How and when to get the Crown of Greed
On a typical run, killing him around 1-3 or 2-1 is a good mix between item offerings and doubling gold early on. Occasionally a kill in 1-1 is beneficial if you have the means to do so and his items are amazing, and occasionally delaying killing him until 2-3 is more beneficial if you are super unlucky with items.
Remember that every level that you don’t have the crown equipped comes at a pretty steep “gold opportunity cost”. This is especially true for boss levels. Assuming you have max multiplier, the following list outlines how much gold you miss by not wearing the crown:
- Zone 1: 150 gold
- Zone 2: 375 gold
- Zone 3: 600 gold
- Zone 4: 750 gold
- Dead Ringer: 900 gold
- Necrodancer: 900 gold
- Total opportunity cost of killing bosses without the crown of greed: 3675 gold
As far as cold-blooded murdering goes, there are a LOT of ways to kill the shopkeeper. Some of these points are straight out of the codex level. With the right item combinations, you can get pretty creative! I’d love to hear your lethal item combos in the comments.
Items with guaranteed low-risk kills:
- Two bombs: By far the most common way to kill the shopkeeper. Drop two bombs on two consecutive beats, move out of harms way, then finish him off with any weapon.
- Fireball scroll: Activate the scroll to deal 8 damage, then finish him off with any weapon.
- Fireball tome: Use all three on consecutive beats to kill him. Each fireball deals 3 damage. The fireball spell can also be used 3 times using blood magic.
- Earth tome: Use the earth tome near the shopkeeper, then go to the other side of him and use the tome again. Sandwiching him between walls kills him instantly. The earth spell can also be used twice using blood magic.
- Pulse scroll: An instant one-hit kill, as the pulse scroll deals 10 damage.
- Pulse tome: Use two pulse tome spells on consecutive beats while 2 tiles diagonal from the shopkeeper. The Pulse spell can also be used twice using blood magic.
- Throwing stars: Use all three on consecutive beats to kill him.
- One-shot daggers and spears: Throwing a blood dagger/spear while at 1/2 heart, throwing a gold dagger/spear immediately after using a riches scroll, or throwing any dagger/spear after striking a blood drum deals a quick and painless death.
Slightly riskier or situational methods that require aggro (bomb, fireball, dragon breath, etc.)
- Aggro + Freeze: Freeze him for free hits to kill him. Attacking with a frost dagger/frost ring, using a freeze scroll/tome/spell, or intentionally activating a frost charm are all effective. Frost familiar can also be used, just make sure you attack twice then retreat a beat before attacking again. Frost familiar’s freeze only lasts 3 beats.
- Aggro + Shield: Use a shield scroll/spell/ring for free hits to kill him.
- Aggro + anything that can one-shot: Once the shopkeeper is damaged, Finish it off using any of the following “high damage” weapons:
- Blood weapons while at 1/2 heart
- Gold weapons immediately after picking up gold
- Using the blood drum
- Frost dagger or frost ring
- Aggro + knockback: Use a weapon with knockback (flail or ring of war) to keep him at bay. Attack, sidestep, repeat.
When to “cash-in” on obtaining the crown differs from run to run. Factors include the cost/value of the current items he offers, when you feel comfortable enough to go without his extra three items per floor, and if you have the items to kill him.On a typical run, killing him around 1-3 or 2-1 is a good mix between item offerings and doubling gold early on. Occasionally a kill in 1-1 is beneficial if you have the means to do so and his items are amazing, and occasionally delaying killing him until 2-3 is more beneficial if you are super unlucky with items.Remember that every level that you don’t have the crown equipped comes at a pretty steep “gold opportunity cost”. This is especially true for boss levels. Assuming you have max multiplier, the following list outlines how much gold you miss by not wearing the crown:As far as cold-blooded murdering goes, there are a LOT of ways to kill the shopkeeper. Some of these points are straight out of the codex level. With the right item combinations, you can get pretty creative! I’d love to hear your lethal item combos in the comments.Items with guaranteed low-risk kills:Slightly riskier or situational methods that require aggro (bomb, fireball, dragon breath, etc.)
