Frog is a secret character that is only playble by starting a run with the Golden Frog Pistol, though he cannot be truly unlocked outside of NTT. He is a playable variation of the Ballguy enemies seen in Sewers as he will behave similar to them, where he never stops moving, though he can stop to build up toxic gas to damage enemies with. As a character that is hidden content he may seem like a gimmick character on the surface level, but he provides a unique spin on gameplay that is worth the effort in order to try.
While Frog's moving mechanics may make him more prone to being damaged in general, his ultras allow him to constantly be spawning toxic gas to damage enemies while avoiding taking toxic damage himself. Although these are not particularly gamebreaking mechanics, they're all around really fun which seems to be the focus on the character.
Frog | |
---|---|
Unlock | Start with Golden Frog Pistol |
B-Skin | No B-Skin |
Weapon | Golden Frog Pistol |
Active | Toxic Gas |
Passive | Toxic Immunity Can't Stand Still |
Abilities
- Active
- Frog cannot stop moving unless he holds his active, which will make him stationary.
- While standing still he will build up toxic gas, and can let go of active to release a toxic attack.
- This toxic will disperse in all directions and slowly shrink. Each toxic cloud will do 3 damage regardless of its size.
- While Frog can hold down his charge forever, a full charge takes about 2 seconds to build up.
- Melee swings will erase toxic gas, even if it's produced by Frog from his active/ultras.
- While stationary, weapon knockback and melee pulling forwards will move Frog very slightly.
- Toxic gas will turn Ballguys into Toxic Ballguys and can even heal Mom, which also applies to all the toxic gas spawned from Frog.
- Passive
- Frog gets immunity from toxic clouds.
- This includes toxic spawned by his own active/ultras, toxic weapons, toxic ballguys and toxic barrels.
- Mom shoots a toxic projectile that does 5 damage that is actually capable of hurting Frog, but all the toxic clouds it leaves behind Frog is immune to.
- Frog will constantly be moving, even without player input.
- Without player input he will always start walking in a random direction immediately starting a level, or will walk in the direction the player last held. The only way to keep him stationary is his active.
- Weapon knockback is usually only noticeable if a character is standing still. In Frog's case, if the player is not giving any input on movement weapon knockback will effect which direction he is moving in as well.
- Melee pulling forward can be used to precisely change Frog's direction if there is no player input, too.
- Without player input Frog will bounce off of walls and his direction will be based on trajectory. If trying to walk into a wall actively, Frog will keep bouncing off of it repeatedly.
- If you tap a direction, Frog won’t immediately begin moving that way. Instead, he’ll turn slowly towards that direction until that is the only way he is moving.
- Trying to completely reverse directions(ie. holding A, letting go and holding D instead) Frog will move slightly up/down randomly to account for this turn, giving less control over precise movement.
- If precise movement is desired, give the active button a brief tap then input the direction Frog should move in.
- Thronebutt
- Any toxic cloud, including the ones not spawned by Frog, now disperses much faster over a much wider area.
- Ultra A: Distance
- Rads dropped can spawn toxic clouds for damage from a distance.
- For each normal rad dropped, there is a 1/3rd chance to spawn a single toxic gas cloud.
- For each rad chunk dropped, they will always spawn four toxic gas clouds.
- Ultra B: Intimacy
- Frog will continually spawn toxic gas of varying sizes while moving.
- Charging active will continually spawn toxic gas around Frog at a really fast rate.
- Other Perks
- Starts with the Golden Frog Pistol.
- Frog can technically unlock golden weapons and crowns, but this does not effect anything. Frog can only view his stats in beta versions of the game.
- (Double check Frog unlocking golden weapons juuuuust in case)
- Upon death Frog will shoot out a ring of 20 pellets similar to when Ballguys are killed, each pellet deals 2 damage to enemies.
Preloop Guide
Frog has one of the most unique game styles because of his passive - being unable to stop moving, which makes the player constantly have to focus on Frog's movement. This makes walking through narrow corridors a hassle and dodging bullets even worse. Thankfully, his active serves as a remedy for this, stopping Frog from moving while he charges up toxic gas. The tricky part about him is learning to control his movement while dodging enemy attacks, be it with his active or without.
When first playing Frog, try experimenting moving around a lot to get more familiar with his movement behaviors. While he can use his active to stand still this can be dangerous mid-combat, so being familiar with the exact quirks of his movement is beneficial to the player. Making sharp turns can be especially tricky in high stress situations, so practicing quickly tapping the active button or being able to predict his movement arcs is a good way to get familiar for when things get more chaotic later on.
Frog's active isn't really that good for offensive damage output. You can use it defensively in areas like Sewers or Frozen City for enemies such as rats or snowbots, but running up and using the toxic near enemies doesn't work too well.
A common strategy in preloop is to hide behind walls or near spawn while waiting for weapon reloads or sniping enemies, however Frog will have more difficulty with this because of his movement. Because of this taking mutations that benefit Frog are especially important; if taking damage is hard to avoid then try taking some healing mutations to make up for it. If having trouble with enemies overwhelming Frog taking weapon/damage mutations to bolster his offense will go a long way. While these are standard survival tips normally, Frog may need to depend on these a lot more because of his drawbacks. Hammerhead should be avoided because Frog will have a very hard time using it properly due to his movement, making it largely just waste a mutation slot.
Weapon choices can be somewhat standard, though explosive weapons can be a bit more on the dangerous side because of Frog's sometimes janky movement, using it in close to mid-range against enemies may lead to unintentional damage more often than on other characters. On the other hand, toxic weapons can no longer do toxic damage to Frog, making them a fantastic choice in the areas they drop in.
Loop Guide
Frog has two choices between ultras to run in loop, Distance and Intimacy. Between the two Distance is the far better choice, as it is difficult to gain much value from Intimacy in comparison. Distance will help clear out lower HP enemies, and do chip damage to higher HP enemies which is a constant help. Meanwhile for Intimacy, melee weapons will erase toxic gas and will actively work against that ultra, generally the amount of gas is just somewhat helpful in keeping contact enemies away from Frog. Because of this, it is recommended to run the Distance ultra regardless of build.
In terms of survival, the same issues that plague Frog in preloop persist here. Having a good melee to knock away incoming projectiles helps alleviate his meddlesome movement, but generally Frog is the worst character when it comes to only running ranged weapons because of his inability to avoid damage.
Leaning into a melee build is very helpful here, so mutations like Long Arms can go a long way, similarly to any healing or damage mutations to make gameplay more forgiving. Thronebutt while not amazing, makes enemies much more likely to be damaged by toxic gas either from Distance ultra or if Frog uses his active, so while not central to a build is a solid pick if in a set where there are mediocre or unhelpful mutations otherwise.
Frog's active is less helpful in loop as there is a much larger focus on fast paced gameplay, but doesn't have to be completely discarded. There are some instances he can spawn toxic gas near chokepoints/spawn where contact enemies may try to approach him, though generally loop play gives a lot less opportunities.
Meta Guide
Frog’s big upside in meta is Distance. It lets him clear levels much quicker than most other characters. That being said, some quirks of his movement make some bosses more difficult than they need to be. Smart positioning and play goes a long way, and in deeploop it can be all the more important. As for typical mutations, the standard perfect sets work just fine on Frog. Thronebutt is honestly not too bad of a pick if you don’t have any other better mutations to take.
Frog's active definitely falls off at this point and isn't too useful while running standard meta, it mainly should be used if Frog ever needs to be stationary. Otherwise, ultra shovel is a great way to help control movement.
Because of his powers not being particularly impressive at this point of the game and having a negative passive, Frog is a bit on the lower end of viability. He will also struggle more on the hard bosses than other characters in the later loops, so it's important to counter Frog's drawbacks with technical knowledge and strategizing to better chances of success.
Bandits
Big Bandits pose a big threat to Frog and as the loops go on they become increasingly difficult. Frog can't stick to walls and hug corners, which makes Big Bandit cleanup not go well. This is especially so when there are multiple of them around you, having an exact position can be key to avoid damage and to get them to start charge attacking. A well timed active press can get you closer to the wall and a safer position rather than bumbling around and bouncing your head into the wall repeatedly, but in close proximity of charging Big Bandits fast reaction time is especially vital here to avoid getting killed.
Mom
Frog struggles with Mom in a similar way to Bandits. While toxic spawned by him can heal Mom it's not something that makes her impossible. As with other characters you'll want to hang near walls or a corner to be safe, away from freak bullets, grenades, and Mom's relentless charges. Frog's bouncing movement makes holding against walls more of a struggle, the same strategy of using your active near walls like Bandits can be employed if it's really necessary, but probably won't help as much.
Throne II
Throne II is one of the toughest bosses made even worse because of Frog's movement. Lasers leave very small gaps that Frog cannot try to stand between unless he briefly uses his active. The safest option is often to melee swing his way over to safe spots without any lasers present. Avoiding tough situations entirely is especially key with Frog - these fights should be taken quite seriously.