Fully heal your character and gain ammo (200 bullets and 20 other ammo) | Can potentially save a run if you find yourself low on health although as this mutation does not provide a continuous benefit it should only be taken as a last resort. | C |
 Open Mind |
Extra chest spawn – Extra ammo chest, weapon chest or radiation canister on each level (random) | Provides players the option to get some additional resources with each level so this should be taken early to receive the full benefit. The randomisation may not always give you what you are after though so keep that in mind. | C |
 Recycle Gland |
Most hit bullets become ammo – Each bullet that hits an enemy has a chance (60%) to refund ammo | Another ammo economy focused mutation to keep your weapon types topped up with ammo although players should only need one and there are better options like Rabbit Paw or Lucky Shot. | C |
 Sharp Teeth |
Damage taken is dealt to all enemies on screen – When you take damage deal damage to all enemies in vision (2.5x multiplier) | For certain characters this is quite a strong mutation option due to their playstyle of taking damage although isn’t suitable to all of them. | C |
 Stress |
Higher rate of fire as HP gets low – Increases your rate of fire based on your missing HP | As players get low in health you’ll benefit from a faster rate of fire. This is generally not going to be worth the trade off as successful runs will generally come from staying high health. | C |
 Patience |
Mutate later – Reroll the current set of mutations in the next portal | When you don’t want to take any of the mutations presented players will be able to make mutation selections on the next portal instead with a rerolled set of options. | N/A |
