Icicle

Piercing: 1 (-50% damage)

Unlock: Available from the start
Starting weapon for: 31 characters

Community builds that use it

CrazyUse Precise weapons, which keep the full +100 Range, and push Crit Chance toward 100% with plenty of Melee Damage; Thief Dagger is the economy pick, Lightning Shiv, Shuriken, Claw and Icicle are the other main options. Leave Dodge negative and rely on Armor and Max HP instead.
CuriousAvoid duplicate weapons and mostly buy single copies of items; chase loot aliens with high base damage or elemental burn weapons. Javelin, Icicle, Double Barrel Shotgun and Brick are named entry points.
HunterCrossbows with Crit Chance (boosted 25%) and Range, which also grants % Damage; Harvesting gains are cancelled, so drop it. Thief Dagger, Icicle, Shuriken and Hiking Pole are reported alternatives.
JackFew enemies with high health, so use high base-damage weapons such as Laser Gun and Revolver, stacking Ranged Damage, then % Damage and Crit Chance, plus Speed to evade elites. Spears, Jousting Lance, Icicle and Brick (tripled material drop) are reported alternatives.
MageElemental build carried by the starting Scared Sausage and Snake: buy more of both, stack Elemental Damage and Attack Speed, and use Tasers (slow plus Support harvesting), Icicles or Lightning Shiv, adding Flamethrowers when offered. Torch is suggested as a tankier start before switching around waves 8-9.
OldThe small map favours Engineering: Wrench turrets and Landmines stay on screen, so stack Engineering and defensive stats. Double Barrel Shotguns are the gun alternative because enemies bunch up; guides also report Taser/Wand elemental builds.
SaverBuild a base of weapons and key items, then stop spending around waves 8-9 so held materials raise % Damage through the passive and Piggy Bank. Spear, Lightning Shiv, Icicle and Thief Dagger are recommended; Padding became a good pickup after its buff.
Well-RoundedNo restrictions, so any build works; the common picks are six SMGs or Double Barrel Shotguns with Ranged Damage, or Sticks/Spears as a primitive melee fallback. Take early Luck and Harvesting, then split between offence and defence.
WoundedOne hit ends the run, so use long-range high-DPS guns: SMG, Double Barrel Shotgun, Icicle or Rail Gun, prioritising Ranged Damage and Range. Laser Guns are advised for Nightmare, where a mutated enemy releases bullets when struck by ranged attacks.

Stats by tier

Tier I Common
Damage
10 (+100% Elemental Damage)
Cooldown
1.03s
Crit
x2 (5% chance)
Range
400
Tier II Uncommon
Damage
20 (+100% Elemental Damage)
Cooldown
0.95s
Crit
x2 (10% chance)
Range
400
Tier III Rare
Damage
30 (+100% Elemental Damage)
Cooldown
0.87s
Crit
x2.5 (15% chance)
Range
400
Tier IV Legendary
Damage
40 (+100% Elemental Damage)
Cooldown
0.7s
Crit
x3 (20% chance)
Range
400

Damage in brackets is added from your stats before %Damage multiplies the total; see the damage formula or the calculator.

DPS at tier IV

80 DPS with no stats, 120 at 20 Elemental Damage and 180 at 50 (single target, every projectile hits, crits averaged): #1 of 12 weapons that scale with Elemental Damage. Full ranking or your own stats.