Dungeon Clawler replaces the standard hand of cards for a literal claw machine! You load the machine with weapons, shields and passive items. Then, you drop the claw to fight enemies and defend yourself. It sounds weird. But it’s lots of fun.
In this Dungeon Clawler guide, we will break down everything you need to learn to survive Nightmare difficulty, from the best characters and best builds to top economy and item strategies. So stick with me to learn more.
What You’ll Read:
Dungeon Clawler Guide Quick Takeaway
Need quick answers? Check out the table below for the most important parts of this Dungeon Clawler guide:
| Category | Best Choice | Quick Tip |
| Best Beginner Characters | Sir Bunalot & Count Clawcula. | Bunalot is a highly forgiving tank. Clawcula heals through damage but cannot block. |
| Broken Builds | Machine Gun Dolly & Metal Scrappy. | Dolly breaks the game with Spiky Stress Balls and self-damage. Scrappy vacuums up metal with his magnet. |
| Top Perks | Magic Mirror & Vampirism. | Magic Mirror triggers your first item twice for massive swings. Vampirism keeps you alive against final bosses. |
| Crucial Items | Hand Mirror & Antidote. | The Hand Mirror reflects boss attacks for easy wins. Carry one Antidote to avoid cheap poison deaths. |
| Core Tactics | Magic Mirror triggers your first item twice for massive swings. Vampirism keeps you alive against the final bosses. | Trash bad starting gear to thin your deck. Transmute items to metal so they sink to the bottom. |
Dungeon Clawler Gameplay Core Mechanics
If you understand the claw machine, you have won half the battle. The game physics dictate your success. You need to know exactly how items interact with the claw and each other.
Dungeon Clawler Materials, Item Sizes and Fluids
Item size makes a huge difference. Large items give the claw more surface area to grab, but they can be tricky to pull up. Materials also completely change how items behave. The machine often fills with liquids like water, ink or lava. When this happens, wood and plastic items float right to the top. Metal items always sink straight to the bottom. You can use this to your advantage to group specific items together.
Advanced Claw Physics
You do not have direct control over the claw grab. But you can manipulate the physics to your advantage. Here are some techniques:
- Jostling: The claw physically pushes items around. Use the edges of the open claw to separate piled up items before you grab something.
- Angling: Move the claw back and forth. Drop it right before it centers. This forces the claw down at an angle to catch items in awkward positions.
- Corner Grabs: If you want something on the far left, let the claw fully settle before dropping it. Do not try to angle it.
Managing Machine Capacity
Do not overload your machine. A clogged machine often results in empty claw grabs. Your machine has a limit on how many items it can drop in per turn. Skip event rewards that do not fit your build, and throw out useless items in Shredder rooms. A thin deck guarantees you always draw your best weapons.
Dungeon Clawler Best Character to Start
Every playable character in Dungeon Clawler has lost a paw, and they have unique abilities to help get it back. Sir Bunalot and Count Clawcula are the absolute best choices for beginners, because they are easier to understand, but keep reading to see which one is the best for you.
Note: Fortunately, to unlock characters below, you do not need to do much.
Sir Bunalot
Sir Bunalot is a knight who lost everything gambling and is the starting character. He gets a nice 10 increase to his maximum HP and starts each turn with 5 additional shields. This makes him an incredibly safe and well-rounded tank.
He shines with items that interact with armor, but you can use the Energy Drink to convert armor into strength or use the Mace to turn that armor directly into damage.
Count Clawcula
Count Clawcula got evicted after losing money on bat races. His unique ability is a double-edged sword. He heals for 10% of any damage he deals. The catch is that he cannot block at all. Shields and armor items are completely useless to him. You have to play super-aggressive. Focus on critical hits, Strength buffs and the Gold Dagger. Use Brass Knuckles to increase dodge and survive enemy attacks.
Scrappy
Scrappy is Sir Bunalot’s metal-obsessed cousin and one of the most powerful characters. His second claw is a Magnet Claw. That’s why he can easily grab massive clusters of metal items. He even gains 1 Strength whenever he collects five or more metal items at once. However, he needs a highly specialized deck. Look for the Whetstone to buff your metal items. The Hand of Midas is also great for turning worthless fluff into gold.
Felina
Felina is a fantastic option for players who like pet classes. She permanently fights alongside her cat named Cream Puff. Cream Puff gains Strength equal to hers and attacks whenever Felina takes a hit. You want to stack Strength items like amulets and the Spiky Stressball. Just load up on shields to survive the enemy turn. Cream Puff will deal massive damage while you defend.
Top-Tier Dungeon Clawler Builds
These specific builds rely on heavy synergies and specific items and help you melt bosses:
The Heavy Metal Magnet Build
This build revolves around Scrappy and his magnet claw. Your goal is to gather as many metal items as possible. Throw your starting gear in a Shredder and visit the Alchemist to turn all your remaining items into metal.
Look for rings, paperclips, amulets and strength potions. When you drop the claw, aim directly for the magnet itself. The magnet will drag all the other metal items down the chute with it.
“Machine Gun Dolly”
This is the craziest build, trust me! Choose Dolly equipped with two Dolly Paws and one Any Bunny’s Food paw. This setup triples your self-damage and doubles your item pickup. Next, find the Spiky Stress Ball and shred every other item you own.
The stress ball drops mini spikes that deal 5 damage to you and 1 damage to the enemy. Avoid armor perks entirely. They absorb the self-damage and ruin your Berserker strength scaling. The Vampiric Fangs perk is what you need to survive your own spikes.
The Toxic Water Tank Build
Squidly thrives in a flooded machine. Your second claw is always a tentacle that starts with a water bottle and sponges. Your priority is to fill the tank with water immediately. Drop a poison bath bomb into the water to turn the machine toxic.
Then, add a Teddy to spawn extra fluff. The toxic water will poison the fluff. Use a poison flask to heavily multiply the enemy’s poison stacks. The tentacle claws let you grab massive chunks of the poisoned pool at once.
The Debt Level 17+ Shield Setup
You need Chief Bunner for extreme difficulties like Debt Level 17. Equip two Sir Bunalot paws and one Magnet paw. The Bunalot paws guarantee 20 shield every turn. Chief Bunner converts this shield into a constant +7 Strength buff.
Buy daggers and small metal weapons from the shop and only use the magnet claw to pick up your metal weapons. If you see a large shield, grab it completely alone. This gives you an extra +15 shield boost on top of the normal amount.
Best Dungeon Clawler Perks
Perks act as your permanent passive buffs. Picking the wrong ones will end your run early. Grab these top-tier options to become more powerful and stay alive:
S-Tier Survival: Vampirism & Critical Healing
You need reliable perks like Vampirism to heal during tough fights. It heals you whenever you deal damage. If you do not have at least one Vampirism perk, you will likely die to the final boss. If you focus on burst damage, grab the Critical Healing perk instead. Slaying an enemy with a critical hit instantly restores 8 health.
The Best Perk in the Game: Magic Mirror
Many players consider Magic Mirror the strongest perk in the entire game. It forces the first item you pick up each turn to trigger twice. This can help you instantly generate double the stats or double the projectiles from your most important item. So always pick this perk.
Economy & Scaling: Bargain, Greedy & Golden Armor
Money rules! Especially on the harder difficulties. So stack coins and turn that wealth into raw stats. The Golden Armor perk adds 2 maximum health for every 10 coins you hold. Grab the Greedy perk to boost your overall income. Finally, look for the Bargain perk to reduce the cost of shop rerolls and item upgrades. Also, getting three or four Bargain perks makes everything dirt cheap.
Best Dungeon Clawler Items & Passive Synergies
Your deck needs more than just active weapons. Equip these specific tools to build massive passive power and defeat deadly bosses:
The Hand Mirror
This item is the ultimate boss counter. It reflects one attack straight back at the enemy. It absolutely dominates bosses like the Shark boss that ramp up their damage every turn.
Passive Board Buffs
Do not grab every item you drop into the machine. Items like Wood Oil are meant to stay on the board. Wood Oil passively boosts the block value of all shields within its radius. If you pick it up, you lose the buff entirely. The Noxious Cape is another incredible passive tool. It grants 10 blocks at the end of your turn for every poisoned enemy on the field.
Antidotes
Your regular defense is useless against poison damage. A sneaky enemy can slip poison past your perfect shield wall and kill you fast. So always equip one Antidote per run to eliminate this risk entirely.
Dungeon Clawler Tips and Tricks
Here are some extra Dungeon Clawler tips to put you ahead of the curve:
- Always pick multipliers over flat numbers for long runs. A Strength Potion doubles your strength, while an amulet just adds five.
- You earn coins by hitting basic enemies once, but double-hitting bosses pays. Milk them for extra cash before ending the fight.
- The Piggy Bank and Midas Hand are only great early on. Do not blow all your cash on them late in the run.
- Normal mode is basically a tutorial. Beat it a few times to unlock paws and get a feel for the mechanics. After that, never look back and stick to the harder difficulties.
That’s all you need to know. Now start building your deck and attacking. Should I add something to this Dungeon Clawler guide? Let me know in the comments and I’ll add them.
FAQ
What is the best starting character in Dungeon Clawler?
Sir Bunalot and Count Clawcula are the absolute best picks for new players. Sir Bunalot is incredibly tanky and very forgiving. Count Clawcula deals massive damage and heals himself. Scrappy is also a solid choice if you want to run a heavy metal magnet deck right away.
How do I unlock new paws for other characters?
You have to beat Normal difficulty with a specific character. This unlocks their unique paws for everyone else. You can then mix and match these paws on harder difficulties like Nightmare mode.
How do I unlock Harley?
You unlock Harley by simply collecting enough keys during your runs. Do not try to exploit the game to grab her early. It does not work. Just keep playing and gathering keys normally.
Should I drink or bottle the pond water?
Always choose to bottle the pond water. This gives you a highly effective poison flask. You can use this flask to greatly enhance your weapon damage. Drinking the water is a total waste.
Dungeon Clawler
