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, Assistente 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 Corazza and carries Addestramento militare — a passive that improves accuracy, reload speed, and charge speed for every gun. His active item Richiesta di scorte 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 di supporto per marine (infinite ammo)
• active item: Richiesta di scorte — drops an ammo crate at your feet
• Passive: Addestramento militare — better accuracy, faster reload and charge
• Starts with 1 extra Corazza

Evasa

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

Her Revolver da due soldi is reliable, and the Mozzato shreds anything at close range. The Foto imbestialente 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 imbestialente only pays off once she has been hit, which is why the Evasa is built for players who like high-risk, high-reward offense.

• Starting gun: Revolver da due soldi (infinite ammo) + Mozzato
• active item: Molotov — thrown fire bomb
• Passive: Foto imbestialente — brief auto-reload and damage boost when hit

Cacciatrice

The Cacciatrice brings a reliable toolkit and excellent utility.

The Balestra deals high single-target damage and can one-shot many early enemies, and the Ferro rugginoso provides a consistent fallback. Her Cane companion digs up extra dropped items after clearing a room and barks near disguised Armorfos.

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

• Starting gun: Ferro rugginoso (infinite ammo) + Balestra
• Passive: Cane — barks to identify Armorfos, digs up extra room-clear loot
• The dog also acts as a companion that can interact with certain NPCs

Pilota

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

Fidati grimaldelli open chests with a 50% chance without spending a Chiave. Personalità disarmante gives a 15% discount at all shops. Scomparto segreto 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 Canaglia Special is mediocre, so early floors demand careful play.

• Starting gun: Canaglia Special (infinite ammo)
• active item: Fidati grimaldelli — 50% chance to open a locked chest without a Chiave
• Passive: Personalità disarmante — 15% shop discount
• Passive: Scomparto segreto — extra passive item slot

Hidden Characters

Robot

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

He replaces health with Corazza entirely — he has 6 Corazza containers and no heart slots. Hearts and healing items restore nothing for him (they convert into a small amount of Bossoli instead), and picking up a Munizione eccelsa grants him one piece of Corazza. His Proiettili a batteria passive turns some shots electric and makes him immune to damage from electrified water. Perdita di refrigerante drops a pool of liquid that slows enemies.

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

• Unlock: the Televisore in avaria only appears in the Gungeon vero e proprio elevator shaft once you have opened that floor's shortcut with Meccanico; carry it down to the Fabbra in the Forgia and let the hand-over cutscene finish (Pilota's Scomparto segreto makes carrying it easier)
• Starting gun: Mano destra robotica (infinite ammo)
• active item: Perdita di refrigerante — creates a slow-field liquid patch
• Passive: Proiettili a batteria — some bullets become electric; immune to electrified water
• Has 6 Corazza instead of hearts; each Roba inutilizzabile picked up grants +5% damage

Proiettile

The Proiettile 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 Munizione vivente 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 Proiettile
• Starting weapon: Blasfemia (melee sword, infinite 'ammo')
• Passive: Munizione vivente — 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 Bistola), 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 Gungeon vero e proprio, Miniera di polvere nera, 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 Bistola) + a random gun + a random passive item
• Strength: starts with about two chests of gear, so it plays above average
• Cost to play: 5 × Crediti egemonici

Gunslinger

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

His starting gun, the Bistola, can be thrown at enemies for damage when reloading, but his real strength is the Proiettili Occhio di lich 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 Lich in Bullet Hell to start a Gunslinger run; during that run you must get the Proiettile ammazzapassato from the Fabbra in the Forgia and kill the Gunslinger's Past to unlock him permanently
• Gunslinger cannot be unlocked on a blessed run (Blessed Mode)
• Starting gun: Bistola (infinite ammo)
• Passive: Proiettili Occhio di lich — every gun automatically triggers all of its synergies
• Cost to play: 7 × Crediti egemonici

Co-op Character

Assistente 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 Biscotto dell'amicizia, which revives a downed partner, and the passive Numero 2, which raises her movement speed and damage while her partner is dead. Her starting weapon is the Sparafreccette — low damage but infinite ammo.

Numero 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: Sparafreccette (infinite ammo)
• Active: Biscotto dell'amicizia — revives a downed partner
• Passive: Numero 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 Fabbra will not give her the Proiettile ammazzapassato, but it is not needed); reaching her Past unlocks Numero 2 and the Giavellotto solare

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