Nuclear Throne is host to over a hundred weapons and understanding how weapons work is a key part to the success of any run. This page will provide an overview of every weapon type and the tech behind them. Each level progressed adds another set of weapons to the pool, until 2-1 L1 is reached and the weapon pool is maxed out at 108 weapons. Additionally between starters, secret weapons and removed weapons there are actually a total of 127 unique weapons in the game.
To avoid page clutter the weapon pages are split into two. This one will explain the exact tech of every single weapon, while the Weapon Table page will list every weapon's stats and the area they drop in.
For the sake of this guide 'object' refers to any prop or enemy, to reduce repetition.
Meanwhile a 'perfect shot' refers to the maximum amount of damage a weapon can do in an ideal circumstance - usually only to large bosses or generators by standing right on top of them or strategic angling. (link later)
Bullet Weapons
All weapons here use the bullet ammo type and are under the effect of the Recycle Gland mutation. No bullet weapon can pierce enemies. All bullet types can be deflected by shields, switching the projectile to the IDPD's team which can then damage the player.
Bullet ammos uniquely have a 255 ammo cap while all other weapon types have 55, due to the weapons having a naturally high ammo consumption.
Normal Bullet | ||||
Revolver |
Golden Revolver |
Rogue Rifle |
Rusty Revolver |
Assault Rifle |
Machinegun |
SMG |
Triple Machinegun |
Minigun |
Hyper Rifle |
Smart Gun |
Quadruple Machinegun |
Double Minigun |
Golden Machinegun |
Golden Assault Rifle |
Normal bullets are simple projectiles that move fast and in a straight line. They deal 3 damage to objects and disappear after hitting something, whether it's an object or wall.
Heavy Bullet | ||
Heavy Revolver |
Heavy Machinegun |
Heavy Assault Rifle |
Heavy bullet projectiles mechanically works the same as normal bullet projectiles but each do 7 damage each instead.
Bouncer Bullet | |
Bouncer SMG |
Bouncer Shotgun |
Bouncy bullet projectiles that will rotate when shot(while still traveling in a straight line), they move much slower than other bullet projectiles and will do 4 damage each upon contact with any object.
Upon hitting a wall bouncer bullets will bounce off of it once in a direction based off of its current trajectory. They will disappear if hitting any wall a second time. The bounce counter does not get reset if shielded, the projectile can only ever bounce off of a wall once.
Ultra Bullet |
Ultra Revolver |
Ultra bullets are the strongest bullet variation, it travels faster than any other bullet projectile and does 18 damage upon any contact with any object. Similarly disappears upon contact with any wall.
Shell Weapons
All weapons here use the shell ammo type and are under the effect of Shotgun Shoulders. No shell weapon is capable of piercing. All shell types(besides hyper) can be deflected by shields, switching the projectile to the IDPD's team which can then damage the player, though their current momentum will be retained upon being shielde.
All shell weapons have a special property where they will deal extra damage if dealt to an enemy/prop within 2 frames of leaving the weapon, otherwise referred to as 'point blank range' here on for the sake of this guide. If taking Shotgun Shoulders then point blank will also apply to the two frames after any wall bounce for any shell projectile.
Pellet | ||||||
Shotgun |
Double Shotgun |
Auto Shotgun |
Sawed-Off Shotgun |
Eraser |
Wave Gun |
Golden Shotgun |
Pellet projectiles will do 2 damage normally and 3 damage at point blank range to any object. Their projectile will lose momentum after a while, then fade after coming to a stop. Upon hitting a wall they will bounce off of it, but will not gain extra momentum. As long as they have enough momentum they can bounce off of walls multiple times, more easily illustrated if taking Shotgun Shoulders.
Flame Pellet | ||
Flame Shotgun |
Double Flame Shotgun |
Auto Flame Shotgun |
Flame pellets are similar to normal pellets where they will deal 2 damage normally/3 damage point blank, but with the added benefit of dealing flame damage. Upon the projectile fading away or impacting an object/wall it will spawn one flame per. pellet that does 2 damage per. hit animation for up to 6 additional damage.
Unlike pellets however, flame pellets normally will not bounce off of walls normally. Shotgun Shoulders allows them to have one bounce total, the bounce does not add any extra flames.
In the non-beta versions of the game a bug is present where flame pellets do not deal additional flame damage point blank. This is fixed in present beta versions of the game.
Slug | ||||
Slugger |
Assault Slugger |
Gatling Slugger |
Super Slugger |
Golden Slugger |
Large compact versions of pellets that do 22 damage normally and 24 damage at point blank range. Similarly fades if not making any contact with an object/wall at a similar range to pellets, and can bounce off of walls multiple times if given the momentum.
Heavy Slug |
Heavy Slugger |
Heavy slugs work similar to normal slugs but have greatly reduced range fading much quicker. They do 60 damage normally and will deal 70 damage instead at point blank.
Hyper Slug |
Hyper Slugger |
Hyper slugs are a special projectile that when shot will instantly make contact with whatever object/wall is in its direct path. It deals 28 damage at point blank which is almost guaranteed as it instantly will make contact. If it hits a wall it will bounce off of it with a visible shell projectile, and after the two initial frames of being shot it will deal 26 damage if it manages to hit an enemy before it fades.
These projectiles are actually able to deal damage through shields and will not be deflected normally, which is different from every other shell weapon. If they are shot while standing directly near the shield the hyper slug will bounce off of the shield, but does not seem to hit the player.
Flak Ball |
Flak Cannon |
Flak balls are projectiles that will deal 10 damage at point blank or 8 damage normally. Upon hitting an object/wall or when the projectile comes to a stop it will burst into 16 normal pellets in all directions. These will deal 3 damage from point blank from where the flak cannon broke within 2 frames, or 2 damage normally.
With a perfect shot the maximum amount of damage dealt can be 58 damage.
Flak balls cannot bounce off of walls but the pellets can, and the pellets will still be effected by Shotgun Shoulders as intended.
Large Flak Ball |
Super Flak Cannon |
Large flak balls will travel a shorter distance than normal flak balls. They deal 50 damage at point blank, otherwise dealing 45 damage normally. These will then break into 5 flak balls in different directions, which will each then behave like flak balls that break into additional pellets.
A perfect shot with the maximum amount of damage dealt can be 340, however unlikely.
Similarly to flak balls these will not bounce off of walls even with Shotgun Shoulders, only the pellets from the flaks will.
Ultra Pellet |
Ultra Shotgun |
Ultra pellets are the strongest pellet variation, it will bounce much further than normal pellets do and will deal three times the damage of normal pellets, which is 9 damage at point blank or 6 damage normally.
Pop Bullet Weapons
Pop bullets are a special hybrid type that uses bullet ammo, but does NOT work with Recycle Gland. Rather, they have the properties of pellet projectiles. Works similar to their pellet and flame pellet counterparts for shell weapons; similarly if deflected by a shield will change the projectile's team to the IDPD, but its momentum will not be reset.
Pop Bullet | |
Pop Gun |
Pop Rifle |
Pop projectiles are similar to pellet weapons where they deal 2 damage normally and 3 damage at point blank upon contact with any object. Otherwise, the projectile will fade after running out of momentum. As long as the projectile has yet to fade it is able to bounce off of walls multiple times.
Pop Flame Bullet |
Incinerator |
Flame pop projectiles are similar to flame pellet weapons where the pellet itself deals 2 damage normally and 3 damage at point blank upon contact with any object. Once the projectile hits an object/wall or fades away, will leave behind one flame for a short moment. These deal an additional 2 damage per. hit animation, for up to 6 damage per. flame.
These cannot bounce off of walls normally, but if taking Shotgun Shoulders are able to bounce off of any wall once.
In the non-beta versions of the game a bug is present where flame pellets do not deal additional flame damage point blank. This is fixed in present beta versions of the game.
Bolt Weapons
All weapons here use the bolt ammo type and can be effected by Bolt Marrow. Most bolt weapons are capable of piercing enemies which has the potential to multi-kill, but can be dependent on enemy HP. Shields will simply cancel out any bolt type aside from discs.
Bolts similarly to bullets will have the projectile end upon hitting a wall, though the bolt will visually stick out of the wall for a moment before despawning. Ultra bolts & discs interact with walls differently as listed below.
Normal Bolt | |||
Crossbow |
Auto Crossbow |
Super Crossbow |
Golden Crossbow |
Normal bolts will do 20 damage upon contact with any object. If an object is below 10 HP the bolt will pierce through it continuing onwards, which can pierce or damage further enemies past that.
Heavy Bolt | |
Heavy Crossbow |
Heavy Auto Crossbow |
Heavy bolts do 50 damage upon contact with any object, and can pierce any object that is below 30 HP.
Toxic Bolt |
Toxic Bow |
Toxic bolts do 16 damage upon contact with any object, and can pierce any object that is below 8 HP. After impact with any object/wall it will burst into 15 toxic clouds that deal 3 damage each to anything, which includes the player.
Splinter | |||
Splinter Gun |
Splinter Pistol |
Super Splinter Gun |
Golden Splinter Gun |
Splinters do 4 damage each. Unlike other bolt weapons, they cannot pierce objects.
Seeker | |
Seeker Pistol |
Seeker Shotgun |
Seekers do 9 damage each. Similar to splinters, they cannot pierce objects.
Disc | ||
Disc Gun |
Super Disc Gun |
Golden Disc Gun |
Discs do 6 damage and can infinitely pierce any sort of object regardless of what HP it has. These can also damage the player. Very large objects can be damaged by discs multiple times as it passes through them. They will continually bounce off walls unlike other bolts, though the number of bounces seems to be somewhat dependent on air time. (Figure this out later)
If shielded, disc projectiles will then join the IDPD team, in which it can still damage the player but no longer hurt IDPD units.
Ultra Bolts | ||
Ultra Crossbow |
Ultra bolts are the strongest bolt variation that do 45 damage to any object. They're able to pierce through any object that is below 20 HP. Upon hitting a wall it will actually pierce it, breaking 4 tiles before the projectile disappears.
Explosive Weapons
All weapons here use explosive ammo. Explosions will not only damage any object but the player as well, while weapon mutations usually upgrade the weapon Boiling Veins rather makes the weapons safer to use. Fire/Blood weapons do not benefit from Boiling Veins as the projectiles themselves do not damage the player.
(Shield tech later)
Explosives damage is actually simple, they do damage twice in rapid succession. In normal gameplay that means that the explosion damage is always doubled, though sometimes the second instance of damage can be avoided if the player is just barely within the explosion for the first instance of damage and is outside of it for the second instance. Boiling Veins removes the second instance of damage entirely from damaging the player.
Grenade | |
Grenade Launcher |
Golden Grenade Launcher |
Grenades will do 15 impact damage upon contact with any object and will cause explosion damage that deals 5 damage twice, for a total of 10 damage.
The grenade will lose momentum coming to a stop, then give a blinking effect before exploding if it does not make contact with any object. Grenades can bounce off of walls, and their explosions can destroy walls if it is close enough.
Mini Grenade | ||
Grenade Shotgun |
Grenade Rifle |
Auto Grenade Shotgun |
Packed Mini Grenade |
Cluster Launcher |
Missile | |||
Bazooka |
Super Bazooka |
Gatling Bazooka |
Golden Bazooka |
Nuke | |
Nuke Launcher |
Golden Nuke Launcher |
Blood | |
Blood Launcher |
Blood Cannon |
Fire | |||
Flamethrower |
Flare Gun |
Dragon |
Flame Cannon |
Blue Explosion |
Hyper Launcher |
Ultra Grenade |
Ultra Grenade Launcher |
- Explosive Types - Uses Explosions, benefits from Boiling Veins.
- Explosive weapons have varying degrees of range based on type. Will detonate upon hitting any enemy/prop to cause explosive damage, which can also harm the player. Blood/Fire works differently as listed below.
- Explosives will always do damage twice in rapid succession. In normal gameplay this means that its damage value is doubled, however there are rare cirumstances the player or enemies may just barely avoid getting damaged twice if they are within the explosive during the first instance and outside of the explosive in the second instance. Explosive damage is as follows;
- Normal explosions will do 5 damage twice, for a total of 10 damage.
- Mini explosions do the same damage as normal explosions, but are much smaller.
- Green explosions will do 12 damage twice, for a total of 24 damage.
- IDPD explosions will do 8 damage twice for a total of 16 damage.
- Grenade: 2 weapons; grenade that deals 15 impact damage and will cause normal explosion damage upon its detonation. Will slow down after being shot coming to a stop, then light up before detonation. Can bounce off walls and also destroy them.
- Mini Grenade: 3 weapons; smaller grenades that do 3 impact damage and will cause mini explosion damage. After being shot out will travel a medium distance from the player then detonate, or will automatically detonate in contact with any enemies/props or any walls.
- Packed Mini Grenade: 1 weapon; packed cluster grenade that can bounce off of walls and does 7 impact damage. Upon destruction will burst into 8 mini grenades in which it will then behave as such.
- Missile: 4 weapons; missile that deals 20 impact damage and will fire in its direction until making contact with any enemy/prop/wall in which it will detonate into a normal explosion with 3 smaller explosions around it.
- Nuke: 2 weapons; a nuke that follows the player's cursor that does 60 damage upon impact on any enemy/prop/wall. Upon detonation will cause 8 normal explosions with 7 mini explosions all mixed between each other.
- Blood: 2 weapons; fires a blood explosion that does not harm the player and can erase projectiles. Health can be consumed in place of ammo if ammo is exhausted. Blood launcher cannot break walls while Blood cannon can.
- Fire: 4 weapons; does 2 fire damage per hit animation for up to 6 damage per. flame.
- Blue Explosion: Hyper Launcher
Energy Weapons
All weapons here uses energy ammo.
Laser | |||
Laser Pistol |
Laser Rifle |
Laser Minigun |
Golden Laser Pistol |
Laser Beam |
Laser Cannon |
Lightning | ||||
Lightning Pistol |
Lightning Rifle |
Lightning Shotgun |
Lightning Cannon |
Lightning SMG |
Plasma | |||
Plasma Gun |
Plasma Rifle |
Plasma Minigun |
Golden Plasma Gun |
- Energy Types - Uses Energy, benefits from Laser Brain.
- Energy weapons have infinite range but have limited piercing. Every enemy/prop they pass through will decay the projectile until it comes to a stop. Energy weapons can damage enemies for multiple instances that they're exposed to the projectiles, meaning that their damage levels will vary heavily.
- Laser: 4 weapons; laser beams that deals 2 damage per. instance which can go up to 10 damage per. beam.
- Laser Beam: 1 weapon; laser cannon. (figure out later)
- Lightning: 5 weapons; lightning rails that will curve towards nearby targets and will do 7 damage twice, for a total of 14 damage.
- Plasma: 4 weapons; deals 4 damage an instance as it passes through enemies shrinking, doing less damage until it does 2 damage an instance. Once it deals 16 damage or upon hitting a wall will cause a plasma explosion that does 10 damage twice for a total of 20 damage.
- (PC/Devvy/SPC later)
Melee Weapons
Swingable | ||||||||
Chicken Sword |
Wrench |
Shovel |
Sledgehammer |
Blood Hammer |
||||
Lightning Hammer |
Golden Wrench |
Ultra Shovel |
Guitar |
Black Sword |
Piercing | |
Screwdriver |
Golden Screwdriver |
Energy Swingable | |
Energy Hammer |
Energy Sword |
Energy Piercing |
Energy Screwdriver |
Explosive Piercing |
Jackhammer |
- Melee - Does not use ammo, benefits from Long Arms
- Melee weapons have very short range but are capable of damaging any enemy within its swing radius. They can also damage through walls(though their range will be reduced), and can deflect/negate most enemy projectiles in the game.
- Swingable: 9 weapons; each weapon does varying amounts of damage to enemies with different ranges and properties. Most enemy projectiles can be deflected/negated depending on its type, and any grenade can be launched from the player. Deflected projectiles will change teams to the player and will instead damage enemies; explosives will always remain dangerous to the player but deflecting discs will actually make them safe to use.
- Piercing: 2 weapons; both are screwdrivers that deal 6 damage each. Is able to hit multiple enemies at a time within its limited range and can also be swung through walls, but will always negate enemy projectiles instead of deflecting them. Additionally, will pierce grenades causing them to explode.
- (Add energy melee/explosive melee later)
(dont forget pellet weapons)