Effect: Apply +4 stacks of poison on hit, and a 5% chance to instantly burst all poison damage on the target.
Unlock: Find the hidden chest in the Graveyard Crypt
Snek is a Legendary item found only in a secret room in the Graveyard Crypt. It has two effects that work together: every hit applies +4 stacks of poison to the target (guaranteed, not a chance), and each hit also has a 5% chance to trigger a poison burst that instantly deals all remaining poison damage at once.
The poison stacking is the core value. Four stacks per hit accumulates rapidly with high attack speed or multi-projectile weapons, building a large poison total on enemies before the burst fires. The 5% burst chance is independently rolled - it does not consume the poison stacks unless it triggers, so poison continues to tick normally between burst procs.
When a burst does fire it deals two things simultaneously: all remaining poison DoT damage instantly, plus a bonus hit equal to (copies of Snek x 0.4 + 0.5) x your hit damage. With one Snek that is 0.9x hit damage as a bonus. The burst also scales with your Duration multiplier since poison damage does, per community testing at megabonkinfo.org.
Like Joe's Dagger, extra copies of Snek do not increase the proc chance - the burst stays at 5% regardless of how many you have. What stacking does is increase both the poison stacks applied per hit (+4 per copy) and the bonus hit damage multiplier on each burst. One copy gives 0.9x hit damage on burst. Two copies gives 1.3x. The poison stack accumulation also doubles, meaning more total damage is available for each burst to release.
Snek is not unlocked through normal progression. It is a secret item hidden in the Graveyard Crypt. You need to reach the Graveyard first, which requires unlocking it by defeating four ghosts on Desert Tier 2 as Calcium.
| Step | What to Do |
|---|---|
| 1 - Unlock Graveyard | Play Desert Tier 2 as Calcium, find and open four coffins, defeat the four guardian ghosts to unlock the Graveyard map |
| 2 - Enter the Crypt | Start a Graveyard run. The run begins in the Crypt - a timed parkour section with free treasure chests |
| 3 - Find the pillar room | Look for the room with two jump pads and a pillar in the middle. The room layout may be mirrored - use the minimap to orient yourself. Restart (hold R) until this room appears early if needed |
| 4 - Activate the pressure plate | On the lower platform of that room, step on the pressure plate. You will hear an activation sound confirming it worked |
| 5 - Jump into the lava | A hidden door opens inside the lava wall. Jump in - the lava will not kill you inside the tunnel. Follow the tunnel to find Snek |
Spooky Steve spawns in the Crypt if you take too long. He has extremely high HP and is very difficult to kill early in a run. Prioritize finding the pillar room quickly - restart if the room layout does not appear near the start of the Crypt. The pressure plate and lava entrance can be reached in under a minute once you know the layout.
Amog - The strongest character for Snek by a significant margin. Amog's Plague passive causes poisoned enemies to explode on death and spread poison to nearby enemies. Snek guarantees +4 poison stacks on every hit, which means almost every enemy Amog touches dies poisoned. Each Plague explosion then poisons the surrounding group, which Snek stacks further on the next hit - a self-sustaining chain that accelerates throughout a run.
Vlad - Vlad gains +1% Lifesteal per level as his passive. At 100% Lifesteal, each poison tick from Snek heals 1 HP - and with +4 stacks ticking simultaneously on multiple enemies, that becomes constant healing from the poison DoT alone. The more enemies Snek is poisoning at once, the more HP Vlad recovers every second without taking a single hit.
Robinette - Robinette's starter weapon is the Poison Flask, which deals area poison damage. Snek's +4 stacks layer directly on top of Poison Flask's own poison application. Every enemy hit by the Flask is also hit by Snek's stacks, accelerating the DoT buildup faster than either source alone and making the 5% burst proc fire across groups rather than single targets.
Snek applies +4 poison stacks to every enemy you hit, guaranteed on every hit. It also has a 5% chance to burst all poison damage instantly - dealing all remaining poison DoT at once plus a bonus hit equal to (copies x 0.4 + 0.5) times your hit damage. The 5% burst chance stays the same regardless of how many copies you hold.
Snek is hidden in a secret room in the Graveyard Crypt. Find the room with two jump pads and a pillar - step on the pressure plate on the lower platform, then jump into the lava where a hidden door has opened. Follow the tunnel to collect Snek. You need the Graveyard map unlocked first, which requires defeating four ghosts on Desert Tier 2 as Calcium.
Yes. The wiki rates it as incredibly strong and it scales well from early to late game. The +4 poison stacks on every hit is the equivalent of 10 copies of Moldy Cheese in terms of stack count, and the 5% burst means all that accumulated poison pays off in bursts of instant damage throughout the run. It is particularly dominant in poison builds with Amog, Moldy Cheese, and Gas Mask.
Yes. Each copy of Snek adds another +4 poison stacks per hit and increases the burst damage multiplier. Two copies apply +8 poison stacks per hit and deal (2 x 0.4 + 0.5) = 1.3x hit damage on each burst. The 5% burst chance does not increase with more copies.
