Far Far West Strikes Spell Guide — Why Every Weapon Loadout Needs It (Ghost Houses, AoE, and Beyond)

There's a spell in Far Far West that most weapon players sleep on — and once you start using it, you can't go back. It's Strikes (Thunder Strikes), and it turns your weapon loadout from "good at single target" into "actually complete." Big call, but the creator behind this run makes a compelling case: put Strikes into every weapon loadout, and stop struggling with ghost houses and AoE waves.

Here's the full breakdown of why Strikes is "omega busted" for weapon builds, how it synergizes with Drain and Pistolero, and where it falls short.

Why Strikes Is Slept On (And Why That's About to Change)

Strikes gets overlooked because on spell-focused loadouts like Battlemage, it doesn't shine. Other spells scale better with pure spell power. But on weapon loadouts, Strikes fills three holes at once:

Ghost house clearing — Weapon builds struggle here unless you're specifically running Bell. Strikes lightning pools deal with grouped ghost adds effortlessly.
AoE compensation — Weapons excel at single target but lag behind spells at AoE. Strikes gives you a proper AoE tool without sacrificing your main damage rotation.
Synergy with Drain + Pistolero — The two other spells most commonly slotted in weapon builds pair perfectly with Strikes.

If you're a weapon-first player, this isn't just a good spell — it's the missing piece.

The Core Weapon Loadout Triangle: Strikes + Drain + Pistolero

Here's why the three spells work so well together:

Pistolero

Free "on-kill effect" generator — every kill triggers a Pistolero shot
Also provides its own add clear via its lightning amp
If you land a lightning hit on the Pistolero itself, it triggers a big lightning explosion — free AoE on top of free AoE
Pistolero stays parked in electric pools and constantly applies the shock status, which is huge for acid-secondary weapons

Drain

Self-sustain for the loadout (most weapon builds don't have built-in healing)
Drops healing candles when combined with Strikes' lightning pools
Not massive healing, but reliable when you need it

Strikes

The AoE and ghost-house solution
The engine that powers the Pistolero explosion and Drain healing candles

Pull one out and the whole system loses efficiency. All three together is the point.

Giga Explosions in Practice

When Strikes lands in a dense enemy cluster, the screen becomes hard to see for a reason — it's a giga explosion. The lightning pools stack visual noise, the Pistolero triggers off kills, Drain sucks HP back in, and every enemy in the area eats stacked lightning damage.

The trade-off is you'll occasionally blind yourself. That's the cost of business.

Ghost House Domination

Ghost houses are historically a weapon-loadout weakness — the ghosts are packed, mobile, and drain your ammo fast. Without Bell (the anti-ghost weapon), you're in trouble.

Strikes just deletes ghost houses. Cast, walk out. That's it. Even the creator admits "yet again, I wouldn't have been able to clear out the ghost house as fast without Strikes — it's just so gross."

The Battleship Strat (Payload Missions)

Bonus trick if you didn't know: on payload missions, put your Pistolero directly on the battleship (the cart). The AI Pistolero will keep pushing the cart for you while shooting enemies.

Then you can focus on:

Kiting enemies behind you
Dropping Strikes on chokepoints
Letting the ads eat tick damage as they chase

The creator calls it "insane work" and it's not hyperbole — you're essentially auto-piloting the payload while managing threats.

Kiting With Tick Damage

The classic Strikes kiting pattern:

Drop a strike behind you as you move
Ads follow through the pool
They take tick damage the whole way
By the time they close the distance, they're already low or dead

Combined with the Pistolero pushing the cart, you barely need to aim.

Free AoE Everywhere

The recurring theme: this loadout generates AoE for free. Strikes casts create pools. Pistolero standing in pools generates explosions. Drain applied in pools makes healing candles. Every cast has three or four downstream effects.

"Easy payload mission, bro." That's the vibe.

The Real Weakness: Boss Damage

Being honest about the trade-off: Strikes does almost nothing against bosses. The lightning pools don't scale well against a single high-HP target, and if you're running a weapon like the Letter Weapons (Rush Blast) which already has mediocre boss damage, this is where the loadout struggles.

The fix:

Lean on your primary weapon damage for boss phases
Use Drain to sustain through longer fights
Save Pistolero for the burst windows

The creator's take: the ad clear is so busted that giving up some boss damage is worth it. Unless the upcoming Ice Balls turn out to be "giga busted," Strikes is a permanent slot in the weapon build.

Handling Impulse Grenades and Exploders

Some honest run commentary: impulse grenades as a utility are hit-or-miss. In the video, the creator openly wrestles with them ("let's hope I figure out how to use the stupid impulse grenades"). They work in specific situations but don't slot in as smoothly as, say, Thrower or Dynamite.

Exploders remain a universal nightmare regardless of loadout. Strikes helps by tagging them at distance, but always give exploders space.

When It All Falls Apart: 10,000 Enemies

Even the best loadout has moments where the game says "no." In the run, the creator hits a stretch where "there's 10,000 enemies shooting me, bro" — a swarm with snipers layered on top.

Strikes still carries the AoE side, but this is where the loadout's limitations show:

Strikes doesn't clear snipers (single target, off-screen)
Rex (dinosaur utility) has limited impact against elite-heavy waves
Pistolero can't outpace sniper focus fire

Recovery move: Drain aggressively, position behind cover, cast Strikes on the melee wave, then rifle down snipers with your primary.

Horseman Sweep

Late-run horseman engagements demonstrate the loadout at its most stubborn:

"I'm not leaving until I kill this guy" — the creator refuses to extract early
One horseman down, then confusion about whether the second got tagged incidentally by a Strike
The Strikes lightning explosions probably chunked the second horseman off-screen

Point being: Strikes' AoE is so broad that you may not even realize when it's killing distant elites for you.

Quick Reference

Component	Pick
Spell 1	Strikes
Spell 2	Drain (self-sustain + healing candles)
Spell 3	Pistolero (kill triggers + AoE amp)
Utility	Anything — Rex, Thrower, Dynamite work
Primary	Any weapon; secondary should ideally have acid
Best against	Ghost houses, ad waves, payload missions
Weakness	Boss damage, sniper-heavy elite waves
Playstyle	Drop pools, kite ads through them, let Pistolero clean up

The TL;DR

"Put Strikes into your loadout."

That's the creator's final line, and after 10 minutes of watching Strikes carry through ghost houses, payload runs, and elite waves, it's hard to argue. Weapon builds have historically leaned on Pistolero + Drain as the two default spells with one flex slot. Strikes is the flex — and it's not really a flex anymore, it's mandatory.

If the upcoming Ice Balls patch shakes this up, we'll revisit. For now, Strikes stays.

For the full run commentary and gameplay demonstration, check the original video.