
Captain build
- +60% XP Gain for every free weapon slot you have
- +100% stats gained from level upgrades
- +200% XP required to level up
- +2% Enemy health at the end of a wave
- +2% Enemy damage at the end of a wave
Unlock and starting weaponsOpen Combat Shotgun in the calculator
How players win with Captain Community consensus
Stay on one to three weapons for most of the run to boost level-ups and XP, buy every XP item, and add weapons late; Spear, Javelin and Shredder are recommended starts. Luck makes level-ups better.
- Brotato + DLC!! - Danger 5 Runs and Tips (All Characters) +UPDATES (B the No-Self) (posted 2023-08-12; last updated 2026-11-05): Character sections are undated and many were written before Update 1.2 (2 Nov 2026); Danger 5 wins.
- Beginners/Achievement Guide - How To Win As Every Character (+D5 Tips) - Brotato (AdamsIdeas) (last updated 2026-02-12): Predates Update 1.2 and Primal Dread.
- ArosRising's Brotato Character Guide (undated; written before Primal Dread): Danger 5 oriented Google Doc; the author says it has not been updated for Primal Dread or Update 1.2.
- Torch Captain - brotato-builds.com (undated; tagged Danger 5): User-submitted build by Burntout.
Summarised in our own words on 13 November 2026; check the patch date of each source against PC 1.2.
Weapons Captain boosts most Computed from rules
Captain: ordered by how much Captain's modifiers raise each weapon's damage compared with a character without modifiers, then by damage per second; weapons Captain doesn't boost fall back to raw DPS. Reference profile: Captain's own stats plus 20 points bought in the weapon's main scaling stat, both multiplied by Captain's modifiers; one weapon, its highest tier, no items, single target, every projectile hits. 89 of 95 equippable weapons scale with a stat Captain can raise.
| # | Weapon | Boost | DPS | Main stat | Hit | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Combat Shotgun IV | ×1 | 350.6 | Ranged Damage | 32 ×8 | 0.75 s |
| 2 | Machine Gun IVStarting option | ×1 | 250.7 | Ranged Damage | 22 | 0.09 s |
| 3 | Minigun IV | ×1 | 228.9 | Ranged Damage | 20 | 0.09 s |
| 4 | Obliterator IV | ×1 | 223.2 | Ranged Damage | 700 | 3.23 s |
| 5 | Flaming Brass Knuckles IV | ×1 | 170.3+ burn 7×18 | Melee Damage | 100 | 0.59 s |
| 6 | Power Fist IV | ×1 | 170.3 | Melee Damage | 100 | 0.59 s |
| 7 | SMG IVStarting option | ×1 | 160.8 | Ranged Damage | 24 | 0.15 s |
| 8 | Double Barrel Shotgun IVStarting option | ×1 | 149.4 | Ranged Damage | 29 ×6 | 1.20 s |
| 9 | Fist IVStarting option | ×1 | 143.1 | Melee Damage | 84 | 0.59 s |
| 10 | Revolver IVStarting option | ×1 | 138.5 | Ranged Damage | 80 | 0.59 s |
Starting weapons by the same measure
Machine Gun#2 of 89, 250.7 DPS at tier IV
SMG#7 of 89, 160.8 DPS at tier IV
Double Barrel Shotgun#8 of 89, 149.4 DPS at tier IV
Fist#9 of 89, 143.1 DPS at tier IV
Revolver#10 of 89, 138.5 DPS at tier IV
Knife#12 of 89, 134.9 DPS at tier IV
Hatchet#20 of 89, 106.3 DPS at tier IV
Blowgun#27 of 89, 93.2 DPS at tier IV
Meat Tenderizer#31 of 89, 85.9 DPS at tier IV
Shovel#36 of 89, 77.1 DPS at tier IV
Awl#45 of 89, 67.7 DPS at tier IV
Spear#47 of 89, 66.5 DPS at tier IV
Carbon Bow#49 of 89, 63.2 DPS at tier IV
Boomerang#56 of 89, 57.8 DPS at tier IV
Chopper#58 of 89, 56.2 DPS at tier IV
Quarterstaff#59 of 89, 55.2 DPS at tier IV
Pan Flute#61 of 89, 54.3 DPS at tier IV
Plank#63 of 89, 50.4 DPS at tier IV
Lightning Shiv#67 of 89, 43.7 DPS at tier IV
Javelin#68 of 89, 42.1 DPS at tier IV
Sticky Grenade#69 of 89, 41.8 DPS at tier IV
Ghost Axe#70 of 89, 40.9 DPS at tier IV
Ghost Flint#74 of 89, 38.9 DPS at tier IV
Shredder#77 of 89, 34.3 DPS at tier IV
Slingshot#78 of 89, 33.7 DPS at tier IV
Crowbar#81 of 89, 31.1 DPS at tier IV
Torch#84 of 89, 26.3 DPS at tier IV
Molotov Cocktail#87 of 89, 19.6 DPS at tier IV
Legendary-only weapons
These exist only at tier IV, cost a Legendary shop slot and carry the Legendary set penalty of −20 Max HP per weapon of the class. At the same profile: Chain Gun 722.9 DPS; Gatling Laser 493.2 DPS; Excalibur 418.2 DPS; Scythe 243.2 DPS.
Items for the stats this build buys Computed from item data
Ranked by points per base material after Captain's multiplier; prices rise each wave. Downsides are listed because they hit other stats.
Ranged Damage main stat of the top weapons
Items that use Captain's effects
+60% XP Gain for every free weapon slot you have
Scar+20% XP Gain; -8 Range
Black Belt+25% XP Gain; +3 Melee Damage; +3 Knockback; -8 Luck
Celery Tea+5% XP Gain at the end of a wave; +50% XP Gain during the next wave; +100% Enemy health during the next wave
Barnacle+35% stats gained from level upgrades; +1 Curse when you level up
Bean Teacher+50% XP Gain; -2% Life Steal
Peacock+25% XP Gain; +100% XP Gain during the next wave; +50% Enemy damage during the next wave
Diploma+10 Engineering; +50% XP Gain; -3 Max HP
What the modifiers change Computed from rules
Captain has no stat multiplier, so the weapon decides the stat. At the reference profile the highest single-target damage comes from Combat Shotgun IV (350.6 DPS).
- free weapon slot → XP Gain
- +60% XP Gain for every free weapon slot you have.
Assumptions and method
- Damage per hit = round(trunc(base + Σ stat × scaling) × (1 + %Damage/100 + class %Damage/100)); crits average in as chance × round(hit × multiplier). Formulas are datamined from the game code; weapon numbers come from the game-file tables.
- Cooldown is the tooltip value, which includes the attack animation. Reload weapons average the long cooldown over its shot count. Attack Speed divides the tooltip, an approximation: the game divides only the cooldown frames.
- Not modelled: pierce, bounce, explosion splash, knockback, on-hit and kill-count effects, structures, and how often the weapon actually reaches enemies. Multi-projectile weapons assume every projectile hits the same target, which favours shotguns.
- Version: Brotato PC 1.2 with the 12 November 2026 patch. Reviewed .










