I do not have the source code for this game so all information given is based on experimentation. I have beaten every level with 4 S ranks and unlocked everything in the game as far as I am aware, so I do definitely know what I'm talking about. However, if I get something wrong or you have anything to add, please let me know in the comments

Last updated 8/21/23

If you're confused by the whole "divine light" or "punishment mode" situation, the wiki has you covered. Here's a link to it:

https://crueltysquad.fandom.com/wiki/Game_Mechanics#Difficulty

But if you want a low-spoiler version, by default you take normal damage and can open divine doors. This is not as useful as you'd think because there are only 3 in the game and the rewards for opening them are preserved after getting them once. Plus 2 of them are bypassable. When you die once, your Divine Light is severed, and you are a Flesh Automaton, who takes half damage. Die 4 more times and you're in Power in Misery; resurrection becomes free, plus you can eat corpses for 1 health apiece. You can also open one door in Pharmakokinetiks, but the only thing behind it is a dude who tells you about eating corpses. Punishment Mode just makes you take quadruple damage. Beating a level in Punishment Mode for the first time (AND THE FIRST TIME ONLY) will set your difficulty back to Divine Light.

There's also a fourth, secret difficulty setting, Hope Eradicated. Look on the wiki if you want to know how to access it, but if you do, be aware that the random, high-tier enemies that have a small chance to spawn in other difficulty modes have a 100% chance to spawn in HE. Also normal enemies are slightly tougher, you take full damage, and all water causes Toxic Crisis. Good luck. As a small fringe benefit though, dark areas are not dark, for some reason. Oh and by the way, once you have your Hope Eradicated, go back to Pharmakokinetiks and find the secret door near the spawn, you'll want to activate Death Mode ASAP because it's a permanent upgrade, giving you a small speed boost, enabling wall jumps, and immunizing you to radiation damage. Chaos Mode, unlocked after getting the true ending, gives you a bunch of randomly placed extra targets and randomly gives enemies armor, invisibility, or "explode into gas when they die", and sometimes adds even more enemies; this is a true test of your mastery of the game but it doesn't unlock anything so it's just for fun.

Ranking is based solely on how fast you complete the levels; killing non-targets is completely irrelevant to your rank. If you find the civilians annoying, you can also turn them down or off in the Settings, which is also nice for reducing lag. Most of the time, the only things they're good for are harvested organs, a quick snack, and inane dialog anyway. There are permanently killable NPCs, but none of them are good for anything but a bit of extra dialog.

Lastly, you should know that strafe jumping is in this game. It's faster than just running normally, and lets you conserve speed from other sources. Also, carrying weapons, especially heavier weapons, slows you down, so if you really need speed, drop your guns.

Both weapons and augs are listed in this guide in approximate order of how soon you can unlock them.

I feel like I should stress that damage is not a very important factor in this game. Unarmored non-boss humanoid enemies, with the exception of Cruelty Squad Members, all go down in a single headshot, regardless of how weak the shot is, and armored/non-humanoid enemies are generally avoidable or easy to kill. Cruelty Squad is not the kind of game that lets you get away with run-and-gun, so you'll almost always be going for stealthy or long distance headshots as opposed to spraying at the body. I’ll still be listing damage anyway but keep in mind that unless you’re ♥♥♥♥ at headshots, damage is a pretty unimportant factor. Leg and pelvis shots do half damage. For reference, Civilians have 8 health, your average cop or guard has 25, Darkworlders and Security Redefined have 35 and so does anything that normally has 25 when on Hope Eradicated, Flower Beasts have 150, Cruelty Squad Members have 300 (and are immune to headshots), and a Necromech has 400.

Also of note: anything with the Armor Piercing feature can also be used to break open locked doors and cracked walls. Armored enemies take no damage at all from non-armor piercing weapons, except Shocktroopers and randomly armored humanoids in Chaos mode who can be shot in the head for an instakill.

Kick
Role: insert foot into face. Or ass.
Ammo: N/A
Damage: moderate (30. Increased to 50 with augment)
Rate of fire: slow
Accuracy: melee
Additional features: silent, you always have it on a button unless you use Biothrusters, pushes you back when you hit a wall, can be used to gib corpses, break doors, and knock stuff around.
Acquisition: starting “weapon”

Not really a weapon but you should familiarize yourself with it anyway. While nothing stronger than a mall cop will die in one kick unless you aim for the head, the ability to dispose of them silently and easily without spending ammo should not be underestimated. Careful not to kick the legs and do half damage, and be aware that the kick aims like a gun, despite the delay and the animation. Can also be used to break stuff, obviously. Super-kicks also push you back much further, and can also be used as an awkward way to gain speed or climb walls; especially useful when combined with the walljump. Be aware that if you’re in HE, you will need the augment to kill average guards in one kick unless you kick the head.

Thrown weapons and props
Role: yeet
Ammo: as much as you can find
Damage: variable. (seems to be 40 for thrown weapons without augmented arms and physics props with augmented arms, and 60 for thrown weapons with augmented arms. Can get headshots and legshots.)
Rate of fire: fast as you can pick stuff up and throw it
Accuracy: physics props can be hard to work with, but generally they’ll be on target if nothing’s in their way. Except legs, legs are really hard to aim for some reason.
Additional features: silent, bounces off walls and retains killing power, props stay and can be used again, retains accuracy while leaning.
Acquisition: if you ain’t got a weapon you pick up a rock. Or piece of gore.

Again, not really a weapon, and much more situational than the kick, but still useful to know about. When your weapon runs dry, throw it. If your weapon is loud and you need to make a quiet kill, throw it. It’s a risky strategy but sometimes it can be worthwhile. There are much better augments for your arms, however, let me let you in on a little secret of jank: the Augmented Arms implant doesn’t actually increase your throwing power. I mean, it lets you throw stuff further but that’s not where the damage comes from. What it actually does is gives random props killing power. Which means that if, say, you have a weapon (or kick) that causes your enemy to explode into a burst of gibs, if you have the Augmented Arms on, that enemy is now an unreliable but hilarious fragmentation explosive. This is one of the rare times when having tons of civilians running around is useful for more than spare organs, inane dialog, or a quick snack, but be aware that physics props stop moving when they’re too far away from you, I guess to save processing power. They resume when you get close but it’s still another unreliability factor.

Two more things of note: 1. You can still throw stuff while in the Golem Suit, allowing you to have a ranged attack while using it, and 2. As far as I can tell, size and weight of the prop or weapon doesn’t make a difference. Throwing your Zippy does the same damage as throwing your SSAAD

Parasonic D2 Silenced Pistol
Role: silenced pistol (obviously)
Ammo: 12/24 (10x25mm Subsonic)
Damage: low (10)
Rate of fire: semi-auto
Accuracy: pinpoint, low recoil.
Additional features: silent, laser sight.
Acquisition: starting weapon

Your early game bread and butter. The fact that this gun doesn’t draw aggro from a distance means it’s much safer to use than many weapons, a fact that applies to all silenced weapons. You’ll get even better options for silent kills later but get used to using this one if you want to 100% this game because you get a special ranking for beating levels starting with the default weapons, and this is the better of the two. Inexplicably, when enemies use this gun against you it does 30 damage instead of the 10 you get.

K&H R5
Role: garbage SMG
Ammo: 30/60 (9x19mm Corporate)
Damage: low (10)
Rate of fire: fast
Accuracy: OK, but worst non-shotgun in the game. Tons of recoil.
Additional features: none
Acquisition: starting weapon

It’s a gun that shoots bullets, and that’s about the best you can say for it. Most weapons in Cruelty Squad, even the automatic rifles, are highly accurate, but this thing just… isn’t. It’s not bad for panic spray-and-pray but otherwise you should use something else.

SNOOZFEST Animal Control Pistol
Role: tranquilizer gun
Ammo: 1/5 (Animal Tranquilizer)
Damage: none, renders unarmored targets unconscious after 2 seconds
Rate of fire: single-shot
Accuracy: high but not hitscan, darts have travel time and dropoff
Additional features: silent, does not attract attention when shooting enemies, retains accuracy while leaning, shoots a physical projectile.
Acquisition: starting weapon

Situational as hell but actually pretty useful in those specific situations. Great for incapacitating Cruelty Squad Members when you don’t have heavier weaponry, getting Fleshpigs off your back when you don’t want to waste other ammo on them, and assisting in killing one specific boss. Additionally, when you shoot someone's head off, their nearby buddies tend to start running around and trying to find you, but if you tranq someone, no one seems to care when their friend suddenly goes unconscious, so it's also good for stealth. Another nice stealth feature is that it works fully on leg shots, and while leaning. Sadly doesn’t work on armored targets. In the unlikely event that you want to do a “kill no one but the target” run, it’s also nice for that. Unconscious targets wake up in about 2 minutes, so if you want them to stay down, kick them to death.

Expandable Baton
Role: bonking stick
Ammo: N/A
Damage: none, renders unarmored, unaware humanoid targets unconscious
Rate of fire: abysmal
Accuracy: melee
Additional features: silent, pushes you back when you hit a wall
Acquisition: starting weapon

Absolutely worthless for absolutely everything except for augmenting your kick to bounce off of surfaces. Gives you a little extra speed and height. Don't try to actually use it as a weapon unless you're doing some kind of challenge run.

Balotelli Hypernova
Role: pump shotgun
Ammo: 5/20 (12 Gauge Flechette)
Damage: very high (10 per flechette, 12 flechettes per shot)
Rate of fire: not great
Accuracy: wide spread
Additional features: none
Acquisition: Pharmakokinetiks (on a desk in the first target’s office), Androgen Assault (carried by many enemies)

Pretty solid close-quarters shredder. Not the best weapon by any stretch of the imagination, but effective if you don’t need range. Most unarmored targets go down in a single pump, even on bodyshot, so if you ignored my advice and want to run and gun, this isn't a bad choice. Additionally, if you want an even wider spread, try leaning while shooting it. Yes I know it makes no sense. This applies to all shotguns, by the way.

K&H X20
Role: burst-fire battle rifle
Ammo: 45/90 (4.7333mm Caseless)
Damage: moderate (20)
Rate of fire: steady stream of 3-shot bursts
Accuracy: pinpoint on the first shot, but has harsh upwards recoil.
Additional features: scope
Acquisition: Pharmakokinetiks (one guard in the bathroom has it), Paradise (several guards scattered around have it)

A favorite of many, fortunately acquirable in the very first level. Great all-around gun if you don't need to pierce armor or be quiet. High ammo capacity and scope means you can spam it at long range when you need to.

Security Systems Anti-Armor Device
Role: rocket launcher and explosive propellant
Ammo: 1/5 (125mm HEAT)
Damage: extremely high (300)
Rate of fire: single shot
Accuracy: pinpoint but has travel time
Additional features: armor-piercing, splash damage, splash damage ignores walls, retains accuracy when leaning.
Acquisition: Pharmakokinetiks (if you can keep your Divine Link for long enough, or you happen to have a way to jump really really high, it’s on the top floor behind the divine door), Paradise (in the black and blue building. Get it. Now.)

Not only is this of the best ways to kill armored targets, but it also lets you rocket jump if you happen to have the Blast Vest, and leg augments can let you rocket jump even higher. Careful not to die from fall damage though. Equip an Ammo Gland if you plan to use it for the long haul, since 6 rockets will run out quickly if you’re jumping with it. Needs 2 shots to take down a Necromech but definitely worth it in many cases. Splash damage can also kill targets around corners and through thin walls, especially useful for targets hiding inside buildings when they have windows nearby. Kills Golems in one shot.

Parasonic C3 DNA Scrambler
Role: silent flesh mangler
Ammo: 6/18 (DNA Scrambler)
Damage: instantly kills any vulnerable target.
Rate of fire: semi-auto
Accuracy: pinpoint
Additional features: silent, causes targets to mutate into fleshblobs, dropping no weapons or organs, retains accuracy when leaning
Acquisition: Pharmakokinetiks (secret apartment behind the dumpsters, you’ll need some kind of vertical boost though)

While its low ammo is a disadvantage, this is one of the better guns in the game. Any unarmored target will instantly be turned into a blob of flesh, blocking other enemies' movement and firing lines. It even works on Zombies and on legshots, though not on bosses. If the blobs are in your way you can kick or shoot them. The lack of organs and gun drops is a bit of a downside, but being able to oneshot a Cruelty Squad Member is definitely worth it. Be aware that it does no kinetic damage, and therefore can't break things. Also you can mutate corpses with it if you need some quick cover, though this can backfire on you and give enemies hiding spots for ambushes.

Stern AWS 3000
Role: high-caliber sniper rifle
Ammo: 4/6 (20x124mm AP)
Damage: high (100)
Rate of fire: very slow
Accuracy: pinpoint
Additional features: scope, armor piercing, enemy piercing
Acquisition: Paradise (roof of the building with the four-pointed star on top of it), Apartment Atrocity (your downstairs pervert neighbor has one lying on his desk)

Does pretty much what you’d expect it to do. Low ammo cap means you won’t get many shots out of this, but anything you shoot with it short of a Cruelty Squad Member is gonna die. Has one unique feature few other guns have: if you can get multiple enemies lined up (which you will in choke points because their pathfinding is basic AF), you can get ‘em all at once. Ammo Gland will actually reload it faster than you can shoot it. Don’t forget you can break doors with it too. No accuracy penalty for noscoping. Takes 4 shots to kill a Necromech though.

Minato M9
Role: silenced SMG
Ammo: 25/50 (9x19mm Goreforce)
Damage: moderate (20)
Rate of fire: very fast
Accuracy: pinpoint on the first shot, but has significant recoil.
Additional features: silent, laser sight.
Acquisition: Sin Space Engineering (the target has one, and there’s also one hidden in a shipping crate), Seaside Shock (most of the guards have them, and will kill you really fast)

Will carry you through most of the rest of the game. Basically just a straight upgrade to the Silenced Pistol which is already a good weapon. The high fire rate and great damage means it works well at shredding enemies at close range in a pinch, though be careful about how quickly you’ll run through its ammo if you do that. And as an added bonus, it's also very lightweight.

Fiberglass Fishing Rod
Role: moneymaker, 100% completionist torture device, and hilarious disarming tool
Ammo: N/A
Damage: none
Rate of fire: abysmal
Accuracy: awkward to use. Accurate but has harsh dropoff and slow travel speed.
Additional features: silent, disarms enemies, sends civilians flying, retains accuracy when leaning, you can fish with it
Acquisition: Sin Space Engineering (swim to the island. Or drive the forklift if swimming is too slow for you)

No joke, if you want to do a “kill no one but the target” run, this is probably the best tool in your arsenal. Hitting any armed and unarmored enemy with it will cause their weapon to fly out of their hands towards you, while they stare at you uselessly and fail to pick their weapon back up off the ground. Sadly, this doesn’t work on Necromechs or Shocktroopers, though it will work on everyone else, including Cruelty Squad Members. The only downside of this compared to knocking them out is that you’ll get a lot of false-positives on your “someone can see you” icon, since even though disarmed guards can’t shoot you they’ll still chase you and stare at you menacingly. Psychers can still screw your aim up too. If you hit a noncombatant with it on the other hand, they’ll go flying at ridiculous speed towards you and start bouncing off walls. You can actually kill some targets this way by launching them off of cliffs and killing them with fall damage, but mostly it’s just there because it’s funny.

Oh, and you can also fish with it. Wear the Tattered Rain Hat (which you can find in a cave in Idiot Party) for best results. Fishing is by far the best way to make money. If you get a DOSfish on Office or a Wheel of Fortune on Casino Catastrophe, you will basically never have to worry about cash again for the rest of the game, though be aware that you need absolutely ridiculous lightning reflexes to actually catch one of the rare fish like that. If that’s too frustrating, just fish in the Idiot Party pool and you’ll get enough good stuff to pay for whatever you want in 20 minutes or so. By the way, if you’re a 100% completionist, good luck finding all the fish. You’ll need it. Fish possibilities only change based on map, not on which pool you fish in within the map, so find the closest one to spawn.

New Safety M62
Role: magnum revolver
Ammo: 5/20 (.38 Suspicious)
Damage: moderate-to-high (60)
Rate of fire: double action, so slow. The trigger is so heavy that it also has a firing delay.
Accuracy: pinpoint. Has tons of recoil but fires so slow that it’s not really a big factor.
Additional features: ricocheting bullets
Acquisition: Cops and Psychers carry them, and are common from Androgen Assault onwards.

If this pierced armor it would at least be mediocre but usable. As it is, it’s pretty much garbage. The firing delay and low ammo capacity makes it bad in most situations; unless your aim sucks so bad that you can’t hit heads at all, there’s no reason to pack this over practically any other gun. At least it kills cops on a leg shot and most other unarmored humanoids on a body shot. And it’s funny to watch people explode when you shoot them with it. Especially if you have Augmented Arms equipped and the gibs fly around and kill other people. Honestly though this gun mostly just exists to give annoying enemies a gun that won’t kill you very quickly. Oddly only does 30 damage when your enemies use it. It does have one other extremely niche use: it has ricocheting bullets even if you don’t have the ricochet equipment on, but unfortunately does not gain more ricochets if you do. Ricochet shots are extremely unreliable though so I wouldn’t use it for that.

Riot Pacifier
Role: chemical warfare
Ammo: 5/0 (50mm Flesh Eater Grenade)
Damage: caustic gas grenades that do big damage over time to anyone caught in them, including you. No effect on armored targets, unfortunately.
Rate of fire: single shot, and also has its own reloading animation that takes longer than the normal one.
Accuracy: bouncing grenades are hard to use precisely, but the AoE is big enough that you usually don’t have to.
Additional features: gas clouds travel through walls and destroy corpses/props, shoots a physical projectile, retains accuracy when leaning
Acquisition: Androgen Assault (secret room behind like five doors. Careful of the trick floor), Bog Business (carried by a few scattered enemies)

The wall ignoring aspect of this gun makes it very easy to kill yourself with but also very effective at killing entrenched targets and large groups. Sadly, doesn't work on armored targets. Not much else to say really, it’s a gas grenade, use it to gas your enemies. As an additional note, throwing a toilet causes the same cloud as one of these grenades, which is pretty powerful; I suggest you take advantage of this when you can.

Flashlight
Role: playing like it’s Doom 3
Ammo: N/A
Damage: “firing” it just turns it on and off
Rate of fire: semi-auto?
Accuracy: lets you see stuff I guess
Additional features: light
Acquisition: Androgen Assault (one cop off in the right corner outside has one), Casino Catastrophe (gun slot machine will drop it sometimes)

Useful in exactly two levels: Paradise and Darkworld. Lets you see in the dark when you don’t have night vision goggles, and those two levels are the only ones with areas dark enough to require it. I guess you can throw it if you’re desperate but good luck finding it again if you threw it in a dark area. You can also use Augmented Arms to throw physics props while holding it.

BN-99
Role: super-reliable AR
Ammo: 30/90 (5.4539mm Abyss)
Damage: moderate (25)
Rate of fire: steady stream of 2-shot bursts
Accuracy: pinpoint on the first shot. Low recoil.
Additional features: doesn’t really need any
Acquisition: dropped by Darkworlders. You can actually get this as early as Paradise, but you won’t, since you need Divine Link or Cortical Scaledown and enough luck and foreknowledge to navigate a pitch-black catacomb with no flashlight. Nightmare Vision Goggles will work though (I think that's actually what they're wearing, honestly). Anyway, Darkworlders show up in the Paradise catacombs, commonly in the Darkworld, randomly in other levels, and there’s always one in the Alpine Hospitality sewers. If you really, really want to get it early, restart Pharmakokinetiks repeatedly until a Darkworlder randomly spawns in the alleyway next to the one you spawn in.

As far as standard lead spewers go, this is probably the best non-armor-piercing one. Extremely high accuracy, lots of ammo, oneshots weak enemies and one-bursts average enemies on a bodyshot. What more can you ask for, really? If you don’t need armor piercing, utility, or stealth, this is one of your best options.

AMG4
Role: LMG bullet hose
Ammo: 150/0 (7.6251mm DU) (given the radiation warning on the ammo box, DU most likely means Depleted Uranium)
Damage: surprisingly low (10)
Rate of fire: very fast
Accuracy: pinpoint. Has upward recoil but not much. Surprisingly accurate even when fired full auto.
Additional features: armor piercing, gets a full 150 shots when looted off an enemy
Acquisition: Dropped by Necromechs, encountered randomly in some levels and guaranteed in Mall Madness. Bring a SSAAD. Also dropped by normal guards in the later levels.

When you want to go in loud and hard, this is your workhorse. It’ll take a lot of your ammo to get rid of a Golem or Necromech, but it can do it, and the Necromech will get you 150 shots back when killed. Plus it’s great at both long distance headshots and close quarters spray-and-pray alike. The only enemy you shouldn’t use it on is Cruelty Squad Members, who are immune to headshots and will likely kill you first. Has one big downside: it’s heavy and will slow down your movement when you’re carrying it.

Precise Industry AS15
Role: automatic shotgun
Ammo: 10/20 (12 Gauge Super Auto)
Damage: high (7.5 per flechette, 12 flechettes per shot)
Rate of fire: fast
Accuracy: wide spread
Additional features: none
Acquisition: Mall Madness (in the Pizza House kitchen, you’ll have to get past a Necromech though). Dropped by Cruelty Squad members (first encountered in Apartment Atrocity) and some of the security in Casino Catastrophe

Surprisingly, not a straight upgrade to the Hypernova, dealing ¾ of the damage the Hypernova does and slightly lowering your one-shotting potential, but the rate of fire more than makes up for that. While this gun is a shredder at close range, it is, as the description says, complete overkill. You should be more concerned about enemies that have it than acquiring it yourself, honestly. Low ammo supply isn’t a great feature either.

Mowzer SP99
Role: silent sniper rifle
Ammo: 3/9 (7.62x51mm Executive)
Damage: moderate (30)
Rate of fire: very slow
Accuracy: pinpoint
Additional features: silent, scope, enemy piercing
Acquisition: Seaside Shock (in the room across the ship from the target in the bedrooms). Bog Business (carried by several swamp cultists)

Not a fan of this one. Low ammo, bad damage, no armor piercing, and if you’re using a sniper rifle, odds are you’re far away enough that the silenced part doesn’t matter. Not unusable by any stretch of the imagination, but unless you really want something with both a silencer and a scope, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Stern M17
Role: light assault rifle
Ammo: 24/72 (5.5645mm Sabot)
Damage: low, I think? (8?)
Rate of fire: steady stream of 3-shot bursts, but can also be fired full auto very quickly
Accuracy: high, but not quite pinpoint. Extremely low recoil.
Additional features: armor piercing
Acquisition: dropped by Shocktroopers, who appear randomly across many levels and constantly in Alpine Hospitality

I can't confirm this because I don't have any source code but I think that this gun actually gets a damage bonus vs nechromechs, something no other gun seems to have. This gun defies my testing and honestly I don't like it. It's an alright gun to take if you need an all-arounder rifle that also pierces armor, but if you can afford the weight, the AMG is a much better choice.

RPO-80 Sanitation System
Role: flamethrower and better cannibalism enabler
Ammo: 250/0 (Fuel)
Damage: inflicts a stacking DOT. Don’t use vs Cruelty Squad Members or Fleshpigs but any other target will go down pretty fast.
Rate of FIRE: very high
Accuracy: high, and spreads out over distance. Has a surprisingly long range but a lot of travel time when used at range.
Additional features: leaves temporary walls of fire. Can set yourself on fire. Cooks gibs. Retains accuracy when leaning.
Acquisition: Alpine Hospitality (in a cave along the cliff to the right of spawn)

The best healing item in the game. Screw that one-time 50 health piece of crap medkit, this is where it’s at. You think getting 1 health back from eating corpses is good? Cook the gibs and get 5 health each for them, on any difficulty level. This is just a great weapon to have for long, drawn-out levels because healing is so sparse otherwise. Also don’t underestimate that range, but be aware that it doesn’t have the immediate killing power of a headshot, so be ready for enemies to take potshots at you before they die, and take cover before they do. Oh, also you can get the same effect on gibs in Paradise by grilling them.

BAG-82
Role: high-capacity pistol
Ammo: 24/72 (7.62mm Rancid)
Damage: low-to-moderate (15)
Rate of fire: semi-auto
Accuracy: pinpoint, very low recoil
Additional features: none
Acquisition: dropped by Fleshmen, the common enemy of Miner’s Miracle and random spawns in other maps.

If you want a lot of ammo, not a lot of weight, and haven’t beaten Neuron Activator yet, this is a good choice. Most of the time you’d rather take a silenced weapon or an AR over this but it’s certainly not a bad choice, especially considering its accuracy.

Zippy 3000
Role: the only gun in the world with a feeding mag instead of a rotating one that you could play Russian Roulette with and have a good chance of surviving.
Ammo: 10/200 (.22 SR) (SR stands for Short Round, but in this case I think that ♥♥♥♥ Round is more accurate)
Damage: low (10)
Rate of fire: semi-auto… if you’re lucky.
Accuracy: pinpoint, but somehow has higher recol than either of the other two semi-auto pistols.
Additional features: malfunctions. A lot. Retains accuracy when leaning, for some reason.
Acquisition: 1/500 chance “jackpot” from the gun slot machine in Casino Catastrophe

No, this is not a Noisy Cricket situation. If you didn’t know, most of the guns in Cruelty Squad are based on real-life guns that never took off. Most of them are prototypes that were impractical for one reason or another, but this one is based on the Zip 22, a gun that actually made it to market but SHOULD have stayed a prototype forever. Now, in real life, the Zip 22 was blocky, cheaply made, awkward to fire, unsafe to prime, and extremely prone to malfunctions due to its awful feeding and ejection system. It’s not much better in Cruelty Squad. Whenever you pull the trigger, there is only a 1/3 chance that the gun actually works properly. And when it does, it’s just an unsilenced, no laser sight version of your starting pistol. Yay. The other 2/3 of the time, however, it has a 50/50 chance to either fail to feed, doing absolutely nothing on your trigger pull, or misfire and damage YOU, wasting a shot and causing recoil anyway. This damage is 2.5 normally and the full 10 in Punishment mode. Honestly? You’d be better off throwing it at your enemies. It’ll still kill average grunts in one headshot though so if you really want to challenge yourself…

It’s still better than the Baton, at least. And probably better than the real life equivalent, since in real life you’d need to spend at least 10 seconds, probably more, clearing the malfunction every time it jammed instead of just pulling the trigger again.

By the way, I had to do the slot machine grind a second time to find out what kind of ammo this piece of crap takes, and it wasn't even something funny. No I'm not mad, why do you ask?

Spectacular Dynamics MCR Carbine
Role: high-capacity micro-caliber SMG
Ammo: 50/100 (4.526mm MCR)
Damage: extremely low (5)
Rate of fire: extremely fast
Accuracy: pinpoint on the first shot, moderate recoil, but high fire rate may cause recoil to go out of control quickly
Additional features: armor piercing
Acquisition: Idiot Party (most of the guards have them)

By the time you can actually get one of these, it’s thoroughly outclassed by other options. I guess it makes an alright alternative to an assault rifle if you want something lighter weight, especially if you can hit heads, but bodyshots are extremely ineffective with it, which goes badly with its hard-to-control recoil. Plus the low damage means you’ll use at least a full clip to kill one armored enemy, so it’s not great for that either. I guess if you want to run-and-gun and aim for the head at the same time, it will work well for that? Personally I’d stick with the Minato M9, it has a silencer, more damage, and easier to control recoil.


Security Systems Cerebral Bore
Role: we Turok now
Ammo: uses health as ammo. When fired, deals 5 points self-damage.
Damage: instant kill against any vulnerable target.
Rate of fire: very slow
Accuracy: homing, though range is short
Additional features: can be placed like a mine, retains accuracy when leaning, shoots a physical projectile.
Acquisition: Idiot Party (hidden in a room not connected to any other room on the same floor. Bring a Grappendex or other jumping aid to make retrieval easier)

It’s a cool gun to be sure, but frankly using health as ammo is a very, very bad mechanic in a game like this one. Additionally, while it may have homing capabilities, its homing radius is kind of small, and in the time between it deciding to lock on to an enemy and it actually killing them, the enemy can still shoot you. Plus if you don’t have civilians turned off, it might decide to lock onto them instead of what you were actually aiming at. No seriously, turn civilians off if you want to use this gun, it’s REALLY bad when they’re around. To top it all off, the range is short, and it only works against enemies that are vulnerable to headshots anyway, so if you can hit heads, its usefulness is extremely dubious. The ability to plant them like mines can be potent in some situations, however, so don’t discount it entirely.

Parasonic MP-1 Nailer
Role: absurdly-high-capacity silenced automatic pistol
Ammo: 100/200 (1x45mm Depleted Uranium Nail)
Damage: extremely low (5). Still one-shots heads though.
Rate of fire: extremely fast
Accuracy: pinpoint on the first shot. Recoil is tiny but existent, which does add up when it shoots so fast, but it’s still reasonably accurate in full auto.
Additional features: silent, laser sight, armor piercing
Acquisition: Neuron Activator (most of the guards carry it. Don’t let them get a clear shot on you by the way, because you will die almost immediately)

While I can’t say that this is the “absolute best stealth weapon of all time” since the DNA Scrambler exists and can one-shot many things that the Nailer needs to empty most of its clip to kill, it’s certainly a contender. Tons of ammo, kills in one headshot, hyper-accurate, and easy to spray at the head even if you’re bad at headshots. Or just aim for center mass, because it’ll kill average foes in 5-10 shots and will put out those shots nearly instantly. This gun is the main reason to prioritize going to Neuron Activator; if you haven’t used up all your Divine Link Punishment restorations yet (or are willing to be a little cheat-y and use the shrine hidden in CSHQ) I suggest grabbing your Grappendex and swinging halfway down the elevator in Idiot Party and going through that divine door to unlock it. And no, that armor piercing was not a typo, but I don’t suggest bringing it to take on armored enemies anyway; it’ll take at least 2 clips, probably more like 3, to kill one Golem with this thing, not exactly efficient. If you’re willing to throw out half a clip, it can bust locked doors though, and is the lightest option for doing so.

Bolt ACR
Role: radiation-thrower
Ammo: N/A
Damage: creates gas clouds similar to the Riot Pacifier, but in a burst in front of you instead of on the location of the grenade. Note that you are included in this burst, however if you are in Death Mode, you are immune to the clouds. They also last way, way, way, way, way longer than gas grenade clouds.
Rate of fire: moderate
Accuracy: covers a wide area but range is short.
Additional features: goes through walls, destroys corpses but not props, clouds stack.
Acquisition: Office (second floor, Pillar 1, in the center)

Do you want to kill enemies before you even see them? Do you want your foes to get cancer so quickly that their bodies literally explode into tumors? Have you stopped giving a single ♥♥♥♥ about collateral damage? Are you not easily annoyed by obnoxious sounds? If your answer to all of these questions was yes, then I have the perfect weapon for you. While its range may be short, the combination of infinite ammo, large area coverage, big damage, and wall-piercing basically means that most enemies will die before they know what’s killing them. You do absolutely NEED to be in Death Mode to use it though; the clouds kill you just as fast if you’re not. This is also the best tool in the game for exterminating Fleshrats and Civilians; I suggest you bring it with you in both Miner’s Miracle and Neuron Activator. Sadly doesn’t work vs armored opponents. Combining with the Life Sensor is highly recommended. Actually does enough damage to kill the CSHQ target in about 30 seconds if you can knock him out first.

Raymond Shocktroop Tactical
Role: Basically a semi-automatic Doom 2 SSG.
Ammo: 5/20 (12 Gauge Shockforce)
Damage: extremely high (7.5 per flechette, 40 flechettes per shot)
Rate of fire: semi-auto, though high recoil limits it somewhat
Accuracy: very wide spread, extremely harsh vertical recoil
Additional features: did you not see that it shoots 40 flechettes per shot?
Acquisition: House (shoot the giant worms a lot and it’ll get automatically added to your arsenal)

Sadly, this doesn’t do jack against armor and you can’t really snipe with it, but it has some crazy killing power in any other situation. It’s honestly pretty overkill in most situations, but you can’t discount the ability to one-shot Cruelty Squad Members at point blank, and take care of entire crowds with one or two shots. As one final bonus, it's deceptively lightweight, making it even better for run-and-gunning. Run-and-gunning is still a bad idea in this game but you do you.

ZKZ Transactional Rifle
Role: Instagibber for the CEO Mindset
Ammo: 10/30 (7.6239mm Financial)
Damage: variable based on your holdings; maxes out at $1,000,000, at which point it will instagib any unarmored target (parts and fish count as holdings. I suggest buying or catching a stable but valuable fish, or buying a crapton of cheap organs)
Rate of fire: semi-auto
Accuracy: pinpoint. Minor vertical recoil
Additional features: can kill Zombies and bosses when at max power
Acquisition: Cruelty Squad HQ (yeah I’m not going to describe this, look it up, it’s a long chain of secrets-within-secrets)

Lack of armor piercing or silencer are big downsides for this gun, but perfect accuracy and instagib power are both great features to have. I actually suggest combining this with Augmented Arms; it basically turns every random person into a claymore. And I don’t mean the sword. Seriously it sends body parts flying EVERYWHERE, and can quickly turn a tightly-packed room into chunky salsa. Anyway, other than that janky combo and the obvious boss kills, I actually don’t recommend using the ZKZ very much; headshots are instant kills anyway, and you can get those out of the AMG and also have armor piercing, or out of any silenced weapon and also have quiet. I guess it is nice to be able to permakill zombies but they’re not exactly a problem most of the time anyway.

Abscess Ironworks Lux ff374f727ce9d6de93be0793733c321
Role: divine tool of holy purification
Ammo: 30/90 (THRNGNRNGNRXNON) (no, I don't know what that stands for, if anyone knows please tell me)
Damage: seems to be variable based on how long the enemy’s hitbox overlaps with the projectile, but it’s very, very high. Will oneshot a Necromech if you get the angle right.
Rate of fire: very fast
Accuracy: pinpoint, but has travel time. Projectile is wide to make up for this though. Minor vertical recoil.
Additional features: armor piercing, enemy piercing, retains accuracy when leaning, doesn’t have a scope but does have an interesting ironsight.
Acquisition: Trauma Loop (bottom area, in a tower surrounded by poison water. You can get to it without augments though)

This gun is heavy, not hitscan, and the large projectile has a tendency to get caught on walls. I am listing these facts first because they are the only bad features of this gun. Now on to the good stuff. It absolutely smokes necromechs, plows through enemies like a hot knife through soft flesh, and has a great ammo capacity to boot. If you don’t need a utility or high speed, there’s basically no reason to not take it with you on pretty much every mission. Sadly unlocked at the very end of the game, but does make replaying to search for secrets easier. Honestly it’s basically cheating, and completely trivializes most combat.

OK I lied, it has one other bad feature: it can’t kill normal-sized Fleshrats. Like, at all. I think it’s because the Fleshrat hitbox is so low to the ground that the projectile hits the ground before hitting the Fleshrat. Very annoying, but not every level has Fleshrats thankfully. Just don’t take it into Miner’s Miracle.

Speed boosters (Gland, Node, and Organ Package)
Slot: legs
Effect: increased move speed and damage taken
Acquisition: purchased for $1k, $3k, and $6k respectively

Good options; being fast is worth being squishy, even the Organs doubling incoming damage. Oh and don’t forget that you can strafe jump and use your Grappendex for even more speed!

All top-row body armors
Slot: chest
Effect: Reduces damage taken and sometimes mobility. The Biosuit also reduces your FOV and blocks most of your UI.
Acquisition: purchased for money, except the upgraded light vest which is found in Mall Madness in the plant shop.

These took YEARS to be fixed, but even though they actually work now, they're usually not be worth your chest slot. If you really have nothing else to put on your chest, being able to take an extra bullet or two with light armor can be useful, but the mobility and visibility reduction from the high-tier armors are definitely not worth it. Experiment if you want, but even the level 4 armor only reduces damage by half, and being slow will mean you get hit more.

Tactical Blast Shield
Slot: chest
Effect: immunizes you from all damage from conventional explosives.
Acquisition: purchased for $6k

There are only three weapons in the game that this protects you from: your own frag grenades, your own Skull Gun, and the SSAAD. Now, the SSAAD is a devastating weapon, in your hands or an enemy’s, but very few enemies carry it. However, if you really like the SSAAD, being able to use it at close range can make it even more devastating. Additionally, it allows you to rocket jump, which is great for speedrunning, and for gaining height when you need something else on your hands and legs (or just don’t have the Grappendex yet). Combining this with jump boosters makes you go even higher, but be aware that neither jump boosters nor the Blast Shield protects from fall damage.

Load Bearing Vest
Slot: chest
Effect: gives you one extra clip for both your starting guns
Acquisition: purchased for $1.2k

Not usually worth it, since there are so many great augments for the chest slot and so few occasions where ammo is a primary concern. However, it is very good with the AMG4, RPO-80, and Riot Pacifier, as it will double the ammo for all three.

Military Camouflage
Slot: chest
Effect: slightly increases enemy reaction time
Acquisition: purchased for $1k

Get this as soon as you have the cash. It will save your life in early levels, when enemies can easily reduce you to swiss cheese if you don’t see them coming. Buying yourself a precious second or so to shoot first or get to cover is VITAL to survival in the early game.

Stealth Suit
Slot: chest
Effect: drastically decreases enemy vision range
Acquisition: purchased for $10k

Great tool for not getting shot. In basically any sniper-happy level you’ll get a ton of use out of this thing. Be aware that up close, enemies will still give you the business just as quickly as they usually do, and loud weapons will still attract attention.

Extravagant Suit
Slot: chest
Effect: any damage taken reduces your health to 0 instantly
Acquisition: purchased for $500k

Should go without saying, but this is for challenge runs only. And yes, that means ANY damage. Fall damage instakills you, gas clouds instakill you, Fleshrat bites instakill you even if you have immunity, and the first tick of Toxic Crisis will kill you if you don’t.

Biothrusters
Slot: chest
Effect: pressing the kick button causes you to jet forward at high speed
Acquisition: purchased for $10k

Losing your kick is more harmful than you might think, but being fast does somewhat make up for it. Remember that you conserve speed by strafe-jumping, so you can gain a lot of speed even without the running augments with this thing if you’re willing to spend your chest slot on it. Be aware that it’s kind of hard to control though.

Grenades
Slot: arms
Effect: throwable ordinance. You get two of them per mission.
Acquisition: purchased for $1k for frag and gas, and $2k for flechettes.

These are all pretty bad, to be perfectly honest. Frags have a pathetically small blast radius and not enough damage to kill anything with armor, though their ability to blast open some walls and doors is nice if you don’t have an armor-piercer, and they can get a few kills through walls since explosions don’t care about walls. Flechettes are unreliable and don’t pierce armor; they can clear rooms sometimes but get used to them not killing things they should. The best ones might actually be the gas grenades. Not only do they cause a Riot Pacifier style gas cloud that instantly knocks out unarmored enemies, but the cloud also has no effect on you, allowing you to use it with impunity in close quarters. Obviously this is great for if you want to do a “kill only the target” run, but it’s also good for getting large groups and Cruelty Squad Members out of your way. As a side note, they have no effect on you because they cause targets to feel intense euphoria, something which the protagonist is immune to.

First Aid Kit
Slot: arms
Effect: restores 50 health, once per mission
Acquisition: purchased for $3k

Eh, it’s alright. There are much better things to put in your arms slot though. Will not save you from death if you’ve already hit 0; nothing will besides finishing the level before your self-destruct timer runs out.

Zomy X-200 Portable Cassette Player
Slot: arms
Effect: drops a music box
Acquisition: purchased for $200

Joke item. Plays music from a random level. Use it to change to a different music. Does have one extremely niche use though: as an “audio beacon”. If you’re in a very mazy level and don’t want to get lost, try putting it down somewhere where you know where you are. If you lose your way, follow the sound to get back to where you were. Sadly, has no effect on enemies at all; doesn’t attract them to the sound, doesn’t do physics-prop damage, doesn’t make them launch a spontaneous dance party, nothing.

Augmented Arms
Slot: arms (duh)
Effect: gives physics props, including enemy gibs, 40 damage while in motion. Increases weapon-throw damage from 40 to 60. Increases throwing range for both props and weapons.
Acquisition: purchased for $1k

Yeet. Check the “thrown weapons and props” entry for more details. Not the best augment but definitely a lot of fun to use.

Grappendex
Slot: arms
Effect: universal grappling hook. Has a long but limited range. Can attach to any surface, including moving surfaces, physics props, and enemies. Pulls you towards it as long as you’re in the air or far enough away from the grapple point. Stays attached regardless of distance, though pulling effect is stronger based on distance.
Acquisition: Purchased for $50k

This is one of the jankiest grappling hooks I’ve seen in a game but once you get used to using it, it can be used to get practically anywhere in any level, avoid falling damage, and gain a lot of speed. So yeah it’s pretty good. Having speed augments will give you more control over your air mobility so I suggest combining these highly. But keep in mind that if you want to prevent fall damage with it, you need to actually slow yourself down, so you have to hit a wall or ceiling and let it pull you a bit; grappling a floor will just make you die faster.

Additionally, it can hook onto any thrown prop, including thrown guns and shots from guns that shoot physical projectiles. The SNOOZFEST can launch you extremely far if you hook immediately after shooting. Have fun.

Angular Advantage Tactical Munitions
Slot: arms
Effect: gives bullet-based weapons a ricochet. Adds a line to your crosshairs showing the approximate angle of ricochet.
Acquisition: purchased for $1.5k

It’s not good. If you know exactly where an enemy is, you might be able to use this to cheese them out, but using it spontaneously is just not going to happen; walls are very irregular and you can’t see where you’re bouncing to because that would require changing your aim. Most of the time the only thing that this will do is make you accidentally hit yourself sometimes. If you insist on using it though, pack an AMG4, as it’s the only weapon that fires fast and accurate enough to be used to spray with it, which can sometimes get headshots. Doesn’t work with any gun that fires darts, flechettes, or anything else besides bullets. The New Safety has ricochet shots regardless of whether or not you have these, and doesn’t gain more by having them.

Ammunition Gland
Slot: arms
Effect: causes your weapons to generate 1 ammo/second, regardless of whether or not you’re holding them. Except for the SSAAD and SNOOZFEST, which only get 1 ammo/5 seconds. Disables manual reloads.
Acquisition: purchased for $20k

If you have one gun you’re really, really attached to, this can be a good way to keep it firing forever. Especially useful if you want to main a gun with a low ammo stock, such as a sniper rifle or shotgun. Not usually worth giving up your Grappendex for, but if you want to just shoot shoot shoot, it can make that much easier.

Alien Leg Wetware
Slot: legs
Effect: increases kick damage from 30 to 50. Increases how far kicked physics props fly, and how far you are pushed back when kicking a wall or floor.
Acquisition: purchased for $4k

Most of the time you’d rather have a speed aug but I have to admit this thing is pretty hilarious, especially when you combine it with Augmented Arms and kick a guy into gibs that fly into his friends and kill them. Sadly, does not give your kick armor piercing. If you want to kill tougher-than-mall-cop enemies or any enemies in Cursed mode with one kick, you’ll need it unless you want to constantly be going for head kicks.

Pneumatic Legs/Vertical Entry Device
Slot: legs
Effect: increase jump height.
Acquisition: purchased for $3.5k/$7k

Most of the time you’d rather have a Grappendex, but this isn’t a bad substitute if you want height without delay. Pneumatic Legs aren’t actually very good though, you don’t even get high enough to jump that fence in Pharmakokinetiks. The VED can help you with some areas though. Keep in mind that the enhanced jump will also enhance your rocket jump, your Grappendex jumps, and your wall jump. And how high you jump out of water.

Gunkboosters
Slot: legs
Effect: gives you a double jump
Acquisition: purchased for $10k

The main reason to have these is to prevent fall damage. They give you a little extra height and distance, which can be useful, but mostly you just want them to keep yourself from cratering. Sadly cannot be combined with the other jump boosters, though can be combined with the Grappendex for more control.

Composite Helmet
Slot: head
Effect: has a chance to nullify any hit of damage under 50. Each time it does, has a chance to break and do nothing for the rest of the mission.
Acquisition: purchased for $1k

Considering how quickly you can die in this game, something that occasionally saves you from that death can be nice, but keep in mind that rapid-hit attacks will cause it to break nearly immediately; if you’re REALLY lucky you can get 5 blocks out of this but I’d say a more realistic average is 3. Also keep in mind that it can block ANY damage as long as it’s weaker than 50. This is both good (because it will occasionally save you from dying from fall damage or a surprise shotgun blast) and bad (because if you get Toxic Crisis, step in a gas cloud, or use the Cerebral Bore, it’s gonna break very quickly). Can also save you from getting one-shotted while wearing the Extravagant Suit, and in fact seems to have a 100% chance of blocking hits under 50 damage until it breaks if you are, for what little that’s worth.

Zoom N Go Bionic Eyes
Slot: head
Effect: increases zoom effect when aiming with unscoped weapons. No effect on scoped weapons.
Acquisition: purchased for $1k

Makes the Silenced Pistol into a silenced sniper. Since most guns in Cruelty Squad are pinpoint accurate, this will help you get cross-map headshots when you don’t have a sniper on hand. Really, really useful for default-weapon running or using the Nailer.

Life Sensor
Slot: head
Effect: enemies within a certain range will be marked with a green dot which is visible through walls. The range is about the same as the range at which enemies will see you if you have the Stealth Suit on.
Acquisition: purchased for $9k

Very useful when combined with stuff that hits through walls, but more importantly it just makes it a lot harder to get ambushed by letting you see when an enemy is approaching and how numerous an enemy force is before you barge into the room. Additionally, it makes Fleshrats much easier to see coming. Oddly, Zombies count as living, but only until you down them for the first time.

Skullgun
Slot: head
Effect: when pressing “fire” while not holding a weapon, fire a 3-shot burst of loud, armor-piercing explosive rounds. Consumes 1 health per bullet. Shots do about 20 damage each, have moderate vertical recoil, and will not ricochet. Using this while pressed up against a wall will also deal 10 splash damage to you per bullet. Appears to be able to get headshots with the explosive damage.
Acquisition: purchased for $12k

Speedrunner’s friend; enables you to kill armored targets without lugging around a heavy machine gun or rocket launcher. Additionally good for busting doors and acting as an effective last resort weapon if you’re packing two utility weapons or two low-ammo weapons for some reason. Remember to get orange and not lemon-lime.

Eyes of Corporate Insight
Slot: head
Effect: the stock market updates 5 times faster
Acquisition: purchased for $250k

By the time you can afford these you probably don’t need them. If anyone knows a real use for these, let me know.

Nightmare Vision Goggles
Slot: head
Effect: turns the game into a Virtual Boy title
Acquisition: purchased for $10

Makes some textures really, really stand out, while others are more or less invisible. Makes for an interesting challenge run (you're half blind, forcing you to rely on other senses). It kinda highlights enemies and can be used to suss out secret walls and see in the dark, but on the whole not worth it, especially since it limits your vision range harshly.

House
Slot: N/A
Effect: unlocks a secret level
Acquisition: purchased for a million dollars

Once you’ve figured out how to get a crapload of money, whether through fishing, stock brokering, or finding the super-secret area in Neuron Activator, you should buy this immediately. You get a lot of really, really good stuff in this level, and it’s a fun level too. More importantly though, it has the Trigons. They look like worms and shoot you with lasers. Shoot them back and they give you a gift each; one gives you the Raymond Shocktroop Tactical, one refunds your million dollars, and one unlocks the Golem Suit. Additionally, make sure to talk to the targets in this mission for some interesting deep lore. Oh, and also there’s one more augment at the base of the fountain. Come in ready to fight at long range.

Icaros Machine
Slot: legs
Effect: jump RIDICULOUSLY high
Acquisition: found in the house atop the spinning tower in Paradise

If you do not have a way to protect yourself from falling damage, jumping straight up with these and landing will do 60 damage to you. So yeah you’d better have a safe place to land. I don’t like these unless I want to do some kind of gimmicky rocket jump strat, because you can’t really strafe jump while you have them on. Still, pretty funny.

Cursed Torch
Slot: arms
Effect: sets your difficulty to Hope Eradicated, which is the hardest in the game but allows you to go through the doors that normally just spew eldritch nonsense at you when you try to open them. This effect persists even after you switch implants and only goes away when you restore your Divine Link. Additionally, as long as you’re using it, you regain 1 health each time you kill something. Set your Civilian setting to max.
Acquisition: found in the Paradise catacombs. You’ll need Divine Link or Cortical Scaledown to get in, and a flashlight or nightmare vision to see. It’s hidden in an area behind a fake wall; if you jump down a pit onto wooden boards, you’re going the right way.

Mostly just exists so you don’t have to keep going back to the Unholy Shrine every time you want to switch to HE mode. The health restoration is kinda useful and partially makes up for not being able to eat corpses, but there are better uses for your arm slot.

Cortical Scaledown+
Slot: head
Effect: makes you smol. Screws up some weapon animations.
Acquisition: found in Androgen Assault in a room only accessible in Hope Eradicated mode. It’s right next to the HE-exclusive target, you kinda can’t miss it.

This is a really, really weird one. So first thing this does is make you the size of ManlyTears. Because anyone is going to get that joke. Anyway, being tiny lets you fit into several locations you normally can’t, such as through grates, between bars, and into that tiny door in Androgen Assault for an easter egg. That’s far from the only effect though; your tiny size means that you can use practically anything as cover, something as small as a single gib can break line of sight. You’re also way, way harder to hit in this state, and if you stay on the move, enemies will have a very tough time hitting you at all. Melee attacks will still hit you just fine though. Enemies also seem to have a hard time seeing you and will waste a lot of time running around and losing track of you and not even shooting in the first place. To top it all off, all your offensive powers are not decreased in the slightest; your bullets, kicks, and thrown weapons are just as deadly as they are when you’re normal sized.

So what are the downsides? Well… for one thing, the world is not designed for the short. While your jump height is miraculously the same as it is at full size, you cannot take advantage of the Source Engine style “crouch jump”, which lets you get over some obstacles by crouching in mid-air. Additionally, you don’t have the “step up” abilities you have at full size; something as simple as climbing a staircase can become a huge hassle when you’re using this implant. It’s also a bit harder to hit heads and NOT hit legs when you’re so short, and any weapon with an area of effect, such as the SSAAD and Riot Pacifier, still do full damage but have their area scaled down to your size. And your interaction reach is way shorter because you're tiny... Oh right, and you also die if you take any damage at all, just like the Extravagant Suit. This is a bit less of a concern than it is with the Suit, since it’s so much easier to avoid damage, but it’s still a major downside.

Combines very well with the DNA Scrambler; you can walk right through the fleshblobs and hide under them, and leg shots are no problem.

Night-Vision Goggles
Slot: head
Effect: makes your vision black-and-white, but allows you to see in the dark
Acquisition: Darkworld, on the first floor of the mansion on a table.

Honestly these kinda come too late to be useful. By the time you get them, there’s really nothing left to do in dark areas. I guess if you missed the Cursed Torch or just want to explore the Darkworld more, these will make it much easier to go back for that.

Microbial Oil Secretion Glands
Slot: legs
Effect: gives you ice physics
Acquisition: Alpine Hospitality, on the roof.

This basically lets you keep strafe jump speed, even while on the ground. If you’re using the Grappendex or Biothrusters, you can go even faster. Of course, the downside is that actually controlling your movements is very hard. Not accidentally bumbling into enemy firing lines is kind of important, as is being able to have a steady enough shot to actually kill your targets. Personally, I’d just stick with the Speed Organs but these are definitely fun to mess around with.

Hazmat Suit
Slot: chest
Effect: makes you immune to Toxic Crisis
Acquisition: Bog Business, in an alcove on the right side of the map from where you spawn.

Simple, but very useful. Extra useful when you’re Cursed, since all water is bog water in Hope Eradicated mode. Be aware that you still take a little damage from Fleshrat bites, even if they don’t poison you.

Flowey from Undertale Flowerchute
Slot: head
Effect: Makes you fall much slower. Effectively immunizes you to fall damage
Acquisition: Miner's Miracle, at the bottom of a bog-water-filled hole. This hole is in the same room as a bunch of raising and lowering meat pillars, so it's hard to miss. Bring a hazmat suit.

Finally, a way to never suffer falling damage again. While not as versatile as other options for gaining airtime in Cruelty Squad, the Flowerchute does definitely have advantages. Rocket Jumping and the Ikaros Machine become much more viable options with this thing, but be aware that using it without a Stealth Suit is just asking to get sniped. Also, sometimes you want to fall fast to get away from something, or just complete the level faster, so... that's also a downside.

Pairs very well with the Abominator. Notably you actually "fall up" at normal speed but still don't take fall damage. It'll take you a really long time to get back down though.

Tattered Rain Hat
Slot: head
Effect: makes it always thunderstorming. Also gives better odds of finding rare fish.
Acquisition: Idiot Party, in a cave on the surface.

This gets you better fish. Wear it while fishing. Not much else to say honestly, though I should probably mention that there are some fish you can only find while Cursed..

Bouncy Suit
Slot: chest
Effect: makes you immune to fall damage. Also causes you to bounce up nearly as high as you fell from if you jump immediately upon landing.
Acquisition: Idiot Party, in the alcove above the target; you’ll need to break the glass and probably use the Grappendex. Or walk across the weird invisible bridges.

I consider this to be a straight upgrade to the Flowerchute, but both have their advantages. Notably however, the Bouncy Suit doesn't really have any disadvantages other than taking your valuable chest slot rather than your not-so-valuable head slot. Actually, that's a pretty big disadvantage. Well, you're probably going to want to pack one of them (or some Gunkboosters) if fall damage is an issue so use whichever one you have an open slot for.

Funkgrunters
Slot: legs
Effect: gives you a triple jump
Acquisition: Office, on top of the statue.

It’s just the Gunkboosters but slightly better. And canonically, makes you dummy thicc. Neat.

Holy Scope
Slot: head
Effect: makes the game look like a Deep Fried Meme. Also lets you go into the secret zone in CSHQ without setting your resolution to 640x480. As far as I know, no other secret zones are opened this way.
Acquisition: Archon Grid, past the obstacle course. You can get there by doing block puzzles or just cheat your way in with the Abominator or Grappendex; there’s a hidden route in below the level. This is also where you find the Unholy Orb that isn't hidden in CSHQ

Seriously if anyone knows another use for this thing please tell me.

Abominator
Slot: arms
Effect: allows you to reverse your own personal gravity with the push of a button. Deals rapid self-damage if used in Trauma Loop.
Acquisition: CSHQ, on the bottom floor of the Cursed area. It’s not hard to find but be ready to fight a lot of guys with a lot of armor.

If you thought that the Grappendex let you abuse this game’s level design, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Granted, the Grappendex is still better in most levels because it lets you go faster and is slightly less dangerous to use in cramped areas, but for sheer level-breaking ability, the Abominator is hard to beat. Now is probably a good time to mention that Cruelty Squad has almost no invisible walls and, with the exceptions of the middle of Trauma Loop and the bottom of Alpine Hospitality, no invisible kill barriers either. Which means it is absurdly easy to go out of bounds in Cruelty Squad in general, but absolutely trivial to go out of bounds when you can just break gravity. The out-of-bounds level design is even more confusing than the normal level design though, and you can’t clip back in bounds, so be careful about where you go, because there might not be a good way back in bounds. However, what’s even better about the Abominator is that if your timing is good, it also can protect you from fall damage; it doesn’t matter how fast you slam into something with your head, you only take damage if you slam it with your legs. So reversing gravity right before you hit the ground, hitting it to bleed all your momentum, then reversing again will not make you take any damage. It’s pretty nice. But basically this thing lets you fly, but be aware that switching gravity makes it pretty hard to aim, so it’s very difficult to fly-and-gun with it.

Two more additional notes: firstly, pretty much every map in Cruelty Squad has fog, and if you get too far away from the level there’s a good chance you won’t be able to find your way back. Be careful about how far you let yourself go. And Secondly, walking on ceilings will make a lot of enemies just sorta… not notice you, which is great for not getting shot, though be aware that you can’t look straight up or straight down in Cruelty Squad so it can also make it hard to shoot them in cramped quarters.

Goo Overdrive
Slot: head
Effect: allows you climb on walls. Slowly. Disables wall jumps.
Acquisition: House, at the base of the fountain in town.

No one likes this thing because it slows you down, but it is a viable option for exploration if you don't need to go fast. If you get too close to a wall, you will cling onto it like a ladder, killing all your momentum in every direction. The upside to this is that it can also protect you from fall damage. The downside is that you will suddenly stop moving at random intervals because you brushed up against a wall unexpectedly. The climbing is also slow and somewhat awkward, similar to swimming. Honestly there are just better ways to get over obstacles if you want to get over obstacles, though admittedly no others that go in the head slot. It’s not useless by any metric but it can get annoying. Plus it’s mostly redundant if you’re in Death mode, since wall jumps can do a lot of what it can do if you're good at them.

CSIJ Level VI Golem Exosuit
Slot: chest
Effect: increases your max health to 200. Gives the same jumping bonus as Pneumatic Legs (stacks with leg augments). Makes you immune to Toxic Crisis. Doesn’t immunize you from fall damage, but makes you take way less of it. Reduces incoming damage by 40%. Disables your kick, and your ability to use guns; instead you punch stuff.
Acquisition: one of the Trigons in House gives it to you when you shoot it.

Yeah you know those rock Golems that just punch you to death and if you don’t have an armor piercer your only option is to just run? Well you can’t be one of those because nothing in this game will immunize you from non-armor-piercing attacks. But you can be something arguably better, because you can jump, unlike them. Your movespeed is also pretty good since you’re not weighed down by any guns. But yeah you also… can’t use guns. Now to be fair, your punch does 150 damage, even more if you have the Alien Leg Wetware equipped for some reason. If you REALLY need a ranged attack, you can still equip Augmented Arms and throw stuff at your foes. But only being able to attack in melee by default does kinda suck, especially because your punch doesn’t pierce armor. On the plus side, since guns don’t matter, you can equip the default guns and go for default-weapon speedruns even though you have a super-punch. Also if you bring sleep gas grenades and kick enhancement, you can actually kill the CSHQ target by just punching him to death while he’s unconscious.

Biojet
Slot: chest
Effect: replaces your kick with a steady stream of upwards momentum
Acquisition: Trauma Loop, on the path that goes past all the tubs of swampwater. On the way down the last barrel there’s some platforming on wooden boards, it’s lying on one of those.

The ultimate dream of the future: a jetpack. Welcome to becoming the flying death machine you’ve always wanted to be. It’s a lot easier to fly-and-shoot with this than it is with the Abominator, but they basically fill the same role; choose whichever one you have an open slot for.