All Characters Guide: Starting Loadouts & Traits

Enter the Gungeon has multiple playable characters. Four are available from the start; four more are hidden and must be unlocked through gameplay. A further second-player character, Compañero misterioso, is exclusive to local co-op (see Co-op Character). Each character has a distinct set of starting weapons and items, plus passive bonuses that change how you approach every run.

Starting Characters

Marine

The Marine is the most beginner-friendly character.

He starts with one extra point of Armadura and carries Instrucción militar — a passive that improves accuracy, reload speed, and charge speed for every gun. His active item Envío de suministros drops an ammo crate at his feet, refilling his held gun (it cannot be used when that gun is already full).

The Marine rewards steady, unhurried play: stand still to get tighter shot groupings, and lean on the steady ammo supply to keep firing from a safe distance.

• Starting gun: Arma de mano de marine (infinite ammo)
• active item: Envío de suministros — drops an ammo crate at your feet
• Passive: Instrucción militar — better accuracy, faster reload and charge
• Starts with 1 extra Armadura

Convicta

The Convicta hits hard right out of the gate, starting with two guns for strong early damage.

Her Revólver de saldo is reliable, and the Recortada shreds anything at close range. The Foto enfurecedora passive briefly auto-reloads her gun and boosts damage after she takes a hit. The Molotov can zone enemies or set up consistent burn damage.

The Foto enfurecedora only pays off once she has been hit, which is why the Convicta is built for players who like high-risk, high-reward offense.

• Starting gun: Revólver de saldo (infinite ammo) + Recortada
• active item: Molotov — thrown fire bomb
• Passive: Foto enfurecedora — brief auto-reload and damage boost when hit

Cazadora

The Cazadora brings a reliable toolkit and excellent utility.

The Ballesta deals high single-target damage and can one-shot many early enemies, and the Arma de mano oxidada provides a consistent fallback. Her Perro companion digs up extra dropped items after clearing a room and barks near disguised Mímicos.

That bark saves a lot of Llaves: when a chest looks suspicious, walk the Perro past it before deciding to open it. Some of the Cazadora's value does depend on luck, so the payoff is not consistent.

• Starting gun: Arma de mano oxidada (infinite ammo) + Ballesta
• Passive: Perro — barks to identify Mímicos, digs up extra room-clear loot
• The dog also acts as a companion that can interact with certain NPCs

Piloto

The Piloto has the weakest early combat but the best long-term economy.

Ganzúas fiables open chests with a 50% chance without spending a Llave. Personalidad arrolladora gives a 15% discount at all shops. Compartimento oculto adds an extra active item slot, letting him carry two active items at once, and raises max ammo by 10%.

He scales dramatically once he gets items — but the Especial de Piloto is mediocre, so early floors demand careful play.

• Starting gun: Especial de Piloto (infinite ammo)
• active item: Ganzúas fiables — 50% chance to open a locked chest without a Llave
• Passive: Personalidad arrolladora — 15% shop discount
• Passive: Compartimento oculto — extra passive item slot

Hidden Characters

Robot

The Robot is a high-skill pick: once you understand Armadura management, he is extremely powerful.

He replaces health with Armadura entirely — he has 6 Armadura containers and no heart slots. Hearts and healing items restore nothing for him (they convert into a small amount of Cartuchos instead), and picking up a Munición maestra grants him one piece of Armadura. His Balas batería passive turns some shots electric and makes him immune to damage from electrified water. Fuga de refrigerante drops a pool of liquid that slows enemies.

Most importantly, picking up Basura gives him a stacking +5% damage boost each (Basura de oro counts too) — so never drop or sell it. With no healing available at all, keeping Armadura topped up is everything.

• Unlock: the Televisor estropeado only appears in the Armazmorra en sí elevator shaft once you have opened that floor's shortcut with Inventor; carry it down to the Herrera in the Forja and let the hand-over cutscene finish (Piloto's Compartimento oculto makes carrying it easier)
• Starting gun: Mano derecha de robot (infinite ammo)
• active item: Fuga de refrigerante — creates a slow-field liquid patch
• Passive: Balas batería — some bullets become electric; immune to electrified water
• Has 6 Armadura instead of hearts; each Basura picked up grants +5% damage

Bala

The Bala plays completely differently from everyone else.

The starting weapon Blasfemia is a melee sword — he attacks by swinging it, not shooting, and swings can also destroy incoming enemy bullets. At full health, his swing fires an extra wave of light. The Munición real passive causes dodge-rolling through enemy bullets to absorb them and heal a small amount of health, and he takes no contact damage during dodge rolls.

With practice you can negate almost all bullet damage through movement and melee — close-range safety is his defining strength — but it demands deep knowledge of enemy bullet patterns.

• Unlock: after defeating at least one Past with any character, Red-Caped Bullet Kin rarely appear in random rooms (they wander and don't attack); let 5 of them despawn (spare them) to unlock the Bala
• Starting weapon: Blasfemia (melee sword, infinite 'ammo')
• Passive: Munición real — dodge-rolling through bullets absorbs them and restores a small amount of health
• No contact damage during dodge rolls; melee fires a light wave at full health

Paradox

The Paradox has no Past of its own and starts every run with a randomized loadout.

That loadout is a random starting sidearm taken from the other Gungeoneers (excluding the Tirador), another random gun, and a random passive item. These random starting items do not count toward Magnificence (unless dropped and picked back up) — see What Is Magnificence?.

That amounts to roughly two chests worth of advantage right from the start, so the Paradox usually opens stronger than average — but every run is different and you have to improvise around whatever you are dealt.

• Unlock: after defeating at least one Past, cosmic rifts appear with a 20% chance in random rooms of the Armazmorra en sí, Mina de pólvora, and the Hollow; step into a rift to gain the paradox effect and finish that run to unlock
• Starting loadout: a random sidearm from another character (excluding the Tirador) + a random gun + a random passive item
• Strength: starts with about two chests of gear, so it plays above average
• Cost to play: 5 × Crédito de la Hegemonía

Gunslinger

The Gunslinger is the hardest character to unlock and is the pre-mortem form of the Liche.

His starting gun, the Tirador, can be thrown at enemies for damage when reloading, but his real strength is the Balas de ojo de liche passive — it makes every gun automatically trigger all of its synergies.

Paired with items that form synergies, any build is hugely amplified, and the Gunslinger late-game firepower is unmatched.

• Unlock (hardest in the game): as the Paradox, defeat the Liche in Bullet Hell to start a Gunslinger run; during that run you must get the Bala que puede matar el pasado from the Herrera in the Forja and kill the Gunslinger's Past to unlock him permanently
• Gunslinger cannot be unlocked on a blessed run (Blessed Mode)
• Starting gun: Tirador (infinite ammo)
• Passive: Balas de ojo de liche — every gun automatically triggers all of its synergies
• Cost to play: 7 × Crédito de la Hegemonía

Co-op Character

Compañero misterioso (called the Cultist in Enter the Gungeon) is the second-player character exclusive to local co-op — you cannot pick her in single-player; she is controlled automatically when a second player joins. She has no unlock path of her own, but she does have a Past you can challenge, and her whole kit is built around co-op.

She starts with the Galleta de la amistad, which revives a downed partner, and the passive Número 2, which raises her movement speed and damage while her partner is dead. Her starting weapon is the Pistola de dardos — low damage but infinite ammo.

Número 2 keeps her from being helpless when soloing, but her growth is steady and slow, so she relies on pickups to scale.

• Local co-op only: used automatically when a second player joins; cannot be selected in single-player
• Starting weapon: Pistola de dardos (infinite ammo)
• Active: Galleta de la amistad — revives a downed partner
• Passive: Número 2 — boosts movement speed and damage while the partner is dead (co-op exclusive; unobtainable in normal play until unlocked)
• Has a Past you can challenge: shoot yourself with the Gun That Can Kill The Past to enter it (the Herrera will not give her the Bala que puede matar el pasado, but it is not needed); reaching her Past unlocks Número 2 and the Jabalina de luz solar

Still not sure who to start with? Beginner's Guide & Tips covers recommended starter characters and the basics worth knowing on your first runs.