Brotato Apprentice Build Guide & Best Setups

Because Apprentice constantly loses Max HP, every hit is dangerous. Tardigrade gives you a free damage nullification each wave (or more when cursed), acting as a safety net in both the SMG and Endless builds.

Peacock supercharges XP gain for a single wave, letting Apprentice stack more level ups and thus more free damage stats. It’s especially strong when you can already clear waves quickly and safely.

Glass Cannon fits Apprentice’s philosophy of deleting enemies before they can touch you. Once your Dodge, range or Max HP plan is online, the extra damage helps you make the most of his scaling.

Scar is cheap XP gain that feeds Apprentice’s per-level stats. It’s recommended in both the Endless and elemental builds, where fast leveling is critical to survive HP loss.

Apprentice builds often stack Crit Chance, especially with guns like SMG and Gatling Laser. Hunting Trophy turns those crits into a strong economy engine, fueling rerolls and high-tier items deep into Endless.

Metal Detector boosts your income while also giving Luck and Engineering, both of which Apprentice scales well with. The small damage penalty is easily offset by his free stats per level.

Gentle Alien pairs more enemies (and therefore more XP and drops) with extra damage and a bit of Max HP. It’s a great way to accelerate Apprentice’s level-based scaling when you can already handle the wave density.

Baby with a Beard adds extra projectiles to ranged and gun builds, multiplying the effect of your Ranged Damage and Damage stats. In high-density waves it acts like built-in Ricochet to keep screens clear.

Bandana adds piercing to SMG and high-fire-rate guns, letting Apprentice’s scaling damage hit more targets per shot. The small damage penalty is negligible given his per-level Damage and Ranged Damage gains.

Extra Stomach is a core Max HP engine in the Endless build, stacking permanent HP each wave to offset Apprentice’s -2 Max HP per level. It synergizes especially well with good pickup range and many consumables.

Padding converts your banked materials into extra Max HP, which is vital for surviving deep Endless waves as Apprentice. It works nicely with economy pieces like Hunting Trophy, Bag and Metal Detector.

Poisonous Tonic is a premium offensive pickup: Attack Speed, Crit Chance and Range all amplify Apprentice’s ranged and elemental weapon setups. The minor HP Regeneration loss is manageable if you have other sustain.

Ricochet is incredible with fast guns like Gatling Laser and Chain Gun, letting their already-piercing shots bounce into extra enemies. With Apprentice’s high scaling, the damage penalty is easily overcome.

Nail turns Apprentice’s free Engineering per level into direct weapon scaling, effectively adding a second damage stat to your ranged weapons. In the Endless build it’s a key bridge between engineering and ranged DPS.

Frozen Heart lets weapons scale partially with Elemental Damage, which Apprentice gains every level. Combined with other elemental and curse synergies, it significantly boosts overall DPS in long runs.

Focus massively increases %Damage, which multiplies all of Apprentice’s per-level stat gains. Since the featured Endless build runs only a few different weapons, the attack speed downside stays manageable.

Fish Hook is the engine of the Curse package in the Endless build, upgrading many key items and Ghost Scepters into their stronger cursed versions. This dramatically improves Apprentice’s scaling and economy.

Strange Book converts Apprentice’s free Elemental Damage into even more Engineering, which then feeds items like Nail and various engineering structures. It’s a core part of the hybrid elemental–engineering scaling plan.