20 Minutes Till Dawn provided a more active alternative to Vampire Survivors during the height of its popularity, offering a different and arguably more skill-based option for the horde-slaying bullet heaven gameplay. However, like Vampire Survivors, 20 Minutes Till Dawn also features over-powered, game-breaking builds that allow players to clear enemies rapidly.
These builds can be tough to orchestrate, due to the fact that the game has 12 playable characters as well as 21 upgrade trees made up of 84 individual upgrades. This list aims to provide players with solid build ideas that can be built off of, allowing fans to go into a run with a clear idea of what to take to succeed.
5 Infinite Flame
- Character: Scarlett
- First Tome: Tome of Rage OR Tome of Elements
- Weapon: Flame Cannon
Scarlett's ability fires a blast of fire every three shots that pierces enemies and inflicts Burn. Because the damage from this flame source stacks with other DOT (damage over time) effects, Scarlett works great with the Flame Cannon as well as Burn upgrades like Scarlett's Pyromaniac perk.
Players should aim to increase their projectile count as much as possible, as it synergizes with the Flame Cannon tremendously well. Furthermore, players should aim to take perks like Pyro Mage and Fire Starter. The icing on the cake for this build is the sword rune, Ethereal, which prevents the player's gun from consuming ammo. With a high projectile count, this combination can make players unstoppable.
4 Bladestorm
- Character: Abby
- First Tome: Tome of Rage
- Weapon: Cyclone Sword
The Cyclone Sword can be one of the most powerful weapons in the game, especially when used correctly. Abby is by far the best character to use with the Cyclone Sword, as her fire rate is double from the start, which synergizes well with the sword. But the best part about Abby is that she can shoot all of her remaining ammunition in random directions, which works perfectly with this build.
Throughout the run, players will want to aim for the Death Sickle evolution and the Miniclip synergy (achieved by taking Fan Fire and Fresh Clip). They should also try to get much fire rate and bullet speed as possible. If players are feeling confident towards the end game, taking Siege is a great addition that works well for clearing the map, but isn't so helpful against some of the bosses and may get players killed if used incorrectly.
3 Machine Dragon Shotgun
- Character: Any
- First Tome: Tome of Power
- Weapon: Shotgun
This build works well for beginners because it's not dependent on character, and so can be played out with Shana. Furthermore, it's easy to become powerful quite early on with this build while also scaling into the end-game with the Dragon summon.
For this build, players will need to take the Shotgun. The build focuses around increasing bullet spread, fire rate, and damage; to do this, aim for high impact upgrades like Big Shot, as well as abilities that can increase potential AOE such as Fan Fire and Splinter. The combination of bullet spread and fire rate with the Shotgun, in combination with Big Shot, can create some broken scenarios when the correct upgrades are chosen, such as Fresh Clip and Fusillade. The Dragon summon isn't completely necessary, but it can be extremely helpful in taking down bosses with its scaling damage.
2 Rapid Fire Storm
- Character: Spark
- First Tome: Tome of Elements
- Weapon: Dual SMGs
This build is great because it's so simple, and only needs a few upgrades to get going early. Spark's ability gives players a 50% chance to call down a lightning strike on-hit, so it's a no-brainer that Spark works best with lightning upgrades and a fast rate of fire. This makes the Dual SMGs the perfect weapon for Spark, thanks to its high fire rate.
Players will want to bee-line the Electro Mage perk, then follow that route down to Energized and Electro Mastery. The former is the most important, as it gives players a 20% chance to refill 3 ammo on a lightning strike. Another great upgrade to keep an eye out for is Double Shot. As always, taking the Dragon, while not necessary, is great for some damage scaling that can help alleviate the reliance on the lightning strikes for damage.
1 Batwoman
- Character: Abby
- First Tome: Tome of Summoning
- Weapon: Batgun
Because Abby's ability allows players to dump their entire clip at once, the Batgun (or the Grenade Launcher, though it's arguably not quite as powerful) synergizes perfectly with the character. The Batgun fires bats that chase down enemies, and essentially act as homing bullets. This results in players being able to shoot out constant bursts of homing bullets. Although this is extremely powerful, the one downside is that it prevents players from aiming at specific enemies. Players will have to be aware of their positioning in order to avoid an unlucky death.
For this build, players will want to get the Dragon as soon as possible, as well as the Aged Dragon perk. This works best when taken early, as the damage is scaling. Because the bats from the Batgun act as bullets as well as summons, this scales their damage as well. Additionally, players will want to aim for Double Shot and Splinter, as well as the Gun Mastery synergy, which can be achieved by building the Power Shot, Rapid Fire, and Armed and Ready perks.