Golden Weapons - Advanced Guide and Gameplay

This guide is for experienced players on how to use golden weapons rather than get them, and which characters use which golden weapons best.

Introduction

Let's say that you've just started getting golden weapons for your favorite characters and now you want to get more. Where do you start? It seems like such a daunting task to pick out the right one for you, especially if you're stuck with one you're not very good with. Well, you've come to the right place! Here you can review golden weapons to see which one fits you and your character.

Before We Start

This is my first guide, so feel free to leave constructive criticism on how I could write these things better.

This is a more advanced guide for players who are capable of looping and already know how to get golden weapons and know how they work.

Here's a more basic golden weapons guide which is fantastic for a beginner to golden weapons. Also, all possible spoilers are marked! http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=679617453
Please be warned that All possible spoilers for this are unmarked! You have been warned.

Golden Weapon Playstyles Pt. 1 - Bullet, Shell, and Bolt

How should I play with a golden weapon and what's the pros of each one?

Bullet Weapons

Golden Machine Gun
The Golden Machine Gun has the benefits of bonus accuracy compared to the normal, unshiny Machine Gun, so this weapon is suited for long-range extended combat, although its tight accuracy might make room-clearing and close combat unwieldy and hassling. Its automatic firepower can be boosted further with characters like Y.V. or mutations like Stress.

Golden Assault Rifle
This is by far my personal favorite golden weapon, since the Golden Assault Rifle is an excellent, reliable choice for long to mid-ranged combat. When fired as fast as possible, it has the firing rate of the Heavy Assault Rifle and has the same DPS as the Rogue Rifle (when also fired as fast as possible), so this is a go-to for any weapon you're willing to spend ammo on due to the high quantity of bullet ammo you can get laying around. It's made even better if you get Scarier Face with it!

Golden Frog Pistol
The Golden Frog Pistol is an… interesting case. I’d put in a guide right here, but this weapon transforms you into the elusive Frog! A guide for this weapon would (or should) be better found in a general Frog guide, especially since I haven’t seen this weapon in use yet. However, you should aim to get it on characters with good starting weapons, like Steroids and Rogue.

Shell Weapons

Golden Shotgun
The Golden Shotgun carries one more pellet than the regular shotgun. Ordinarily, not a big deal (you might be able to kill a Scorpion with the full spread, but that'll likely be at close range anyways), but the shotgun is still an extremely reliable weapon as a whole in the early game, and this can and will carry your game up into the Sewers. The Golden Shotgun does falter in killing tougher enemies and at long range, where the pellets spread like butter, so grabbing a secondary weapon for those situations will help. Taking a Crossbow with the Shotgun is a terrifyingly effective combo!

Golden Slugger
Having a slightly faster rate of fire than the normal slugger makes the golden version slightly better at taking on multiple targets, but not by much, since it's still a slugger. However, a single slug can pop open Giant Maggots with ease, which makes it all the better as an emergency weapon or for those frustrating herds of 5+ Giant Maggots. With its high damage, Trigger Fingers will substantially boost its already augmented rate of fire.

Bolt Weapons

Golden Crossbow
This is a crossbow with velvet handles and a quicker reload time, so you can pull of more of those sweet crossbow multi-kills on Bandits with more margin for error if you miss. As with other bolt weapons, this also has increased viewing range, so you can use it to take out Scorpions from range from 1-1! However, Giant Maggots will take two bolts to kill, so try to time those into multi-kills or get a secondary weapon to deal with those frustrating wads of health or for close range. Grabbing a Shotgun with the Crossbow is extremely deadly!

Golden Splinter Gun
The Golden Splinter Gun has the benefit of firing one extra splinter more than the normal Splinter Gun, making it more ammo-efficient. Due to the Golden Splinter Gun's range and the extra bolt, it is possible to kill a Giant Maggot in one shot (if all the splinters hit) and clean up easily! This also has the extra vision range of Bolt weapons, allowing you to notice threats from afar.

Golden Disc Gun
If you somehow manage to get one of these, these are an essential choice if you go Hard Mode, since discs can clear out chaotic hordes with ease! This fires faster discs than the normal disc gun, which might synergy well with the extended vision range of a bolt weapon to clear far-away rooms, but it also means the discs will do less contact damage. However, this comes with the upside of starting with, well, a disc gun. Outside of Hard Mode, this is not as essential, but still good for clearing out enemy nests (Think “Giant Maggot herds”), especially if you like playing with the Crown of Blood.

Golden Weapon Playstyles Pt. 2 - Explosive, Energy, and Melee

Explosive Weapons

Golden Grenade Launcher
The Golden Grenade Launcher’s grenades are much faster than the regular, which means that you can stay safer while blowing things up. Since grenades are pretty powerful, these are great for long-ranged fighting, or just for going to the Pizza Sewers. However, they do carry the risk of blowing you up if you make a mistake, so fetch a secondary weapon as soon as possible.

Golden Bazooka
Mostly a straight upgrade to the Golden Grenade Launcher, this launches missiles at a shorter reload time than the norm, allowing you to make devastating rocket launches from across the map from the very start! However, as with the Golden Grenade launcher, a secondary weapon is advised for low-health targets or at close range. This is excellent at taking out bigger enemies- it can two-shot Big Bandit and will one-shot anything smaller than a Snow Tank on a direct hit.

Golden Nuke Launcher
If you manage to get and secure this weapon, then I applaud you! This weapon can deal absolutely huge damage without even having to aim at the targets, making crowd control effortless, especially on Hard Mode. This weapon is no slouch if you hit something with the nuke, either, meaning you can one-shot Big Bandit with a direct hit. This weapon’s huge explosion radius and large ammo expenditure per shot means that a secondary weapon or Boiling Veins is required. Be prepared to retry if your secondary weapon isn’t good.

Energy Weapons

Golden Laser Pistol
The Golden Laser Pistol's benefits of more accuracy and shorter cooldown means that at maximum, it shoots almost as fast as the Laser Rifle! This is a great weapon for any situation due to its low risk, long range, acceptable damage, and high rate of fire. However, do expect to use ammo wisely and pick up all the ammo that you can.

Golden Plasma Gun
The Golden Plasma Gun’s advantage over the regular is that it fires faster projectiles. This can one-shot any enemy that you’d find in the Desert, making clearing out Scorpion or Giant Maggot nests a cinch! However, it isn’t as effective at dealing with smaller, individual enemies due to its ammo consumption. It does chug ammo at an alarming rate, especially on full-auto (yes, plasma guns are automatic!), so be sure to stock up on all the ammo you can find, or find a good secondary weapon for smaller enemies.

Melee Weapons

Golden Wrench
The Golden Wrench is a fast melee weapon for melee runners. It has the fast swinging speed of the Chicken Sword, but it deals Wrench damage instead of Screwdriver damage! This means that you can one-shot a Rat with it, and it becomes a very viable weapon in the early game. With Scarier Face, you can one-shot Ravens with it, increasing the usefulness of the weapon!

Golden Screwdriver
This is a screwdriver, so if you pick this golden weapon up, don’t expect it to be viable for long (Although this can be extended a little bit if you take Scarier Face). However, since it’s a screwdriver, so this has the very unique effect of letting you reroll your current golden weapon, since it grants you easy access to the Mansion (although you cannot get more advanced weapons this way such as the Golden Assault Rifle). If you keep it as a weapon, it swings twice as fast as the Chicken Sword while doing the same damage, although the small hit range and low damage (which prevents you from one-shotting later enemies) hinder its melee use.

Characters And Golden Weapons Pt. 1 - Fish, Crystal, Eyes, and Melting

So, with your favorite characters prioritized above all, which other characters are on the top priority for golden weapons?

Fish

Fish is a good guy to get your first golden weapon with, since the Revolver isn't the most powerful starting weapon for him. Fish is great with weapons that synergize with his rolling ability to get into close combat, so the Golden Shotgun and the Golden Wrench (or Screwdriver, maybe) can be great choices (bonus points to the Shotgun for getting more ammo from Fish's passive). If close range isn’t your thing, Golden energy weapons can benefit from Fish’s extra ammo passive.

Crystal

Crystal benefits from ranged combat where she (yes, they're a she!) can react quickly enough to shield herself from projectiles. The Golden Machine Gun works great for this, but if its burst damage is too low, then the Golden Assault Rifle, Golden Crossbow or golden energy weapons can work just as well, if not better. Just watch out if you’re using golden explosive weapons- explosions pass right through Crystal’s shield!

Eyes

Eyes's telekinesis abilties can be exploited to pull enemies towards him and projectiles away, so a Golden Wrench/Screwdriver (maybe) can be used to smash projectiles and bandits within range. However, Eyes's darkvision can be used to take advantage of longer-ranged golden weapons like the Golden Machine Gun or golden bolt weapons. A friend of mine once took the Golden Splinter Gun for the best of both worlds.

Melting

Melting should either get a golden weapon close to the first (if you play him a lot) or last (because it’s so difficult get on him). Short range isn’t his forte, so anything that can deal reliable damage from a safe distance is a good choice. Another good choice is something that’s useful in close range in case you get charged, so choose a golden weapon that’s the best of both worlds, like the Golden Assault Rifle, Golden Laser Pistol, or Golden Splinter Gun. The Golden Grenade Launcher or Golden Bazooka can help out with crowd control, or if you just want moar explosions.

Characters And Golden Weapons Pt. 2 - Plant, Y.V., Steroids, and Robot

Plant

Plant benefits from being able to control the battlefield and knowledge of where enemies are. The snaring ability can make targets easy pickings for long-range weapons like the Golden Crossbow, or Plant’s extra speed can be used for skirmishing and guerilla tactics, promoting close-ranged attacks. Take either a long-range or short-ranged golden weapon depending on your playstyle.

Y.V.

Y.V., similarly to Plant, should take different golden weapons depending on how you play him. If you like going for a staggering rate of fire with fast-firing weapons (MAXIMUM DAKKA), then take a weapon that can deal good sustained damage which you can spam or lean down your fire button with (Golden Machine Gun works especially well here). If you like using Trigger Fingers and Y.V.’s Pop Pop! ability, use a golden weapon with a lot of burst damage, such as the Golden Shotgun/Splinter Gun. Just avoid melee weapons if this is your way to play. Some weapons can work both ways, like the Golden Assault Rifle and Golden Laser Pistol.
(Fun Fact: Pop Popping once with the Golden Bazooka can one-shot Big Bandit, and two Pop Pops with the Golden Grenade Launcher can do the same!)

Steroids

Steroids doesn’t need to get a golden weapon as much as some other characters, mostly because his two Revolvers are reliable enough in damage output (which is helped by the fact that they’re automatic), so don’t worry about it if you don’t play him often. Once he does get a golden weapon, he still gets a Revolver in his off-hand, so choose something that complements the Revolver’s low damage for a quick boost. The Golden Machine Gun is a faster-firing Revolver with increased accuracy, but other options are preferred. The Golden Assault Rifle or golden energy weapons can provide a great source of stream damage if spammed, while the Golden Shotgun or Golden Splinter Gun can provide some oomph for close-range burst damage. Golden melee weapons are also a good choice, since they swing automatically!

Robot

You should get a golden weapon for Robot as soon as possible, mainly because of their added benefit to it: whenever Robot eats one, you get four drops from eating it instead of one, which increases to five with Throne Butt, making golden weapons extra nutritious! This means that Robot can chow down on it to get its health back up or to get more ammunition for a secondary weapon. The actual golden weapon shouldn’t really matter if it’s going to be eaten at the first sign of trouble, but it should be reliable enough to get you through the early game. The Golden Wrench, Machine Gun, Assault Rifle and Shotgun all work wonders in this regard as reliable early-game weapons.

Characters And Golden Weapons Pt. 3 - Chicken, Rebel, Horror, and Rogue

Chicken

Chicken’s priority on getting Golden Weapons really depends on if you like to go for the Black Sword or not. If you do, then a Golden Weapon isn’t as necessary, since you’ll be using the Chicken Sword and whatever weapon you find in the weapon chest on 1-1. Otherwise, you should take something good for crowd control, since you want to kill as many enemies as possible if you lose your head. Golden melee weapons have some extra use when in Chicken’s hands- the Golden Wrench deals more damage and has the same swing speed as the Chicken Sword, while the Golden Screwdriver can make for a quite effective throwing dart, and swings twice as fast as the Chicken Sword when used in melee.

Rebel

Rebel’s choice of a golden weapon mostly depends on whether you’re going to augment your allies’ firepower or cover their close-range weaknesses. For the first, golden bullet or energy weapons (as well as the Golden Crossbow) work well, while in the second position, golden shell weapons and the Golden Splinter Gun are strongest. Golden explosive weapons should be avoided- they can damage your allies, and they’re useful at the ranges your allies should be handling anyways. On the flipside, golden melee weapons are extra useful to protect your allies from incoming bullets.

Horror

Horror was a difficult one. The rad beam risky to use in the early game, so anything that can reliably kill Desert enemies is a good choice, saving his rad beam for beefy foes, dangerous situations, or bosses. If you just skip the rad beam altogether in the early game, the Golden Assault Rifle, Golden Plasma Gun, and golden explosive weapons can shred through tough enemies. Melee weapons are also useful early on, since they can give you projectile-destroying power like a rad beam would! You can use Horror’s extra mutation selections to tailor your run to your golden weapon, making it viable into mid-game.

Rogue

Rogue, much like Steroids, usually ends up getting golden weapons last because her starting weapon is already very viable in the early game, and the general difficulty of playing her. Since the Rogue Rifle outclasses most (if not all) bullet weapons you’d get in the early game, something with another type of ammo is preferred. IDPD Grunts have low HP but come in packs, so anything with decent crowd-control is good for mopping them up. The Golden Laser Pistol can deal consistent damage and can one-shot anything short of a Scorpion if you can aim it right, and the Golden Plasma Pistol can clear portals easily if timed correctly (and bypass Shielder shields). If melee runs are your thing, the Golden Wrench can one-shot Grunts right as they come out of the portal if timed right.

Conclusion

Well, that’s it for my guide. I hope I helped, keep going for the gold, and happy looping! As I said before, if you have constructive criticism or can otherwise help me out, please let me know.

[King Potato]

I can't lie, the golden screwdriver on Melting is kinda good, the ability to block and remove projectiles as a character that fragile is amazing. It's also a reliable way to kill Lil' Hunter. It helped me get the be skin much easier.

[Y.v the dude]

i think gold crossbow works best for steroids

[Angrydirbs, La Cretura]

I'd say that Golden Grenade Launcher is the best for Steroids, considering if you pair it with any other explosive weapon like the common Grenade Launcher, the Cluster Grenade Launcher, the Heavy Grenade Launcher, and the Gun God-pleasing Nuke Launcher, the game just becomes a bit of a joke, if you can aim.

[eknighton]

Damn, some serious disrespect for golden grenade launcher. Imo it is one of the few weapons you can carry to the end of the mid-game pre loop. While it is hard to learn, there's a lot to be said for a weapon that you can hang onto for so much the game. It also offers terrain manipulation other pre-loop golden weapons simply don't have.

[n3philax]

pretty good guide thx mate

[Σℳ➂.➀➃ℜℇ]

Very useful! I don't think too much about golden weapons, so this was a bit of an embarrassing eye-opener. Thanks for the guide! :)

[blijebij]

:^)