Romantic build

Hitting an enemy that has less than 25% health has a 5% (50% Max HP) chance to charm it for 8 seconds
+50 Range with melee weapons
-3% Damage for every 5 Curse you have
-1 Armor for every 5 Curse you have
+1 Curse at the end of a wave

Unlock and starting weapons Open Combat Shotgun in the calculator

How players win with Romantic Community consensus

Charm triggers below 25% enemy HP and scales with Max HP, so build Max HP alongside an ordinary ranged setup; SMG with early Ranged Damage and Sharp Bullet is the easiest, Slingshot or Spoon the alternatives. Dodge is needed.

Stats: Max HP, Ranged Damage, Attack Speed, Crit Chance, Life Steal, Dodge. Weapon classes: Gun.

Avoid: Items that lower Ranged Damage, Flute.

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.
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.
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.

Summarised in our own words on 13 November 2026; check the patch date of each source against PC 1.2.

Weapons Romantic boosts most Computed from rules

Romantic: ordered by how much Romantic's modifiers raise each weapon's damage compared with a character without modifiers, then by damage per second; weapons Romantic doesn't boost fall back to raw DPS. Reference profile: Romantic's own stats plus 20 points bought in the weapon's main scaling stat, both multiplied by Romantic's modifiers; one weapon, its highest tier, no items, single target, every projectile hits. 89 of 95 equippable weapons scale with a stat Romantic 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 IVRomantic class bonus	×1	170.3+ burn 7×18	Melee Damage	100	0.59 s
6	Power Fist IVRomantic class bonus	×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 optionRomantic class bonus	×1	143.1	Melee Damage	84	0.59 s
10	Revolver IV	×1	138.5	Ranged Damage	80	0.59 s

Starting weapons by the same measure

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 Romantic's multiplier; prices rise each wave. Downsides are listed because they hit other stats.

Curse converted by Romantic

Ranged Damage main stat of the top weapons

Items that use Romantic's effects

-3% Damage for every 5 Curse you have

What the modifiers change Computed from rules

Romantic 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).

Curse → less Damage: -3% Damage for every 5 Curse you have.
Curse → less Armor: -1 Armor for every 5 Curse you have.
Melee weapons +50% Range: +50 Range with melee weapons. Eligible: Flaming Brass Knuckles, Power Fist, Fist, Knife, War Hammer, Captain’s Sword, Cestus, Plasma Sledge and 47 more.
Curse +1 per wave: +19 Curse by the start of wave 20.

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 12 November 2026.