Helix Bullets

Fossilized bullets containing the DNA of some forgotten Gungeon creature.

**Helix Bullets** is a passive item and a bullet upgrade.

## Effects

* Doubles the player's bullets and causes them to travel in a helix pattern.
	+ Each bullet deals 66% of its original damage, for a net 32% increase in damage.

## Notes

* **Double Double Helix** - If the player also has Helix, instead of the Helix Bullets effect being applied to each bullet, Helix's projectiles will be doubled (2 bullets will fire on each side while following the original pattern), damage is increased by 25%, and shot speed is increased by 50%.
* **Dualing Pistol** - If the player also has Dueling Pistol, it gains homing and changes appearance.
* **One Fish Two Fish** - If the player also has Barrel, Barrel will fire a red fish that sets enemies on fire and a normal blue fish.
* Explosion damage will not be affected by damage modifiers, including damage reduction. As such, Helix Bullets will massively buff explosive weapons.
* This item has a negative effect with guns that fire homing projectiles such as Bullet Bore or Com4nd0, causing them to lose homing.
	+ If the player also has Shadow Bullets, the shadow projectiles will retain homing.
* This item does not affect shots fired from other guns with Chance Bullets.
* When used by a gun that fires several different kinds of shots at random, such as Mr. Accretion Jr. or Tetrominator, each bullet of the helix will be randomly selected.
	+ An notable exception to this is the Dark Marker with the Antichamber synergy, whose shots are guaranteed to be one red and one blue. This makes triggering the blank effect extremely easy.
* If bullets are reflected by Casey with this item, the bullets will fly in a helix pattern but will not double.
* When using Remote Bullets, the helical bullet path will remain even as bullets curve towards the cursor.
* This item applies to bullets fired via passive items such as the Orange Guon Stone.
* This item makes Winchester's game nearly impossible to win, as the helix modifier makes it so the shots don't go in a straight line. The item cannot be dropped after paying Winchester, so make sure to drop it ahead of time.
* The item also affects projectiles of some familiars.
* With Scattershot, if Scattershot is picked up before Helix Bullets, four times the normal amount of projectiles are fired. However, if Helix Bullets is picked up first, six times the amount of projectiles are fired.
	+ Regardless of the amount of bullets fired with Scattershot and Helix Bullets, each bullet does 36% of its original damage.
* If the player has Flak Bullets, the smaller bullets will not travel in a helix pattern.
* Helix Bullets only partially affect the final projectile of Zorgun, causing it to move in a helix pattern but not duplicate.
* When used by a gun with nonzero spread, each shot's deviation will be mirrored between the two bullets.
* Bullets will no longer be affected by the gravitational pull of the Black Hole Gun, nor the Singularity.
* If the player has Hip Holster, the projectile upon reload will move in a helix pattern, but not duplicate.
* This item causes shots fired by High Kaliber to appear in front of the player when they hit their target.

## Trivia

* This item's appearance is a reference to the original Pokémon games, offered to the player as one fossil, "the Helix Fossil", among a choice of two. The other, "the Dome Fossil", does not appear to be referenced in game.
	+ The pickup text is a reference to the cult-like following the item acquired during a collaborative stream of these games, called "Twitch Plays Pokémon," where viewers/collaborators would often quote "*praise helix*" as the player, who was controlled by Twitch chat, would often unsuccessfully attempt to “use” the Helix Fossil.
* The Barrel synergy is a reference to the Dr. Seuss children's book, *One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish*.