Small Trophy Guide + Gameplay Tips

[JakJakAttacks]

As of this writing there isn't an official guide. I found info on this game pretty hard to find so I'm writing this up to hopefully help anyone else. As a roguelite fan, and fan of its predecessor, I enjoyed this one, despite a few annoying mechanics. It's a little grindy and RNG-ish (par for the course for this kind of game), but not quite as bad as Enter the Gungeon.

 

General gameplay tips:

 

• Anytime you're not playing an individual character to unlock certain hats/trophies, you should be playing as Pilot. He starts with an item that gives a good discount at shops. In this game shops are super helpful. Being able to afford more stuff more often really helps.
• There is a chain mechanic that goes to a max of 20 (need to hit that for a trophy). I never really felt like the chain had a significant impact on the gameplay. Despite it being a core mechanic I never felt like the guns I got were better the higher my chain was. At least, not enough to really see a clear pattern. I once beat the game without getting hit once and it didn't feel like that run was way better than any of the others. It feels like it has more of an impact on the quality of chests you get, but even then it might just be confirmation bias. So don't sweat it too much if you get hit from time to time.
• There are two gameplay modes. One with the random gun, and one with static gun drops. It takes a bit to get used to the random guns. It can be a little annoying to begin with. Despite this, you should be playing in that mode exclusively. Only play in arsenal mode to get the trophy for having 8 guns at once. Reason being, that having guns as part of the item pool really hinders you in the long run. There's no one particular gun that will make or break your run. But there are plenty of passives that would.
• While going through the game you'll unlock lots of guns that will randomly become your gun at certain intervals. Some of them are useless to the point of being a detriment (Casey, 2x4, Black Hole Gun, etc). Offset this by buying guns from the gun vendor. The more guns in your gun pool, the less chance of getting something useless.
• Dodge rolling isn't as powerful as vertical jump/dodging. Timing your jumps correctly you can be nearly invulnerable once you get the hang of it. When I started playing I thought it'd be impossible to finish the Dragun without getting hit. Just spam dodge jumping and time your jump direction in relation to the shots and you'll get used to it. It's not as difficult as it might seem at first. After a few runs you'll see what I mean. Couple this with a little knowledge of what each boss does and you'll get through it pretty easily (except for the Wall boss, that dude is nearly impossible to get through without getting hit. I only think I did it once whereas I could almost always complete the Dragon without getting hit).
• You can dodge roll through enemies and bosses. Just like projectiles.
• The Glocktopus is tough. I never, NEVER got through his fight without getting hit a few times at least. So you're going to only want to attempt him if you have a ton of damage output, or plenty of health to tank his hits. If you're still having trouble with him, make some attempts on runs you pick up a Clone. That way you can have 2 runs worth of items to stack against him. Also, make sure to save 200 shells to buy the bait, otherwise your run could be wasted. Maybe it's just me but I couldn't figure out a way to consistently dodge his attacks with the jetski.
• You're gonna want to make sure to talk to all the NPC's that have quests/hats attached to them throughout your playthrough. Each of them progresses their quest a little further every time you talk to them (even if it doesn't seem like it).
• Buy the Rat's key every chance you get. The faster you unlock all the NPC's the easier it'll be to progress quests. The key (when it spawns in your run) will always be on the first floor, and the NPC to free will always be on the second. In fact, it might even be worth it in the long run to reset your run if the first floor doesn't have the key available for purchase.
• You get more credits for flawless boss kills. Try your best to do that. It'll cut down on the grind for buying all the hats and skins.
• As you begin to feel more confident in beating the game, consider skipping the "mid level/shop rooms". One of them will provide you with an item, but typically it's nothing worth going out of your way for. You'll get a little extra money but if there's nothing great in the shop that you can almost afford you can save a lot of time by just skipping it and going for the boss kills/NPC quests. By the end I was almost always just beating the game with just the items I'd get from boss kills and buying from the shopkeep.
• You can zoom out of the mini game to get a better view of what you're doing. I think it's one of the trigger buttons. This helps you better aim you shots. It's not perfect, but it's better than having the camera over the cannon/green and not seeing what you're trying to hit.
• If you don't mind randomly getting some of the worse weapons and don't want to bother filling out you weapon pool, you can save some credit grinding by using those credits for hats/skins instead.
• To me, the single best item in the game is Scattershot. It lessens the damage of each shot you fire, but you fire more shots. I could easily finish a run with just this item. Prioritize this if you ever see it in a shop. Other noteworthy items are Magic Candy, Riddle of Lead, and Galactic Medal of Valor.

 

Small Trophy Guide:

 

Most of these are pretty straight forward. There's just a few that are a little ambiguous and/or the descriptions aren't entirely accurate. In general, you're gonna want to Exit the Gungeon with every character. For the boss trophies, you have to beat each boss around 5 times. Some bosses seem to be harder to come by than others (for me it was the Armored Beholster). So be sure to take note of which route you were on and maybe even what character you were playing as when you encounter the bosses.

 

Big Spender, Year of the Ox:

 

The descriptions for these trophies are inaccurate. You have to buy more than just a single time from the shopkeep and Ox. Just keep buying things from them and you'll get it eventually. I'm not sure the exact number but you'll get it before long. You don't have to buy ALL the items from Ox. But it's more than halfway through.

 

Mini Game Trophies:

 

Green No More, Chester Bester, At the Helm:

 

These are all pretty random. Sometimes they're easier than others. I read that for Green No More you didn't necessarily need a hole in one. You just need to finish it 10 times. I got a hole in one a couple times, but it never felt it happened because I knew exactly how to hit it. Felt pretty lucky. Same for Chester Bester. Some of them are nearly impossible to ace. Some are much easier. You'll get that one eventually. For At the Helm, that one is pretty random. I got it a couple of times but it's kind of a shot in the dark. Try to hit it towards the middle and hope for the best.

 

Flawless Victory:

 

I note this one in particular as it's probably the most difficult of the "flawless" trophies. This one is for the Last Dragun. The first time I fought him he kicked my ass. I figured it'd be impossible to do this without getting hit. Then I discovered the power of dodge jumping. You'll begin to understand how all his attacks work (he has about 5 of them), and you'll get good at dodging through them. Don't sweat it if you get hit, you'll have plenty of chances. Galactic Medal of Valor helps here as that item really bumps up the damage you do to bosses. Also, see if you can stock up on a bunch of blanks. Coming to the fight with 4+ really helps cut down on his harder cycles and opens him up for some extra blasting.

 

Man of Hats, Skin Trade:

 

First, you'll need to free the NPC's for each respective vendor. Hattori for the hats, and the Snail for the skins.

 

Hats: https://enterthegungeon.gamepedia.com/Hats

Skins: https://exit-the-gungeon.fandom.com/wiki/Skins

 

To my knowledge, all the skins are available for purchase right out the gate. Unfortunately hats are a little more involved. You have to even buy all the skins in order to buy all the hats. I've read mixed reports on which ones you need to buy exactly for this to unlock. I personally had to do them all. It's also not clear if the hats you unlock for each character for beating the Glocktopus are needed for this. I had all of those as well, so just to be safe you might want to just grab those as you're going along. Make sure to keep an eye on the ones you'll need to finish the game on under certain criteria (finish the game with the Adventurer skin, box hat), and talk to the entrance guards and snail until you unlock theirs as well. It takes quite a bit of money to buy them all. As such, this was my last trophy.

 

Combo Breaker:

 

Max combo is 20. You'll have to flawless at least one boss and carry your combo from one floor to another as it's impossible to max out out your combo in a single floor. You'll get this plenty of times so don't worry about it. Remember, dodge jumping is your friend and key to surviving without getting hit. Use blanks only when you feel like you're not in control (will happen less as you get better). But DO use them. You get more each floor. As I said earlier, there wasn't really a tangible difference to me on a high combo vs anything else with a couple of notable exceptions (d20 NPC, junk item). So don't be too hard on yourself if you get hit. It doesn't change things enough to matter much.

 

NPC Quest Trophies:

 

For each of the NPC quests, you'll have to speak to the NPCs to advance their quests. Sometimes it doesn't feel like anything is happening, but it'll get there. It can be a little frustrating especially when you're trying to find on in particular to advance theirs. If this happens just reload the first floor until you get the one you're looking for. But I'd only do this as a last resort. You should be able to get most of them naturally.

 

Each and every one of these is completed by getting the item they ask for in one of the mini games. There will be a Rat zeppelin that you can hit with you cannon/golf ball that has the item you need. If you have the item before the final level, I believe encountering the NPC you need to give it to is guaranteed to show up. It always was for me. It doesn't appear to work if you have a clone and carry the quest item over to the next run. I had one of them and died to start a new run and the NPC I needed to give it to didn't spawn. Similar to above, if you are having trouble getting a mini game to appear, just restart the first level until it shows up. Get the item from the mini game and then continue your run to finish it.

 

One thing to note is it's possible to destroy the zeppelin without getting the item it's carrying. Try to hit just the item and not the zeppelin itself. You can hit the item BEFORE hitting and destroying the zepplin, and that works. Just try to hit the item first. If you don't need the trophy for the mini game, I'd spend as much time as you need to make sure you do it right.

 

Lock Steps:

 

This one is for the door NPC. He guards a big door. After talking to him a couple of times you'll notice the door behind him begins to peel off the wall. Eventually he'll ask you to get some glue for him. Make sure you talk to him at his level. There's scaffolding to his left and then later there's a bucket you can stand on.

 

Lost in Translation:

 

This one is for the squid NPC. Each time you visit him there will be another smaller squid in his room. When you talk to him his text is just a bunch of unreadable characters. This doesn't matter. After there are about 7/8 smaller squid he'll ask for some salt. (you'll know this as it'll actually show the picture of what he needs in his dialogue box).

 

Secure Seating:

 

This one is probably one of the most confusing. In the Breach there's a character who's drinking down where the rest of the playable characters are. Keep talking to him each time you return to the Breach and he'll eventually talk about opening a bar. Soon he'll ask you what he should name it. Finally, he'll set up a bar at the Breach. Once this happens continue to exhaust his dialogue. At the same time start talking to the shopkeep. He'll begin to notice his stools are missing. And now the bar at the Breach has stools. Soon the shopkeep will ask you to get a stool for him. I don't think it unlock right after you give it to him, but on your next visit.

 

Natural and Artificial Flavors:

 

This one is for the NPC who looks like a D20 (dice). He asks you for 2 things, some peanut butter and some pretzel sticks. This means you have to do the minigame for his items twice.

 

No Link Cable Needed:

 

This one is for the old man NPC. Keep talking to him each time you encounter him and eventually he'll ask you for an item.

 

Able:

 

This one is for the blue Bullet NPC. Keep talking to him each time you encounter him and eventually he'll ask you for an item.

 

Beastmaster:

 

After you beat the game once, speak to the guards at the entrance. Tell them you exited and they'll say you can try Beast Mode. It's in the options menu. Just like in Enter the Gungeon, I don't think it has any effect on the gameplay. Once you beat the game with it enabled, it'll unlock. Then talk to them again to get Beast Mode 2. Again, no effect on gameplay. This gets you a hat.

 

 

I think that's about it. Hopefully this helps someone else out there.

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by JakJakAttacks

[Railshock]

Helpful guide, thanks for doing this! Can this be the added as the official guide, or used to supplement one in progress? 

[BKnocheese]

Important to note on Secure Seating:

 

The stool is located in Winchester's/ the Golf Game floating by a balloon.

 

SHOOT THE STOOL, NOT THE BALLOON!

 

If you shoot the balloon, the stool will despawn.

[Sydoki]

On 3/6/2021 at 5:00 PM, BKnocheese said:

The stool is located in Winchester's/ the Golf Game floating by a balloon.

This is the case for all Side Quest items, not just the stool. 

Worth adding that while the Wincehster's game has a limited number of bullets you can shoot, you can simply wait for the blimp to fly right above your cannon and simply shoot upwards; for the Gold game, it's a lot easier as there's no limit on how many time you can hit the ball. As long as you don't actually win, you can keep trying to get the item.

[TwilightSpira]

I had such a great run today, really great game.

 

I recorded my master lich dragun and gloctopus which happened at the same room.

 

 

 

I did the trophy guide for Enter the Dungeon and saddens me that this one still doesn’t have one.

 

Fun game even though it doesn’t have the depth from the original 

 

Also thanks for the tips 

 

@JakJakAttacks

[Joe Dubz]

Just in case anyone is looking for one, I just submitted a trophy guide for this game for review today! Well done with the mini guide OP, looks like you covered everything quite well IMO. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Joe Dubz

[Yoey_666]

On 2.4.2021 at 5:17 PM, Joe Dubz said:

Just in case anyone is looking for one, I just submitted a trophy guide for this game for review today! Well done with the mini guide OP, looks like you covered everything quite well IMO. 

Great work, thanks !

 

Planning to make Enter the Gungeon my 450th milestone and going for Exit the Gungeon soon after.

 

Great timing !

[HardXDXtraga]

@JakJakAttacks these are great tips, I'll leave some as well from my personal experience:

 

- After you finish the game with all characters you should lock the route as the one you feel is easier for you to go through. For example, I always play with the pilot in the marine route. The marine route is the easiest for me because it doesn't have auto scrollers, balloons, buttons that move platforms, etc. You just need to focus on aiming and shooting.

 

- Like Jak said, the combo that goes up to 20 doesn't do much, it helps you get a better chest when you find Daisuke and it helps evolve Sir Junken (keep in mind that even if you lose your combo, Sir Junken will remain in the highest evolution he had, for the duration of that run). Personally, I didn't think it did anything to chests or weapons, have never noticed anything significant in either of these. What I did notice was the amount of jammed enemies that start appearing when your combo is over 14, when you start seeing too many jammed enemies you'll notice that your combo is high, if you're not trying to get it to 20 to get a chest from Daisuke or to get Ultra Instinct Sir Junken, there's no reason to have the combo at over 14. I've shot myself in the leg a few times by getting jammed bosses, once I kept the combo at 20 until the 4th boss and I got both the 2nd and the 4th boss as jammed, you end up losing more time and more life because of this, so my advice is, if your combo is over 14, just take a strategic hit, specially if you are about to face a boss. It's better to lose half a heart to a low tier enemy that to lose 2 full hearts because the boss fight has been going for a bit too long.

 

- This isn't so much gameplay advice, more of a warning, do not pause the game on loading screens, for example when you leave the shop and the next level is loading in the black screen, likewise be very careful when using Clone, EtG is very poorly optimised for PS4 and so, when I need a break, I take it when I'm at Bello's shop and don't pause the game at all. I once lost a Clone run that was about 45 minutes long, because I paused the game on the loading screen and when I unpaused my character wouldn't move, literally couldn't do anything but watch enemies attack me, tried everything to make the character move but he wouldn't.

 

- Since I talked about Clone, there's another thing I should mention, frame rate issues, you won't need to do much to see this happen because again, the game is poorly optimised, but be advised when using Clone that since you'll have a lot of items on your second run, the frame rate will be worse. I almost lost a run yesterday because I was fighting a jammed Meowitzer and I had items like Bumbullets, Bouncy Bullets and a few others. The weapon changed to the Yari Launcher which by itself always causes frame rate issues and it was hell, the game was playing so slowly that I couldn't read the boss' movements and ended up losing a lot of life because of it, thought I'd lose the run. So just be mindful that depending on the items you have, a clone run might not be the best option.

 

- Really simple advice to face The Last Dragun, stay on the top platform. This took me way too long to realise, if you stay on the bottom platform it might seem safer but you'll have to dodge much more and you'll still get hit a lot. If you stay on the top platform you just need to jump to the center of Dragun's attacks and you'll be mostly safe.

 

- Lastly I'll leave a list of items that I always buy and I'll explain why, take into account that I always play with the pilot because of the discount he has in the store:

 

   - Banana Jam Hands: When I first played with The Cultist I thought this was the stupidest item because I couldn't get any consistency with the weapons but I quickly changed my mind because of how easy it is to beat bosses with it.

Banana Jam Hands description is the following: Greatly increases the rate at which the player's blessed gun will change forms. Upon changing forms the old form will be thrown in the direction the player is aiming, with the ability to damage enemies.

This is a good thing because I've been stuck with useless weapons like the Casey, Black Hole Gun or very low tier weapons that do no damage to bosses and if I had had this item it wouldn't be that much of a hassle to get through them.

 

   - Clone: used in moderation taking into account what I've said earlier, the only reason I use it is because it makes the second run much faster so I usually get killed at the Glocktopus since he doesn't drop any Credits and just breeze through the second run.

 

   - Coin Crown: usually super cheap so it's never a big loss and it makes up for it really quickly, meaning you can buy a lot of items in the next shops, bonus points if you also get Gilded Bullets which can increase your damage output up to 100% at 500 Shells.

 

   - Bouncy Bullets: You're in a tight space in most levels, just make a bouncy mess and you'll be flying through levels.

 

   - Gundromeda Strain: Will be expensive but it's always nice to have weaker enemies.

 

   - Magic Sweet: More damage output and more health, yes please.

 

   - Galactic Medal of Valor: More damage output.

 

   - Scattershot: Like Jak said it is an amazing low tier item that can win you the game.

 

 

This is all I can remember right now, hope you find it helpful!