GET BETTER

The Chamber panel always shows how many live and blank shells are loaded, and how many are left. That's not flavor text — it's the exact math for your next shot. 2 live and 3 blank loaded, 4 shells left? That's 2-in-4, a coin flip.

Recompute this after every single shot, live or blank — the odds shift every time, and a chamber that started 50/50 can swing hard toward live or blank by the third shell.

A blank fired at yourself keeps your turn. If the odds (or a Loupe peek) tell you blank is more likely, shooting yourself is effectively a free extra turn — you get to act again with no risk taken.

As a rule of thumb: below 50% live odds, shooting yourself is usually better than passing the turn to an opponent. Above 50%, look for a target instead — or find a way to change the odds first.

If you're not confident in the odds, Loupe is close to a free upgrade — it converts a coin flip into certainty for exactly one shot. Play it early in a fresh reload when you have no other information yet, before you commit to a risky shot.

Whatever Loupe reveals is always trustworthy — a low-skill AI bot never "forgets" what it peeked, and neither should you second-guess it.

Peek first when you can. If you know the next shot is live, Hacksaw or Magnum Load turn that knowledge into real extra damage. If you know it's blank, save those items — there's nothing to boost.

Riot Vest only helps against damage you haven't taken yet, so play it proactively when you're low on HP and short on better information, not as a reaction to a shot that's already resolved.

Adrenal Shot steals an item AND uses it immediately — it's most valuable against someone you suspect is holding something powerful, like a fresh peek or another damage buff.

Silver Tongue (force a discard) and Vulture's Due (drain HP to yourself) are pure denial and pressure. Both hit hardest against a target who's already low — use them to close out a fight, not to open one.

Scapegoat redirects the next live hit that would land on you onto someone else — hold onto it until you're genuinely worried, not the moment you draw it. Playing it too early wastes its only use.

Second Wind is entirely passive: the first time you'd drop to 0 HP, you survive at 1 instead, automatically. There's no play to make — just remember you have a second life banked when you're deciding how risky to play.

The target picker only ever offers opponents in a team match — teammates are filtered out entirely. Since you can't spread damage to your own side, concentrate your team's items and shots on whichever opponent is already lower on HP, rather than splitting pressure evenly across both.

As a challenger: the boss has scaled-up HP and draws extra items specifically to make up for being outnumbered — don't underestimate them. Coordinate with your team and focus fire rather than trading hits one-for-one.

As the boss: your bonus item draws every reload are your whole game plan. Spend them aggressively instead of hoarding — you'll draw more next reload regardless.

Bot skill climbs from roughly 10% at The Rookie up to 100% at The House. Low-tier bots still make real mistakes even when they draw a strong item, so early fights reward playing aggressively and taking risks.

By the top tiers, bots play every item they draw correctly and read the odds accurately — that's exactly when the math from the first lesson above starts to matter the most.