Dauntless has a lot of Behemoths to slay and a huge number of weapon and armour combinations to choose from. And while each Behemoth's strengths and weaknesses may play a part in the gear you go for, you can tailor your build even further with Cells and the bonuses that they offer.
Cells are special items that can be socketed into weapons and armour to give additional perks to suit your build and playstyle. Each Cell has a tier (rarity) which will determine the effectiveness of the corresponding perk; uncommon Cells are +1, rare Cells are +2, and epic Cells are +3.
They can be replaced or moved to different gear with no penalty so it's worth experimenting with the different perks to see which ones suit you.
Where you can get them
The majority of the Cells you'll pick up will come from Cores which are rewarded for completing quests, progressing Mastery goals, and earning Hunt Pass levels. Each Core contains a number of random Cells and you can obtain these by visiting one of the Core Breakers in Ramsgate.
Individual Cells can also be rewarded for breaking Behemoth parts during a Hunt.
The Middleman (Cells vendor)
Another source for Cells is The Middleman, a vendor that can be found just to the right of the Core Breaker in the area where you first load in to Ramsgate. You can buy Cells here using either Aetherdust or Platinum currency; Aetherdust can be obtained from dismantling unwanted Cells and Platinum is the game's premium currency, though this is also rewarded for some Hunt Pass levels.
The Middleman also allows you to combine Cells to make new, higher tier versions—combining two +1 Cells will net you a +2 Cell and combining two +2 Cells will produce a +3 Cell—though you'll have to wait a few days for the process to complete.
Combining different Cells will give you a random Cell upgrade but combining two of the same category (Power, Defence, and so on) will give you a random Cell in that category. If you want to narrow down the result even further, combining the exact same Cells will give you an upgraded version of that Cell.
Using Cells efficiently
Equipping multiple Cells with the same perk will stack the effect—though you won't see any benefit on anything above +6—and some Cells will also gain an additional bonus as you stack them (see below).
Different weapons and armour sets—including individual pieces within a set—will have their own perks. These will start at +1 and will increase to +3 once the gear has been upgraded to its maximum level. The type of Cell you can equip is also dependent on the category of the socket on your gear so you should take this into account when creating your build.
Cell categories, perks and their additional effects
Cells come in five different categories. The effectiveness of the Perk will increase with each stack (+4, +5, etc.) and some will gain an extra bonus at certain levels. We've listed them below:
Power
Aetherhunter: Increases damage against aether charged Behemoths.
Additional effect: None.
Deconstruction: Bonus damage against objects created by Behemoths.
Additional effect: None.
Knockout King: Percent increase to Stagger damage.
Additional effect: After dodging through an attack, the next weapon attack's Stagger is increased by X% (+4).
Overpower: Increases damage against staggered Behemoths.
Additional effect: None.
Pacifier: Increases stagger damage against enraged Behemoths.
Additional effect: None.
Rage: Increases your damage when your health is low.
Additional effect: None.
Ragehunter: Increases damage against enraged Behemoths.
Additional effect: None.
Sharpened: Percent increase to Part damage.
Additional effect: After dodging through an attack, the next weapon attack's Part Break Damage is increased by X% (+4).
Defence
Assassin's Vigour: Grants Health after breaking a Behemoth part.
Additional effect: None.
Bloodless: Protects against Wounded and Crippling Wounds statuses.
Additional effect: Immune to Wounded status (+3), immune to Wounded status, immune to Crippling Wound status (+6).
Fireproof: Protects against being set on fire.
Additional effect: Immune to being set on fire (+6).
Fortress: Grants a small shield after avoiding damage for a short time.
Additional effect: None.
Guardian: Grants a portion of any shield applied to you to your nearest ally. Additional effect: None.
Iceborne: Increases Defense when at low health, and at later ranks, grants life steal.
Addtional effect: While Iceborne is active, grants X% lifesteal that cannot heal beyond 50% health (+4).
Insulated: Protects against Shocked status effect and allows you to attack electric shields.
Additional effect: Reduces knockback and damage of hitting electrified shields (+4), immune to Shocked status and prevents knockback and damage of hitting electrified shields (+6).
Nine Lives: Grants a chance to reduce damage, and later the ability to cheat death.
Additional effect: The first time you would be knocked out, stay up and heal for 400 (+4), The first time you would be knocked out, stay up and heal for 400, and become empowered for 10 seconds (+6).
Shellshock Resist: Protects against the explosion damage and status effect Shellshock.
Additional effect: Immune to Shell Shocked explosion damage and status effect (+6).
Sturdy: Prevents being staggered on a cooldown.
Additional effect: None.
Tough: Increases Max Health.
Additional effect: None.
Warmth: Protects against Chilled and Frozen status effects.
Additional effect: Immune to being Frozen (+3), Immune to being Chilled (+6).
Technique
Acidic: Increases Wound damage at the cost of Part damage.
Additional effect: +X% Part damage (+4).
Adrenaline: Increases damage dealt based on stamina spent.
Additional effect: None.
Barbed: Adds a flat amount of Wound damage on hit.
Additional effect: After dodging through an attack, the next attack's expose damage is increased by X (+4).
Bladestorm: Adds a flat amount of Part damage on hit.
Additional effect: +X Part Damage after dodging through an attack (+4).
Cunning: Grants a chance to deal double damage.
Additional effect: None.
Evasive Fury: Temporarily increases attack speed when dodging through a Behemoth's attack.
Additional effect: None.
Merciless: Increases Wound damage against staggered Behemoths.
Additional effect: None.
Molten: Grants Molten Heart drops on cooldown.
Additional effect: None.
Predator: Increases damage after avoiding damage for a short time.
Additional effect: None.
Savagery: Increases damage against Wounded parts.
Additional effect: None.
Weighted Strikes: Adds a flat amount of Stagger damage on hit. At later ranks, allows more weapon attacks to interrupt.
Additional effect: +X Stagger after dodging through an attack (+4), ranged swings and missiles interrupt unstable Behemoth attacks (+6).
Wild Frenzy: Increases Attack Speed when at low health.
Additional effect: None.
Mobility
Agility: Reduces the stamina cost of dodging.
Additional effect: None.
Conditioning: Increases Stamina Regen.
Additional effect: None.
Endurance: Increases Max Stamina.
Additional effect: None.
Evasion: Increases the time you are invincible when dodging.
Additional effect: None.
Fleet Footed: Temporarily increases Movement Speed after a dodge.
Additional effect: None.
Nimble: Restores Stamina when dodging through Behemoth attacks.
Additional effect: None.
Swift: Increases Movement Speed when your weapon is sheathed.
Additional effect: Also affects other nearby Slayers (+6).
Utility
Aetherborne: Increases the benefits of using aether vents.
Additional effect: None.
Aetheric Attunement: Percent increase to Lantern Charge gained from attacks.
Additional effect: None.
Aetheric Frenzy: Gains a flat amount of Lantern Charge on each weapon hit.
Additional effect: None.
Conduit: Lantern hold ability grants all Slayers' attack speed temporarily.
Additional effect: None.
Energized: Increase weapon meter gain rate.
Additional effect: None.
Lucent: Flask heals over time and generates lantern charge.
Additional effect: None.
Medic: Improves your ability to revive allies.
Additional effect: Increases Revive Speed by X% (+4), grants a 300 health shield for 20 seconds after reviving an ally (+6).
Stunning Vigour: Restores some health whenever a Behemoth is staggered.
Additional effect: None.
Vampiric: Restores some health whenever a Behemoth part is Wounded.
Additional effect: None.
