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, Таинственный спутник, 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

Десантник

The Десантник is the most beginner-friendly character.

He starts with one extra point of Доспехи and carries Военная подготовка — a passive that improves accuracy, reload speed, and charge speed for every gun. His active item Тайник со снаряжением drops an ammo crate at his feet, refilling his held gun (it cannot be used when that gun is already full).

The Десантник 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: Пистолет морпеха (infinite ammo)
• active item: Тайник со снаряжением — drops an ammo crate at your feet
• Passive: Военная подготовка — better accuracy, faster reload and charge
• Starts with 1 extra Доспехи

Преступница

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

Her Недорогой револьвер is reliable, and the Обрез shreds anything at close range. The Фотография, приводящая в бешенство passive briefly auto-reloads her gun and boosts damage after she takes a hit. The Коктейль Молотова can zone enemies or set up consistent burn damage.

The Фотография, приводящая в бешенство only pays off once she has been hit, which is why the Преступница is built for players who like high-risk, high-reward offense.

• Starting gun: Недорогой револьвер (infinite ammo) + Обрез
• active item: Коктейль Молотова — thrown fire bomb
• Passive: Фотография, приводящая в бешенство — brief auto-reload and damage boost when hit

Охотница

The Охотница brings a reliable toolkit and excellent utility.

The Арбалет deals high single-target damage and can one-shot many early enemies, and the Ржавый пистолет provides a consistent fallback. Her Пес companion digs up extra dropped items after clearing a room and barks near disguised Имитаторs.

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

• Starting gun: Ржавый пистолет (infinite ammo) + Арбалет
• Passive: Пес — barks to identify Имитаторs, digs up extra room-clear loot
• The dog also acts as a companion that can interact with certain NPCs

Пилот

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

Надежные отмычки open chests with a 50% chance without spending a Ключ. Обезоруживающая личность gives a 15% discount at all shops. Теневые патроны 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 Бродяга Особого Назначения is mediocre, so early floors demand careful play.

• Starting gun: Бродяга Особого Назначения (infinite ammo)
• active item: Надежные отмычки — 50% chance to open a locked chest without a Ключ
• Passive: Обезоруживающая личность — 15% shop discount
• Passive: Теневые патроны — extra passive item slot

Hidden Characters

Робот

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

He replaces health with Доспехи entirely — he has 6 Доспехи containers and no heart slots. Hearts and healing items restore nothing for him (they convert into a small amount of Гильзы instead), and picking up a Патрон Мастера grants him one piece of Доспехи. His Аккумуляторные пули passive turns some shots electric and makes him immune to damage from electrified water. Утечка хладагента drops a pool of liquid that slows enemies.

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

• Unlock: the Сгоревший телевизор only appears in the Собственно Оружелье elevator shaft once you have opened that floor's shortcut with Мастер; carry it down to the Кузнец in the Кузня and let the hand-over cutscene finish (Пилот's Теневые патроны makes carrying it easier)
• Starting gun: Правая рука робота (infinite ammo)
• active item: Утечка хладагента — creates a slow-field liquid patch
• Passive: Аккумуляторные пули — some bullets become electric; immune to electrified water
• Has 6 Доспехи instead of hearts; each Хлам picked up grants +5% damage

Пуля

The Пуля plays completely differently from everyone else.

The starting weapon Богохульство 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 Живой боезапас 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 Пуля
• Starting weapon: Богохульство (melee sword, infinite 'ammo')
• Passive: Живой боезапас — 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 Загадочный), 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 Собственно Оружелье, Черная Пороховая Шахта, 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 Загадочный) + a random gun + a random passive item
• Strength: starts with about two chests of gear, so it plays above average
• Cost to play: 5 × Кредит Гегемонии

Gunslinger

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

His starting gun, the Загадочный, can be thrown at enemies for damage when reloading, but his real strength is the Пули «Глаз Лича» 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 Лич in Bullet Hell to start a Gunslinger run; during that run you must get the Пуля, убивающая прошлое from the Кузнец in the Кузня and kill the Gunslinger's Past to unlock him permanently
• Gunslinger cannot be unlocked on a blessed run (Blessed Mode)
• Starting gun: Загадочный (infinite ammo)
• Passive: Пули «Глаз Лича» — every gun automatically triggers all of its synergies
• Cost to play: 7 × Кредит Гегемонии

Co-op Character

Таинственный спутник (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 Печенье дружбы, which revives a downed partner, and the passive Второй номер, which raises her movement speed and damage while her partner is dead. Her starting weapon is the Дротиковая пушка — low damage but infinite ammo.

Второй номер 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: Дротиковая пушка (infinite ammo)
• Active: Печенье дружбы — revives a downed partner
• Passive: Второй номер — 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 Кузнец will not give her the Пуля, убивающая прошлое, but it is not needed); reaching her Past unlocks Второй номер and the Солнечное копье

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