Guns

You carry two guns at a time, swap with the Switch button, and can change either one free at any Lantern Dock. No gun uses ammunition.

All eleven at a glance

Damage is the most each gun can do in a second with every shot landing. Reach is in the game's pixels: the room is 512 wide.

Gun	Top damage/s	Reach	How you get it
Silver Needle	16	560 px	Yours from the start.
Wisp Seeker	4.5	96 px	Open from the start: pick it at any Lantern Dock.
Ricochet Shard	10.5	150 px	Open from the start: pick it at any Lantern Dock.
Scattergun	22.5	72 px	Open from the start: pick it at any Lantern Dock.
Psalm Lance	22.5	200 px	Handed over by Sorrel as the story goes on.
Thurible Mortar	14.2	112 px	Beat The Bronze Watchman for the first time.
Reliquary Bolt	17.5	300 px	Handed over by Corwin as the story goes on.
Ossuary Rail	20	To the wall	Handed over by Ambrel as the story goes on.
Grave Lanterns	15	Behind you	Handed over by Hesk as the story goes on.
Candle Bellows	18	56 px	Beat The Last Lamplighter for the first time.
Rose Prism	8.8	300 px	Beat The Thorn Reliquary for the first time.

How to fly each one

Silver Needle

Your all-rounder and every run's first gun. It reaches the whole room, so hold your distance and keep the target in front of you.

Wisp Seeker

It aims itself at enemies within 80 px and its wisps home, so you can fly purely for safety. The price is the lowest damage in the game and a short reach: stay close, and pair it with something that hits hard.

Ricochet Shard

Two shards in a narrow V that bounce off walls and obstacles up to twice. Use the walls: a bounce reaches enemies behind cover. Its travel is short, 150 px in all.

Scattergun

Five pellets, enormous damage, and only 72 px of reach. Fly in, unload, and fly out. Beginners should carry it second, beside a long-range gun.

Psalm Lance

A steady ray that climbs from 1x to 3x damage if it stays on one enemy for 1.5 seconds. Turning sharply resets it, so it rewards smooth arcs around a single big target. Superb against bosses.

Thurible Mortar

It lobs a shell over bullets, enemies and small obstacles to land 112 px ahead, and nothing closer than the landing is hit. Keep that distance deliberately, and aim at crowds.

Reliquary Bolt

A slow bolt that sticks, then bursts half a second later for most of its damage. Stick it in the middle of a group, or in a wall beside a corner.

Ossuary Rail

It charges only while your heading holds. Line up, hold still in direction for a full second, and it fires through every enemy to the wall. The steadiest hand wins; a sharp turn starts it over.

Grave Lanterns

It drops mines behind you as you move, with no aiming at all. Fly in loops and let enemies chase you across them. Up to six lie at once for six seconds each.

Candle Bellows

A short cone of flame that passes through everything it touches and leaves burning ground. Stay within 56 px, which means taking real risks for very high damage.

Rose Prism

A shot that splits on its first hit into a fan of five pieces flying onward. Weak against a lone boss and excellent in a crowd, so aim for the enemy at the front.

Good pairs

Some pairs work together on their own. These bonuses are always on while you carry both guns:

Wisp Seeker with Silver Needle: needles hit marked enemies harder.
Any two guns: the first shot after a swap hits harder.
Ricochet Shard with Scattergun: the Scattergun's pellets bounce once.

The Loadout screen also offers ready-made builds, a good way to try a style without thinking it through first:

Build	What it does
Vanguard	The usual start: Needle and Scattergun, the Vigil Blade, the Lantern Plate.
Skirmisher	Fast and close: Ricochet and Scattergun, the Twin Censers, the light Pilgrim Weave.
Bulwark	Slow and hard to break: the Scattergun up close while the Seeker finds the rest, the Bell Hammer, the Bastion Plate.
Hunter	Mark and pierce: the Seeker marks for the Needle (Hunter's Mark), the Pilgrim Spear primes piercing shots; the Pilgrim Weave.
Thornwright	Splinters: the Rose Prism's fans and the Ricochet's bounces, the Vigil Blade, the Lantern Plate.
Pyre	Burn them: the Candle Bellows and the Rose Prism, the Twin Censers, the Bastion Plate.
Bombard	Bursts from afar: the Thurible Mortar and the Reliquary Bolt, the Bell Hammer, the Bastion Plate.
Dockwatch	Hesk's watch: Grave Lanterns behind you, the Scattergun ahead, the Bell Hammer, the Warden Mail.
Chorister	Hold steady: the Psalm Lance and the Ossuary Rail, the Pilgrim Spear, the Horologe Harness.
Mourner	Wren's lance and Sorrel's candle: the Psalm Lance and the Candle Bellows, the Twin Censers, the Vigil Shroud.

Weapon forms

Bring down three Guardians with a gun in your hand and it opens a second form, free to switch at any dock:

Silver Lance (Silver Needle): slower, heavier needles that pass through two enemies.
Moth Swarm (Wisp Seeker): three small wisps a volley.
Prism Shard (Ricochet Shard): one hard shard that bounces four times and flies farther.
Slug (Scattergun): one heavy slug that reaches farther and passes through an enemy.
Requiem Lance (Psalm Lance): a longer beam whose focus builds slower but climbs to 4x.
Censer Barrage (Thurible Mortar): smaller shells twice as often, landing closer.
Martyr Bolt (Reliquary Bolt): a longer fuse and a far bigger burst.
Bone Choir (Ossuary Rail): a quick, lighter line that forgives a little turning.
Corpse Candles (Grave Lanterns): more, smaller lanterns that wake from farther.
Votive Torch (Candle Bellows): one long tongue of flame that leaves fire more often.
Lancet Window (Rose Prism): a heavier shot whose three pieces fly straighter and farther.

Modifiers

Modifiers change whichever gun is in your hand. You hold two at most. Once a sector, a dock offers one free modifier from a choice of two. Taking a third replaces one you hold. Some cannot be held together, as the last column shows.

Modifier	Effect	Not with
Forked	Two shots at a slight angle, each 60% as strong. The Scattergun doubles its pellets instead.	Echoing
Piercing	Each shot passes through one more enemy.	None
Returning Spark	Shots bounce twice more, and each bounce bursts for 60% damage, at 85% strength.	Hollow
Seeking	Shots fired close to your target turn gently toward it, at 80% strength.	None
Far Calling	Shots fly 20% faster and last 10% longer, so they reach further. Best on short-range guns.	None
Quickened	Fires 20% faster, each shot 10% weaker.	Weighty
Weighty	Shots hit 25% harder, firing 15% slower.	Quickened
Merciful	25% more damage to anything under a quarter of its health, bosses included.	None
Echoing	A weaker second shot follows each shot, at 35% strength.	Forked
Hushed	Hits slow ordinary enemies' movement by 15% for a moment.	None
Hollow	Shots pass the room's small obstacles, at 90% strength.	Returning Spark
Steady	Narrows the Scattergun's spread to 65%, and adds 5% damage to every gun.	None

Status combos

Some weapons and modifiers leave Frost, Burn or a Mark on enemies. Two different effects on one enemy set off a combo:

Steam: Frost meets Burn; a burst of steam round the enemy, and both end.
Pyre: Burn meets Mark; a flare on the enemy, and its fire spreads to those beside it.
Brittle: Frost meets Mark; the mark hurts even more while the enemy stays slowed.