This Nuclear Throne Update 100 added a surprising amount of new unlock requirements, especially the large collection of C-Skins. Most of these challenges revolve around specific conditions during a run, while a few of them tie directly into the new character and the new secret content.
Nuclear Throne Update 100 – Character, Skins (Unlock Tips)
Each character in Update 100 has a unique way of unlocking their C-Skin. Some are straightforward and simply reward you for playing normally, while others expect you to plan an entire run around a very specific gimmick. The guide breaks down every unlock method, explains the logic behind it, and offers practical advice on how to pull it off without unnecessary frustration.
Fish
Unlock Method:
You need to have unlocked every B-Skin in the game, including the new character added in Update 100.
Explanation and Tips:
If you’ve been playing regularly before Update 100, you’re probably already close to completing this requirement. The game tracks B-Skin progress across all characters, so once you clean up any you’re missing, Fish’s new skin unlocks immediately.
Crystal
Unlock Method:
Take 100 cumulative damage in a single run and survive.
Explanation and Tips:
The game counts damage over time, not just one-hit bursts. A slow run where you let enemies chip you repeatedly works perfectly. Healing-focused mutations such as Bloodlust and Second Stomach make this far easier because you can recover health continuously while deliberately soaking small hits. Most players see this unlock naturally around the midgame.
Eyes
Unlock Method:
Reach and defeat the Throne without firing a single shot.
Explanation and Tips:
The game considers “shots” to be anything that isn’t melee. A pure melee run—Wrench, Sledgehammer, Lightning Hammer—perfectly satisfies the requirement. Even ammo-using melee weapons are allowed, because the game does not classify them as firing. You can loop if you want and still earn the unlock when defeating the Throne. The run becomes heavily dependent on good melee drops early, but it’s doable with patience.
Melting
Unlock Method:
Hold a total of 12 mutations at the same time.
Explanation and Tips:
You can only reach this number by combining the Crown of Destiny with Melting’s Detachment ultra. Detachment alone doesn’t count as a mutation, so the crown is necessary to push you over the limit. Crown of Destiny gives you a free mutation immediately and lets you reach 12 by late game. Once you reach the required count, the unlock happens instantly.
Plant
Unlock Method:
Hold three “blood”-related effects at once: Blood Crown, a Blood weapon, and the Bloodlust mutation.
Explanation and Tips:
This requirement is still somewhat fuzzy, but the community has confirmed that having all three of these simultaneously completes the condition. You may need to reroll crown choices until Blood Crown appears, and you’ll have to hope for Blood weapons to spawn naturally. Once all pieces line up at the same time, the unlock triggers.
Y.V.
Unlock Method:
Defeat the new secret boss using the new character.
Explanation and Tips:
The update hides a new encounter deep enough that you’ll find it naturally if you explore thoroughly. The fight itself isn’t difficult once you reach it with a solid build, but the requirement to use the new character is important. Simply push through the fight and the unlock is granted.
Steroids
Unlock Method:
Beat the Throne without picking up a single weapon.
Explanation and Tips:
Only the base revolvers count. Picking up a golden weapon invalidates the run, at least in the current version. Mutations such as Stress, Back Muscle, Recycle Gland, and Steroids’ Throne Butt are extremely helpful because they turn your basic revolvers into something that behaves like a weaker, infinite-fire minigun. Once you reach the Throne and kill it without ever picking up anything else, you earn the unlock.
Robot
Unlock Method:
Eat the Rusty Revolver that appears in the Crown Vault.
Explanation and Tips:
If you’re already carrying a crown on Robot, the earliest you can do this is the Crown Vault in 3-1 or 3-2. Enter the vault, pick up the Rusty Revolver, and eat it. That single action completes the requirement. No other conditions are needed.
Chicken
Unlock Method:
Hold the Black Sword while every boss in the game dies. This includes main bosses, loop bosses, and captain bosses.
Explanation and Tips:
You do not have to land the killing blow. As long as the Black Sword is in your hands when a boss dies, it counts. You obtain the Black Sword by dropping Chicken’s starting sword in 1-1, completing a full loop, and returning to retrieve the transformed weapon. Gathering all bosses in one run is possible with great builds, but most players chip away at the requirement over several attempts since the game tracks this cumulatively.
Rebel
Unlock Method:
Kill a cumulative total of 1000 Bandits as Rebel.
Explanation and Tips:
This is perfectly achievable across multiple runs. If you want faster progress, Hardmode spawns significantly more Bandits early on, allowing you to farm kills quickly. Once the total reaches 1000 across all play sessions, the unlock becomes available.
Horror
Unlock Method:
Reach the IDPD Headquarters while having three mutations or fewer.
Explanation and Tips:
This requirement originally had a bug that allowed the unlock by simply sitting on the Throne after the final fight, but that has since been patched. The intended method is to actively avoid mutations all run by shooting your rad beam into walls to remove excess rads. As long as you stay under three mutations and successfully make it to the IDPD HQ, the unlock triggers.
Rogue
Unlock Method:
Spare Lil’ Hunter by killing every other enemy on the floor while leaving him alive.
Explanation and Tips:
The moment every non-Hunter enemy dies, the condition is met. This interaction is new to Update 100 and works for every character, but only Rogue receives the C-Skin unlock from it. The challenge comes from handling the chaos of Lil’ Hunter’s arena while not killing him accidentally, so controlling your damage output is crucial.
New Character
Unlock Method:
Reach the Crib as Y.V. after selecting an Ultra Mutation, then use the airhorn on Cuz. The game binds the airhorn to the “B” key unless you changed it.
B-Skin Unlock:
Carry three gold weapons simultaneously. This is easiest to achieve in the Crib because the room spawns a large pool of gold weapons, and hitting three at once is almost guaranteed if you visit it often.
C-Skin Unlock:
Carry six cursed weapons at the same time. You can only do this with the Ultra Mutation that allows you to hold three extra weapons, combined with the Cursed Crown to force cursed drops. Once you gather all six in your inventory, the unlock completes instantly.