Variant build

-25% XP Gain
Can only evolve on the Mutant side
Automatically mutate once at the end of each wave
25% chance for an item to mutate when you equip it (bought in the shop or taken from a crate)

Unlock and starting weapons Open Combat Shotgun in the calculator Variant on Nightmare

How players win with Variant Community consensus

Meat Tenderizer is recommended so random item swaps do not ruin the run; the mutation tumour grows strong after about wave 10.

Meat Tenderizer

Stats: HP Regeneration.

Primal Dread Nightmare Mode Guide (jldark89) (2026-11-07): Posted after Update 1.2; Nightmare difficulty. Mentions Mech being nerfed in a beta at the time of writing.

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

Weapons Variant boosts most Computed from rules

Variant: ordered by how much Variant's modifiers raise each weapon's damage compared with a character without modifiers, then by damage per second; weapons Variant doesn't boost fall back to raw DPS. Reference profile: Variant's own stats plus 20 points bought in the weapon's main scaling stat, both multiplied by Variant's modifiers; one weapon, its highest tier, no items, single target, every projectile hits. 89 of 95 equippable weapons scale with a stat Variant 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 IV	×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 Variant'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 Variant's effects

25% chance for an item to mutate when you equip it (bought in the shop or taken from a crate)

-25% XP Gain

What the modifiers change Computed from rules

Variant 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).

Variant has no stat multiplier, conversion or class bonus. Pick weapons by the stat they scale with and buy that stat.

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.