Overview
In this guide I’ll be discussing what weapons you should aim to use in Golden Light. I’ll be editing this continually as Daneel adds more weapons.
Introduction
This Guide will encompass all weapons inside the main and dev versions of Golden Light and will hopefully help you to beat the game, kill some meaty noobs or get past a boss that you despise.
Melee Weapons
One thing to note is that if a melee weapon is swung and deals no damage onto anything, it will not decrease its durability.
Don’t even start. Either pick it up to use as a legitimate map or eat it by holding your eat item button. Upon dropping from the wall, it will always be dead so you can rest assured it will not burn you. Only use it to kill as a last resort or for the achievement. The map is useful if you have lost your bearing around the floor and it refreshes every floor so for example, if you picked up a map on floor -1 and went a floor down, the contents of that map would change to the layout of subsequent floors. My personal preference is to take a picture of the map with my cutting-edge Nokia Blackberry phone and keep it as a reference to guide my way around.
Not viable in most situations in Golden Light, found commonly throughout the Gut. You’d have more usage out of this thing by eating it or getting one with regeneration than by using it as a weapon early-game, unless you have the pipe memento. It pretty much turns into an axe with more damage however. It is stronger than a dead pistol with no barrels so you may use it to deal with weaker enemies such as Mr. Blade and Mr. Legs which will fixate onto you. Then again, the aim is to kill the least amount of monsters as possible so if you wanted to be a pacifist, you could use this to deal with the monsters that are on your tail.
All rounder melee weapon, nothing fascinating about this weapon except that it deals more damage than the pipe. Good weapon to hold onto early-game with a medium attack speed although becomes redundant like the pipe in lower floors, unless you have an axe with a special effect or the memento.
Uncommon melee weapon with low damage but higher attack speed. This weapon is more durable per hit to make up for the lack of damage it outputs so I recommend using this with a fire/poison effect or a regeneration effect. Increased damage given by mementos and the fast attack speed can result in a high DPS.
Your go-to weapon for late-game, which appears from Floor -4. This Shield works as intended, soaking up 50% of damage when equipped and dealing lots of damage (what did you expect from a large hunk of metal). However, it has a very slow wind up time and attack speed so using this weapon for crowd control is not recommended. Per usage against a target, it wears out quickly. I advise against eating this weapon due to its damage reflective ability. Any effect works well on this item, even regeneration. Whether this damage resistance applies when the shield is broken is not known by me. I assume it is? I hope so!
The torch is a low damage weapon (dealing as much damage as the map excluding afterburn), that gets its usefulness more as a held item rather than a weapon. While it is held out, it will increase the speed at which the Bone Shiver effect goes away but at the cost of slowly removing durability. The Torch will also nullify the effect of Bone Shiver while held out. The Torch also has an innate fire effect on it which sets on fire anything that it hits. This weapon is only useful in the Cabins, as the Cabins have lots of Bone Shiver clouds. I do not believe you will be able to remove the fire effect on it via Crown.
The following weapons have been added from the Meat Song update
A weapon specific to the Cages, which is the room with the Eye Takers. Upon an Eye Taker dying, they drop a Meat Spear which is a high damage but low durability melee weapon with a longer range. Due to their plentiful amount, I recommend eating some of them but use one to save ammo on weaker enemies. It’s a shame you cannot throw them however. This weapon has a slightly slower attack speed than the Pipe/Axe. I advise against applying regeneration to this item as the weapon’s durability is very limited and you will initially deal lots of damage to yourself
The whip is a weapon found from floor -7 downwards with a long range like the meat spear. It has weak-moderate damage but high durability which makes it viable-late game. Use when you want to fight at a distance but do not want to expend ammo for guns. This keeps you safe from the attacking range of most monsters you will encounter (exceptions include Gobber)
The following weapon has been added from the February update
Functions like a long sword, has high durability and deals medium-high damage. The time it takes to swing is very slow like the Sewer Shield. However, only spawns from Carre so only one instance of this would spawn, unless Carre is summoned due to bad Gut reputation. I don’t recommend eating it as you will seldom kill Carre outside of floor -3 for another replica. The model for this weapon is extremely large, reducing your vision to the right of your screen; not the best weapon if you are examining something to the right of your screen, especially if you have already lost an eye. Then again you can look to the right, dummy.
The following weapons are available in the dev version only
Despite its small size, it functions as an extremely high DPS chainsaw that has poor durability. The downside is that you will need to keep on repairing this weapon and it only drops from Meall, so it’s only a one time weapon unless Meall is spawned again from bad Gut reputation. By far, it has the highest DPS out of all melee weapons due to its constant attack mode.
Not much is known as I haven’t played with it yet but I know that it is a boss weapon and would have a long range. Like Carre’s Arms, it would deal high damage and could possibly make you dash on swing
Ranged Weapons
Note: Having weapons with multi-barrels is rare but makes some of the weaker weapons viable for late-game such as a double-barrel pistol with bleed
Common gun found in the Gut and viable early-game. Ammo is plentiful and clip size is moderate but damage is low. I don’t really use this weapon because of its recoil for the amount of damage it outputs. Useful with applying status effects over a long time, especially Rust. Viable with Let It Die and Traitorous Bastard (co-op) if your friend is weak. Quick reloading speed due to it being a “spam” weapon.
Common gun found in the Gut but viable early and late game. Ammo is more rare than pistol damage, clip size is smaller than the pistol but deals more damage per shot. This is often my go-to weapon if I haven’t found any of the weapons below. I advise against applying regeneration to this weapon due to increased ammo scarcity (unless you stumble across Juke) and the fact that you may not meet a passive Huggs. Better with a damage status effect such as Fire/Poison. Slightly slower reload time than Pistol
Rare weapon found all throughout the Gut. Deals lots of damage (if you can aim LOL) but compensates for this power by extremely rare ammo drops, low clip size and slower reload speed. Notoriously known as the boss killer, especially with multi-barrels. DO NOT apply the regeneration effect as you will literally blow your head off, especially with ultra rare multi-barrel shotguns. Much better to use with a damage status effect. If you find Juke anywhere in the Gut, get at least 2 ammo boxes worth of it for bosses and emergencies
Bit less rare than the shotgun in my opinion and does what you expect, fires bullets very quickly. Damage per bullet is lower than the Pistol’s but it has an incredibly high firing speed and clip size. Ammo is also very rare much like the shotgun but is viable for all status effects. Find Juke and get at least a few clips worth of ammo because the ammo required to fire the Tommy Gun does not drop from monsters, unlike the shotgun. Viable with Meat Mirror
Ranged weapon of the Cabins that functions similarly to the shotgun, except the spread is tighter, damage is lowered and ammo is chewed away easily because of how little each ammo drop provides. It also has less durability like the meat spear but ammo is not so rare as you may think. Can only hold one barrel before reloading, so this weapon, like the Sewer Shield, is not viable for crowd control. Again, applying the regeneration effect is not recommended, even more so due to limited durability.
The following weapon has been added from the Choose Your Ending update
Make all the ♥♥♥♥ jokes you want, this weapon is the long sword of Gut Divers if you know what I mean. It functions as a flamethrower and is able to turn a tile it is aimed at on fire. This means that players, NPCs and monsters can get caught within the flamethrower’s temporary fires so watch out where you spray flames. Really not a good weapon if you’re shooting at a place you want to go unless you’re in the fire cult or have bleed items/weapons which could provide you with a damage buff (keep in mind your health bar). Presumably it has a high DPS including the afterburn, and a permanent unchangable fire effect on it so you can’t change the effect that is on it.
Consumables
Technically weapons as they are projectiles. I’ll be telling you which ones I find get the job done. Note that on every run, the status effects tied to items are randomised!
Try not to pick up. Status effect has a lower DPS than bleed. Don’t throw it away behind you if something is chasing but throw in areas full of monsters to kill them slowly or at least remove them from the area. Useful as a healing item only if you have a panacea in your inventory. However, it is useful for bosses that move slowly like Carre or Meall or to predict where bosses will move, such as Gut Divers. Generally, these items will weigh you down, especially if you do not have the steel back, marv or nine legs memento. Unless you are on rust which can give you a stamina boost (less stamina used per second of running), don’t eat. Another upside is that it can be used for upset belly to gain lots of health from your health drainage.
Pick this up but don’t eat this, unless simultaneously bleeding, having high hp and a situation where you could fight. Eating this will obscure your FOV and make you lose slightly less health than eating a grenade if you are running from the point of affliction. The rate that it takes for this effect to disappear is not increased if you are running with no stamina. It even kills you if you don’t run enough or heal yourself in time. Gets the job done quickly when thrown, weakening monsters (not bosses) so that they die in a few hits with any weapon. Use for Needles, as Needles is immune to poison
Pick this up, throw but don’t eat it. Eating this will make you lose a chunk of your health and damage anything around you. Functions as a throwable, dealing tons of damage to targets which is lots more than a point-blank shotgun blast. I save multiple grenades to remove large portions of a boss’ health, especially Meall and Gut Divers. Note that throwing it will also damage you if you are caught in the blast radius so watch where you throw this thing! If there are multiple enemies in a small radius, throw this item in between them for maximum damage
Pick up, throw and consume if desperate. Best consumable in Golden Light. Does not affect bosses. Eating it will not allow you to attack but in some situations doesn’t really matter, such as not being in the close vicinity of any monsters. Throwing it will make monsters fight for you TEMPORARILY against other monsters. If they are still alive after that time, they will behave as normal. Throwing it at NPCs will lower their prices for you which is useful if you crucially need Juke or Huggs and the Gut already hates you. You can eat it to negate the effect of gold hunger to gain a temporary defensive boost. Note that your pets will constantly emit this effect which can make it harder to differentiate between a normal enemy under the effect of your Love item and your pet, only if you can’t tell that your pet is smaller than the normal mob it represents such as a pet Feash being smaller than it’s counterpart in the Insides.
Pick up but don’t throw. The areas with rust are generally no danger as you have the option not to attack which can often save you in regards to the Gut’s anger. You can also holster your weapon by holding down your switch weapon button. Eating it will repair the currently equipped weapon and restore a bit of your health. This should not be something to throw away to quicken your speed.
Pick up but don’t throw. Throwing it will, yes, make flowers appear but it will disappear after a short period of time, making you regeneration bar fill halfway without the effect happening if you throw too far away. Eating it will regenerate your health over time and restore a small portion of health. Unless you are in co-op or have a pet on low health (health bar seen from milk memento), throwing it will just be a waste of an item.
Pick up, throw and consume. Consuming it removes all status effects (even regeneration so watch out) and restores a bit more health than normal. Throwing it removes all the status effects in an area such as bleed and gold hunger which can prove useful if you are miserly with your gold or your hp bar. Note that throwing it at a target removes all current effects from it but does nothing if the target has no effect on it. Second best item to Love as crucial items (such as keys) can be obscured in rooms with cults and throwing this in these tilesets will allow you to safely explore the area without getting a nasty effect.
Pick up and eat. Throwing this item will heal anything within a small radius, that being NPCs or monsters so watch where you are throwing, especially against low-health monsters. Eating this item will give you an increased amount of health, much more than that from a normal item. Only removes the bleed status effect as if it were a normal healing item.
Pick up and throw. You could argue that this can be viable as a consumable but only in specific situations. If you have enough stamina in a meat chase, say you have all the keys on floor -2 and you are near an exit with low hp, you can use this as a weak healing item. Eating this item will alert all hostile monsters within a large radius to come to the position where you ate it. Likewise, throwing this item to a specific location will make monsters in the same radius around where it landed to go to that position. This is key to distracting any monsters that may be on your tail or leading monsters into traps (such as Hands or rooms with a status effect) and therefore a great item for pacifist gameplay.
Advanced Consumables
Ran out of space on the last section and also creating a new section for these because these effects came in later updates (post Backstreets update)
The effects below have been added from the Meat Song update
Pick up but don’t eat. Despite the fact that eating anything gives you health which reduces the bleed proc, consuming this item will give you the health then apply the effect afterwards. So be prepared. Throwing this item works surprisingly well, dealing lower damage than fire and having a medium ramp up for the effect to take place faster the Poison Item, but lasting for longer than Fire. Unlike Poison however, continued exposure to the bleed effect will kill you instead of leaving you on minimal health. Upon being inflicted with the bleed effect, anything you eat will only reduces the bleed meter such as other items or weapons but watch out for what you put in your mouth! Can be paired with the fire effect to give a short damage buff.
Pick up and throw. If you eat this, good luck trying to pick up ~5 gold pieces in the nearby vicinity or lose 60 gold for the entire uninterrupted length of the effect. Do not eat this, unless you are part of the cult which negates this effect or you are at low health in a Meat Chase (mostly occurs by collecting all keys in floor 2 of a biome) and you are near the exit elevator OR you have the love effect and anticipating taking heavy damage, to get a defensive buff. Extremely effective against its victims, staying around for a very long time and dealing around the same damage as fire. Grenade is the only consumable that deals more damage than this item.
Pick up and throw. As long as you hold down your running button, even with no stamina, the health drainage will not affect you as Bone Shiver will only drain health if you are not running, not if you are out of stamina. Does not affect some NPCs naturally but when summoned from throwing a consumable, slows down the monster by a lot but does zero damage. Great for situations where you have to flee, such as those in a meat chase or high concentrations of pursuing monsters. If only eating this put out the fire effect….
Pick up and either eat/throw. Polar opposite of Repair. Eating it will afflict you with the rust effect which reduces the durability of your weapons with each usage (more than normal). Throwing it will fill a large area with sparkles temporarily which decreases the damage of the monsters unto you and other monsters. Generally the effect on others doesn’t do much unless the monster is bound to be within attacking range of you. If you eat it and you don’t attack with your weapons (instead using traps and items to your advantage), its fine as a weak healing item. Alternatively, you can eat this with the poison effect on you to obtain a stamina boost (less stamina used per second of running) which is useful for quickly completing a floor without losing too much health due to your improved stamina trade-off.
The effect below has been added from the February update
Pick up and eat. Useful for when you don’t have a map equipped or near you. Eating an item with this effect will make a temporary map show up on the screen for a short amount of time, which is helpful if you’ve been walking in circles for a few minutes without a sighting of a map. Throwing this item will cause you to teleport to the location you threw at. This item can be used in areas with high ceilings such as the Hallways and the Backstreets down corridors to swiftly traverse long distances in an emergency, without sacrificing stamina. Be careful to not throw this into any traps however. As a precaution, throw all unknown items into spots that aren’t in the close vicinity of any traps or enemies just in case it has Gift of the Mole. An exception to this is that if you already know that there is another item with Gift of the Mole.
The effect below is only available on the dev version
Pick up and throw. Throwing this item will temporarily disable the enemy’s ability to move and attack. Eating this item will cause you to slow down, which is the same effect that bone shiver has on NPCs and enemies. No item combos are present so you shouldn’t eat this unless you know that an item has this effect. This effect to my knowledge is only caused by eating an item with this effect, and can become a great item to use in the situation that you are doing a pacifist run because of the [REDACTED] and the ability to get past enemies without getting hurt, such as in the narrow hallways of the Backstreets/Cages. Unlike Bone Shiver, this effect deals no damage over time to the player afflicted with this effect.
Conclusion
Let me know if I have missed out on anything!
Good luck!
DKC