[lumos]

The cells however, have a smaller DPS, but they're fast and shoot cells which stick to enemies, dealing extra damage. With this they can easily break through a group of enemies, making them much more effective against invasions. Their attacks don't pierce and the mini-cells are a debuff, so players with piercing weapons can attack enemies and bosses with no problem. They're also very recommended for the Lunar Events if you've destroyed the Stardust Pillar and you're a summoner. They can't pass through walls but they're also good for AFK-farming.

[pc]

So what is better as of 1.3.0.8? here

[paulhickey103]

Stardust Dragon Staff


Statistics
Type Weapon
Damage 40 (Summon)
Knockback 2 (Very Weak)
Mana 10
Critical chance 4%
Use time 36 (Very Slow)
Velocity 10 more

[Saul]

Depends on what you will fight. here

[carrier785]

The Stardust Dragon is great for bosses if he's very long. With it you can focus just on running away, but he can see enemies through walls, which can sometimes send him off-target. Also his piercing ability makes people unable to use piercing weapons (non-piercing should work I think), so it's not a good combination if you want to attack with something else and it's piercing. It's also not very good against invasions. However, despite these disadvantages, he can do extremely high damage if he's very long, resulting in a very good DPS. It's also good for AFK-farming.

[seq2010]

Title says it. Here are the stats (Taken directly from Gamepedia Terraria Wiki):
Stardust Cell Staff


Statistics
Type Weapon
Damage 60 (Summon)
Knockback 2 (Very Weak)
Mana 10
Critical chance 4%
Use time 36 (Very Slow)
Velocity 10 [links]

[Yort]

The minion will constantly fly around the player (even through blocks) and attack nearby opponents. It leaves a trail of sparkles that provide periodic bursts of light as it moves. In addition, the Dragon itself is invulnerable and immune to attacks from other creatures, and the time of its presence is unlimited. It only disappears if the player dies, cancels the buff, leaves the world, or summons another creature to replace him. here

[racerx]

Since these are two summoning staves with similar mechanics, the preferred modifier for them will also be the same. It is also worth considering that these weapons are kind of alternatives to each other, as you can guess from their identical craft. However, if Stardust Cell Staff is more suitable for single vital targets with a large amount of health, then Stardust Dragon Staff is ideal for the same and for clearing groups of opponents.

[UnVisible]

Since this staff is a magical summoning weapon, appropriate modifiers can be applied to it. The best of these is Ruthless. [links]

[HarryStottle]

Since this staff is a magical summoning weapon, appropriate modifiers can be applied to it. The best of these is Ruthless. more

[Stefan Thomas]

Like other minions after being summoned, Stardust Cell will constantly follow the owner and attack enemies at a distance close to the player.

[tehlaser]

Dragon during an invasion is marvelous, cells are fantastic aswell. until they get stuck :/ here

[lanpeck5]

Also the latest patch
The final boss' attacks now use their own cooldown for immunity due to how naughty some of our players have been.
How is this relevant to the question?

[cryptical]

When doing some random digging the dragon can be a pain killing stuff off-screen and you can't find that nazar / cross necklace whatever you might be interested in, and the cells. well. cells gets stuck again. [links]

[r1chb]

450 dmg / tick and not fly away to chase some random slime all the time it would be truly awesome. more

[morrisby25]

If the dragon could be arsed to sit ontop of a boss and do his

[heraldtravis77]

The basic version of the summoned minion deals up to 60 points of damage; this also applies to the continuous damage of its projectiles. The weapon also inflicts a minor knockback. A single-use will require ten mana. more

[MDrollette]

Each Stardust Cell attacks the enemy with a miniature version of itself. The projectiles stick to the attacker, after which they inflict continuous damage for 30 ticks, then they disappear. Additionally, the Stardust Cell will occasionally fire an extra shot at any target the player is attacking, without interrupting their standard rate of fire, even if the Stardust Cell is already attacking that target. The weapon allows you to stack an unlimited number of shells on the enemy, making it possible to inflict up to 100 or more damage per second. The Stardust Cell Staff is one of the most effective summoning weapons against high health targets.

[storm]

Like other minions after being summoned, Stardust Cell will constantly follow the owner and attack enemies at a distance close to the player.

[trin]

The creature summoned by the Stardust Dragon Staff is the weapon itself, as it deals damage to enemies as it flies through them. Since this minion consists of segments, the damage is counted separately for each of them touching the enemy. In general, he manages to deliver ten blows per second. Besides, the hallmark of Stardust Dragon is that if summoned more than once, multiple Dragons do not spawn. Instead, the first spawned Dragon becomes longer by one segment for each additional summoning, broadening its area of ​​attack and increasing its damage output. It is noteworthy that the minion can attack opponents even outside the screen. here

[menoskedos]

The Stardust Dragon Staff is special in that if summoned more than once, multiple Dragons do not spawn — instead, the first spawned Dragon becomes longer by one segment for each additional summoning, broadening its area of attack and increasing its damage output. Each summon summons additional segments between the tail and the pre-tail segment, and re-summons the tail.

[sjalexandre]

The Stardust Dragon Staff is a Hardmode, post-Lunatic Cultist summon weapon that summons a Stardust Dragon that attacks enemies. The Stardust Dragon constantly flies around the screen surrounding the player, and flies through blocks, attacking enemies by flying through them. It leaves a trail of sparkles that provide periodic bursts of light as it moves.

[tomkfischer]

The Stardust Dragon hits ten times per second. It inflicts damage according to the formula: summon dmg*(1.69 + .46(summon length - 1)) , which is then all multiplied by a random multiplier between 0.85 and 1.15. Each segment of the dragon deals damage based on the damage modifier on the staff used to summon them, which means that different segments of the dragon can deal different damage. more

[baloney]

Its best modifier is Ruthless. The Mythical modifier provides the widest array of stat bonuses, but these primarily affect the initial summon rather than the resulting minion. Additionally, minions cannot deal critical hits. The only lasting advantage a Mythical Stardust Dragon Staff has over a Ruthless one is knockback.