Enter the Gungeon – NPC Guide | Here’s What They Do

What do NPCs do in Enter the Gungeon?

NPC or Non-playable Characters are characters that play a specific role in Enter the Gungeon.

Most NPCs in Enter the Gungeon are shopkeepers in their respective shops, while others give out quests, bonuses, or minigames. Some NPCs need to be ‘rescued’ by unlocking their cells in the Gungeon using a cell key.

Once unlocked from their cell, NPCs reappear randomly around the Gungeon or in the Breach. 

List of NPCs and what they do in Enter the Gungeon

Bello

Bello is the shopkeeper of the main store in Enter the Gungeon. He appears on every floor in the Gungeon except the Forge, where a special NPC runs a unique shop.

Bello sells valuable pickups, guns, and items in his shop. Typically, Bello’s shop will have 3 random pickups for sale. Sometimes, Bello will offer Blanks, Glass Guon Stones, or a Map.

Ox and Cadence

The Ox and Cadence run a shop in The Breach where they sell items and guns in exchange for Hegemony Credits.

Some notable guns or items they sell include:

• Platinum Bullets
• Broccoli
• +1 Bullets
• Yari Launcher
• Grasschopper

However, you must rescue the Ox and Cadence from a cell located at Keep of the Lead Lord or the Gungeon Proper before they can set up shop at The Breach.

Drunkard

The Drunkard is a story-telling NPC that gives you short quotes about bosses and other NPCs in the Gungeon. The Drunkard will give you interesting tidbits of information about the bosses you recently defeated or NPCs you recently rescued.

Tinker

Tailor the Tinker, commonly referred to as the elevator Sherpa by the community, is an important NPC that appears in elevator shafts around the Gungeon.

Tailor the Tinker will give you quests that require you to pick up and collect specific items for him. By doing so, Tailor the Tinker will fix the corresponding elevator that lets you travel directly to a later floor in the Gungeon from The Breach.

Frifle and the Grey Mauser

Frifle and the Grey Mauser are NPCs that give out hunting quests that, when completed, will reward you with 5 Hegemony Credits and unlock the corresponding item or gun.

Some Quests include:

• Bullet Kin – Kill 200 Bullet Kin
  • Unlocks Sling
• Blobulon – Kill 60 Blobulon
  • Unlocks Elephant Gun
• Hollowpoint – Kill 40 Hollowpoint
  • Unlocks Unicorn Horn
• Gunjurer – Kill 40 Gunjurer
  • Unlocks Bundle of Wands
• Beholster – Kill 3 Beholster
  • Unlocks Pig

Aside from the 5 quests listed above, 10 other quests unlock items and guns such as the Cat Claw, Makeshift Cannon, and finally, the Grey Mauser.

Bowler

The Farewell to Arms Update added Rainbow mode into the game, which you toggle access by talking to Bowler.

Like other NPCs in the game, you need to rescue Bowler from a cell in the Gungeon. However, this cell can only be accessed after defeating the High Dragun.

Winchester

Winchester is an NPC that appears randomly around the Gungeon and hosts a special minigame where you must shoot four shots and break four targets for chest rewards.

The chest rewards for each made shot are as follows:

• One shot – Blue Chest
• Two shots – Green Chest
• Three shots – Red Chest
• Four shots – Black Chest

However, if you play Winchester’s game on Chamber 2 or earlier, the chest rewards per made shot above will be downgraded by one tier.

In addition, you must only take down the targets using the provided Prize Pistol. You may switch to another gun while doing the challenge, but doing so will reduce your bullets from four to just one. Shooting the targets with another gun will forfeit all chest rewards regardless of the number of targets you shoot down.

Gunsling King and Manservantes

Gunsling King and Manservantes run a wager challenge where they give you a set of challenges in exchange for money. If you can complete the challenge objectives in the next room, they will give your money back plus a gun or item reward.

Gunsling King and Manservantes Challenges:

• Complete the room without taking damage.
• Complete the room without dodge rolling. You cannot use Bloodied Scarf to teleport.
• Complete the room using the provided gun. (Lobbe, Pea Shooter, Derringer, Nail Gun, Casey)
• Complete the room in Challenge Mode (unlocked after acquiring and returning Daisuke and to The Breach)

In addition to the gun and item rewards you can collect from Gunsling King and Manservantes, you can also unlock the Owl after completing the challenges 10 times.

You need to rescue Gunsling King and Manservantes from a cell in the Gungeon Proper before they appear in The Breach.

Ser Manuel

Ser Manuel is an NPC that teaches you basic controls and features of Enter the Gungeon.

You can find Ser Manuel in the Halls of Knowledge, where he puts you through several challenges to test how well you can apply his instructions. By the end of the tutorial, Ser Manuel will challenge you to a fight to test your skills.

Ser Manuel can be found later in the Gungeon in a Secret Room wearing an owl costume and giving you a random item reward for beating Blockner.

Blockner

Blockner is Ser Manuel’s partner whom he entered the Gungeon with to search for the Gun That Can Kill The Past. Unwilling to share the glory with his partner, Blockner would betray and kill Ser Manuel and go on to explore the Gungeon by himself.

Blockner is a secret boss that you can unlock by picking up the Old Knight’s Helm and Old Knight’s Shield from a secret room in the Hall of Knowledge. Blockner will show up as a boss fight in the Black Powder Mine.

After defeating Blockner, he will roam The Breach as an NPC. Talk to Ser Manuel in the Hall of Knowledge after beating Blockner to unlock the Betrayer’s Shield and Badge.

Sell Creep

The Sell Creep is an NPC that purchases guns and items for 45% of its base cost. To sell items or guns to the Sell Creep, you must drop the item/gun in the Sell Creep’s grate.

You can find the Sell Creep in a special room in The Hollow if you can no-hit at least 1 boss, and you can unlock the R&G Department by offering a Master Round plus two guns or items.

The Sell Creep will give appropriate Bronze Shells/Casings rewards depending on the item’s rank:

• S-rank: 54 Shells/Casings
• A-rank: 41 Shells/Casings
• B-rank: 30 Shells/Casings
• C-rank: 21 Shells/Casings
• D-rank: 16 Shells/Casings
• Glass Guon Stones: 5 Shells/Casings
• Junk/Friendship Cookie/Master Rounds/Gnawed Key: 3 Shells/Casings

The Lost Adventurer

The Lost Adventurer will give you Excaliber as a reward for mapping out all five floors of the Gungeon.

You can find him in The Breach after mapping out all five floors. Otherwise, you have no choice but to wait for him to spawn in The Forge. Have a spare key ready, as you might need to unlock The Lost Adventurer behind a locked door.

Ledge Goblin

The Ledge Goblin, also known as Loblina, can be rescued from the Oubliette or Gungeon Proper.

Loblina will move to The Breach after being rescued and can be found sitting on a ledge next to a helmet. Interacting with the helmet will cause your Gungeoneer to kick it off the ledge, forcing Loblina to drop down to retrieve her helmet.

You need to rescue Loblina from the Oubliette or Gungeon Proper again so she can return to her spot in The Breach. Kick her helmet off the ledge four times and rescue Loblina four times as well to get the Blast Helmet.

Blacksmith

The Blacksmith is the shopkeeper of the shop in The Forge. You will find three sets of pickups and three sets of items/guns for sale in her shop at any given time. She also sells A-rank or S-rank guns and items.

The Blacksmith is also responsible for assembling the Bullet That Can Kill The Past. Collect and bring the following items to the Blacksmith to craft the Bullet That Can Kill The Past:

• Prime Primer
• Arcane Gunpowder
• Planar Lead
• Obsidian Shell Casing

You can bring the items above to the Blacksmith over multiple runs. After the Blacksmith creates the Bullet That Can Kill The Past the first time, you do not have to bring her the same items again to craft the Bullet That Can Kill The Past for future runs. Talk to the Blacksmith again at the Forge to collect the Bullet That Can Kill The Past for your future Gungeon runs.

The Blacksmith is also responsible for unlocking The Robot. Bring her the Busted Television to unlock The Robot.

Resourceful Rat

The Resourceful Rat is an antagonistic NPC that steals armor, ammo, items, and guns you fail to pick up in the current room. The Resourceful Rat will leave a note thanking and insulting you after successfully stealing the items.

There is a slight delay before the Resourceful Rat steals items you haven’t picked up in the room. In some instances, you might even come face to face with the Resourceful Rat when going back to a previous room. When this happens, the Resourceful Rat will not steal the items and will disappear instead.

You will find the Resourceful Rat wearing a mask resembling Bello whenever you use the elevator shortcut to the second chamber and beyond. To make up for any items or guns you missed when taking the shortcut, the Resourceful Rat will give you an appropriate number of guns with the appropriate ranks depending on which floor you skipped.

• Gungeon Proper: One of three D-rank guns.
• Black Powder Mine: One of three C-rank guns.
• The Hollow: Two of Three B-rank guns
• The Forge: Three B-rank guns

When the Advanced Gungeons & Draguns Update dropped, the Resourceful Rat was also turned into a boss with three unique fight phases. Beating the Resourceful Rat will give you numerous guns, items, and pickups.

Professor Goopton

Professor Goopton is another NPC you can rescue from a cell in the Gungeon Proper or the Oubliette.

When freed, Professor Goopton will open his goop-themed shop full of goop items and guns, which he sells for 20% less than their usual price. You can buy items from Professor Goopton with Hegemony Credits.

After purchasing an item from his shop in the Gungeon, Goopton will also open up a shop in the Breach where he offers a limited selection of the same goop-theme items.

Some notable items/guns sold by Professor Goopton include:

• Strafe Gun
• Gungeon Ant
• Gundromeda Strain
• Evolver
• Sponge

Initially, Professor Goopton will speak in a language that cannot be understood in-game. Purchasing the Sponge will translate Professor Goopton’s speech into a more understandable language.

Torc

Torc is another NPC that owns a shop in the Gungeon. All the items Torc offers in his shop come with a 0.8x discount.

Like Professor Goopton, purchasing an item from Torc’s shop in the Gungeon will cause him to set up shop in The Breach, where he offers a limited selection of the same items he offers in his shop in The Breach. All items can only be bought with Hegemony Credits.

Some notable items/guns from Torc’s shop include:

• A.W.P.
• Casey
• Mourning Star
• Flak Bullets
• Remote Bullets

Old Red

Old Red is a blue blank-looking NPC that sells Blank-themed items in exchange for Shells/Casings.

Like most NPCs in Enter the Gungeon, you must rescue Old Red from a cell in the Gungeon Proper, Black Powder Mine, or Hollow. Look for the Cell Key on the same floor to unlock the cell holding Old Red.

Old Red sells Blank items such as Ammolets and other items that activate Blanks when used in the Gungeon. Some of the most notable items found in Old Red’s shop include:

• Elder Blank
• Full Metal Jacket
• Relodestone
• Owl
• Holey Grail

 

Cursula

Cursula offers a large selection of powerful and valuable items at a 50% discount in her shop. However, purchasing from Cursula will increase your Curse by 2.5 per item.

Like most NPCs in Enter the Gungeon, you must rescue Cursula from a cell in the Oubliette, Gungeon Proper, Black Powder Mine, or Abbey of The True Gun.

Some notable items/guns found in Cursula’s shop include:

• Casey
• Pitchfork
• Badge
• Lament Configurum
• Yellow Chamber
• Wax Wings

You can also steal from Cursula’s shop by using the appropriate stealing items. Doing so will only increase your Curse by 1 instead of 2.5 when purchasing directly from the shop.

Flynt

Unlike most NPC shops that ask for Hegemony Credits or Shells/Casings, Flynt only accepts keys in his shop in the Gungeon.

Rescue Flynt from a cell in the Oubliette, Gungeon Proper, or the Abbey of The True Gun before he can set up shop around the Gungeon. Some of the items Flynt offers in his shop are:

• AKEY-47
• Vorpal Gun
• Trusty Lockpicks
• Brick of Cash
• Shelleton Key

Doug

Rescue Doug from a cell in the Gungeon Proper, Abbey of the True Gun, or Black Powder Mine so he can set up shop in The Breach.

Doug will only have two items in his shop at any given time but offers one of the largest catalogs of any shop in Enter the Gungeon. You must purchase Doug’s current offerings before he swaps them out for a new set of items. You can unlock Gilded Bullets after buying everything Doug offers in his shop.

Some notable items found in Doug’s shop:

• Gunderfury
• Dueling Laser
• Blank Bullets
• Vorpal Bullets
• Teleporter Prototype

Sorceress

The Sorceress is a unique NPC that will allow you to do a Blessed run in exchange for 6 Hegemony Credits. The Blessing will cause your gun to change to a random gun after you’ve dealt 200 damage, killed 5 enemies, run out of ammo, or spent 20 seconds in combat.

It is worth noting that you cannot put guns in your inventory in a Blessed run, and you can only use one gun that constantly changes throughout your run. In addition, all shops will not offer guns, and Hegemony Credits will not drop in a Blessed run.

You can rescue the Sorceress from a cell in the Gungeon after defeating the High Dragun once. You can find the Sorceress in The Breach after you’ve rescued her.

Tonic

Like the Sorceress, Tonic offers an alternate game mode that significantly changes your Gungeon run.

Talking to Tonic will allow you to toggle Turbo Mode, which causes gameplay elements such as player movement speed, dodge roll speed, enemy bullet speed, enemy movement speed, and spawn animations to speed up. The exact speedup rate is as follows:

• Player movement speed – 1.4x
• Dodge roll speed – 1.4x
• Enemy bullet speed – 1.3x
• Enemy movement speed – 1.5x
• Enemy spawn animation – N/A

Like most NPCs, you need to rescue Tonic from his cell after defeating the High Dragun once.

Daisuke

You can unlock Daisuke from a cell in the Gungeon after beating the High Dragun once or by using the Dice Shrine three times.

Daisuke will appear in The Breach after he has been rescued and offer a Challenge Mode run that alters each room in the Gungeon through modifiers. The Forge and The Hollow are especially challenging in this run, as bosses on these floors possess unique modifiers.

If you can reach the Black Powder Mine in Challenge Mode, you will unlock Chance Bullets. On the other hand, if you manage to beat the High Dragun in Challenge Mode, you will get Chaos Bullets and unlock the Double Challenge Mode, which increases the number of room modifiers by 2x.

Toggling Challenge Mode costs 6 Hegemony Credits for the first 30 attempts. After which, Challenge Mode will only cost 1 Hegemony Credit.

Patches and Mendy

Patches and Mendy are a pair of NPC that will give you a full heal in the Gungeon. If you’re playing The Robot, you will receive Junk, a Bottle, or a piece of armor.

To get healing, speak to the nurse on the right and answer with “Great” to her offer. After which, Patches and Mendy will smash a glass bottle containing a fairy. Patches and Mendy will only heal you once per encounter.

Synergrace

Synergrace is another NPC that requires saving before you can use her services in Enter the Gungeon. After you save Synergrace, she will appear randomly around the Gungeon and offer you a Synergy Chest in exchange for some credits.

You can unlock the Macho Brace by purchasing three Synergy Chests from Synergrace. However, she will not sell you a Synergy Chest if you do not have any item/gun that shares Synergies with other items/guns in the Gungeon. Also, the Synergy Chest is not guaranteed to drop an item with a Synergy.

Vampire

After rescuing the Vampire from her cell in the Gungeon, the Vampire will offer money in exchange for health.

The Vampire will give 20 Shells/Casings x Floor Price Multiplier for every half-heart you give her, and there’s a small chance you’ll get the effects of the Blood Shrine when interacting with the Vampire.

You can unlock the Wood Beam after trading with the Vampire three times.

Witches

The Witches, known individually as Squintie, Beakie, and Hunchie are NPCs found in secret rooms in the Gungeon.

The Witches will offer you the chance to swap out a gun for a different gun at the cost of 2 Curse. The new gun will have a rank that’s equal to or higher than the rank of the gun you offered the Witches. You can only use this service once.

Old Man

The Old Man is an NPC that will give you one item or gun.

Brother Albern

Brother Albern is an NPC that randomly appears in secret rooms on most floors in the Gungeon but is guaranteed to show up in a secret room in the Abbey of the True Gun.

Brother Albern will offer you a chest that contains 1-2 pickups or guns/items or random quality after you answer his question. There is no right or wrong answer, and Brother Albern will give you pickups, guns, or items regardless of your answer.

You can also destroy the Chest that Brother Albern offers for a small chance to drop Lies, Ser Junkan, or Gold Junk.

Save Button

The Save Button, as the name suggests, is an NPC that allows you to save and exit at the end of your current floor. Doing so will cause the exit to become frozen. You can unfreeze the exit by talking to the Save Button again.

You can find the Save Button at most exits of every floor, including elevators, trapdoors, and hidden passages except the hatch leading to the Resourceful Rat’s Lair and the R&G Department.

Using the Save Button will allow you to resume your run later and carry over your items, guns, pickups, shells, health, and armor, when you start the game at a later time. A “Continue” option will be available in the Enter the Gungeon main menu.

How do you rescue NPCs in Gungeon?

You can rescue most NPCs by picking up a cell key on the current floor and using it to unlock the cell door holding the NPC.

Whenever you find an NPC on the current floor, you can also expect to find a cell key in one of the rooms on the current floor. Scour every room to find the cell key and rescue the NPC.

Some NPCs will reappear randomly around the Gungeon after you’ve successfully rescued them from their cell. However, since most NPCs are shopkeepers, you can expect to find them in The Breach after rescuing them.

Conclusion

Most NPCs in Enter the Gungeon own shops where you can purchase items that can help improve your chances of completing your current Gungeon run. Other NPCs, such as Daisuke and Sorceress, offer a gameplay toggle that completely changes how you play your run.

Meanwhile, NPCs such as the Blacksmith are necessary to unlock other characters such as The Robot, while Winchester and Gunsling King and Manservantes offer minigames for rewards.

NPCs serve an valuable role in diversifying the game by adding new game modes, challenges, and reliable loot on top of the typical challenge of clearing rooms and beating bosses in Enter the Gungeon.