Pickups

Throughout Mothergunship, you will come across a plethora of loot in addition to gun parts.

Included among these are a variety of pickups, which generally fall into two categories.

Minor Pickups
These small bits of loot will hang around for several seconds, after which they will flicker and vanish - collect them before they expire!

EXP Crystals
Purple Crystals that drop from slain enemies - each one awards 1 point of EXP upon the completion of the mission, in addition to whatever rewards the mission itself offers. Collecting enough EXP will unlock a Reactor Core to upgrade your suit. It's usually a good idea to collect as many as possible, though you shouldn't risk getting yourself hurt or killed to get EXP if it's dangerous to do so.

Coins
Small gold coins - each one is worth 1 Gold. Gold can be spent during a mission at shops - unspent Gold is added to your mission rewards at the end of a mission and is added to your total back at base where it can be spent at the Smuggler. Note that Gold spent during missions on gun parts is never a waste, as parts purchased this way can always be re-sold to the Smuggler for the cost you spent on them - the sole exception being Common-tier parts obtained from a randomizer in a shop, which costs 2 Gold and sells for 1. As such, it's generally a good idea to spend money during missions to make yourself stronger - especially since parts from the Smuggler are significantly more expensive than those bought mid-mission. Just be sure to keep some Gold handy for the next Shop in a mission, in case it has better items.

Health Pickups
Little green crosses, each of these will restore 20 Health. Health Pickups are dropped randomly from most enemies when killed, while certain enemies have a 100% chance to drop one. These can also be found occasionally in Shops for 2 Gold, in the Shop Randomizer as a random reward, and in Prize Terminals upon completion of a room. As one of the only sources of healing these are naturally quite valuable, but never so valuable as to risk sacrificing more health to obtain than they restore - be mindful of your surroundings and assess the risk!

Energy Pickups
Small blue chips that recharge a little bit of your guns' energy on the fly. These are dropped frequently by enemies and also produced endlessly by Energy Pylons in rooms. Generally not worth going out of your way to pick up, especially once a room is cleared, but these can be invaluable in the middle of a firefight to keep your guns' energy bars from depleting, putting the gun into cooldown. When mowing through hordes of enemies, these chips will keep your guns firing. These will also recharge some of your guns' energy while they are in cooldown, helping them recover faster.

Major Pickups
These rewards drop rarely from enemies, while some can be found in secret locations. These special rewards do not expire if left sitting around, so if it's inconvenient to grab one dropped by an enemy, you can always wait until the room is clear and it is safe to collect before grabbing one. Most major pickups are Upgrade Chips, which are detailed below.

Large Coins
Big golden coins - each one is worth 3 Gold. These are rarely dropped from powerful enemies, but can almost always be found as a reward from Challenge Rooms in the proceeding hallway and frequently as a reward past Gift Doors, wherever they may be found. Since the Security Room at the end of each mission counts as a Challenge Room, those will also always yield a Large Coin as a reward as well.

Health++ Upgrade Chip
One of three types of Upgrade Chips - these will expand your health by some amount, as well as heal a small amount of health in the process. Like all Upgrade Chips, these can be found in Secret locations and are occasionally dropped by enemies. Your maximum health does have a cap, so beyond a certain point, Health++ Chips will only restore health on pickup.

Energy++ Upgrade Chip
The second of the three Upgrade Chips - these will expand both of your two energy bars by a small amount, allowing you to fire your guns for longer without overheating. Like Health, max Energy is eventually capped, though it will take numerous chips to reach that cap.

Jump++ Upgrade Chip
The last of the three Upgrade Chips - each of these will grant you an additional bonus jump. Collecting a bunch of these will allow you to jump several times without having to touch the ground. Additional jumps can help you reach higher places, however you'll typically need to combine them with some other source of upwards momentum, either via jump/bounce pads or from your gun's knockback if you wish to get to most out-of-the-way Secrets. Bonus jumps are instead much better at maintaining altitude and staying in the air, rather than gaining height - allowing you to avoid hazards and explosions.

Unlike the other two types of Upgrade Chips, Jump++ Chips can additionally be found from a specific Chance Room effect, which causes all enemies to drop Jump++ Chips as rewards.