This guide assumes a few things of the reader. One, is that the reader does not mind spoilers because they've either beaten the game once, or just don't mind spoilers. Any spoilers will be unmarked, and will talk about equipment and skills gained over the course of a game.

The 2nd is that you're looking to just tear through the game. Normal mode is rather easy to take on with stats alone. Hard Mode is... well, hard. The following builds should be able to beat any difficulty, inclusive of getting the "The Really Hard Way" achievement for a Day 1 Hard Mode run.

The 3rd and final thing is that I won't be mentioning perks or exact leveling order, which I will assume you will try to accumulate as many as possible. I'll briefly discuss them when needed. As for exact leveling order, it's a bit tedious to do so, and more to read through, so you'll get the priority of combat skills instead of a "here, level this first, then this". Because of character limits, reasoning on skills may be brief. Post in the comments with any questions.

Let's begin! Just remember: these are guidelines, not rules! Play how you want and have fun!

(Also, I just realized that there's apparently DLC/balance changes coming soon??? So this guide may update once those hit. To be clear, this guide was made before any such changes were implemented.)

The default companion who is probably the most versatile. Shines the most with any build that can stun enemies, to apply more buffs. Will still get one boost out no matter what, so take him! Has enjoyed Cow Puncher's debuffs greatly, both in terms of buffs and doing damage himself far past when he usually does.
She heals, she OHKO's skeletons (which there are a lot of), and can do group damage to help pick off stragglers. Another ideal candidate, but be warned: she WILL leave you if you become the Necromancer.
My favorite of the five, but sadly somewhat niche in terms of actual gameplay. Can barricade against shooting/spitting enemies, which can make many battles easier. Her lasso can also stun enemies, allowing you a turn to do whatever. But both of these are once-per-battle, and all pardner damage drops off in late game.
His debuffs mirror Pete's buffs, but only at level 3, can't be used in hard mode, and will prevent you from going into some battles. Only take if you like him, like I did. Once.
Harder to get to, requires Lockpicking 3, but worth it. Halves the HP of any enemy he hits, and if he aims at an enemy with another enemy in front of them, he does half of the target's HP to the front enemy. At the Buffalo Pile, mix Milk, Blood, Ichor, unlock the chest with the design, grab the bones from the shelves, and then awaken at slab. Ta-da! Your game is now much easier.
Just don't. Deploy Snake is the worst of them, Bean Golem has limited early-game usefulness, ensorscled bones don't keep up well either, and drones are time-exhausting to farm. See the failed build below for why.
This will make early game especially diffuclt, but once you have your footing, you can basically go it alone. But that's less fun, less flavor text and stuff.

The following is vital to pretty much any build.

The max speed of any late game enemy is 11 (Hard Mode, less in Normal), 3 in Region A, 5 covers B and C, then you'll probably survive getting to the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Zoo to get...

• Boon of the Jackrabbit offers +5 speed. Unless you have a specific equipment and/or food/booze/potion setup to replace this, all other pet cemetary boons pale in comparison.
  
• Several boots offer speed boosts (especially with boot polish equipped, which adds +3 too boots). Taking advantage of this helps minimize the need for...
  
• Gumption. Assuming you go to the pet cemetary, a minimum of 6 points (1+6=7) is needed to make the jump to 12. Gumption has other benefits, too, but if you wanted minimal Gumption for some reason, any pair of boots with a speed boost of 3 is guaranteed to replace all of your points in Gumption once you apply boot shine (total +6 speed).
  
• Speed boosting food/booze/drink. Look, I'm not going to recommend this. You'll need the room for literally anything else. Only do it if you're roleplaying.

Items are nice to have around, and vital when going to a new region in Hard Mode, as it will make up for your lack of offense and/or defense until you can build yourself up. They also can help you pass through any spot in the game, and I've even created two builds around heavy item usage (though note sole usage).

• Ghost Pickle. Only three per file, but it'll help you make it to the speed boon with its resistances.
  
• Dynamite. Start with as many sticks as you can. Flat 20 damage per stick, which will make Hard Mode's start a LOT easier, and most of what i referenced in the paragraph above. Using items doesn't take up a turn, and have a power matched by quite a few mid-leveled single target skills. Not to mention they're plentiful! For about 300 meat total (price of entry into the sideshow tent, assuming you killed clowns for an entrance ticket), a year's supply (52) can be gained. Another year's supply is available at Dynamite Dan's, but it's expensive- though he and several other vendors sell individual sticks for a more reasonable price. And on top of all of that, they're a rather common drop from non-combat events in the world map.
  
• Army Field Trauma Kit. Healing won't get you out of trouble in fights where enemies are doing too much damage to keep up with, but will still come in handy when all you need to win is an extra turn or two.
  
• Lassos. Rare for all but the Cow Puncher, but a single-target 3-turn stun that doesn't take up your turn is powerful.
  
• Bullets. While the Silver, Chemical, and Incendiary rounds are all great in that they don't take turns and do damage, the effects are what is chiefly powerful about them. Silver bullets do 3 times the amount of damage on clowns and cows (more multipliers with silver guns, silver plated guns, and silver guns with silver plating). Chemical and Incendiary each do 5 continuous damage per bullet (poison and burn respectively).
  
• Can of Kerosene and Suplhur Matches. Debuffing an enemy by 5 with Kerosene, and since (again) items don't use up a turn, you can light them on fire for 10 damage per turn per match.
  
• Old Stick of Dynamite. It's the dynamite, but better! Base 40 damage per stick, and creating them only needs regular sticks. This is a late-game item, but very worth it to create.
  
• Grenades. They get an honorable mention here because they do flat 25 damage to all enemies, but are somewhat expensive to create. Constantly farming for El Vibrato scrap is a bit tiring and dynamite's more plentiful.

While some are reliant on specific shop upgrades, these upgrades can be applied and be quite useful for any build. Notice that snakeskins and silver plating can even be applied to the Hard Hat.
Best M Stat Snakeskin: Frisco Viper Skin
HP Snakeskin: Sick Python Snakeskin
Spell Damage Snakeskin: Electric Snakeskin
Silver Plated Hat: +1 AP
Silver Plated Pistol: +3 Ranged Damage, x3 Cow/Clown Damage
Silver Plated Weapon: +3 Melee Damage, x3 Cow/Clown Damage
Glimmering Thread: +5 Spell Damage
Sharpened Weapon: + 3-4 Damage
Polished Boots: +3 Speed
Strapped Boots: +1 AP
Disturbing Portrait: +5 Armor, 20% Elemental Resistance
Remembered Lore: +15 Spell Damage
To Serve Food to Mankind: +10 Mysticality
The Quick And The Drunk: +1 Liver +15 Ranged

While the Snake Liver, Spleen, and Venom Glands are decent on their own, there are some craftable items that are just as powerful, if not more powerful than the above. Even in Hard Mode, you can farm for these ingredients in Soupstock Cave (normal has snake springs).

• Incredibly Venomous Bullet Oil. Does damage, but just as importantly, poisons ALL enemies for 10, which is 30 if you have Expert Poisoner. (Spleen, Bladder, Venom)
  
• Flaming Bullet Oil. Like above, except instead of poison, it's burning damage. While not multiplied by Expert Poisoner, it circumvents any poison immunity a skeleton, ghost, ungulith, or other poison-immune enemy has. (Spleen, Liver, Medicine)
  
• Extra-Venomous Bullet Oil. Like its "Incredibly" counterpart, but this is single-target and does 15 poison damage instead of 10. Thus, with expert poisoner, that's a total of 45 poison damage every time the turn comes to the poisoned enemy. Great for single-enemy encounters.
  (Spleen, Bladder, Medicine)
  
• Extra-Flammable Bullet Oil. And like the Extra-Venomous counterpart, also does 15 burn damage every turn. (Spleen, Liver, Venom)

And now comes the best part: poison and burn damage stacks, and since you never spend a turn using these items, you can stack them so that enemies never get a chance to act.

You can make lassos with Leatherworkery (gained when entering the mid-game after discovering the location it's at). One is the basic lasso with a different name, the next tier does hot damage (and still disables an enemy for 3 turns), and the final tier does hot damage, burns, AND disables. The first tier is the easiest to farm for, especially mide-to-late game. Save the rest for when needed.

Any build is technically possible with a Cow Puncher! Flat damage single target stun Haymaker, AoE stun/debuff Menacing Moo, and craftable lassos for days. Add Pete or Gary, and you can even make summons look like a good idea!

While cheapest with the Beanslinger, even mid-level combat skills from the Nex-Mex books are powerful for any class. Vampiric Yodel is the only one that needs full investment to shine. Ignore all skeletal ally books, unless you want to read all of the runes at Necromancer's Tower (which only requires 6 books read). But getting them takes going through much of the early game. You can get them all in the region A by just choosing the Pale Horse and wandering! And don't worry, you don't need to read them in order.

• General Strategy:
  While you can easily get through the game with pure damage, what tears through most enemies and Hard Mode is this build. If you don't want to rely on status effects (for some odd reason), you can easily build around that, but this makes short work of anything that isn't a skeleton, and even then, you'll not have too much trouble. Expert Poisoner is essential to this build! Pick it up asap! While Snake Oiler's unique craftable combat items help, they aren't something to rely on- dynamite will fill in damage gaps, and if you run into enemies that can't be poisoned and you aren't prepared for it, kerosene and matches/spleens will cover any other needs you might have.
  
• Combat Skill Priority:
  1.) Fan Hammer (Anti-single-target)
  2.) Bad Medicine (When you need to debuff)
  3.) Strong Medicine (Buffs good!)
  4.) Shootenany (Situational, but highly effective when maxed + used as an opening move against 4+ enemies. Or maybe I've just had good luck.)
  5.) Good Medicine (Healing good, but you'll be killing quick)
  6.) Snakewhip (Good for the prologue, maybe level it once)
  7.) Deploy Snake (DO NOT USE)
  
• Hat
  Early: Prototype Stetson or Turnip Crown
  Mid: Gold Tooth Crown
  Late: El Vibrato Crown
  
• Lapel
  Early: Revolting Brooch
  Mid: Chest Full Of Medals
  Late: Medal of Adequacy
  Best: Smiling Face Button
  
• Gun
  Always: Toilet Pistol (get in first region!)
  Poison-Resistant Enemies: Smoking Gun
  
• Weapon
  Early: Any boost
  Late: Whatever M stats needs a boost, Sweet Sword/Rock Hammer/Infernal Mallet
  Alternative: Barry Knife (Moxie+AP)
  
• Off-Hand
  Early to Mid: Large Plush Cat
  Late: Strange Glass Rectangle
  
• Rings
  Early: Nasty Ring
  Mid: Ghost Ring/Military Class School Ring
  Late: Ancient Ring
  
• Pants
  Early: Anything
  Mid: Old Silk Pants/Kurtzfit Pants
  Late: Bearskin Pants/Birthing Breeches
  
• Boots
  Early: Brown Boots, then Black Boots or Work Boots
  Mid: Orthopedic Shoes or Overly-Tanned Boots
  Late: Extra-Large Boots or Barnaby Bob's Burnished Boots
  
• Food
  Hard Mode Day 1/Important Fight Only: Beaker of Fudge
  Defenses: Ghost Pickle
  M Stats: El Vibrato Food Cube, Can of Tuna, Potted Meat
  
• Booze
  M Stat Boost: Pure Snake Spirits (Liver, Spleen, Venom)
  AP Boost: LB Mercurial Marzen (Beer Store + Hot Dog Store upgrade)
  
• Potions
  M Stat Boost: Patent Vitality Serum (Bladder, Liver, Venom)
  AP: Patent Energizing Tonic (Bladder, Liver, Medicine), El Vibrato Seltzer
  Ranged Damage Boost: Patent Vision Drops (Bladder, Spleen, Medicine)
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build
  Leather
  Boots
  Magic
  Books
  Beer
  Hot Dog

• General Strategy:
  Dark Howdy, Strong Medicine (if needed), destroy enemy with spells. It's a simple build, though until you are able to at least get Dark Howdy and strengthen your spells, you may find yourself using the Snake Oiler's Rogue Build above until then, inclusive of equipment recommendations.
  
• Combat Skill Leveling Priority:
  NOTE: There is no strategic reason to read all 7 books. If you're patient, you can skip the skeleton summon tomes, focus only on the following four abilities, while still having access to decent melee/ranged damage and still find meat and items. The only reasons I would recommend reading all 7 are to either challenge yourself, or to roleplay.
  1.) Dark Howdy (opening move)
  2.) Vampiric Yodel (slightly better than grinning skull because of stuns)
  3.) Grinning Skull (basic attack)
  4.) Raining Teeth (expensive, but good for crowds)
  
• Hat:
  Spitoon Hat (If Not Hard Mode)
  
• Lapel:
  Smiling Face Button
  
• Gun:
  Sigiled Pistol or Cookin' Pistol
  
• Weapon:
  Rock Hammer
  
• Off-Hand:
  Large Plush Owl
  
• Rings:
  Huge Diamond Ring (stats) or Ancient Ring (AP)
  
• Pants:
  El Vibrato Pants
  
• Boots:
  Tony's Inscribed Boots
  
• Food:
  Hard Mode Day 1/Important Fight Only: Beaker of Fudge
  M Stat: The Lactarius Dirtihippica Mushrooms. +23 Mysticality is hard to beat, AND it's equivalent to the Beaker of Fudge (even if for only one stat).
  
• Booze:
  M Stat: Pure Snake Spirits (Liver, Spleen, Venom)
  Spell Damage: Can of Schmaltz Blue Ribbon (only 3), Gravedigger's Flask
  
• Potions:
  M Stat Boost: Patent Vitality Serum (Bladder, Liver, Venom)
  AP: Patent Energizing Tonic (Bladder, Liver, Medicine), El Vibrato Seltzer
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build:
  Hot Dog
  Magic
  Leather
  Boots
  Books
  Beer

• General Strategy:
  Since Snake Oilers need less XP to level up the Glamour stat, I started to wonder, "what if a Snake Oiler relied on items?" Certainly, items are very important to early Hard Mode and remain relevant throughout the game. So why not optimize it? Consider this its own build, but also a sub-build of any class. However, I feel the Snake Oiler can uniquely take advantage of this class (though my time as the Cow Puncher Desperado Build has me thinking that it can pull off a similar build, gonna theorycraft that momentarily), farming snake ingredients from the soup cave (where not even hard mode limits you), and can build damaging items natively instead of relying on stores, El Vibrato, or one-leather-per-cow-for-three-lassos Cow Punching. NOTE: I will only list the best pieces of equipment due to the scarcity of item discovery boosting equipment.
  
• Combat Skill Priority:
  None. Expert Poisoner is still highly recommended (yes, I know- it's not combat but misc). Trying to beat the game with this build means using primarily items, and using this as a sub-build means you have other tactics to lean on.
  
• Hat
  Any, as none improve item discovery, but preferably something that boosts M stats you need for survivability wherever you're farming.
  
• Lapel
  Granny Smith's Lucky Brooch
  
• Gun
  Toilet Pistol (Or whatever is best for your class if this is a sub-class)
  
• Weapon
  Whatever M stat weakness needs covering, Sweet Sword/Rock Hammer/Infernal Mallet
  
• Off-Hand
  Rucker's Ranchsack
  
• Rings
  Farming Overworld: Ring Of Inconspicuousness
  Farming Meat-Giving Battles In Specific Locations: Lodestone Ring, then Coal Ring
  Farming Skeletons: Bone-chip Ring
  
• Pants
  Cargo Chaps
  
• Boots
  Tony's Meaty Boots
  
• Food
  Carrot
  
• Booze
  El Vibrato Rum
  Fine Snake Cognac
  
• Potions
  Peppermint Drops
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build:
  Pants
  Beer
  Boots
  Hot Dog
  After that, any order is fine

• General Strategy:
  Set up Beanwall(s), buff (if needed), cast spells. Boring, but practical. Only ONE Nex-Mex book can be read without penalty, but I will be assuming you either won't read one for roleplaying purposes, or are reading just one (see combat skill priority's sub-section if that's the case). Without the Nex-Mex debuffs, this build doesn't have to mitigate the (albeit a slap on the wrist) punishment perks for reading 2+ Nex-Mex books.
  
• Combat Skill Priority:
  1.) Beanwall/Lava Fava (If Bean Golem is offered without Beanwall, take it first)
  2.) Beanwall/Lava Fava (whichever you didn't prioritize first)
  3.) Use The Ol' Bean (good buff, but Wary will mitigate the cost of this, so take Wary first)
  4.) Great Northern Blizzard (powerful AoE, but very expensive)
  5.) Bean Golem (usefulness dips after the first area. Good as early summon, another target to distract enemies in the middle of the game, utterly useless in late game.)
  6.) Butterbean (great debuff, but takes a turn you could be doing anything else)
  SUB-PRIORITY: SINGLE NEX-MEX BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
  X1.) Dark Howdy. If you read only one of the books, this is probably the best to choose. After barricading with Beanwall, proceed to buff yourself with this (and at max level, stun the enemy), and then proceed as normal.
  X2.) Rain of Teeth. An alternative to Dark Howdy is this great spell, which does more damage than Great Northern Blizzard and costs 800 XP total as opposed to 1900 XP. The only draw back is that ghosts are immune to spooky, but that's what you have Lava Fava for.
  X3.) Vampiric Yodel. This is less recommended, but at max level, it's 1 AP for healing 15 damage, dealing 15 damage, and stunning the enemy for 1 turn- which is great for single combat.
  X4.) Any of the skeleton summons. All summons dip terribly in usefulness in the last area, unable to do damage and might survive one hit.
  X5.) Grinning Skull. If you REALLY hate Lava Fava, note this is cheaper to level up, but you're probably better off using Lava Fava with the Great Northern Blizzard or Rain of Teeth, since you don't want your main single target damage to be completely ineffective against a type of enemy. And Rain of Teeth runs into the same problem with ghosts. It's not a huge issue, but when you are entirely reliant on spells, you should probably keep elements that can reliably damage.
  
• Hat
  Early: Any, then Prototype Stetson or Turnip Crown
  Mid: Cultist Mask, then Cultist Leader Mask or El Vibrato Helmet
  Late: Spittoon Hat
  Hard: Hard Hat
  
• Lapel
  Early: Revolting Brooch or Smoking Chrysanthemum
  Mid: Purple Brain Pin
  Late: Smiling Face Button
  
• Gun
  Early: Any
  Mid and Late: Bean-Iron Shootin' Iron
  
• Weapon
  Early: Gulch Goblin Spatula
  Mid and Late: Bean-Iron Whisk
  
• Off-Hand
  Early: Large Plush Owl
  Mid: Large Plush Owl
  Late: El Vibrato Cone/Bean-Iron Kettle
  
• Rings
  Early: Nasty Ring (Or anything else if going for the Spit-Free perk before getting spit items)
  Mid: Ring of Smart Thinkin'/Goblin Glass Ring or Branding Ring (which is optimal)
  Late: Glowing Ring (AP) or Silicon Ring (M Stat)
  
• Pants
  Early: Bean-Stained Pants
  Mid: El Vibrato Pants
  Late: El Vibrato Pants (M Stat) or Bearskin Pants/Birthing Breeches (HP)
  
• Boots
  Early: Work Boots (AP+Armor), Riding Boots (AP+Spd)
  Mid and Late: Tony's Shiny Boots
  
• Food
  Best, Save for End/Single Day Hard: Beaker of Fudge (one use, Buffalo Hill Milk, Milk, Lemonade)
  Spell Damage: Black Beans
  M Stat: The Lactarius Dirtihippica Mushrooms. +23 Mysticality is hard to beat, AND it's equivalent to the Beaker of Fudge (even if for only one stat).
  AP: Plate of Jumping Beans
  
• Booze
  M Stat: LB Erudite Eisbock
  Spell Damage: Can of Schmaltz Blue Ribbon (only 3), Gravedigger's Flask
  
• Potions
  M Stat and AP: El Vibrato Seltzer
  Spell Damage: Shockweed Extract
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build
  Magic
  Leather
  Boots
  Beer
  Books
  Hot Dog

• General Strategy:
  Similar to the Head Chef build, this Beanslinger will be setting up Beanwall whenever possible, but the next steps of the process are changed. Use Use the Ol' Bean, Dark Howdy, and then proceed to tear up the enemy party with Raining Teeth, Grinnin' Skull, or Lava Fava. Since the Necromancer mostly relies on the same ups and downs as the Head Chef build, I'll list only where they differ in each category.
  
• Combat Skill Priority:
  NOTE: There is no strategic reason to read all 7 books. If you're patient, you can skip the skeleton summon tomes, focus only on the following four abilities, while still having access to decent melee/ranged damage and still find meat and items. The only reasons I would recommend reading all 7 are to either challenge yourself, or to roleplay.
  1.) Beanwall, it's what protects you.
  2.) Lava Fava AND Grinnin' Skull. As a pure Necromancer, you'll run into problems. Only forgo Lava Fava entirely if you have a bunch of combat items to back up your inability to damage ghosts with Necromancer attacks.
  3.) Dark Howdy
  4.) Rain of Teeth
  5.) Vampiric Yodel. Does flat damage unaffected by defenses, and at max level it stuns. Another alternative to Lava Fava for ghosts- stun ghost, pardner(s) help you chip away at the enemy and/or buff/debuff.
  6.) Anything Else from the Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Hat:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Lapel:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Gun:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Weapon:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Off-Hand:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Rings:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Pants:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Boots:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Food:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Booze:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Potions:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build

• General Strategy:
  While Cow Puncher is a tough force to be recokned with in normal mode, in hard mode, you'll have to be a little more judicious with how you approach battles because of how tough enemies are. With this build, your chief needs are speed, Haymaker/Menacing Moo, and the power to take down enemies before your AP runs out. Also, you can craft lassos to further do what Haymaker does once you hit mid-game, making your options much wider.
  
• Combat Skill Priority:
  1.) Haymaker. It's the cornerstone of the build.
  2.) Beef Up.
  3.) Menacing Moo. Haymaker, but a better opening mooooove.
  4.) The Ol' 1-2-3. Yes, I know the major damaging move is lower, but you can get more mileage out of the other three. Honestly, if you're doing thing right, you're usually one-shotting enemies, anyway. But this skill helps when you have a bridge to gap.
  5.) First Aid/Thick Skin. Good defensive options for early game, though First Aid maintains minimal usefulness late game Hard mode and thick skin... dips rather drastically after region A.
  6.) Gore. There are better multi-damage options out there, mostly just flinging dynamite.
  7.) Bull Stomp. Unless your character is built around this, it's not very effective.
  
• Hat
  Early: Old Cavalry Hat/Prototype Stetson
  Mid: Smoldering Leather Hat/Kurtzfit Headband
  Late: Infernal Leather Hat
  
• Lapel
  Early: Lucky Marigold/Revolting Brooch
  Mid: Halloway's Pin
  Late: Smiling Face Button
  
• Gun
  Early: Medical Gun (HP Boost), Toilet Pistol (Free Poisoning)
  Mid and Late: Intimidating Sixgun
  
• Weapon
  Early: St. Beefus' Thigh
  Mid: Fang Gloves (Poison) or Belchscalibur (Stench Damage and Muscle)
  Late: Infernal Mallet
  
• Off-Hand
  Early: Filthy Porcelain Cow, then Large Plush Bear
  Mid and Late: Large Plush Bear
  
• Rings
  Early: Nasty Ring/Saint Cortada's Ring
  Mid: Coccyx With A Hole In It or Goblin Nail Ring (first is better, but second is acceptable)
  Late: Glowing Ring
  
• Pants
  Early: Spit-Soaked Pants (or anything else if going for Spit-Free)
  Mid: Smoldering Leather Pants (Kurtzfit Pants if you somehow haven't crafted the Smoldering yet)
  
• Boots
  Early: Work Boots or Hightailin' Boots
  Mid: Orthopedic Shoes or Smoldering Leather Shoes
  Late: Hide Shoes (Muscle), Big Furry Boots (HP), or Smoldering Leather Shoes (Speed)
  
• Food
  Save for Important Times or Day 1 Hard: The Fudge Again
  Melee Damage: Raisins, Extra-Gristly Jerky
  M Stats: El Vibrato Food Cube, Can of Tuna
  
• Booze
  Melee Damage: Can of Schmaltz Blue Ribbon, Blossom Gin, Rancher Punch
  AP: Mercurial Marzen
  M Stats: Jar of Moonshine
  
• Potions
  Melee Damage: Depressed Rancher Candy
  M Stats: El Vibrato Seltzer (And AP)
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build:
  Magic
  Book
  Boots
  Pants
  Beer
  Hot Dog

• General Strategy:
  Did I make an entire build purely out of spite because I liked Bull Stomp and a guide said it was useless? Yes. Yes, I did. I even then subsequently tested it on Day 1 Only Hard Mode (successfully), and loved it. The reason this build kicks so much hinder at the end is that it doesn't need buffs or even good M Stats once you have lassos and bull stomp. The flat damage is unaffected by any damage resistance, except maybe hot (untested on that front), where just switching boots bypasses that. NOTE: Due to this build being similar to the Vaquero build, I'll be listing end-game equipment. If you're looking for how to build your character before attaining these items, check Vaquero.
  
• Combat Skill Priority:
  1.) Menacing Moo. Get this skill up to max asap! This is gonna be your ticket to survivability until you can Bull Stomp properly, since we are purposefully forgoing The Ol' 1-2-3 and Haymaker (because, remember, spite!). Still works after Bull Stomp to allow Buffalo^3 Bill to soften up enemies a little, maybe save on lassos, and reduce enemy melee damage.
  2.) Beef Up. Take a level or two in this, just for good measure.
  3.) First Aid. Take a level or two in this as well- it helps survivability, if even just slightly.
  4.) Bull Stomp. Once you get this, level this to the max! Then, time to round up some lil' doggies with some lassos, and stomp them until their HP gives. If your AP is around 8 or more (mine was 10 with buffs), you'll take care of anything.
  5.) The Ol' 1-2-3. Not Bull Stomp.
  6.) Haymaker. Still not Bull Stomp.
  7.) Nex-Mex Spells. They're not optimized for this build, as this build's about flat damage.
  
• Hat
  El Vibrato Crown
  
• Lapel
  Smiling Face Button
  OR
  Greased Bandoleer (AP+, Pants Store upgraded by Hot Dog Store only)
  
• Gun
  Intimidating Gun
  
• Weapon
  Infernal Mallet
  OR
  Barry Knife (AP+)
  
• Off-Hand
  Large Plush Bear
  
• Rings
  Glowing Ring or Effluvious Emerald Ring (allows a different boon from the pet cemetary)
  
• Pants
  Infernal Breeches
  
• Boots
  Infernal Leather Boots (Bull Stomp Damage Maxed)
  OR
  Tony's Tiger-Striped Boots (AP+)
  
• Food
  Hard Mode Day 1 or Important Fight Only: The Fudge: the once and future food
  M Stats: El Vibrato Food Cube (and HP!), Literary Hot Dog, Potted Meat, Canned Tuna
  
• Booze
  M Stats: Jar of Moonshine, Shot of Ghost Whiskey
  
• Potions
  M Stats: El Vibrato Seltzer (and AP!), Stardust
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build:
  OPTIMAL:
  Pants
  Hot Dog
  Then anything else
  THIS ONE ALSO WORKS:
  Hot Dog
  Books
  Beer
  Pants
  Boots
  Magic

• General Strategy:
  I love it when a build is easy to cut and paste build. After some experience with the Cow Puncher's Desperado build, I noticed that any tight spot I had in Hard Mode was solved with items. Usually dynamite, but other things helped, too. Since the Cow Puncher has the ability to craft lassos, I couldn't pass up tweaking the build slightly for Cow Punchers. Like Snake Oiler's Alchemist build, I'll be listing endgame aspirational equipment- view other builds for how you wanna handle abilities, if you use them at all.
  
• Combat Skill Priority:
  1.) Menacing Moo. AoE stun at max level, and debuffs enemies, softening them for combat items and pardner attacks.
  2.) Haymaker. The more stacks of stun you have, the more time you have to do non-item damage when you're low on items, and more time your pardner(s) do what they do.
  3.) Bull Stomp. When fully leveled, it can effectively help you save grenades (albeit for three less damage even at full potential). Still, flat damage in Hard Mode is enticing, especially in area transitions and when low on combat items.
  
• Hat
  Any, none improve item discovery
  
• Lapel
  Granny Smith's Lucky Brooch
  
• Gun
  Toilet Pistol (Damage), Anything Else (for M stats)
  
• Weapon
  Whatever M stat weakness needs covering, Sweet Sword/Rock Hammer/Infernal Mallet
  
• Off-Hand
  Rucker's Ranchsack OR Infernal Leather Bag (less item discovery, more meat gains)
  
• Rings
  Farming Overworld: Ring Of Inconspicuousness
  Farming Meat-Giving Battles In Specific Locations: Lodestone Ring (until you get the latter) or Coal Ring (preferred)
  Farming Skeletons: Bone-Chip Ring
  Farming Leather: Cow-Catcher Ring (unavailable for Day 1 runs)
  
• Pants
  Cargo Chaps
  
• Boots
  Tony's Meaty Boots
  
• Food
  Carrot
  
• Booze
  El Vibrato Rum
  
• Potions
  Peppermint Drops
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build:
  Pants
  Beer
  Boots
  Hot Dogs
  then anything after that

• General Strategy:
  Half roleplay, half strategy. "What if a Cow Puncher betrayed humanity for cows?" It might look a little something like this! Dark Howdy, Menacing Moo to wait for buffs/debuffs, or just start slinging out Raining Teeth, Grinnin's Skull, or something else for the spooky-immune! NOTE: If you don't have Pale Horse, you may want to refer to other builds on building to get you to this point! I'll only list ending equipment for that reason.
  
• Combat Skill Priority:
  NOTE: There is no strategic reason to read all 7 books. If you're patient, you can skip the skeleton summon tomes, focus only on the following four abilities, while still having access to decent melee/ranged damage and still find meat and items. The only reasons I would recommend reading all 7 are to either challenge yourself, or to roleplay.
  1.) Dark Howdy. Once you get it, put at least one level in. Opening move.
  2.) Menacing Moo. Max this, it's gonna be useful for gimping melee enemies and stalling for buffs/debuffs. Opening move until you get Dark Howdy.
  3.) Grinnin' Skull. Your source for single-target damage.
  4.) Raining Teeth. Your AoE for groups.
  5.) Vampiric Yodel. When maxed, cheap flat damage plus stunlock.
  6.) Haymaker. Still useful for stunlocking, but not the most thematically relevant.
  6.) The Ol' 1-2-3. Still decent at best, and doesn't even go with the theme.
  7.) First Aid. Vampiric Yodel essentially does this for you. But still cheap.
  8.) Bull Stomp. Since I've never seen ghosts in a group, you won't need this.
  9.) Gore. Raining Teeth outclasses this. But, it does theme well, so feel free to have this just for kicks and giggles.
  10.) Beef Up. Menacing Moo covers any melee damage weakness, so feel free to ignore.
  
• Hat:
  Spittoon Hat
  
• Lapel:
  Smiling Face Button
  
• Gun:
  Sigiled Pistol
  
• Weapon:
  Rock Hammer (M Stat)
  OR
  Barry Knife (AP+)
  
• Off-Hand
  Sea Skull
  
• Rings:
  Silicon Ring (M Stat)
  OR
  Glowing Ring (AP+)
  
• Pants:
  El Vibrato Pants
  
• Boots:
  Tony's Shiny Boots
  
• Food:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Booze:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  OR
  Mercurial Marzen (+2 AP, forgoes +9 M Stats drink, requires Beer store with Hot Dog upgrade)
  
• Potions:
  See Beanslinger Head Chef Build
  
• Dirtwater Shop Build:
  Magic
  Pants
  Boots
  Beer
  Books
  Hot Dog (switch with Books if you want Mercurial Marzen)

I tried to test out the Bean Golem as a primary skill in Hard Mode, and it didn't work out. In late game, they die early, and damage little. My character made it to the end, sure, and was even Day 1 viable... because of all the other skills, having Crazy Pete, and Buffalo^3 Bill. Bean Golem helped through the first areas a lot, and was even a good decoy in the middle areas, but sadly couldn't keep viability up. Even with buffs and debuffs.

It's not even just that, all summons are not worth the XP and items. Deploy Snake is laughable the entire game, Skeletal summons from ensorsceled chips won't do well late game. And because ALL summons scale with difficulty, this means that they don't even work that well in normal mode. Unsure about the power of El Vibrato drones, but there's not enough El Vibrato scraps to be worth it.

If this part is still here after the DLC makes changes, either the changes didn't affect viability or I haven't gotten around to testing out the changes yet. I'll update this section either way, but I wanted to at least put this here to say "Look, I've tried it, it sucks."

I guess summons are still technically viable as a Cow Puncher with Pete buffing the summons, abusing stunlock, but you're liable to beat the enemy before the summon does with Haymaker's flat damage, anyway.

I haven't made this guide without help. A major resource of this guide was this guide I found on Reddit. While I have followed many of the guide's recommendations, I've changed up some of the priorities to fit what I think works best, expanded on equipment usage as the game progresses, and made more builds. This guide was the jumping off point, and I'm very thankful for their insight. I still recommend checking this guide out. Our differing opinions are why I built and tested the "not as much damage as other classes" Nex-Mex Cow Puncher, the Bull Stomp build (because I like the move and they didn't), and took up their suggestion of a spell-casting Snake Oiler and fleshed it out (which led me to make the Nex-Mex Cow Puncher)!

The other major resource for this guide is this West of Loathing wiki[westofloathing.gamepedia.com], where I looked at the listings for equipment and skills to help determine optimal builds. Whatever I don't go into, you can find in there.

Also check out the other guides! I particularly liked the hard mode and fistful of cutlets ones!