Character Overview

Horror is the eleventh character in the game and is unlocked by defeating the Hostile Horror enemy, which only spawns once a run if two Radiation Canisters are skipped in a row. They have a normal starting loadout with the Revolver. Their B-Skin is unlocked if they defeat the Hyper Crystal, a boss found on 4-1 L1 (loop Caves).

Horror A Sprites
	Icon	Horror B Sprites	Icon
	Idle		Idle
	Walk		Walk
	Death		Death

Abilities

• Holding RMB down will fire a rad beam, which uses ammunition from the leveling bar.
• The rad beam can no longer be used once out of rads; leveling down will never occur.
• Every little particle does 1 damage to both enemies and props.
• Continuous usage of rad beam will cause it to consume rads at a faster rate, and will also widen the beam damaging more at once.
• Rad beam will erase enemy projectiles it comes in contact with, working similar to piercing melee.
• It will cause enemy explosives to instantly detonate. Rad beam will ignore player explosives unless if deflected.
• When an enemy is killed or a prop is destroyed they will give all the rads poured into them back to the player.
• Any rad beam usage on projectiles or walls will cause those rads to be lost.
• Rad attraction is disabled during rad beam usage and for about one second after using the beam. Rads can still be collected by walking directly over them.
• This also applies if an exit portal is opened, though rads may inch towards the player if actively holding down RMB still.
• Shields will simply negate the beam, causing those rads to be wasted.

• Horror will see an extra mutation choice when leveling up, seeing 5 mutations instead of 4.
• They are also given a 3rd ultra choice, instead of the usual 2.
• Can still only pick 1 mutation/ultra from a set, they will have the same total mutations as any other character.
• Extra choice also applies to Crown of Destiny, giving 2 mutation picks instead of 1.
• Once Horror no longer has any mutation sets to see their passive no longer serves a purpose.

• Beam will now widen at a faster rate, and consume rads roughly 30% faster.
• Continually using beam will heal Horror for about 1 HP after 1 second.
• If Horror holds down RMB for a full ultra rad bar they will regain 8 HP total; 11 HP if running Meltdown ultra.
• Spacing out rad beam can be done to regain more HP, letting go of RMB any time health is regained.
• A full ultra bar will heal around 14 HP instead of 8, which is more than enough to heal Horror to full.

Ultra A: Stalker		Ultra B: Anomaly		Ultra C: Meltdown

• When enemies are killed they will explode into pellets in random directions.
• These pellets do 1 damage to any enemy/prop. Never harms the player.
• The amount of pellets is equal to 60% of the rads dropped. This means that if an enemy drops 10 rads, it will spawn 6 pellets.
• This is rounded down, meaning 1 rad enemies (Maggots and Freaks) will not cause pellets to spawn.
• Any pellet that hits an enemy will cause them to drop 1 extra rad, which can also cause them to spawn extra pellets.
• If Horror uses their rad beam on enemies this will also contribute to the amount of Stalker pellets spawned.
• Similar to rad beam these pellets will erase enemy projectiles. Shields will erase pellets.
• Also similar to rad beam, these pellets will detonate enemy explosions.
• IDPD Grenades will not be detonated by Stalker in the Beta versions of the game.
• IDPD explosions will erase pellets, meaning that Vans with rads in them (L3+) will instantly erase their pellets.
• Props will never spawn pellets even if Horror uses their rad beam on them.

• If the combined HP of all enemies in a level is below 140, all remaining enemies will all automatically be killed.
• Vans are not counted in the HP total, but will be destroyed by Anomaly.
• Props do not count and are not automatically destroyed.
• Anomaly can proc multiple times in a level if enemies ever spawn in partway.
• If Anomaly procs before IDPD or Vans start to spawn in, they will all instantly be killed.
• This will cause Vans to instantly explode.
• IDPD spawning before the Throne II fight will always be killed instantly.
• Big Bandit and Big Dog only count when they're active, meaning that Anomaly can kill all enemies in the level before their fights start. Their fights cannot be skipped.
• Ravens and Lil Hunter flying temporarily remove them from the HP count, only being killed by Anomaly upon landing.

• The ultra rad meter is doubled from 600 to 1200.
• This allows for more beam usage and ultra weapon usage.
• Rad beam will still grow at the same rate as before. Holding down RMB for the whole rad bar will reach greater widths/damage than normally.

Preloop Strategy Guide

Horror does not particularly stand out in preloop, only having the chance to shine during loop play.

Active Rating: (Text)
Any rads that are used on enemy projectiles or walls are gone forever, meaning that frequent usage of Horror's active will lead to a loss of rads until max level is reached around loop. It's best to use rad beam early on just as a panic button - trading off a few rads to avoid taking damage or to try to quickly kill a boss is worth the trade-off.

Passive Rating: (Text)
While Horror is not guaranteed to be given a good set, having an extra mutation to choose from will still come in handy as they will rarely have just bad choices.

Thronebutt Rating: (Text)
Thronebutt eats rads significantly quicker which will limit Horror's leveling any time it's used. This is a particularly bad mutation to take in preloop as choosing between leveling up or regaining some HP is a bad trade to take, any other healing mutation will help a run without limiting Horror.

Unlike other character pages, Horror's preloop tips are actually quite short as their preloop is pretty vanilla between restricting their active usage and their passive changing very little gameplay-wise. For this reason any useful mutations can be taken without specifically building around Horror's strengths, although be aware that any rad beam usage around IDPD can be dangerous (3-2 and 5-2 Vaults, Palace levels), so having Strong Spirit or Boiling Veins wouldn't hurt.

Loop Strategy Guide

Gameplay for Horror substantially changes in loop as their three ultras let them take very different routes, and are able to use their active a lot more. While their passive won't have any use after reaching ultra, the extra mutation choice will often leave Horror with a decent set in the worst case, rather than a bad one.

Before touching on ultras, it should be noted that Crown of Destiny is very easy to utilize on Horror for a 9 mutation set. A common strategy by high-level players is to take Crown of Destiny on 3-2 in preloop for an extra mutation, and then 'radstarve' (avoid collecting any rads) to avoid leveling up until they swap out their crown on the 5-2 vault. This largely avoids the downside of Destiny while giving an extra mutation - while being a high effort strategy except on Horror. Rad beam can simply be used to avoid leveling up, no radstarving needed. The mechanics page for Crown of Destiny can be read to determine what mutations Horror would see when taking the crown.

Stalker Rating: (Text)
Stalker will instantly set off IDPD grenades on Non-Beta (u99r1). If not running Boiling Veins, this ultra is pretty much never worth the risk.
As for the Betas, the idea behind Stalker is it will add some extra chip damage to enemies which is marginally useful at this point of the game. While this ultra is worth taking at least once to try out, it is very easily overshadowed by Anomaly in L1-L2.

Anomaly Rating: (Text)
Anomaly is one of the best ultras during loop play out of the entire character roster. Any time the HP pool is low enough in a level all enemies will instantly die, which will help cut down on a run's time substantially and remove any threats at the end of the level. On top of this, Horror will usually get plenty of pickups from the remaining enemies making them rarely ever start levels on low ammo/health. Be aware that portals spawning in will be particularly unpredictable with Anomaly, and that some weapons/chests may be left behind if suddenly sucked through.

If Horror is running a high damage build then they may frequently cause Anomaly to proc before IDPD has a chance to spawn in, which will cause them to all instantly die as they spawn in. This is especially common in levels where enemies have low HP pools, like 3-1 and 3-2. Be aware that Anomaly will cause Vans to instantly explode, making them dangerous to be near in close proximity as there is no way to tell when Anomaly will proc the first time.

Anomaly can be boosted even more with Scarier Face, and optionally Crown of Luck if wanting to lean in to it entirely. The only limiting factor for this ultra is Crown of Blood which is popular for score/meta runs; while this will detract from Anomaly's effectiveness, it is still a great ultra to take.

Meltdown Rating: (Text)
Meltdown fills a specific niche of either leaning heavily into Horror's rad beam or ultra weapon usage. If not planning to run either, this ultra can be ignored as well.
This ultra is specifically useful for when rads may be exhausted very quickly such as during boss fights, which are situations where Anomaly would not be directly helpful with. Meltdown is mostly just a decent pick to use the rad beam/ultra weapons much more during combat, but is very easily overshadowed by Anomaly in L1-L2.

Active Rating: (Text)
Typically once reaching max level rads are only used for fueling ultra weapons - however Horror has the option to freely use rads as a third weapon instead via their rad beam. This can be used to erase enemy projectiles, sink massive amounts of damage into bosses, and make for decent cover while retreating - the only downside here is that it can trigger IDPD grenades on any version, so caution should be applied once they start spawning in. If Horror is running an ultra weapon then the active is best used just as a panic button, similar to preloop play.

Thronebutt Rating: (Text)
Horror's Thronebutt sounds useful on paper, as a faster charging rad beam deals more damage quicker and rads can be traded for HP. In practice, this may actively discourage the player from using rad beam outside of situations in which they explicitly want to heal, which trades off Horror's active as a third weapon for some extra HP instead. Any healing mutation would still be leagues better as it does not sacrifice active usage.

As for other mutations, Horror can really take any standard pick. Scarier Face is always a good option, and would suit every ultra playstyle well. Plutonium Hunger can be given some more priority too due to Horror's rad-focused gameplay.

Meta Strategy Guide

Note that this is an advanced guide, it is meant to be used by those primarily looking at loops 3+. This builds off of content shared in the meta guide.

Horror falls around the middle in terms of meta rankings as their ultras make the game more easy for newer players, but don't have strong late-game viability. They are a great character to pick for those trying to learn deeploop or want a more casual run.

Standard p9 runs apply to Horror, or any other set the player may prefer. Due to how easy it is for Horror to utilize Crown of Destiny, they should always utilize a full 9 mutation set unless if it's absolutely not optimal (such as a specific daily challenge route).

Active Rating: (Text)
Thronebutt Rating: (Text)
As Ultra Shovel takes rads to use, Horror's active is not useful here as it would compete for rad usage and is the less useful choice to use in combat, and can be ignored pretty much completely. Horror's Thronebutt accelerates rad usage which is a straight up downgrade at this point of the game and is a waste of a mutation slot.

Stalker Rating: (Text)
Stalker is a very bad idea to take in Non-Beta (u99r1) as it can proc IDPD grenades. Popo Freaks can drop them at any time which makes every level a death trap. The only situation in which Horror should ever run Stalker is if Boiling Veins is being ran while on this version.
As for the Betas, Stalker provides constant chip damage which is more useful than early loop gameplay due to the heavy amount of enemies/rads in later loops. While this is not a remarkable ultra pick still, the extra damage may be preferred if the upsides of Anomaly or Meltdown are not appealing at all.

Anomaly Rating: (Text)
The main issue with Anomaly is that it does not scale by loop but rather is a fixed number, meaning that with every following loop it will kill a smaller percentage of enemies left in the level than the loop before. This makes the ultra a diminishing return over time - however, deeploop players still take Anomaly frequently as it is a QoL mutation. Often times enemies may 'sneak off' to corners of the level where SPC spam does not reach them, and the time it takes to track them down may cause Popo Freaks to have another respawn wave which adds unnecessary time to a run. In most cases, Anomaly circumvents this which significantly speeds up the run.

Meltdown Rating: (Text)
The issue with Meltdown is that rad management is actually fairly simple to do, and running out of rads is uncommon for any experienced player. This ultra is best for players who are still learning to play meta and are new to L3+, and could use the extra rads. Aside from being new, there is still use in taking Meltdown as it can help recover quicker from major misplays during some boss fights such as Mom or Throne II where ushov may be spammed relentlessly, and Popo Freak respawns have yet to occur.

Which Horror ultra to take?
While Anomaly is the clear winner in L1-L2, the best ultra is actually up to player preference. Anomaly is really useful in reaching deeploop and speeding up the game, Meltdown is great training wheels to those in deeploop and helps make up for terrible misplays, while Stalker has useful chip damage to those that do not care for Anomaly/Meltdown benefits. Any of Horror's ultras is the right answer to take.