It's been a few weeks now since the Dimension Shellshock DLC has come out at the time of writing this guide with not only two new fully playable characters to play as, but also a new Survival Mode. At the end of each wave, there will be two rewards you can choose between to help you along the way. Some of these rewards come in the form of perks. Passive abilities that can help (or hinder) some or all players in the session depending on which one is chosen.

There are 11 in total. 3 of them being transformations into bosses. Since the in-game descriptions can be a little bit on the vague side, I figured a guide was in order. Because frankly, some of these perks can straight up save your run while others are downright awful and should be avoided at any cost.

Healthy Living regenerates the entire session's health by 3 at the beginning of each wave for 6 waves, but you won't ever see an HP pizza for the duration of that perk. Personally I like this perk. If you are a player that rarely gets hit and isn't starving for an HP pizza every wave, then this perk is great for keeping you topped off on HP.

It's really good for the early dimensions since you don't take much damage from enemies there. Later dimensions (dimensions 6 and up) I don't really recommend this perk as that is when enemies start hitting a lot harder and not having access to an HP pizza for 6 waves can mess you up. Still, if you are confident in you and your team's evasion skills then this is a really nice perk to have.

Hurt N Heal makes the entire team take double damage for 3 waves, but fully heals the whole team after the 3 waves are over. Why would anyone ever want this? There is absolutely no point in grabbing this perk unless you intentionally want to make things way harder for yourself and your team.

Not to mention there is a chance you can run into an HP pizza and restore your health to full while this perk is activated which only further makes the perk useless. This perk should definitely be avoided at all costs.

Parasite Drain heals you by 2 HP every time you land the killing blow on an enemy, but slowly drains your HP over time. The more people that are in your session and the more skilled the other players are can put you at a disadvantage with this perk. If you are having trouble defeating enemies then you'll only be left with your HP slowly draining.

This perk however is godly in solo runs. You'll basically be invincible for three waves with it since there are no other players to compete with for killing. One thing you should keep in mind though is that if you are about to face Void Shredder (Dimension 5 boss) I highly advise against this perk. As there are no adds in this fight to kill so you'll have to deal with your HP draining while fighting Shredder. It makes the fight much much harder.

The absolute worst perk in the game. For 3 waves, you do double damage, but you also take double damage. This is not necessary because it is pretty easy to defeat enemies without the double damage. So for 3 waves, you are basically taking double damage for nothing similar to Hurt N Heal. Another Perk that should absolutely be avoided at all costs.

I've noticed that a lot of new players make the mistake of thinking that because Rude Dude has a picture of Raphael on it, they think that it must be good. Please do not be fooled by the pretty picture. This is most assuredly the worst perk you can pick up. Players have abandoned runs because of this perk. It does not help anyone.

For every 10 consecutive hits, a sushi platter will appear on the ground in front of you. These sushi platters are worth 10 points each just like in Story and Arcade Mode. It is a harmless perk but not really all that useful unless your goal for that session is to get a high score.

If that is the case then this perk should take priority over all others since this can be the gateway to a spot high up in the leader boards. The amount of sushi platters per wave is limited so you cannot farm an unlimited amount of them in one wave.

For 3 waves, every time you use the taunt feature, you will be invincible throughout the taunt's duration and teleport somewhere random on the map (usually next to an enemy) with a fully restored Super meter.

Personally, this perk is my absolute hated perk as it promotes toxic game play in the community and I really wish the developers did not add such a perk in. Taunt Spam was already a problem at launch and now it just feels like they are trying to get players to cheat with this perk.

I would expect something like this to be in a cheat menu or something but not an actual perk in the game. I say avoid this unless you absolutely have no choice. As Usagi would say, honor in battle!

This perk turns on Radical Mode permanently until you get hit once. Keep in mind that when in Radical Mode, you cannot use your Super at all but you also deal double damage. This can be good or bad depending on how you see it. Most players will probably get hit almost immediately anyway so it most likely won't last long unless you can evade well and handle not using Supers.

If you really don't like Radical Mode though all you have to do is get hit once and it will go away. I don't mind this perk personally but it usually isn't the perk I choose first unless there is something worse on the other side. One thing is for sure though, this perk is not for beginners.

When this perk is active, for 3 waves you will get a speed boost equal to your total combo chain at that point. If you get hit and lose your combo chain, then your speed boost also resets. Only your movement and jumping speed goes up and not your attack speed.

This perk is honestly quite useless and can mess you up if you have a high combo chain and are not ready for it. You could end up jumping into a hole in the ground or spikes. Unless the other reward is something bad like Hurt N Heal, Rude Dude or Teletaunt then I wouldn't recommend this perk. Try to avoid it if you can but if you cannot then it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

When this perk is grabbed, one person in the session will transform into Shredder, Bebop or Rocksteady depending on which perk is grabbed. The person who transforms is always random although from my experience it seems to favor the player with the lowest score. This is honestly my most favorite part of the entire Survival Mode. The only thing that sucks is that unless you are alone, there is a chance that you won't be chosen to play as the boss. But I suppose it was the only way to make it fair.

Rocksteady: Out of the 3 bosses, the one I like to use the most is Rocksteady because he has a gun with 3-way fire and can scatter bombs all over the place. But he is the slowest out of the three so you'll have to work a little harder to get out of the way of attacks. His super has a short invincibility frame that also kills nearby enemies when he raises his arms in air so if timed just right, it can get you out of some trouble.

Bebop: Bebop is also a lot of fun to use as he moves faster than Rocksteady, but his gun only fires in a straight line and his Super has him spin around firing in all directions which is very inaccurate but you are also invincible while doing it. The long invincibility frames from your Super can save you if you ever get swarmed by enemies.

Shredder: Shredder is the most unique because while he doesn't have a projectile attack, he is the only character in the whole game who can counter with his Super. He is also the quickest boss out of all of them (naturally) and is the only boss with a dive attack. Because of his counter he is probably the hardest boss to use but definitely not impossible with some practice.

Here is a small tip when using Shredder. When using his dive attack, if you hold down the attack button and directional key, he will bounce off the first enemy he hits and do an additional dive attack. Just be careful when you attempt this move as the purple Foot Clan ninjas can counter this with an uppercut or you can bounce into a hole in the ground.

Update: I figured out that who turns into the boss is actually not randomized but has an order to it. It starts with the person with the lowest score, then when that person loses it and you grab another one then the person with the next lowest score transforms and so on and so on. So if you are in a 6 person session and you have the highest score, you have to grab and lose 5 mutagen transformations before you get to transform on the next one.