Survival / Tactics ranged

Explosive Crossbow

Bolts explode in the area of effect. Any enemy hit by a bolt suffers a critical wound.

Unlock

80 cells at the Collector

Shop price

2,250 gold (base)

DLC

Base game

Combo: 1 hit

Hit	Base damage	Can crit	Crit value	Wind-up (s)	Recovery (s)
1	100	Yes	0.85	0.5	0.1

Base damage per hit at gear level I with no scrolls. Scrolls, gear level and crits raise it in-game.

Base numbers

Ammo4

Blueprint

Placed in a room in Promenade of the Condemned

Legendary affix

Shots pierce all enemies.

Second form

Cross Hit
Hit 'em with the crossbow.
Hit Base damage Can crit Crit value Wind-up (s) Recovery (s)
1 30 Yes 1.75 0.35 0.1

Hit	Base damage	Can crit	Crit value	Wind-up (s)	Recovery (s)
1	30	Yes	1.75	0.35	0.1

Weapons

Oven Axe's four-hit combo adds up to 930 base damage, the highest total of any weapon.

Data updated 23 Oct 2026

Heavy Crossbow and Tombstone share the biggest single hit at 300 base damage. Oven Axe takes the combo crown with swings of 200, 230, 250 and 250. Every number here is per-hit damage at gear level I with no scrolls, and attack speed isn't factored in, so use the totals to compare weapons rather than to predict a kill time. Melee makes up 69 of the 125, with 41 ranged weapons and 15 shields. The DLCs add 32. 13 are unlocked on a fresh save, the three starters plus ten more that drop from your first run, including Balanced Blade, Nutcracker and Twin Daggers.

How it works

Crit conditions

Crits in Dead Cells come from conditions written on the weapon. Broadsword crits on its second and third swings, Assassin's Dagger on a stab in the back, Nutcracker against anything stunned, frozen or rooted. Balanced Blade waits for 10 hits in a row. The Crit value column is the raw critMul figure from the game files, not a multiplier on base damage, and the game turns it into crit damage in code. Balanced Blade's 0.78 doesn't mean its crits land softer than a normal hit. Compare the figure between weapons and leave it there.

Blueprints and cell costs

The Concierge always drops Heavy Crossbow, and most boss blueprints work the same way. Regular enemies roll a rarity. Oven Knights carry the Oven Axe at Uncommon (1.7%), Ground Shakers the Toothpick at Common (10%), and a Buzzcutter has a 0.03% Legendary shot at Spite Sword. Unlocking at the Collector runs up to 150 cells, the price of Giant Comb, Cursed Sword, Symmetrical Lance and Queen's Rapier.

Alternate forms

Ten weapons have a second moveset. A charged Toothpick swing snaps it into the Broken Toothpick for 6 seconds, and Heavy Crossbow's other button is a Reload that makes the next bolt crit.

All Weapons

Showing 3 of 3

Type

Scaling

DLC

Blueprint

Sort

All Weapons

Hit	Base damage	Can crit	Crit value	Wind-up (s)	Recovery (s)
1	30	Yes	1.75	0.35	0.1

Showing 3 of 3

Type

Scaling

DLC

Blueprint

Sort

Overview

How it works

Crit conditions

Blueprints and cell costs

Alternate forms

All Weapons

Overview

How it works

Crit conditions

Blueprints and cell costs

Alternate forms

All Weapons