Co-op

Co-op is Enter the Gungeons cooperative gamemode, which allows two players to team up and make their way into the Gungeon's depths.

If a controller is connected, The Cultist will appear alongside the main Gungeoneers in The Breach. If interacted with by player 1, they will have the option to enlist the Cultist to aid them as player 2. Co-op mode is the only way to access the Cultist's past.

Gameplay Effects

Co-op mode has several effects on the normal gameplay of Enter the Gungeon in addition to the presence of a secondary player.

• Enemy health is increased by 40%.
• The chance for pickup drops on room clear is increased.
• Doors may only be opened if both players press against the door simultaneously, preventing players from getting trapped outside of sealed combat rooms.
• Most NPCs have special dialogue when interacting with the Cultist, demeaning them and not taking them seriously and requiring Player 1 to actually access their services.

Ghosts

Players do not share a health pool, and as such can die independently of one another. When one player is dead, the surviving player can progress as normal while the deceased player follows them in the form of a translucent ghost. On death, players will drop all of their non-starter items and guns onto the ground, requiring the other player to pick them up to keep them safe from the Resourceful Rat.

Ghosts may perform a re-usable miniature blank effect via pressing the blank button on their keyboard, or any button on controller. There is no limit on how many times this can be done, but it has a small cooldown time between activations. When a blank is ready, the ghost player will appear blue, while when the blank is on cooldown they will appear grey.

Ghosts cannot collect items, initiate combat, purchase items, open chests, collect pickups, or any other standard player actions until they are revived, which may be done in one of three ways;

• Opening a Revival Chest. When one player is dead, all remaining chests in the current chamber will transform into Revival Chests, the opening of which does not grant any loot, but will instead contain the dead player, miraculously returned to life.
  • Breaking a revival chest has an identical effect to opening it.
  • Revival chests do not require keys to open.
  • When the dead player is resurrected, all revival chests in the current chamber will revert back to whatever chest type they were previously.
• Defeating any Boss will immediately revive a dead player.
• Using the Friendship Cookie item will revive a dead player when used, however it is one-use.
  • Despite being a starting item of the Cultist, it can be used by any player.

All three revival methods will resurrect the dead player with full health.

The Past

Upon reaching the Gun That Can Kill The Past, it can be used to access The Cultists past or (if the Bullet That Can Kill The Past is acquired) the past of the Primary player depending on which character is targeted by the guns crosshair. Each primary player past will play out as normal save for the presence of the Cultist.

In most pasts, the Cultist arrives carrying only a Dart Gun, however in the Bullet's Past he will start with nothing, acquiring a second Wooden Blasphemy at the same time as The Bullet. In the Pilot's Past, the Cultist will operate a second spaceship, coloured purple rather than blue.

Strategy and Tips

• Guns can be traded between the protagonist and the Cultist via gun dropping.
  • This is usually done by holding F for a keyboard or holding the "Down" direction on the D-pad of the controller.
  • The same can be done with active items by holding G or "Up" respectively.
• Passive item benefits are only given to the player who picks up the item.
• Synergies can be shared between players.
  • When playing with The Gunslinger in co-op, Lich's Eye Bullets works with both players, effectively awarding both of them with every synergy upon gun pickup.
  • Synergy effects will work with both players. For example, Witch Pistol's Chicken Arise synergy will make all players have larger bullets when held.
• When reviving a dead player via Revival Chests, check the chests icon on the map to see what chest type it was before turning into a revival chest. There is no difference between revival chests of different tiers, so it is better to sacrifice lower tier chests for revival and save higher tier chests to collect their loot.
• Whether intentionally or as part of an oversight, Ghost players are able to block moving walls in Winchester's shooting gallery minigame, making it far easier for the surviving player.

Bugs

• If either player dies before exiting to the next chamber elevator, the next chamber will have chests that will not turn into revival chests (except for spawned chests). Opening them will cause them to act as a normal revival chest but if both players are alive, they are able to open the unspawned chests without requiring a key.
• If the player enters co-op as The Paradox and uses the alternative gun skin shrine, the Cultist will start without a gun. Entering a room will spawn a supply drop containing a random starter gun or weak gun, which occurs as a failsafe when any character has no usable guns.
• If the player enters co-op as The Paradox and dies their starting item will drop, and when they respawn it will also reappear in their inventory regardless of if they died with the item. this can allow you to gain extra items on a rainbow run as they won't be stolen by Bowler, and you can use all of the normally useless chests to gain the paradox's starting item over and over.
• If the Cultist picks up an item that the Resourceful Rat is stealing, the rat will soft-lock in his current position. He will remain in this state, unable to steal dropped items, until the players advance to the next level.
• If the either player dies while Drill is unlocking a chest, the chest will revive the killed player, but will be unable to finish unlocking, trapping the players in the drill room and softlocking the game.
• Even if holding one of the items used to create The Bullet That Can Kill The Past, the Cultist will be ignored by the Blacksmith. Since none of the items can be dropped, this can result in being unable to give the Blacksmith that bullet part in the run.
• If The Gunslinger dies but The Cultist remains alive, infinite starter gun or Makarov or 38 Special drops will arrive until The Gunslinger is revived or if The Cultist isn't currently in a room with enemies.
• The character speed modifiers of Turbo Mode will only apply the effect to Player 1 until Player 1 is killed, at which point The Cultist will become affected.

Unused and Cut Content

• The Player Mimic is a scrapped enemy that would have been exclusive to co-op mode.
• In Alpha versions of Enter the Gungeon, co-op mode had a number of differences in how it played;
  • Players did not become ghosts upon dying.
  • Dead co-op players could press a button to summon a free revival chest to allow them back into the game, presumably for testing purposes.
  • Reviving a dead co-op player would reduce their maximum health by one.
  • 'Co-op specific items and scenarios' are mentioned in early interviews, but are largely absent in the final release.
• According to Brent Sodman, more than 2-player co-op was briefly considered during Enter the Gungeons development, but was never followed through on due to being considered too hectic.

Notes

• Despite being local-only multiplayer, Enter the Gungeon's co-op mode can be accessed via Steam's Remote Play feature with minimal issues.
• While Player 1 may be any character, Player 2 must always play as The Cultist.
• While the exact dates that co-op was started and finished during the development of Enter the Gungeon are unknown, a very rudimentary version of the mode was confirmed to exist as early in development as the 11th of April 2015.