Neon Abyss is another blast of a game developed by Veewo Games and published by Team 17, a studio that only seems to publish gems such as the Overcooked series or the recent indie-darling Narita Boy.
That said, if you’ve played other roguelikes such Binding of Isaac, Dead Cells, or Hades, you’ll pick up on Neon Abyss quite quickly. Though, with the extensive number of guns, it actually has more in common with Enter the Gungeon.
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In it, you collect guns, eggs, coins, pets, upgrades, and most important items to buff yourself and get as far as possible into the “Abyss” (why can't roguelikes just chill out a bit with the dramatic settings?). Now, there are other roguelikes out there for people who don't like high-octane over-the-top action, such as a deck builder like Roguebook.
But, if you like the classic run-and-gun format, Neon Abyss should treat you well. Now, after unlocking every character and getting through all the bosses (as of the most recent 1st aE), we thought it’d be helpful to let new players know what items to keep an eye out for.
Disclaimer: We grouped items into "categories", picked a winner, and a few other standout options ranked from second-best to worst per entry. For the non-winner choices, item descriptions can be found at Abyss Explorer, a neat tool that categorizes all the Neon Abyss items.
Updated on February 24th, 2022 by Geoffrey Martin: Neon Abyss is a massive roguelike game and featured dozens upon dozens of various items for you to collect, utilize, and experiment with. This list is very expansive and ensures you know what you are getting into with the various categories of items in the game from passive to defensive to offensive, and the like. Given the extensive myriad of items in Neon Abyss, it seemed appropriate to flesh this wonderful list out even more with a couple more entries. Be sure to try out each item you encounter in the game, even if it's not something that particularly caters to your preferred playstyle.
12 Passive Items: Winner - Angel Horn
Passive items come in all shapes and forms in Neon Abyss. You could easily fill an entire list with just passive items. Oftentimes it's the simplest items that provide the greatest buff and this is certainly the case with Angel Horn. Angel Horn helps you when you are hurt in the game, potentially dropping a Flying Heart and a Flying Shield.
It's so darn easy to take damage in roguelikes games and this is especially true in Neon Abyss. A passive item such as Angel Horn can be a great backup item for when you enter the more punishing areas or boss encounters.
Here are some other close second choices:
- Annoying Hat
- Dark Side
- Energy Cube
11 Magic-Based Items: Winner - Magical Bean
Magical Bean comes through as the clear victor since it combines healing and increased damage output for long-range weapons. Health and damage output are two highly important attributes, apart from defense and mobility. Obtaining the magical bean item means you can stay alive for longer while still doling out a good deal of punishment.
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While you may not be a pure magic-based player, Neon Abyss is a great game for diversity, especially when it comes to playstyle. Even if you lean towards melee and offensive attacks, at least give magic a try.
Here are a couple of other magic items to consider:
- Magician Hat
- Serpent Staff
10 Nullifying Damage Items: Winner - Hard Hat
Surprisingly there are actually very few items that could fit in the Nullifying Damage Category:
- Big Daddy
- Frying Pan
- Onion Helmet
- Kendo Mask
But from those few that do count, the Hard Hat item is the one you should be on the lookout for. Other than explosions, this item nullifies spikes, as well as any other "environmental hazard" in the game, making it a lot easier to explore the deeper floors.
9 Special-Type Items: Winner - Golden Torch
Next up are the Special-Type Items, the ones that either change something about your exploration or add something "extra" to the map itself. And, most of the items that would qualify for this category either change the size of your character or reveal the map itself, both of which are a tad mundane.
But, the Golden Torch, our personal pick for the best Special-Type Item, is a real doozy. Treasure Rooms are where you'll get a majority of your items in Neon Abyss, and there's one on every floor. But, with the Golden Torch, there will now be a second Treasure Room for the next floor and so forth. Do we need to say more? But, as far as the other choices go:
- Lidless Eye
- Silver Compass
- Treasure Map
- Little Pickaxe
- Mini Radar
- Green Cap
- Birthday Cake
- Desert Elixir
- Inner Eye
8 Flight Items: Winner - Divinity
There are quite a few items in the game that give you extra jumps or the ability to fly, but Divinity takes the cake as the best one out of them all. It increases your overall movement speed and grants you flight. But, it's not quite as visually intrusive as the items that give you wings, so it narrowly takes first place. Some other notable Flight Items are:
- Wings of Wisdom
- Pegasus
- Demon Wings
7 Pet-Based Items: Winner - Lion Headgear
The Pets system in Neon Abyss is arguably the most unique mechanic this game adds to the genre, as well as the most polarizing. Usually collecting pets is a mechanic more reserved for survival/crafting-type games. And, in Neon Abyss, people really hate some of the pets in particular (looking at you Peter), while others loved the implementation.
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In any case, there are a ton of items in-game that modify your pets, eggs, or stats when collecting pets, and the Lion Headgear is our pick for the best one. Why? Well, simply because weapon damage is the most important stat in games like these, and this item increases your damage for every single pet you currently have, which can well exceed 20 in longer runs. As for the other Pet-Based items:
- Worst Blowing Gum
- Strawberry Cand
- Doughnut
- Candy Cane and/or Candy Corn
- Double Yokes
6 Bullet-Modifying Items: Winner - Danger Sign
Let’s talk about Elemental Damage in Neon Abyss. Now, there are some item descriptions in this game that are poorly worded, and some mechanics that are woefully underexplained. And, the elemental system is one of them. To quickly explain the elemental types:
- Fire Damage: Burns enemies + constant damage.
- Poison Damage: Similar to fire, longer-lasting.
- Ice Damage: Slows enemies afflicted.
- Electric Damage: Stuns enemies, also short circuits coin doors & chests.
Now, spread out among the vast amount of items in Neon Abyss are these items that change the elemental type of your bullets, such as:
- Gamma Ray
- Bad Apple
- Hot Chili
- Cooling System
- Jelly Beans
- X-Ray
While it seems like a preference-type thing, Danger Sign is actually the unequivocal winner here, since electric damage has that extra feature of opening coin chests/doors. That said, any of these items are worth grabbing if you happen upon them, but if you’re stuck choosing between two, Danger Sign is our recommendation.
5 Stat-Boost Items: Winner - Forbidden Mask
Probably the most boring category, it's the items that just passively buff your damage, health, speed, and so on. Sure, they make arguably the biggest difference over the course of the run, but they aren’t as exciting as an item that makes your bullets explode now are they?
That said, among all of them the Forbidden Mask is a standout because it literally buffs just about every important stat at once. After picking up this odd flesh-colored mask your character gets one empty heart container, as well as a slight buff to their weapon damage, weapon range, and weapon attack speed. Now, here are some other General Stat Boost Items to keep in mind:
- Space Soda
- Motorcycle Helmet
- Giant Barbeque
- Nerve System 6.0
4 Health-Recovery Items: Winner - Plague Mask
The longer you survive, the longer your run is. It’s a simple rule, but so many players of games like this seem to prioritize speed or damage over health recovery almost every time. You don’t want to do that in Neon Abyss, because at level 5 and onward, enemies start hitting for a full heart each time instead of half a heart. Thankfully, that jump in damage isn’t quite as scary with the Plague Mask, our pick for best Health-Recovery Item, and other recovery items such as:
- Mercy Hood
- Last Hope
- Ruby Earrings
- Sapphire Ring
- Death Believer
- Prophet Chip
- Heart Necklace
- Black Box
The Plague Mask is our top pick mostly because it has so many chances to trigger compared to any other item in the game. The chance to heal a heart after every single enemy kill when most rooms in this game have anywhere from 5-10 enemies? Sign us up.
3 Coin-Based Items: Winner - Lottery Ticket
Depending on the roguelike game, the currency is always different. In Hades (one of the best roguelikes, hands down) it’s Obols, in Enter the Gungeon it’s Helix Credits, but in Neon Abyss it’s just the tried and true coins. And, these coins are how you’ll open some doors, chests, buy items at the shop, and more. So, there are a lot of items in the game that help you get more coins, or buff your stats depending on the number of coins you’re currently holding.
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But, in this case, simple is best, and the Lottery Tickets are the best. This item gives you 777 coins as soon as it’s picked up, simple as that. Now, as far as other items go that help with your wealth, here's our ranking:
- Accidental Wealth
- Coin Bomb
- Mercenary Lord
- Battle Pass
- Golden Bird
2 Defensive Items: Winner - The Towel
Speaking of survivability, if you don’t want to rely on random chance for healing, then maybe look out for Defensive Items instead:
- Robot Armor & Ghost Shell: Random chance, but makes the act of getting hit somewhat less painful.
- Dance Mask: Great for challenge rooms & boss fights.
- Devil’s Trade: Very risky, only for those who believe in their luck.
But, hands down the best Defensive Item and potentially even the best item in the game is the Towel. With this item, the floors from 5 and further down are so much easier to get through. Granted, it doesn’t do much if you get the item early, as it doesn’t reduce damage taken to anything less than half a shield/heart. If you’re at all familiar with the Wafer item in Binding of Isaac, this is pretty much like that.
1 Revive Items: Winner - Immortal Heart
It should go without saying that anything that allows you to keep going even after dying in a roguelike game where runs sometimes take upwards of 40+ minutes is an eye to keep an eye out for. Though, that said, the recent roguelike/action-game released called Death's Door is all about dying in of itself. Anyway, in Neon Abyss, the only way you can revive after death is with some very specific items:
- Schrodinger’s Bet
- Heart of Fire
But, out of all of these, the Immortal Heart is the best while also being the most difficult to find. Most of the other revive items bring you back in the previous room with half a heart or so remaining. But, the Immortal Heart is a full revive, in that it completely restores your health!
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