Setup Overview

Before diving right into meta it's important to outline the differences in versions and how mutation sets are obtained.

The best option is to play the 2025 openbeta or NTT v100, which are the latest versions that experiences far less lag and includes many bugfixes. A summary of changes can be found here, with other notable changes include reducing chain explosions and fixing SPC damage explained on the Survival page. Settings has also been expanded including rad attract options and remapping for controls.

There are also many other character changes that factors into their metas.

• Rogue's Blast Armor & SBA Ultra will no longer trigger IDPD grenades.
• Horror's Stalker will no longer trigger IDPD grenades.
• Skeleton's Blood Gamble will no longer consume rads on ultra weapons, such as Ultra Crossbow.
• Chicken's weapon being erased if it is thrown when a portal opens will no longer happen.
• Plant's TB will cause enemies to die at 33.33% or below, raised from 33%.

Be aware that fresh builds may have game-breaking bugs, which are reported through the NT Discord.

These changes are not present on the stable version u99r1, also known as non-beta. This version still finds use in the daly community and by older players, otherwise falling out of favor. The 2021 openbeta is a similar case, mainly being used for dailies.

The other part of setup is considering which method will be used to obtain a mutation set:

Method 1: Setgrinding
Historically players would repeatedly grind out a mutation set to see if they have a viable set, restarting the run if not. Many really old records use this method, but this fell out of popularity as it is very time consuming.

Method 2: Daily Sheet
Daily runs are seeded, meaning that mutation information from other players can be used to find the best set available. Some set mechanics are particularly advanced/convoluted, so be warned.

Method 3: Grillskills
This NTT mod completely removes mutation RNG and is commonly allowed on most leaderboards. It became popular during 2021 and is the preferred mode of play to most meta players now.

Tools

A list of record sheets that are actively updated can be found here. Most sheets have different rulesets.

For video evidence any recording software works, OBS is the go-to choice here. Even if a run is not worth publicly posting, it can be used to review deaths and learn from mistakes.

NTT can be used for more than just runs as there are mods for testing. The debug mod is great for going to specific areas and spawning in enemies/bosses. There is also a practice mod available in the NT Discord to start on Loop 6 with ultra.

Record eligible runs for NTT v9940 will require explofix mod as explosions are broken on this version. Download is only available through the NT Discord currently.

Record eligible runs for NTT v9944 will require vanfix mod as Van collisions are bugged on this version.