Enter the Gungeon: Guns, Items & Boss Guide

Introduction

Enter the Gungeon is a bullet-hell roguelike where everything is a gun pun. You dodge-roll through密密麻麻 bullet patterns, collect absurd firearms, and fight your way through five chambers (plus several secret floors) to kill the past and break the Gungeon's curse. The skill ceiling is brutally high — your first win might take 50+ hours. But once the dodge-roll timing clicks and you learn to weave through bullet patterns, Gungeon becomes one of the most satisfying roguelikes ever made.

The core loop: four main chambers, each with a boss, then the Forge. Your loadout consists of two guns (one active slot), passive items, and blanks. Blanks clear the entire screen of bullets — use them on bosses, not regular rooms. Keys unlock chests (brown = D-tier, blue = C-tier, green = B-tier, red = A-tier, black = S-tier). Always prioritize black and red chests. If you lack keys, you can destroy chests for a chance at junk or a heart, but it's usually not worth it.

Best Guns & Ranking

Guns in Gungeon are ranked from D to S. But some "low-tier" guns have hidden synergies that elevate them. Here's the practical tier list for winning runs:

S-Tier (auto-win if you find them):

• Gunther: A sentient gun that levels up as you kill enemies. Starts strong, becomes absurd. At max level, it shoots homing lasers and reloads automatically. Never runs out of ammo. If you find Gunther, you can sell every other gun at the Shriner's Shack.
• Black Hole Gun: Fires a black hole that sucks in all enemy bullets and enemies. It gives you 3-4 seconds of complete safety. Ammo-efficient (7 shots per full refill). The Floor 5 boss becomes trivial when you can erase its bullet patterns.
• Casey: A baseball bat that reflects enemy bullets and knocks back enemies. Casey can deflect almost any projectile back at the shooter for massive damage. Master the timing and you can kill the High Dragun by reflecting its own attacks.
• Yari Launcher: Homing missiles. High damage, decent ammo capacity. The only downside is it takes two active item slots (one for the launcher, one for the ammo). Still worth it — the DPS is unmatched.

A-Tier (run-carriers):

• Dragunfire: Full-auto rifle with high damage and fast fire rate. Limited ammo but melts bosses.
• Shotgun Full of Love: Shoots heart-shaped bullets that charm enemies. Charmed enemies attack other enemies. Great for crowd control.
• Vulcan Cannon: 100-round machine gun. Deploying it as a turret (hold reload) doubles effectiveness. Burns through ammo fast but clears rooms instantly.
• Fightsabre: A lightsaber gun. Its bullets bypass shields, and it has a chance to reflect enemy projectiles. The synergy potential with melee-range items is enormous.
• Reloadstone: Bullets phase through walls and seek enemies. Great for clearing rooms without line-of-sight. Pairs well with remote-control items.

B-Tier (reliable but not run-winning):

• AK-47: Solid damage, decent ammo, no gimmicks. Not exciting but never bad.
• Shotgun of Wisdom: Each pellet applies a random effect (poison, fire, stun). Great against groups, mediocre against bosses.
• Ice Breaker: Freezes enemies. Good for crowd control but slow fire rate limits boss DPS.
• Stinger: Bees. Homing bees. The damage doesn't scale well into the late game, but the bees distract enemies.

Guns to avoid (D-Tier): Pea Shooter (you already have this), Mega Douser (water is only situationally useful), Unicorn Horn (low damage, the fear effect is unreliable without synergies), and anything that requires precise charged aiming on console/controller.

Passive & Active Items

Passive Items — S-Tier:

• Elder Blank: Automatically blanks when you get hit. One free blank every 2 rooms. Negates the first hit completely. This single item turns lose runs into wins.
• Full Metal Jacket: If you get hit while blanks are available, a blank automatically triggers and you take no damage. It spends a blank to save a hit point. With Elder Blank, you have two layers of hit protection.
• Clone: When you die, restart the entire run with all guns, items, and upgrades. The most powerful item in the game — it doubles your run length and lets you retry every boss.
• Gundromeda Strain: Poison bullets that deal damage over time equal to 5% of enemy HP per tick. Bosses melt. Stack with Ivory Kuro (increases poison duration) for maximum effect.
• Heart Holster: +1 heart container and you start each floor with a shield (one free hit). Simple but incredible value.

Active Items — S-Tier:

• Box: Spawns a random item of any tier (including black). One use per floor. If you're lucky, you get an S-tier gun from a box. Always worth picking up.
• Glass Guon Stone: Consumable active that heals 1 full heart. It also gives +1 armor while held. Great for clutch saves.
• Cooler: Refills your blanks and gives +1 blank capacity. If you find this on Floor 1, your run is set — extra blanks all game.
• Blueprint: Reveals the entire floor map (including secret rooms) and shows what items are in chests before you open them. Knowledge wins runs in Gungeon — knowing where secret rooms are nets you free items.

Item Synergies

Gungeon's synergy system is the deepest part of the game. When certain guns and items combine, they unlock hidden effects that aren't listed anywhere in-game. Here are the most impactful ones:

• Ancient Hero's Bandana + any S-tier gun: Doubles ammo capacity. With the Yari Launcher, you go from 10 missiles to 20. With the Makeshift Cannon (one-shot boss killer), you get TWO shots instead of one.
• Table Tech + any blank item: Table Tech Sight makes flipped tables fire bullets in a cone. Table Tech Money makes flipped tables drop coins. If you combine Table Tech Rocket with a fast table-flipping rate, you can kill bosses using tables alone.
• Backup Gun + Eyeball Relic: Backup Gun fires a second set of your current gun's bullets. Eyeball Relic adds a homing eyeball to every shot. Result: 2x homing bullets per shot = insane DPS.
• Robo-Pop + Scope: Robo-Pop spawns little robots on enemy death. Scope increases gun range and damage. The robots inherit the damage bonus. By Floor 4, you'll have an army.
• Crown of Guns + Shock Bullets: The Crown fires in every direction at once. Shock Bullets chain damage between enemies. In a room with 5+ enemies, the chain lightning alone kills everything while you focus on dodging.
• Bouncy Bullets + Scatter Shot: Every bullet bounces off walls once. Scatter Shot reduces damage but doubles bullet count. The bounces create a web of bullets that fills rooms and kills enemies behind cover. Amazing for rooms, risky on bosses (bounces might miss).
• Magic Sweet + Helicopter Rounds: Magic Sweet makes you invincible while dodging. Helicopter Rounds orbit around you and block one hit. You effectively become immune to damage for 60% of the fight as long as you keep dodge-rolling.

All Boss Strategies

Floor 1 Bosses:

Bullet King: The easiest Floor 1 boss. He fires bullet bursts in a spread pattern. Stay at mid-range and strafe — his spread is widest at long range. When he charges, dodge-roll perpendicular. His minions (Bullet Kin) can be ignored if you focus on dodging the King's pattern.

Gatling Gull: An aggressive minigun-wielding boss. He chases you. The key: create distance, then dodge-roll through his bullet streams. His spin attack is telegraphed — back up when he starts winding up. Stay near walls to give yourself more room.

Trigger Twins: Two bosses that work together. They're individually weak but their crossfire is deadly. Kill the melee twin first (he chases you and blocks your movement), then focus the ranged twin. Use pillars for cover.

Floor 2 Bosses:

Ammoconda: The hardest Floor 2 boss despite being technically "easier" than the others. He moves fast, spawns health-orbiting minions, and closes distance quickly. The key: keep moving and NEVER stop firing. When he splits into segments, each segment has its own HP. Focus one segment at a time.

Beholster: Fires a massive spread of eye-lasers. The laser pattern is always the same — memorize it. When Beholster spawns mini-eye enemies, kill them immediately before they start their own attacks.

Gorgun: Her stare turns you to stone if you look at her. The telegraph is obvious — a pink heart icons appears. When you see it, turn AWAY from her (aim in the opposite direction). Her bullet rings expand outward — dodge-roll through them toward her for easy positioning.

Floor 3 Bosses:

Mine Flayer: Teleports and fires slow-moving but damaging bullet spreads. The teleport pattern is: she appears, fires, waits 2 seconds, teleports. Predict the teleport location and pre-fire. The purple bullets track slightly — keep moving, don't stand still.

Cannonbalrog: A rolling ball boss. He bounces around the room and fires bullets in all directions. The safe spot is directly behind him after he fires — his bullets come out the front. When he splits into pieces, stay near the center of the room.

Wallmonger: A wall that fills the room with fire and bullets. All attacks come from the right wall. Position yourself on the far left. Dodge-roll vertically to avoid the sweeping lasers. This is a DPS check — if your damage is low, the fire pools will overwhelm you.

Floor 4 Bosses:

High Priest: Teleports constantly and fires fast bullet spreads. The adds (jam-packed enemies) must be killed immediately — they give the Priest cover. The Priest's HP total is lower than other Floor 4 bosses as compensation.

Kill Pillars: Four giant pillars that chase you. Each has its own HP bar. The dangerous phase is when they all charge simultaneously — stand in the gap. When one dies, its explosion creates a safe zone temporarily.

Blobulonian: Splits into smaller blobs. Each split creates more bullet sources. The key: kill all the small blobs first before damaging the main blob. Use piercing or AOE weapons.

Floor 5 Boss — High Dragun: The final boss of the main game. Phase 1: standard bullet patterns, homing knives, and fire breath. Phase 2: Dragun's head detaches and fires a massive laser grid. The laser grid pattern is always the same — memorize the safe spots. When the Dragun breathes fire, dodge-roll through the fire line (there's a safe window). Phase 3: shooting the dragun's skull as it circles the room. Use your blanks here — they clear the entire laser grid.

Secret Floors

Gungeon has two secret floors in the base game and additional ones in the Farewell to Arms update:

The Oubliette (Floor 1.5): Accessed from Floor 1. Empty your gun into the fireplace to reveal a switch. Press it to open a trapdoor in the shop. The Oubliette has one chest room and a boss (the Blockner — two mechs that fire bullet grids). The boss drops a guaranteed armor piece and extra casings. Always take this path for extra loot.

The Abbey of the True Gun (Floor 2.5): Accessed from Floor 2 by bringing the Old Crest from the Oubliette to the fireplace room on Floor 2. The crest must survive without you getting hit (one hit destroys it). The Abbey is very tough (the Old King boss hits hard) but gives incredible loot. Only go here if you're confident in your dodging.

Resourceful Rat's Lair (Floor 2.75): Collect three special items (Rat Key from boss drops, Gnawed Key from the shop, and the Ring of Resourcefulness from a secret room) to access a multi-floor gauntlet. The Rat boss fight has THREE phases: a punch-out sequence (like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out), a bullet-hell phase, and a chase. Defeating the Rat unlocks the Gungeon's best rewards: the Clone item and access to the advanced item shop in the Breach.

R & G Dept (Floor 3.5 — Farewell to Arms): Access by bringing a Television (from the Mine Flayer's floor) to the elevator shaft. The boss is two ethereal knights — hard to hit but low HP. Worth visiting for the unique items and extra keys.

Character Unlocks

The Marine: Starting character. +1 starting armor, better accuracy, and a supply drop active. Best starter for learning the game.

The Convict: Starts with a sawed-off shotgun (high burst) and a Molotov for area denial. Unlocked by default. Her passive (enrages on hit) rewards aggressive play but can get you killed against bullet-hell bosses — play carefully until the enrage triggers.

The Hunter: Starts with a rusted crossbow (one-shots early enemies) and a dog that finds items. The dog is the real value — it digs up health, armor, and keys. Max efficiency: clear the floor completely before leaving to maximize digging chances per floor.

The Pilot: Starts with a lockpick (50% chance to open chests without a key), a shop discount, and an extra active item slot. The lockpick is unreliable — don't risk it on black/red chests. Use it on brown and blue chests only.

The Robot (unlock): Bring the TV from Floor 4 to the Forge's blacksmith. The TV is a passive item that takes up your active slot and slows you. The Robot starts with a damage-boosting passive and a free blank per floor. No health — armor replaces all heart containers. Uniquely, the Robot can survive in water without taking damage.

The Bullet (unlock): Beat the game as The Robot. The Bullet starts with the Blasphemy sword (shoots sword beams at full health). He has a permanent curse effect, making the game harder in exchange for extra loot from cursed enemies. Blasphemy + Casey is the ultimate melee build.

The Paradox (unlock): Find a specific item in the Gungeon (a glitched chest) and interact with it. The Paradox starts with a random loadout from any character — some runs are god-tier, others are garbage. High variance, high reward potential.

The Gunslinger (unlock): Kill the Past as the Paradox. The Gunslinger is the strongest character — his passive lets every gun activate its synergy effects even without the synergy items. A Gunslinger with a starter pistol has the DPS of a mid-game gun. He also reveals hidden synergy descriptions on items. This is the "win every run" character for experienced players.

Advanced Tips

• Master rounds are worth more than HP: If you beat a boss without taking damage, you get a Master Round (heart container). Practice each boss until you can flawless them consistently. A perfect run has 4 Master Rounds = 8 extra max HP.
• Blanks refresh at each boss: You always get 2 blanks at the start of each floor (from the crest). Use them liberally on Floor 1 bosses to secure the Master Round. Don't hoard blanks.
• Gun rotation matters: Don't use your best gun for room clearing. Save Yari Launcher, Makeshift Cannon, and Black Hole Gun for bosses. Use your B-tier guns for regular rooms.
• The Forge puzzle: On Floor 5, find all four hidden buttons in the blacksmith's room to unlock a secret passage to the Lich (the true final boss). Each button is in a room adjacent to the blacksmith — look for cracks in the walls or suspicious floor patterns.
• Curse management: Curse makes the game harder (more jammed enemies) but increases loot drops. 7 curse = Lord of the Jammed appears (an invincible enemy that chases you). Keep curse at 6 or below unless you're confident. Jammed enemies drop more casings — useful if you need shop money.
• Chest management: Never destroy green, red, or black chests. Only destroy brown and blue chests if you have zero keys. Use the Pilot's lockpick on brown/blue chests only — the 50% failure chance on a black chest is too painful.