Unlock choice and control first, then economy, damage, and characters

Direct answer: prioritize unlocks that improve choice and control across many runs, then economy, versatile damage, and finally character options tied to a route you want to play. This is an editorial priority order, not a complete unlock database.

Verify requirements in-game: use the Unlocks tab for exact current requirements. The original 1.0.64 H A T S update added clearer information about useful and upgradable weapon stats plus character-specific stats. Later hotfixes changed unlock behavior and some hat requirements, so an old checklist can be wrong even when its category advice is still useful.

1. Extra choice and control

Prioritize an available unlock when its in-game description clearly gives more control over future choices or helps you avoid options that do not fit the run. These benefits can improve many characters and goals rather than one narrow challenge.

Editorial test: ask whether the unlock makes the next ten runs easier to shape. If the answer depends on one rare setup or one character you do not plan to use, it belongs later.

2. Economy

Economy unlocks are valuable when they help a stable run reach more meaningful decisions. They are not permission to ignore current damage. Choose broad economic value before narrow prestige goals, then stop investing when ordinary waves begin to leak into the movement lane.

Editorial test: can the run convert the added resources into damage, coverage, control, or a planned scaling engine? If not, the economy category is early but the specific unlock may not be.

3. Versatile damage

Favor damage options that can fill a clear role across several builds: dependable area coverage, focused damage for tougher targets, or output that stays active while moving. Do not infer unsupported exact mechanics from an icon or old community list; read the current in-game stat guidance and test the role directly.

Editorial test: choose the option that repairs a repeated failure in several runs before an option whose value depends on a single unverified combo.

4. Character options

Unlock a character earlier when that character opens a route you intend to practice now. Character variety is useful, but unlocking every character before improving shared run control can spread learning across too many patterns.

Editorial test: name the use case first, such as learning clears or testing historical high-kill evidence. The goal-based character tier list keeps those questions separate without pretending one character wins every category.

Why exact lists age badly

The official H A T S announcement contains three different points in time:

• 1.0.64: the initial update added better Unlocks-tab stat and weapon guidance and included unlock and UI fixes.
• 1.0.65 hotfix: later fixes included a Top Hat unlock condition.
• 1.0.69 hotfix: the current section fixed Sheriff’s Hat on the final boss, allowed Cheesy Hat on Forest as well as Desert, and lowered Shady hat requirements.

Those are official patch facts, not evidence that every third-party requirement list is current. Use this page to choose a category, then confirm the named requirement inside the game before spending a run on it.

For a low-risk route that turns early unlocks into practice, use the beginner build. For the full patch chronology and build-facing fixes, use the current patch page.