Extraction and Loot
Far Far West has no traditional weapon loot drops. Weapons are permanent unlocks bought with Blueprints (renamed from Item Fragments in the Frostburn update) at the Gunsmith, and in-mission loot revolves around Joker cards across six rarity tiers, a lineup Frostburn expanded with a large batch of new cards. Killing the bounty boss commits you to the extraction fight, and dying costs you the Gold and Souls you failed to extract.
Far Far West does not use traditional weapon loot drops. You will not find a "Legendary Shotgun" on the ground. Weapons are permanent unlocks bought with Blueprints at the Gunsmith. The in-mission loot system revolves entirely around Joker cards, perk modifiers that stack between rounds to alter your loadout performance.
Understanding this distinction is the first step to not feeling lost when you open a chest and find a card instead of a gun.
The Joker Card System
Jokers are perk cards that modify your weapons, spells, and character stats. You collect them during missions and stack them between combat rounds to build increasingly powerful loadouts for that run.
The Frostburn update (v0.2.0.2) added a large batch of new weapon and character Jokers, so the current card count and tier breakdown are best tracked from our Joker Cards guide rather than repeated here.
Duplicate Jokers sell back to vendors for exactly 50% of their base purchase cost. You cannot sell weapons, only excess Joker cards.
For a full card database and build combos, read our Joker Cards guide.
In-Mission Economy
Four currencies drive the economy now that Frostburn added Uranium and renamed Item Fragments to Blueprints. Each one serves a different purpose and you collect them in different ways.
| Currency | Earned From | Spent On |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Mining gold veins (around 36 via pickaxe on Easy against roughly 20 via explosives) | Permanent Town purchases, like Hero Skins at the Rootin' Tootin' Shack |
| Souls | Completing objectives, killing enemies | Permanent upgrades, Gamba Machine Joker rolls (250 Souls per roll) |
| Uranium | In-mission only: breaking a Joker with your fists, killing an Elite enemy, completing a secondary objective, quest, secret, or lighthouse, plus other unique Uranium objectives and flying balloons | Anything that costs currency during a mission. Leftover Uranium at the end of a mission converts into XP for your hero and your weapons |
| Blueprints | Collected automatically during missions like any other currency (renamed from Item Fragments, no longer tracked per weapon) | Unlocking a weapon permanently at the Gunsmith, no Gold required (8 for primary and secondary weapons and 4 for utilities since Patch 0.2.0.20 cut them from 12 and 6) |
The Frostburn patch notes explain the move in the developers' own words: Gold was already "the money used to unlock long-term things in the lobby," so charging it for in-mission purchases too was redundant. Uranium took over everything you spend mid-mission, and Gold settled into its remaining job, funding the permanent stuff you buy back in Town between runs.
Mine gold veins with the pickaxe. Blowing them up costs you roughly 55% of the yield. Gold also carries a difficulty multiplier, running from 1x on Easy up to 1.5x on Nightmare, so the same vein pays more on a harder run.
The Wandering Trader
The Wandering Trader patrols the mission maps instead of the Town, and she never appears on Easy difficulty. Her prices escalate as you buy: 10 Uranium for the first card, then 20, 30, 45, and 55, since Patch 0.2.0.20 lowered the ladder from 10, 20, 35, 50, and 65. Frostburn had already moved all in-mission spending from Gold to Uranium.
Equip the Chad Joker to reveal her position on the map and take a 20% discount on her stock. Late-game builds lean heavily on buying specific cards mid-run, which makes Chad close to mandatory at higher difficulties.
The Gamba Machine
The Gamba Machine rolls a random Joker for 250 Souls, with odds of Normal 25%, Fine 35%, Prime 20%, Mythic 16%, and Legendary 4%. Uniques are never in the pool.
Treat it as a way to broaden your collection and never a money-making scheme. A pull's expected face value is often quoted as 394 Souls, but selling refunds only half of face value, so an average pull liquidates around 197 Souls against the 250 you spent.
The Extraction Phase
Extraction is something you call in after the bounty boss dies, not an automatic countdown that begins the moment it falls.
A 90-second extraction window and a 30-second tutorial variant both circulate, and neither number is documented anywhere, so treat both as unverified. What is reliable is the shape of the phase: once the boss is down, the run turns into a fight to reach the ship, and stragglers get left behind.
Before You Fight the Boss
The run turns hostile the moment the boss dies, so finish all exploration before engaging the bounty target. This means:
- Mine every gold vein on the map
- Complete all side objectives and "?" map tasks
- Locate any secrets or hidden collectibles
- Buy what you need from the Wandering Trader
Once the boss fight begins, an infinite wave of escalating enemies spawns. You cannot go back to leisurely exploration.
Defending the Extraction
After the boss dies, enemies flood the extraction zone in increasingly dangerous waves. The final waves on higher difficulties include Elite enemy variants (introduced in Patch 0.1.1.3) that add serious unpredictability to the defense.
Use area-denial spells to lock down choke points. Fire Tornado (acid puddle plus Firebeam) and Acid Storm (Rain first, then Strikes) are exceptionally effective at controlling the extraction zone. Read our Elemental Combos guide for the full combo index.
What You Keep After Extraction
A successful extraction converts all collected Gold and Souls into permanent progression currency. A failed extraction (death) forfeits the Gold and Souls you did not extract. Hero XP and Weapon XP survive either outcome. The precise breakdown beyond those two is undocumented, so do not count on keeping anything else you picked up. For more on how this changes based on your squad size, read our Co-op vs Solo guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the extraction timer in Far Far West?
Neither the 90-second figure nor the 30-second tutorial variant is documented anywhere, so treat both as unverified. What is reliable is that extraction is called in after the bounty boss dies and turns the run into a fight to reach the ship.
How much Gold does a gold vein give?
Around 36 Gold mined by hand on Easy against roughly 20 if you blow it up, a penalty near 55%. Gold also carries a difficulty multiplier running from 1x on Easy to 1.5x on Nightmare.
What do you lose if you fail to extract?
Un-extracted Gold and Souls. Hero XP and Weapon XP survive either outcome, but the exact breakdown beyond those two is undocumented, so treat any detailed keep-and-lose list with caution.
Is the Gamba Machine worth 250 Souls per roll?
For collection breadth, not profit. The quoted 394 Souls is a pull's expected face value, not an average card price, and since selling refunds half, an average pull liquidates near 197 Souls against your 250.
Where do you find the Wandering Trader in Far Far West?
She patrols the mission maps instead of the Town, and never appears on Easy. Her prices escalate from 10 Uranium to 20, 30, 45, and 55, a ladder Patch 0.2.0.20 lowered from 10, 20, 35, 50, and 65, and Frostburn had already moved in-mission spending off Gold. The Chad Joker reveals her on the map and gives a 20% discount.
What to Read Next
- Joker Cards. The card system driving the loot economy.
- Boss Encounters. The kill that starts your extraction timer.
- Co-op vs Solo. Loot behavior across squad sizes.
- Secrets and Challenges. Collectibles worth extracting with.
- Tips and Tricks. What detonating a vein costs, and where the trader actually walks.