Scott Pilgrim EX Best Characters and Hidden Shops

Scott Pilgrim EX, developed by Tribute Games (the studio behind TMNT: Shredder's Revenge), drops you into a fractured version of Toronto with seven playable fighters, a sprawling interconnected map, and an economy that will punish you hard if you ignore it. The combat is fully unlocked from the start, which is a massive improvement over the original 2010 game's grind-heavy progression. But the game still buries critical mechanics in vague tutorials and hides its best money-making spots behind unmarked doors. This guide cuts through all of that so you can start punching hipsters efficiently from minute one.

What Makes Scott Pilgrim EX Different From Standard Brawlers?

Scott Pilgrim EX throws out the classic arcade ladder structure in favor of an interconnected open map inspired by games like River City Girls. You backtrack freely, take on side quests from familiar faces, and discover shortcuts through Subspace Highways. The pacing stays tight because the game never bogs you down with long cutscenes. The focus stays on moving forward and hitting things.

All seven characters are available immediately. No unlocks required. The catch is that every fighter has their own completely isolated wallet, stat sheet, and badge slots. This is the single most important thing to understand before you invest time into the game. Swapping characters means starting from scratch financially, and you cannot change fighters from a pause menu. You have to physically walk back to Scott and Ramona's house in the Suburbs area, using Subspace Highways to speed the trip up.

Which Character Should You Pick First?

After testing the full roster across the campaign, here is an honest breakdown of where each fighter actually stands.

Gideon Graves is arguably the strongest character on the roster. His up heavy transforms him into an immovable wall, and his down heavy spinning slash functions as a genuine counter attack, which is an extremely rare tool in this genre. If you want to feel powerful immediately, start here.

Robot-01 was the biggest surprise. His entire kit revolves around area denial. The up heavy grenade instantly dizzies nearby enemies, and once you learn the arc of the throw, you control the entire screen. He is a crowd control machine.

Matthew Patel is a self-sustaining damage engine. His special attack heals him while dealing damage, and he can summon demon hipster chicks and fire volleys of tridents. He rarely needs to retreat.

Scott Pilgrim is the reliable baseline. His Power of Love sword attack and signature headbutt are consistent tools that work in almost every situation. He is the best starting point while you learn enemy patterns.

Lucas Lee hits extremely hard using his skateboard but suffers from poor speed. His charged heavy grab whiffs frequently, which makes him frustrating for aggressive players.

Roxie Richter and Ramona Flowers are the weakest picks currently. Roxie's up heavy is a teleporting smoke bomb that rarely connects with anything useful. Ramona's heavy attacks pull random items from her bag or bounce on her hammer, both highly situational moves that frequently leave her exposed.

How Do You Fix the Broken Tutorial Inputs?

Before farming a single coin, fix two things the game never properly explains.

Back Attacks: The tutorial omits a critical detail. Back attacks only register while you are already mid-combo. Attempting the input from a neutral standing position does nothing. The timing window is strict enough that it becomes unreliable during large brawls. Open the options menu and enable Auto Back Attacks to trigger the move naturally without fighting the input system.

Bomb Mechanics: Placing a bomb on the ground does not light the fuse automatically. You have to physically strike the bomb with an attack after setting it down. It will flash red, giving you just enough time to clear the blast radius before detonation. This is never explained anywhere in the game.

Equip Big Nickel before farming

What Are the Best Farming Badges for Fast Money?

Before running any farming route, progress to Chapter 2 and unlock the Shopping Area. Head into Honest Ex's shop and purchase both of these badges. You can only equip two badges at a time, so these two slots should always be filled when you are actively grinding.

The Big Nickel is purely passive and applies to every single enemy you defeat. The Coin Block rewards players who actually learn enemy attack patterns and time their blocks precisely. Together these two badges make every farming route significantly more profitable.

Where Are the Three Best Money Farming Spots?

The Movie Studio Loop

The exterior of the Movie Studio is your primary farming zone from the moment it unlocks after Chapter 1. The parking turnstile area and the backstage dressing room consistently spawn large groups of enemies. What makes this location special is that the enemy types scale with your main story progress, so the coin value stays relevant no matter how far you are into the game. Clear the crowd, collect the drops, and loop back.

The Infinite Dice Exploit at Seventh Eleven

This is the fastest money method in the game. Inside the Movie Studio film set, smash the wooden table on the far left side to reveal a Golden Key. Carry that key back to the Shopping Area and use it on the locked door beside the High Park entrance to unlock the Seventh Eleven shop.

Inside, toss a $1 coin at the Gobliin NPC to start the Roll the Die minigame. Your goal is to roll dice until your cumulative score reaches 50. Any dice that hit the spawning hipster chicks subtract from your total. The trick is calling in Young Neil as an Assist move. He clears the entire screen instantly, letting you roll freely without interference. Winning pays out a large chest of coins plus whatever the enemies dropped. The run can clear over $100 in a few minutes, and you can replay it as many times as you want.

Roll the Die for fast cash

The 96 Guys Gauntlet

This is a one-time-per-character event that pays out enough to fully max your stats in a single run. Reach Chapter 5, then go to the No-Account Video store in the Shopping Area and enter the School. Clear the ground floor, head upstairs and clear that too, then break the trash can near the stairs to find a second Golden Key. Take it downstairs and unlock the central door to access the Dojo.

Speak to Simon Lee to begin the Hell of Fighting 96 Guys challenge. You face 96 weak vegan enemies in one continuous wave. Use Young Neil to manage crowd density, spam your area-of-effect specials, and collect the loot that drops constantly throughout the fight. The payout is substantial enough to completely finish your stat upgrades in one sitting.

Where Are the Hidden Shops and How Do You Find Them?

Every character starts with four basic color palettes, but two premium cosmetic shops are hidden off the main path and easy to miss entirely.

The Make-Up Room is located in the Movie Studio, tucked just offscreen above the main path. You have to look up and explore slightly past the obvious route to find it.

Cold Topic is located in the Gothic Dimension, directly above Annex Alley. This area unlocks during the third main quest.

Both hidden shops and Cold Topic sell individual character palettes for $9.95 and bundle packs for $19.95. If you only buy one cosmetic purchase in the entire game, spend it on the Negative Heroes bundle at Cold Topic. It unlocks Nega Scott and Nega Ramona, which are the best-looking designs in the game. After purchasing, you still need to travel back to the Suburbs house to actually apply them.

Cold Topic has the best palettes

What Launch Bugs Should You Know About?

The launch build of Scott Pilgrim EX has a few issues worth knowing before you invest serious time.

The save system does not autosave after boss fights. Defeating a boss does not trigger a save. You must run through the post-boss area to the next safe zone and manually save. Dying in that hallway sends you back to the start of the boss fight. Always manually save the moment you reach a safe zone.

The co-op progression bug is the most damaging issue. If you join a friend's hosted online game without first initializing your own local save file, all character progression earned during that session is lost when you disconnect. Always start a local save on your own character before joining any online lobby until a patch addresses this.

Finally, the main campaign is short. On Normal difficulty, a focused playthrough reaches the credits in approximately 3.5 to 4 hours. The replayability comes from the diverse roster and 4-player co-op, but the base runtime is brief for a $28.99 asking price.