20 Minutes Till Dawnis the newest pure-dopamine injector game for fans of roguelikes, rogue-lites, and any game with a passing resemblance toVampire Survivors. While it isn’t necessarily fair to describe a game as a mixing of two other titles, it’s very easy to understand the appeal of20 Minutes Till Dawnby describing it asVampire Survivorsbut with someEnter the Gungeon"feel" blended in (comparable to the genre-blending of something likeWitchfire).
All seven of the guns in this Early Access shoot ‘em up feel great and have a variety of different OP builds, and while they may not beas “off-the-walls” as the guns in something likeHigh on Life,they’re well-balanced. Let’s take a look at which ones seem to be the strongest in the current version of the game, and why.
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Starting things off right away with a controversial pick, the Batgun is one of the more unique weapons in20MTD, as it has exceedingly low damage (though not the lowest) but makes up for it with how high its damage could “potentially” get. The “bats” that are fired out of this gun count as both Bullets and Summons and therefore benefit from Upgrades that target either of these categories such asIn SyncorPower Shot.
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Where it falls short, however, is that the Batgun doesn’t really start proving its worth unless the player gets lucky with their offered Upgrades or they invest in a lot of the Rune tree before using it. By default, the weapon just falls off halfway through a twenty-minute run as players can’t really “pick” who they’re shooting and their damage is too low. Still, if a player with well-invested Runes goes for a pure Elemental Build or Summon Build, the Batgun can become one of the more overpowered weapons in the game.
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Next up is the Flame Cannon, and this is where it needs to be said that every Weapon in20MTDis powerful and can be built into an unstoppable weapon of mass destruction. But, the Flame Cannon has the lowest base damage in the game, a decently high reload time, and its innate ability to burn enemies just saves the player a bit of time grabbing thePyro MageUpgrade. That said, they’ll still want to grab it at some point to make the rest of its Upgrade Tree available since those Upgrades increase Burn Damage overall.
Again, with the right Upgrades and pre-activated Runes, the Flame Cannon can turn into a power washer of fire that cleans up any enemies on screen. However, it takes a lot of work to get there, and this gun is in no way the weapon people tend to “default” to when they launch the game.
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The Crossbow is a bit of an oddity as well, as it is a weapon that rewards players for standing still in a game where they’ll die in just a few hits. It’s like the Grenade Launcher but without the risk and a bit more boring. Thankfully, it does hit hard, much harderthan most of the Crossbows in something likeElden Ring.
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Sure, certain Ammo Capacity upgrades make it more fun to use, but a “perfect” Crossbow run involves a player standing still and just firing at any enemy that comes on screen. Plus, the default knockback of this weapon is both a blessing and a curse as it can be incredibly helpful for safety but a real pain when it comes to fighting the bosses. All-in-all, not a bad gun by any means, but the Crossbow is probably the most “middle of the road” choice.
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Moving onto the Grenade Launcher, the most bombastic weapon in20MTD, this thing is a beast for multiple reasons. First off, it feels great to shoot, comparableto some of the Special Weapons in something likeWildcat Gun Machine. Secondly, it gives players the innate option of spacing their shot so that the Grenade auto-explodes after a second, or lining it up so that it explodes on contact with the enemy. And lastly, its default damage is astronomical.
With this weapon, theLight WeaponryUpgrade Tree is almost always a must-have as the Magic Blade summons will hit for 45 damage by default, and that only increases over the course of the run. The only real downside of this weapon, other than its obviously high Reload Time and low Max Ammo, is the fact that the Grenade explosions can hurt the player as well, but with some proper positioning this only really becomes an issue in the last eight or so minutes of a run.
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Now it’s time to talk about the Dual SMGs, a weapon that might initially seem confusing due to its item description. Basically, when it comes to Upgrades, the two SMGs count as separate weapons, meaning an Upgrade like Double Shot which adds one additional projectile actually adds two since it applies once to each SMG.
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So, it’s pretty clear how absurd these guns can get if players choose the right Upgrades to double up on. The primary ones people seem to default to are Upgrades that increase the projectile amount or ones that add Elemental Damage. As far as cons go, the SMGs are a bit too dependent on the character picked and have some pretty low default damage, but they’re one of the most fun weapon options overall and have a lot of varied builds.
Ah, the tried and true Revolver, AKA the default weapon of20 Minutes Till Dawn.The Revolver is a bit basic and might seem like it is quickly outclassed by the other Weapons the game has to offer, but that is absolutely not the case.
Because the Revolver is so safe in its default stats and “wackiness”, it scales well damage-wise and blends nicely with just about any Upgrade in the game. The cons of this gun are the same as the cons of any default gunin any run-and-gun game: it’s boring and safe. However, its reliability and dependability are pretty crucial and allow for a solid foundation the player can build on top of with wacky and risky Upgrades.
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When the demo of20MTD(which went by the name10 Minutes Till Dawn) came out, people didn’t have high hopes for the Shotgun. It was good and the damage was great at the start of a run, but it didn’t blend well with a lot of Upgrades and the constant need to stick close to enemies was dangerous.
Now, after the full game has been released into Early Access, the Shotgun is the cream of the crop thanks to things like theSniper Upgrade Treewhich massively increases its range.Think of it as something similar to the OP Drum Shotgun that was just vaulted inFortnite. The added Upgrades all work well to buff the Shotgun into the stratosphere, its default damage might seem low but it fires four bullets that deal ten damage, and it has a short reload time. There’s not much more to say other than the fact that the Shotgun is just strong and works with just about every Character and Build (though some are assuredly stronger than others).
