Item Throwing Guide

Want to hurl knives like a ninja, Bullseye enemies 30 ft. away with a Great Sword, or Toss a hammer like a Norse God?

If you have, this guide aims to help you out!

The basic information within will get you ready to delve deep into Dredgers.

Dredgers Version: V47.

What is Item Throwing?

Throwing items is a basic action that many players already do without realizing it.

Anytime items are taken out of the inventory and placed on the map it is thrown towards the cursor/mouse location. Most of the time, stats are not well distributed to take advantage or see great results.

To get the most out of throwing items, characters need at least 14 - 20 Strength (Str.) before items are flung quickly across the room. With this minimal amount of Str., players can take proper advantage of throwing weapons, shields, and potions for fantastic damage and applying status effects.

Basics & Mechanics:

Although throwing distance and speed is based on Strength, throwing damage is based on the item, class skills, and active passives. Despite the type of item, all damage dealt from throwing is considered as a melee hit.

• Dexterity builds want to throw Dex. items (Bows, Knives, etc.),
  
• Defense builds want to throw Def. items (Shields, Hammers, etc.)
  
• Constitution builds want to throw Con. items (Maces, Scythes, etc.).
  
• Etc.

Energy & Intelligence damage from staffs, wands, and energized items (scholar passive) are not factored into throwing damage.

Exhaustion

Just like swinging a sword or drawing a bow, throwing an item exhausts one (1) hand which means two (2) items can be thrown at once. Attempting to throw items without an available hand will drop the item(s) harmlessly to the ground.

Hands/limbs recover quickly after throwing items compared to melee swings or shooting projectiles. Casting spells does not physically exhaust hands; so casting and throwing can be done simultaneously.

Critical Hits

Thrown Items can critical after unlocking Fencer's Critical Strike which scales based on Dex. This means Dex. heavy builds scale base damage and critical damage from investing in one stats (unlike projectiles or fists). Heavy Str. builds will gain the least from Critical Strikes, but is well worth taking after Berserker.

Some weapons and items (such as taut & sniper bows) have different critical rates and modifiers than normal. Thus some will critical less often (E.G. 20% crit. instead of 50% crit.) but for far more damage (1000% - 2000% dmg. instead of 200% dmg.). Such items will be covered and listed later

Play-Style Considerations

With the heavy lifting complete,

How to get the most from tossing items?

Keep four (4) to eight (8) weapons or items intended for throwing that match your build's main stats. For some builds (Chm. & Con. in particular), the best weapon(s) and item(s) to throw will change depending on available classes (E.G. Berserker, BloodWeaver, etc.) or combat situation (damage which bypasses armor).

Recommended Crafted Weapons:
• Con: Great Axe (150% Str + 50% Con.)
  
• Def: Tower Shield (400% Def.)
  
• Str: Great Blade (400% Str.)
  
• Dex: Taut Bow (200% Dex.)
  
• Spd: Great Blade (400% Str.) w/ Battle Momentum
  
• Chm: Depends on Bard song.

Crafting

The most consistent way to get many good items is by crafting them yourself. Taking early crafter and/or blacksmith levels will greatly improve the quality of items available for the rest of the run.

Frequently deconstruct unwanted items to make crafting desired items easier. With enough resources stockpiled, characters can produce as many items as desired without constantly needing to retrieving them (prefect for bosses).

Dash Retrieval

For melee builds, simply toss spare weapons before dash/lunging while paused (space bar). After striking with dash/lunge, pause and attempt to pickup the thrown items by pressing E. At the end of the dash/lunge skill, once again toss the weapons if your character ended up out of melee range.

Dash Kiting

Squishier builds should save their movement skills to keep away from melee or to dodge ranged attacks while kiting around picking up & re-throwing items. Taking classes with stuns can greatly increase the survivability of squishier builds.

Potions

Either found in dungeons or bought from a shop, potions come in two flavors offensive and defensive. At the start, every potion is unknown and their color(s) are randomized.

Offensive Potions are meant to be thrown as they apply a huge amount of damage (burn, poison, etc.), strip defenses (dissolve armor, dissipate energy, etc.), or stun/paralyze enemies.

Defensive Potions are meant to be consume as needed to temporarily improve stats, recovery health, and apply other useful effects.

Before quaffing or throwing it's crucial to identify potions; otherwise a player may heal their foe or poison them-self during combat. It's suggested to use an identify scroll or test a tiny bit of unknown potions in a safe location before taking a chance mid-combat.

Tips & Tricks

• Items can be thrown or picked-up immediately during dashes, rolls, pauses (space bar), etc.
  
• Casting spells does not physically exhaust hands; so casting and throwing can be done simultaneously.
  
• Construct races may craft items without hunger requirements
  
• Speed (Spd.) increases recovery rate from exhaustion (less exhaustion = more actions)
  
• Bind multiple dashes and rolls to the same key for greater speed and distance
  
• Weapon & items with on-hit effects (bleed, burn, etc.) will still do so when thrown.
  
• Races unable to speak or cast benefit immensely by throwing items

Suggested Builds

Below are sample builds to help players learn and experiment with suggested class choices for late game.

None of these builds are definitive as many races do great following different stats or class choices than suggested below. If there are builds you would like to see added please comment.

Early Game

Starting characters will typically do more damage with fists than swinging starter gear or torches around. A lit torch will apply burning to enemies that bypasses armor; so it's always nice to apply that by throwing them.

Late Game

Deeper into the dungeon where enemies become fearsome, Charisma scaling gear paired with Bard song and Artificer enchant can do better than most other gear selections.

The basic Chm. gear package includes:
x2 Simple Charm (+25% Chm. ea.), Top Hat (+50% Chm.), and Royal Slippers (+100% Chm.)

With Artificer's enchant skill or Scribe's enchant scrolls, try enchanting gear for Charm (+1 Chm. per level) to get the most stats out of bard song.

Constitution (Con.)

Race: Wrought & Sandin
Class: Crafter -> Blacksmith -> Fighter -> Berserker
Stats: 15 Str. -> Con.
Gear Selection: Horned Helm and Chm. gear for late game bard scaling.

Early Game:
Punch with fists (no weapon equipped), throw lit torches, and dismantle items for crafting resources. At Blacksmith, craft a pickax to mine additional metals and create 6 to 8 Great Blades (400% Str.) or Great Axes (150% Str + 50% Con.) to throw.

Berserker is the breakthrough point as Death Toll increases Str. and Dex by 100% of your Con. after each kill for long periods of time.

If you happen across a Jar of Blood from dismantling, ingest it to unlock the BloodWeaver class. It’s Con. oriented skills will greatly increase your damage and healing potential.

Additional Classes: Fencer, Grappler, Bard + Artificer, Scribe

Defense (Def.)

Race: Dwarf, Crabmen, Trunket, Quooz
Class: Shieldmaster -> Crafter -> Blacksmith
Stats: 15 Str. -> Def. with some Con.
Gear Selection: Outlaw’s Hood and Metal Greaves

Early Game:
Purchase rimmed shield in the shop, dismantle unwanted items, and damage enemies with punches or thrown shields (skill or otherwise). Equip x2 shields, use the shield throw skill, shield bash in, and manually throw additional shields whenever possible. Avoid crafting many wooden shields with Crafter as Blacksmith’s metal shields are vastly superior.

With so many points in Def, an Outlaw's Hood (50% Def -> Dex.) will provide free Dex. that Fencer's Critical Strikes will turn into more damage.

Monk is another highly recommended class as Meditation will add 100% Def. to the character's Spd. status.

Additional Classes: Monk + Knight, Fencer, Bard + Artificer, Scribe

Strength (Str.)

Race: Domple, Grobold, Bogrisen, Rnd. Tooth
Class: Crafter -> Blacksmith
Stats: Str. with some Con.
Gear Selection: Horned Helm, Plated Greaves, or Chm. gear for late game.

Early Game:
Punch, throw torches, and dismantle unwanted items. With Blacksmith, craft a pickaxe to mine additional metal and create 6-8 Great Blades (400% Str.) to throw.

Note: Domples cannot craft until Berserker’s Death Toll is taken; so take Fighter -> Berserker -> Crafter -> Blacksmith.

Additional Classes: Bard + Artificer, Berserker + Fencer, Grappler

Dexterity (Dex.)

Race: Elf
Class: Crafter -> Fighter -> Fencer
Stats: 15 Str. -> Dex. with some Con.
Gear Selection: Sandles or Chm. gear for late game bard scaling.

Early Game:
Punch, throw torches, dismantle unwanted items, and craft 6-8 Taut (200% Dex.) or regular (100% Dex.) bows to throw.

Taking Fencer greatly increases throwing damage due to damage and critical hits scaling from a single status. Some bows (Taut & Sniper) have lower crit. chance %s but provide x10 to x20 damage modifiers. Select whichever bow you feel more comfortable with.

Having two (2) levels in Fencer's Disengage (toggle) is a great way to stun enemies and get out of close combat. A single level in Fencer's Parry enables thrown items to deflect arrows and projectile attacks.

Take Blacksmith if you would like to throw or use knives, rapiers, and infusion knives (explosion damage). Specialized bows that apply status effects only do so when firing arrow and not when thrown.

Additional Classes: Bard + Artificer, Grappler, MonsterSlayer,

Speed (Spd.)

Race: Domple, Scilit
Class: Fighter -> Knight -> Crafter -> Blacksmith
Stats: Spd. with some Con.
Gear Selection: Chm. gear for late game bard scaling.

Early Game:
Punch and lunge to unlock Knight’s Battle momentum which adds Spd. to Str. after a melee hits.

The trick is to hit a door or furniture before throwing items and engaging normally. At Blacksmith, craft a pickax to mine additional metals and create 6 to 8 Great Blades (400% Str.) to throw.

Additional Classes: Monk, Berserker, Bard + Artificer, Grappler

Charisma (Chm.)

Race: Any that speaks or casts
Class: Bard -> Crafter -> (Blacksmith) -> Scholar -> Artificer
Stats: 15 Str. -> Chm. with some Con.
Gear Selection: Simple Charms, Top Hat/Pretty Bow, Leather Coat, Royal Slippers

Early Game:
Purchase Royal Slippers from the shop, punch enemies, and select a primary song (Str./Def. or Dex./Spd.).

With Str./Def. song, take Blacksmith to craft 6 to 8 Great Blades (400% Str. ) to throw.

With Dex./Spd. song, skip Blacksmith and craft 6 to 8 bows (100% Dex) or taut bows (200% Dex.) to throw.

With Artificer, take two (2) Enchant ranks and start enchanting gear for +Chm. Thrown items can also be animated to provide additional damage and distract enemies.

Additional Classes: Stellar, Seducer/Leader, Fencer, Grappler, Scribe

Additional Classes

Artificer + Bard:

Str./Def. or Dex./Spd. Song(s), Animate 1, Enchant 2, Artifice Mastery
Enchanting weapons and armor for +Chm. per. level enables bardic songs to immensely increase stats. Artificer paired with Blacksmith also unlocks more specialized crafted items to use and throw. Notable items include Golden Blade, Holy Hammer, Holy Helm, Infusion Knife, and Ghost Blade (summons last killed enemy).

Berserker:

Blood in the Water 2, Berserk 1, Death Toll 2-3.
Death Toll can be necessary for Str. and Con. builds to gain enough Dex. to crit when throwing items. Be careful when activating Berserk as it’s a high risk : high reward skill that makes players particularly fragile. Incidentally Death Toll can enable Domples to craft while in effect.

Backsmith

Prospector 1-2, Blazing Forge 1, Crafting Mastery
Consistently enables players access to some of the best items in game without relaying on lucky drops or settling for awful modifiers. Requires positive Dex. or Int. to apply item modifiers yet the requirements are not too difficult to achieve even with Domple's Big Stupid trait. Highly recommended for scaling well into late game even if not throwing items.

BloodWeaver:

Transfuse 3, Pins and Needles 0, Stronger than Blood 3.
Unlocked by ingesting Jar of Blood or High Hp
Useful for Con. builds as it adds Con. to Str. (stacking with Berserker) and provides a ranged Con. attack which restores health.

Fencer:

Parry 1-2, Critical Strikes 1-3, Disengage 1-2.
Enables thrown weapons and shields to critical with enough Dex. Most Str. dominant builds will need Berserker’s Death Toll before their critical chance is decent enough. Thrown items can trigger Parry and deflect arrows, projectiles, and projectile spells. Toggling disengage can be a great panic button that stuns and puts distance between enemies and players quickly.

Grappler:

Throw Bolas 0-1, Throw Grapple 2-3, Throw Hook 2-3.
An additional dash, retrieve thrown items from afar, and ranged stun provides tones of flexibility. Players may also pull themselves through grated doors in the Melt and Sewers without using keys.

Herbalist:

Nature’s Eye 1-2, Natural Remedy 1-2, Sugar and Spice Mastery
Alleviates hunger and healing issues associated with specific races as well as stats boosters. Refining herbs into weapon dips provides additional on-hit effects to thrown items such as stuns, paralysis, and explosions.

Highlander:

An Arm for Two 3, Stunning Blows 3, Deliberate Strikes 0.
Paired with Fighter’s Heavy Hits, An Arm allows for melee swings using only one hand allowing players to swing and throw items at the same time. Thrown items can trigger Stunning Blows at range which is fantastic for keeping safe. Deliberate Strikes is great for damage but increases exhaustion too much for item throwing builds.

Knight

Armor Expertise 0-3, Retaliation 0-3, Battle Momentum 3.
Specifically useful for Spd. builds as Battle Momentum adds 100% Spd. to Str. for a gargantuan increase in damage. Retaliation is neat but late-game enemies may have equipment or abilities which bypass armor. Armor Expertise is consistently a strong choice for greater armor selection..

Monk

Fists of Iron 2-3, Meditate 3, Pressure Point 1-2.
Specifically useful for Spd. and Def. builds as Meditate increases Spd. by Def. or Def. by Spd. Either way it's a great option to gain double stats points for little investment. Punches are another great way to damage enemies alongside throwing items for a true ninja, martial artist, or cultivator experience.

Monster Slayer

Skull Collection 3, Target of Hatred 0, Taste their Fear 3.
A class solely devoted to increasing damage throughout the entire game. Although skull collection takes up some inventory space, it quickly scales up any damage dealt. Taste their Fear is a great crowd control ability against groups as killing one will stun stop many others in their tracks. Target of Hatred is very good but applies only to a limited number of enemies.

Scribe:

Copy 1, Write 2, Paper Making Mastery.
Turns a Crafter’s extensive pile of resources into spells craftable on-demand (once an unknown scroll is identified or used). Quick access to as many teleports, identify, animate, and time stops as desired is immensely useful for any situation.
Animating throwing items to provide additional damage and distract enemies at the same time.

Seducer/Leader:

Order 1-2 Or Charm 3, Kamikaze 0, Heartfelt Plea 3.
Specifically used for minions or late game chaos with high enough Chm. to enthrall enemies.

Shiner + Stellar:

Light orb 2, Starlight 1, Starry Eyes 1
When paired with Chm. or late game builds, Stellar provides additional Chm. and damage for each enemy killed (or stardust collected). Artificer + Blacksmith allows players to craft and throw items (Holy Blade, Holy Hammer, etc.) which deal light/chm damage that bypasses armor.

Time Keeper:

Pause 3, Unwind 0, Time Keeping 3
Become the master of time and freely stop reality from moving (some exceptions apply) for a while. With vastly more time to act, players can set up enemies for rather elaborate deaths or escape from certain doom. Just remember to fix time fluxes with Time Keeping before they get out of hand.

Notable Weapons & Items to Throw

Name	Primary stats	Secondary stats	Crit. Rate	Crit. Mod.	Comment	Class available
Taut Bow	200% Dex		20%	+1000% dmg.		Crafter
Rimmed Shield	100% Def.					Crafter
Deul Core Sword	50% Str.				Applies Burn = 100% damage	Blacksmith
Shorn Blade	150% Str.				Applies Bleed = 100% damage	Blacksmith
Great Blade	400% Str.					Blacksmith
Great Ax	150% Str.	50% Con.		+50% Crit Dmg.		Blacksmith
Battle Hammer	150% Str.	150% Def.				Blacksmith
Thorn Rapier	12% Str.	12% Dex.			Poison Dmg. bypasses Armor	Blacksmith
Knife	25% Dex.			+200% Crit. Dmg.		Blacksmith
Infusion Knife	25% Dex.			+200% Crit. Dmg.	AoE explosion on-kills	Blacksmith + Artificer
Metal Shield	200% Def.					Blacksmith
Tower Shield	400% Def.					Blacksmith
Golden Blade	400% Str.				Chm Dmg + Bypass Armor	Blacksmith + Artificer
Ghost Blade	300% Str.				Slain Foes become Ghosts	Blacksmith + Artificer
Holy Hammer	150% Str.	150% Def.			Chm. Dmg + Bypass Armor	Blacksmith + Artificer

Wrap up & Acknowledgements

Thank you for using this guide and Pirate-Rob for creating such a gem.

I hope this information will be helpful throughout your future play-through!

If you find any missing information, mistakes, or lack of clarity please comment below.

Clarification Statement(s)

This guide has been created for the express purpose of providing quality information to the community.

Notes & Change Log

Change Log:

4/6/2022: Draft Completed

[TROLLXXXDDDDDD]

The shield draws energy to deal damage.
So you can play throwing energy.
When another weapon has energy, it draws energy from that item.

And how to do it?
You just need to have the "Scholar" class, which makes all weapons have energy.
The shield actually absorbs energy, because there is no bar indicating that it has energy...
So, the shield has no energy, but it can deal damage depending on... I haven't checked what, but it does quite a lot of damage.

[Sly-Scale]

Small note under Additional Classes:
The Artificer class doesn't actually need Enchant 2. You can go Animate 3 instead, for animated weapons that are never destroyed.
You aren't giving up anything, because the Scribe class can mimic Enchant 2 with scrolls.
Their Enchanting scrolls seem to always yield positive results.