You’re staring at a blue chest. You’ve got one key left. You crack it open, and instead of a flashy rocket launcher or a laser-spewing eagle, you get a piece of paper. It’s the Ballot.
Most new players see the "Vote of Confidence!" tagline and shrug. It doesn't shoot fire. It doesn't give you extra hearts. Honestly, it looks like a dud. But if you’ve spent hundreds of hours in the Gungeon, you know that the Ballot is one of the most subtly powerful passive items you can find in a C-tier chest. It’s not about the damage you deal right now; it’s about how the Ballot fundamentally breaks the game’s luck mechanics in your favor.
What Does the Ballot Actually Do?
Mechanically, the Ballot is simple. It grants you +3 Coolness.
That sounds vague. In many games, "coolness" is just flavor text. In Enter the Gungeon, it is a hidden stat that dictates your entire run’s economy. Every point of Coolness does two specific things:
- It reduces the cooldown of your active items by 5% per point.
- It increases the chance of an item dropping after you clear a room.
With the Ballot alone, you’re looking at a 15% faster recharge on things like the Elder Blank or the Stuffed Star. That is huge. More importantly, that +3 Coolness translates to a roughly 3% higher chance for a chest, key, or ammo to drop at the end of every single room. Over five chambers, that adds up to a massive pile of extra resources.
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The Secret Power of Coolness
Coolness is the direct counter to Curse. You know that purple smoke that appears when you buy from Cursula or pick up a "stolen" item? That’s Curse. While Curse makes the game harder and reduces room-clear rewards, Coolness claws that reward chance back.
Think about it this way. If you have 5 Curse, your chances of getting a reward after a fight are basically gutted. Picking up the Ballot in Enter the Gungeon effectively negates a large chunk of that penalty. It allows you to take those high-risk, high-reward Cursed items without losing out on the keys and ammo you need to survive.
Game-Changing Synergies
The Ballot isn't just a stat stick. It has a couple of specific synergies that turn mediocre guns into absolute powerhouses.
Paperwork (Origuni + Ballot)
If you have the Origuni—that gun that fires paper airplanes—the Ballot triggers the Paperwork synergy. Instead of firing one airplane, the first shot of every magazine fires three. It turns a quirky, low-tier weapon into a legitimate room-clearer. The spread is wide, the damage is tripled for that opening burst, and it feels incredibly satisfying to use.
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Revolution (Dueling Pistol + Ballot)
The Dueling Pistol is usually a "use in emergencies only" kind of gun. But with the Ballot, you get Revolution. This synergy gives the pistol's bullets 25% more damage and increases their bounces from two to five. Suddenly, you aren't just firing a single slow bullet; you’re filling the room with high-damage projectiles that ricochet until they find a target.
Why Pro Players Love It
The real reason veterans get excited for the Ballot is the active item synergy. If you’re lucky enough to pair the Ballot with something like Cigarettes, you can snowball your Coolness to absurd levels.
Since the Ballot reduces the cooldown of the Cigarettes themselves, you can use them more often, gaining even more Coolness, which reduces the cooldown even further. I’ve seen runs where the player has 20+ Coolness. At 그 point, every single room clear results in an item drop. You’ll have more keys than you know what to do with and active items that recharge almost instantly.
How to Get the Ballot
You don't need to do anything special to unlock it. It’s available from the start of the game. You’ll most commonly find it in Blue (C-tier) Chests, but it can also show up in shops for a relatively low price (usually around 35-45 shells).
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If you see it in a shop and you have an active item you rely on—like the Potion of Lead Skin or the Grappling Hook—buy it immediately. The 15% cooldown reduction is worth the gold alone.
Expert Tips for Your Next Run
- Don’t restart: If the Ballot is your first item, stick with the run. The extra drops in Chamber 1 and 2 will set you up with a better arsenal for the Hollow.
- Watch your health: While the Ballot is great, it doesn't offer defensive stats. If you're at half a heart, maybe buy the shield instead, but if you're stable, the Ballot is the better long-term investment.
- Check for the Vorpal Gun: The Vorpal Gun has a chance to fire a "critical" high-damage shot. The frequency of these crits is tied directly to your Coolness. With the Ballot, the Vorpal Gun becomes one of the best boss-killers in the game.
Ultimately, the Ballot is about the "long game." It’s the difference between reaching the Dragun with empty pockets and reaching him with a full belt of items and plenty of ammo. It proves that in the Gungeon, sometimes the pen—or the voting slip—really is mightier than the sword.
Next Steps for Your Run
Go check your Ammonomicon to see if you've discovered the Revolution synergy yet. If not, prioritize picking up the Dueling Pistol next time you see it while carrying the Ballot. Also, try to pair the Ballot with the Sixth Chamber if you can find it; that item converts your Curse into even more Coolness, creating a feedback loop that makes you virtually unstoppable in the later floors.