Nuclear Throne for Dummies

Overview

Did you just buy Nuclear Throne and you are lost? Are you very confused by what all of the other guides are saying? Are you clueless of what you are doing in Nuclear Throne in general and need some guidance? Look no further! Nuclear Throne for Dummies is here to help.Nuclear Throne for dummies will include anything from how to complete stage 1-1 to all of the unlocks in the game. There isn’t much you can’t find about the game in this guide.sponsored by yung venuzEDIT: Woah thanks for nearly 1500 views guys! Hope this guide has helped out.EDIT (12/24/16): Well, it’s been some time since I wrote this guide, and a while since I viewed it. In retrospect, I’m proud. It’s the most expansive guide I’ve made and I’m very very proud of it. Nearly 2000 views and about 25 favorites. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but for a semi-dead game like Nuclear Throne, it isn’t bad. The information in the guide still holds up (only 1 update since the many months ago I uploaded it, wew) and I might make some last little touches to make it as best as it can be. If you’re looking at this guide in the future, PLEASE, leave a comment and I’ll fix whatever may be wrong with it. If for some reason the devs come back to this game and update it again, I’ll update the guide accordingly. For now, have fun playing this wonderful game, and good luck! (also its christmas eve boys wew wew wew wew wew)EDIT (1/11/18): Been a while since I’ve revised this guide, but this *SHOULD* be the final draft. The devs have, not too long ago, released the very last update for the game. This patch included no major augmentations in terms of content, but it squashed a few bugs. The release of this one last patch prompted me to finish up this guide. It currently sits at around 3,750 unique viewers and 70 favorites. I am hopeful that this guide was able to provide some people with help and that it will continue to in the future. While I have not touched this guide nor Nuclear Throne in a while, I still have a soft spot for the game and hope that new players continue to be brought in. This game is enjoyable like no other roguelike and I hope it will live on despite the end of dev support. With that, I say goodbye to this guide, and hope that any new players who find it in the future will enjoy Nuclear Throne and find use in this guide.

Introduction

Nuclear Throne is a top-down shoot-em-up that you may find to be similar to several other games. You will pick a character to use in your current run and from stage 1-1 you will shoot, loot, and do other things until you reach the Nuclear Throne!

Gameplay Basics

(NOTE: In this section I will be talking about the controls using the keyboard, but controller support is fully functional. Feel free to map any of the actions in the game to your preferred key.)

First, pick singleplayer (or coop, if you have a friend with a controller with you) and then choose your character. You will have the characters Fish and Crystal available from the start. While each mutant has their uses, I personally find Crystal to be a much better character, to the point when I even use them after many hours.

You will then start at stage 1-1. Proceed to kill any enemies nearby while dodging their attacks, using your ability if needed. You can pick up new weapons as you go. Some tips I can give you are:

• Experiment what weapons work for you, so you can get farther in future runs.
• You can only have so much power if you don’t have ammo.
• Melee weapons are unexpectedly powerful and in order to progress in the late-game they are pretty much essential. They might not have *tons* of use early on, but you’re gonna want to have one in the later stages.
• Having two weapons in the same ammo category can turn out deadly for you, especially early on. If you lack firepower death is imminent.

When you get to stage 1-3, you will reach the first boss in the game, Big Bandit. Big Bandit will obviously be tougher to defeat than any enemy in the game so far (statistically, anyway) so feel free to adjust to your situation however you please. If Big Bandit kills you, don’t worry. He is the first ‘challenge’ you will encounter.

Eventually you will get enough rads (the green things that come out of an enemy when you kill them) to the point where you Level Up. Once you level up, you will get to pick a mutation at the end of the stage.

-minor spoiler point of no return-

After you cross this section, you will be in minor spoiler territory. Anything you see can be classified as minor spoilers and you will be able to blame no one but yourself for being spoiled.

Nothing past here is too heavy, and there is no (significant) lore to the game, so the only spoilers will be in terms of gameplay.

Mutations

As previously mentioned, you can choose a mutation once you level up. Mutations, in essence, are like perks in other games. They are changes to your character that effect gameplay. You will be prompted to choose a mutation once you complete a stage you leveled up on.

You get to pick one of the four that were given to you (for obvious balancing reasons). Once you pick one, it will take effect once you spawn in. Note that mutations obviously do not transfer to other runs. While I cannot suggest which ones to pick as there is no way of knowing which ones you will be given and everyone has their preferences, here are some of my favorites:

• Second Stomach
• Bloodlust
• Gamma Guts
• Rabbit Paw
• Hammerhead
• Rhino Skin
• Strong Back
• Strong Spirit
• Scarier Face
• Impact Wrists
• Thronebutt, depending on the character (see below)

Some things to note:
Mutations can vary in effectiveness depending on character, game phase, etc.

For example:
Thronebutt is very fun with Fish even though it isn’t very useful. However, with Crystal, I NEVER pick Thronebutt as I rarely utilize the power it gives you, and it ends up killing me.

Hammerhead is one of those perks that vary in effectiveness depending on game phase. In early game, it won’t do much. However, in late game, it can save you quite a bit. I can say the same about Impact Wrists, although it can have use in early game.

Feel free to adjust mutations based on your play style.

Also, the mutation Patience is great if you don’t like the other mutations given to you. If I get three mutations I don’t like but I also get Patience, nine times out of ten I will take patience. It lets you mutate after you complete the next stage. Something interesting is that if you level up in the next stage but also took Patience in the prior one, you will get two mutations.

Stages

The stages in Nuclear Throne are quite straightforward. They go from stage 1-1 through stage 7-3, not counting secret areas. There are seven areas, which include:

• The Desert (1-1 through 1-3)
• The Sewers (2-1)
• The Scrapyard (3-1 through 3-3)
• The Crystal Caves (4-1)
• The Frozen City (5-1 through 5-3)
• The Labs (6-1)
• The Palace (7-1 through 7-3)

These are not including secret areas which will be covered later in the guide.

-major spoiler point of no return-

Everything past this section is major spoiler territory.

As I said before, it’s nothing too heavy if you don’t care about being spoiled in regards to unlockables, secret content, etc. but I know some people are bothered by that, so that’s why I separated that stuff from the lighter stuff. If you don’t care about discovering unlockables and secret content on your own, go on.

If you do care, don’t go on.

Looping

Once you get to stage 7-3 and defeat the Nuclear Throne, you will be prompted to Loop. This starts the game from stage 1-1 again, except with new content added to the game and you start with all of the gear you got from your run so far. Some content can only be unlocked by looping.

Note: If you reach the Nuclear Throne in a run where you have looped, you can loop again (loop 3) and keep looping until you die (which is inevitable, those damn IDPD)

Characters

Obviously, there are characters in the game other than Crystal and Fish. In the game’s current state, there are 8 characters (not counting Fish and Crystal) which have to be unlocked to be played. Some you probably already unlocked, some you probably will never unlock.

• Fish – Unlocked at the start of the game
• Crystal – Unlocked at the start of the game
• Melting – Unlocked by dying
• Eyes – Unlocked by reaching stage 2-1
• Plant – Unlocked by reaching stage 3-1
• Yung Venuz (Y.V.) – Unlocked by reaching stage 3-?* (Y.V.’s Mansion)
• Robot – Unlocked by reaching stage 5-1
• Steroids – Unlocked by reaching stage 6-1
• Chicken – Unlocked by reaching stage 5-?* (The Jungle)
• Rebel – Unlocked by looping back to The Desert
• Horror – Unlocked by avoiding two rad canisters and then killing Horror
• Rogue – Unlocked by sitting on the Nuclear Throne

*see ‘Secret Areas’

Secret Areas

Along with the core stages and areas, there are Secret Areas. These are areas that you will need to go out of your way to get to, but provide different things inside them. There are seven Secret Areas in Nuclear Throne, which include:

• Y.V.’s Mansion – Get a screwdriver. Once you get to level 3-1 (The Scrapyard) there will be a car with a golden outline. Hit it with the screwdriver once, then press E on the car. You will then be teleported to Y.V.’s Mansion.
• Oasis – This can be accessed in stage 1-1, 1-2, or 1-3 (although I find it easiest to do in 1-1.) You need to go around, open all the chests, and collect all of the rad canisters. Once you do, Big Bandit will appear. Once you kill him, there will be a portal, which will take you to oasis. Once you complete Oasis, you will be teleported to stage 3-3.
• Pizza Sewers – You will need a weapon that can create an explosion to access the Pizza Sewers. Once you have one, you will need to reach stage 2-1. There will be a manhole cover in which you will need to fire your explosive weapon at. Once you do, a portal will open, and you will be teleported to the Pizza Sewers. This, obviously, is a reference to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
• Cursed Crystal Caves – To get into here you will need a cursed weapon. To get a cursed weapon, you will need the *Crown of Curses. Once you have the weapon, go through the game like normal until you complete stage 3-3. After going in the portal, you will be teleported to the Cursed Crystal Caves.
• The Jungle – The mutation ‘Last Wish’ is necessary to reach The Jungle. Once you get to stage 5-1, there will be a flower that spawns near you. If you press E near it 4 times, the portal to The Jungle will open. Something you should note is that Last Wish will be removed from your character- but you will be able to pick another mutation.
• Y.V’s Crib – In order to get into here, you need to play as Y.V. You will be teleported here once you pick an Ultra Mutation. Ultra Mutations are earned by reaching character level 10.
• IDPD Headquarters – To enter this area, you need to be in a run where you have looped. When the IDPD comes in, you need to press E on the back of their van in the short time when you can. You will then be teleported to the IDPD Headquarters. Just so you know, if you make your way through and defeat the IDPD Captain, it will end your run.

Something you should note is that the name of the stages for secret areas end in a question mark (e.g. 2-?, 3-?)
*see ‘Crowns’

Crowns

Crowns are items obtained mid-game that can provide extra attributes to your character. There are six crowns you can get before looping, and another six you can get after looping.

Pre-loop Crowns:

• Crown of Life
• Crown of Guns
• Crown of Haste
• Crown of Destiny
• Crown of Curses
• Crown of Risk

Post-loop Crowns:

• Crown of Death
• Crown of Blood
• Crown of Hatred
• Crown of Love
• Crown of Luck
• Crown of Protection

To get a crown, you will need to find a portal stand in 3-1, 3-2, or 3-3. These look like tilted squares on stands with small circles in them. You will need to kill enemies around the portal in order for it to collect rads. Once it has collected enough rads, a green orb will appear in the middle, That is when you shoot the portal stand, opening a portal to a Crown Vault.

In order to unlock a crown permanently, you will need to loop with that crown equipped. It will be available for use in the character selection menu.

When you unlock a crown, it will only be usable for the character you used to unlock it in the first place, unless you get it for another character.

Only one crown can be currently equipped at a time.

Golden Weapons

Golden Weapons are variatons of the normal weapons in Nuclear Throne. They have slight stat bonuses and can be used as a starting weapon in place of the Revolver. There are two ways to get Golden Weapons:

In my opinion, the easier way is by going to Y.V.’s Mansion and opening the Golden Weapon Chest in there, and then clearing the stage out.

However, you can also randomly come across Golden Weapon Chests after you have looped.

To unlock a Golden Weapon, you need to clear the stage you found it on. BEWARE: If you have two the one you have equipped will stay unlocked.

Like Crowns, unlocked Golden Weapons will only be available for the character you used to unlock them with.

Unlike Crowns, however, only one Golden Weapon can be stored at a time.

If you have one Golden Weapon unlocked and then unlock another, the more recent one will be available for use when starting a new run, and you will need to get the one you had before again if you want it back.

Y.V.’s default starting weapon is the Golden Revolver.

B Skins

The characters of Nuclear Throne all have a ‘B Skin’, which are alterations to your character’s appearance. They provide no actual advantage, but making your favorite characters look nicer is always cool. Most also provide a nice challenge, if you’re looking for one.

• Fish – Loop with every character.
• Crystal – Reach the Cursed Crystal Caves as Crystal.
• Eyes – Reach the Pizza Sewers as Eyes.
• Plant – Defeat the Nuclear Throne in under ten minutes as Plant.
• Y.V. – Get a golden weapon with every character. The golden revolver does count.
• Robot – Eat a Hyper Weapon.
• Rebel – Defeat ‘Ballmama’ after looping as Rebel.
• Horror – Defeat ‘Hyper Crystal’ after looping as Horror.
• Steroids – Defeat ‘Technomancer’ after looping as Steroids.
• Chicken – First, you need to reach loop 2, unlocking hard mode. Then, get to stage 2-1 on hard mode as Chicken.
• Melting – Reach the Nuclear Throne as Melting without the mutations Strong Spirit or Rhino Skin.
• Rogue – Defeat the IDPD Captain as Rogue.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading Nuclear Throne for Dummies! I hope you learned SOMETHING from this guide, as I worked very hard on it for about a day. Give me feedback! Should I add something to the guide? Did I make any mistakes? Should I make another guide? Should I just delete this guide and kill myself? You tell me. I could really use feedback as this was my first serious guide (my only other one was a CSGO meme) and I enjoy making them.

#vungvenuz4prez