Effect: +40% chance to apply 1 poison stack on hit. Stacks additively per copy - exceeding 100% applies multiple stacks per hit.
Unlock: Available from the start - no unlock required
Moldy Cheese is a Default item that gives a 40% chance to apply one poison stack to an enemy on each hit. Poison deals damage every 0.5 seconds for 5 seconds at base duration - 10 ticks total. Each tick deals damage equal to the number of poison stacks on the target multiplied by your Damage Multiplier stat. Applying additional stacks while poison is active increases the damage per tick, and each new application refreshes the 5-second timer.
The damage formula per tick is: stacks x max(1, Damage Multiplier). An enemy with 5 poison stacks and a 2.0x Damage Multiplier takes 10 damage per tick, 20 times over 10 seconds at 2.0x Duration - 200 total poison damage from that one application window, before the next hit refreshes stacks further.
Poison cannot crit. Precision Tome and crit chance investments provide no benefit to poison damage. The correct scaling tome for poison builds is Damage Tome, which directly increases the Damage Multiplier that poison ticks use in their formula.
Each copy adds +40% to the poison application chance additively. Once the total chance exceeds 100%, the excess becomes a chance to apply a second stack on the same hit. There is no stack cap.
| Copies | Total Chance | Stacks per Hit | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40% | 40% chance of 1 stack | Baseline poison application |
| 2 | 80% | 80% chance of 1 stack | More consistent single-stack application |
| 3 | 120% | 100% for 1 + 20% for 2nd | Guaranteed 1 stack every hit |
| 5 | 200% | Always 2 stacks | Guaranteed 2 stacks per hit |
| 8 | 320% | Always 3 stacks + 20% for 4th | Rapid multi-stack buildup |
Moldy Cheese has a unique rule at exact integer multiples of 100%: at exactly 100%, 200%, 400%, or 600% total chance, no random roll is performed - those stacks fire unconditionally regardless of proc coefficient. This means if you have exactly 5 copies (200% total), the 2 guaranteed stacks always apply even when triggered by a 0.5 proc coefficient item like Holy Book or Cactus. At other values (e.g. 120%, 160%), the remainder above 100% does roll and is subject to proc coefficient halving.
Poison base duration is 5 seconds with 10 ticks at 1.0x Duration Multiplier. Duration Tome doubles the ticks proportionally: 2.0x Duration = 10 seconds and 20 ticks. Since total poison damage equals ticks multiplied by damage per tick, Duration Tome directly doubles total poison damage output per application window - it is the most efficient scaling tome for sustained poison builds alongside Damage Tome.
Applying more stacks increases damage per tick linearly. Hitting an enemy with 1 stack per hit with a fast weapon continuously refreshes the timer and slowly adds stacks. Using Moldy Cheese copies to guarantee 2+ stacks per hit dramatically accelerates the buildup rate versus waiting for multiple single-stack procs.
Amog - The wiki confirms Amog as the primary poison character. His Plague passive causes any poisoned enemy to explode when killed, spreading all its poison stacks to nearby enemies - and the spread radius scales with Size. Moldy Cheese is described as mandatory for Amog builds; the megabonk.org Amog guide states without it the build fails. Stacking multiple Moldy Cheeses is specifically recommended for Amog to guarantee multiple stacks per hit, feeding the Plague chain. The Amog wiki page also confirms Damage Tome over Precision Tome since poison cannot crit.
Robinette - Robinette's Stonks passive scales her damage with gold held, and her high kill rate supports stacking Cursed Tome for enemy density. Dense enemy groups are ideal for Moldy Cheese because every hit that applies poison stacks benefits from every other hit that has been applying stacks to nearby enemies simultaneously. Multiple community build guides list Moldy Cheese as a near-universal pickup for Robinette regardless of primary build direction, since its passive DoT output requires no dedicated investment beyond picking it up.
CL4NK - CL4NK's multi-projectile Revolver and Bone builds fire many independent hits per second, each rolling Moldy Cheese's poison chance independently. High hit frequency means rapid stack buildup on any enemy that receives multiple projectile hits per attack cycle. The wiki specifically names Revolver as one of the best Moldy Cheese application weapons for its attack rate. CL4NK already scales naturally toward high crit chance - since crit doesn't affect poison, Moldy Cheese provides a damage layer that is entirely independent of his crit investment rather than competing with it.
Each copy gives a +40% chance to apply 1 poison stack on hit. Poison deals damage every 0.5 seconds for 5 seconds at base duration (10 ticks). Damage per tick = stacks x Damage Multiplier. Stacking copies past 100% total chance guarantees 1 stack and adds chance for additional stacks per hit. Poison cannot crit - Damage Tome scales it, not Precision Tome.
Yes, linearly. Each copy adds +40% poison chance additively. At 3 copies (120%) you are guaranteed to apply 1 stack every hit with a 20% chance for a 2nd. At 5 copies (200%) you always apply 2 stacks per hit. There is no stack or copy cap. Stacking Moldy Cheese is one of the most reliable ways to increase poison DPS.
No. Poison damage cannot crit. Precision Tome and crit chance items provide no benefit to poison tick damage. For poison builds, Damage Tome is the correct scaling investment since poison damage scales directly with the Damage Multiplier stat.
Yes - Duration Tome extends how long poison lasts and increases the number of ticks. At 2.0x Duration, poison lasts 10 seconds and deals 20 ticks instead of 10, doubling total damage from each application window. Duration Tome is one of the highest-value scaling tomes for sustained poison builds.
Duplicate Moldy Cheese 3 times in a row using a Microwave interactable in a single run. You only need one copy of Moldy Cheese - you duplicate that same copy 3 times. After meeting the condition, purchase Moldy Gloves from the Unlocks shop with Silver.
