Brotato tips and tricks for beginners: 14 things we wish we knew
Updated 2026-11-03 · for 1.2.0.0
New to Brotato? Pick one character, keep buying the same kind of weapon, and spend your level-ups on what those weapons scale with. Most of what's below builds on that.
Starting out
1. Start with Well Rounded or Brawler. Both are unlocked from the start and don't ask you to learn a special rule. See the full list of unlocks for what comes next.
2. Stay on Danger 0 until you win. Winning unlocks the next Danger for that character. It also tends to unlock new items or weapons.
3. Keep moving in circles around the edges. Enemies spawn all over the arena, and a warning marker shows you where. Keeping to a loop gives you time to react.
4. Pick up materials late in the wave. Whatever you don't collect goes into a bag and is paid out at the end of the wave, so don't die chasing them.
Spending in the shop
5. Buy weapons early. You have 6 slots, and an empty one is the most expensive thing in the game. Our first three shops plan covers this wave by wave.
6. Buy weapons of the same type. Six weapons of one class give you the largest set bonus, and they all use the same stats.
7. Merge two of the same weapon to upgrade it. Two tier I weapons become one tier II. Read when to merge or buy new.
8. Lock items you can't afford yet. They'll still be there next wave.
9. Don't reroll too much. The price climbs each time. Our reroll math shows when it's worth it.
Understanding stats
10. Read what your weapon scales with. A weapon that scales with Melee Damage gains nothing from Ranged Damage. Every weapon page shows this.
11. Get Harvesting early or not at all. It pays materials and XP at the end of each wave and grows 5% every time. That makes it strong early and weak if you buy it late. Here's when it pays off.
12. Know the difference between Armor and Dodge. Armor reduces every hit, and each point is about 6.66% more effective HP. Dodge ignores a hit entirely, but it's capped at 60% for most characters. Which one should you buy?
13. Luck isn't only for gambling. It means more drops and better rarity in the shop and in level-ups. What Luck really does.
14. Range is cut in half for melee weapons. Long range helps guns far more than swords. Crit and life steal or regen have their own guides.
When you're ready for more
Read the longer beginner guide, then pick a character from the tier list and follow one of our builds. When Danger 5 starts to feel possible, here are the characters we'd pick for it.