Enter the Gungeon is one of the most frustrating, yet satisfying games I've ever played. Each chamber gets your adrenaline up—just one wrong move can end your entire playthrough.
Dying over and over can make anyone want to give up, but improving in a few areas can make a huge difference in your performance.
Follow these Enter the Gungeon tips and you'll be on your way to the final chamber! Die less and win more.
1. Hold Onto Your Keys
Resist the temptation to unlock the first chest you see. Be patient, and wait until you've discovered every single room on the map before deciding what to unlock.
It's guaranteed that at least two chests will appear on each floor. One chest always contains an item. The other has a pickup.
Each chest you come across is a specific color for a reason—the color represents the rarity of the item inside. Here are the chest colors, from most common to most rare: brown, blue, green, red, black, and rainbow.
In other words, don't waste your only key on a brown chest when there's a black one on the same floor!
2. Shoot Unopened Chests
Just because you can't open a chest doesn't mean it's completely useless. Before you fight the boss, shoot any unopened chests. Making the chests explode sometimes exposes a helpful item.
While shooting chests often yields Junk, even that item isn't entirely useless.
Have you ever seen that blob-like figure that appears in a grate at a shop? Dropping your junk into the grate (by selecting it in the map screen) will let you sell your Junk to the Sell Creep.
The Sell Creep will buy unwanted guns from you as well. It's the perfect way to earn some extra cash when you're in a pinch.
3. Start With the Right Character
The game starts you off with four characters to choose from: the Marine, Huntress, Pilot, and Convict.
Many players regard the Pilot as the best character to use, especially if you're a beginner. Although the Pilot doesn't come equipped with the best weapon, he makes up for that with his resourcefulness.
The Trusty Lockpicks give him a 50% chance of opening any chest. His Disarming Personality trait also allows for a 15% discount at shops, while his Hidden Compartment gives him an extra space in his inventory, as well as increases the maximum ammo of all weapons.
By choosing the Pilot, you'll start with a shoddy weapon, but at least you'll be able to find and buy better weapons faster than any other character.
4. Save Your Blanks for the Boss
Try to use your blanks only when you need them. You might find yourself struggling at the beginning of a chamber, but it's best not to waste your blanks on less dangerous foes.
Bosses fire off tons of bullets. When you're surrounded by bullets with only half of a heart, blanks are crucial to your survival. You should have at least one blank in your arsenal before you attempt any boss fight.
You can sometimes find blanks for sale at the shop—the more, the better (but don't waste all of your cash on them).
You'll automatically receive two blanks at the start of each chamber, so don't hesitate to use them during your boss fight.
5. Discover Secret Rooms
If you happen to pick up a weapon that shoots water, don't discard it—you can use water to uncover secrets. Spray water on fireplaces to douse the flame and reveal a secret room.
You can also find secret rooms by shooting at walls with a gun that doesn't have infinite ammo. Cracks in the wall will appear where the secret room is located.
To open the secret rooms, you'll have to sacrifice one of your blanks. If you're wearing armor, you can inflict damage upon yourself and open any secret location. A Bomb or Lil Bomber can work as well.
6. Turn on Your Crosshair
If a crosshair doesn't appear when you aim your weapon, you'll want to turn this feature on. Head to gameplay options and pick which cursor design you'd like to use. Having a crosshair is essential in perfecting your aim.
7. Keep Moving
It doesn't matter how many amazing guns and items you collect during your playthrough—it all comes down to your ability to dodge bullets and survive.
As you know, Enter the Gungeon isn't very forgiving when it comes to dying. That's why it's so important to memorize the bullet patterns of bosses and enemies. If you know where the bullets will travel, you can move out of the way fast enough.
Keep in mind that rolling isn't always the best way to dodge. Simply moving out of the way can put you in a much safer situation. You should only roll when you have to, as you can end up accidentally rolling into bullets and enemies.
When you're forced to roll, try to roll diagonally or into walls.
Practice, Practice, Practice!
The key to succeeding in Enter the Gungeon is practice. This game definitely isn't easy, and that makes it even more rewarding when you finally conquer the chamber you've been stuck on.
