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

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

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

(dont forget pellet weapons)