
The Nail is a solid Engineering item that boosts your weapon damage while scaling with your Engineering stat. It's particularly effective for builds focusing on ranged attacks.
Item Stats
- EngineeringWeapon damage additionally scales with 20% Engineering+5
- Ranged Damage-2
Meta Usage
8
tracked builds (curated + per-character meta) include Nail
Auto-Tier
B
From usage frequency across our build pool, weighted by difficulty
Top characters
7
Most often: Gangster
When to buy Nail
Consider picking up the Nail if you're playing as Cyborg or Gangster, especially if you have a decent Engineering stat (around 20+) and are aiming for a ranged damage build. It pairs well with items like Giant Belt and Hunting Trophy to maximize your damage output.
When to skip Nail
Skip the Nail if you're using characters that don't benefit from Engineering or if you're focusing on melee builds. It's also less effective if your build lacks synergy with ranged damage.
Items most often combined with Nail
Calculated from 8 builds in our database that ship Nail. Higher % = more consistent synergy.
Best characters for Nail
Characters that pick up Nail in our curated build pool — with notes on why the combo works where we have them.
Apprentice
1 build
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.
Cyborg
1 build
Core to the Engineering Cyborg build: it lets weapons scale off Engineering, which Cyborg gains from his mid‑wave conversion, keeping damage high across the whole wave.
Farmer
1 build
Nail gives strong Engineering and makes weapon damage scale from it, which is perfect for Particle Accelerator builds where Farmer already has huge economy and can invest heavily into Engineering.
Gangster
2 builds
Boosts Engineering to empower structures like Medical Turret and adds Engineering scaling to weapon damage, helping Gangster survive the elites he spawns while still focusing on crit income.
Streamer
1 build
Used in community builds for this character.
Lich
1 build
Used in community builds for this character.
Engineer
1 build
Used in community builds for this character.
Community builds that use Nail
8 curated builds from the Brotato Builds database that include this item in their core picks.
Sit & Win
Streamer · Medium · Engineering, HP Regeneration, Max HP
Hardcore Lich
Lich · Hard · Life Steal, Attack Speed, Dodge
Landmine Engineer
Engineer · Medium · Engineering, % Explosion Damage, % Explosion Size
Material Thief
Gangster · Medium · Engineering, Crit Chance, Attack Speed
Engineering Cyborg
Cyborg · Medium · Range Damage, Engineering, Crit Chance
Beefy Student Danger 5 Endless Mode
Apprentice · Hard · Max HP, Attack Speed, Ranged Damage
Endless runner, (wave 111 on my attempt with white tasers 150 probably possible)
Farmer · Easy · Harvesting, Luck
Material Thief
Gangster · Medium · Engineering, Crit Chance, Attack Speed
Items with similar tags
Other items tagged Engineering — useful for stacking the same scaling stats.
Nail FAQ
Is the Nail good in Brotato?▾
Yes, the Nail is good for Engineering-focused builds, especially with characters like Cyborg and Gangster.
What items work well with the Nail?▾
Items like Giant Belt, Hunting Trophy, and Sharp Bullet enhance the Nail's effectiveness by boosting your damage and survivability.
Does the Nail scale with other stats?▾
The Nail primarily scales with Engineering, providing 20% additional damage based on your Engineering stat.
Keep exploring Brotato
Explore Brotato Guides & Resources
Everything you need to master Brotato in one place
All Brotato Characters
Complete guide for all 63+ characters
Character Tier List
S to F tier rankings for 2026
Brotato Items Guide
Complete item database & tier rankings
Brotato Weapons Guide
All weapons with stats & synergies
Brotato Stats Guide
Every primary, DLC & secondary stat explained
Brotato Unlocks Guide
Every character, item & weapon unlock in one hub
Brotato Co-op Guide
Best character combos for multiplayer
Brotato Wiki & Database
Characters, items, weapons, stats and unlocks
Create & Share Builds
Share your winning strategies with the community