Risk Of Rain 2 Character Guide

I absolutely loved Risk of Rain and I’m practically addicted to Risk of Rain 2. In the first month since this game’s release, I’ve clocked in over 100 hours of game time and have unlocked almost every item.

I’m enjoying this PC roguelike game so much, I’ve been putting aside more important things – including this character guide – just to play another run or two through as a different character or anything just to put me back in the amazing worlds and soundtrack.

The game tells you how to unlock all of the survivors if you dig far enough, but until you either unlock them, or read how to unlock them, they sit as a greyed-out slot on the character select menu, taunting you.

Here’s a guide on the characters of Risk Of Rain 2.

The Commando

Commando Character RoR2 Roguelike PC game

The Commando is the first survivor players have access to, and he is unlocked by default.

Abilities of The Commando

The Commando utilises his dual pistols to deal damage to his foes and a tactical roll to escape danger. He is a great all-rounded survivor that brings impressive firepower and decent mobility. His Primary Fire is “Double Tap” where he fires a shot from both of his pistols, both dealing 90% damage.

His Secondary Fire is “Phase Round” where the Commando shoots a large bullet that pierces enemies in a line for 230% damage. His Utility is “Tactical Dive”. The Commando dives in any direction a short distance.

The Commando’s Ultimate is “Suppressive Fire” where he fires 6 shots rapidly dealing 100% damage each and will also stun any non-boss enemy hit. The Commando excels in combat at most ranges due to his good mobility and high accuracy.

He is also a great survivor for newer players, because of his basic move set and his ease of access.

MUL-T

MUL-T is unlocked after the player gets the “Verified” Achievement, this requires the player to clear the first stage (Activate the teleporter and kill the boss) 5 times, this can be done across multiple runs.

Abilities of MUL-T

His Passive is “Multifunctional”. This allows MUL-T to carry 2 active items which are swapped by using its “Retool” ability.

MUL-T’s Primary Fires are “Auto-Nailgun” and “Rebar Puncher”. Auto-Nailgun fires 6 nails when first used after a short wind-up period and then rapidly fires nails which deal 60% damage. Rebar Puncher shoots a charged shot which deals massive damage that pierces enemies.

Risk Of Rain 2 MUL-T Character Roguelike PC Game

His Secondary Fire is “Blast Cannister” where MUL-T shoots a singular canister that arcs through the air until it hits an enemy or the ground and then explodes into 5 bombs that explode for 44% damage each.

Any non-boss enemy hit by any part of this ability is stunned.

MUL-T’s Utility is “Transport Mode”. MUL-T has a massive speed and armor increase, enemies hit by him will take 250% damage. The faster MUL-T is travelling, the more damage this deals.

MUL-T’s Ultimate “Retool” allows him to swap between “Auto-Nailgun” and “Rebar Puncher” and the 2 active items equipped.

MUL-T is a great character for mid-late game due to his Auto-Nailgun being really powerful with a lot of common items and Transport Mode giving him a massive armor increase and a much-needed speed boost.

Early game, MUL-T struggles due to his low mobility and long cooldowns, but really gets to be one of the most fun survivors the further in the run you go. He plays a much more fast pace and up close style compared to the majority of the other survivors.

The Huntress

The Huntress is unlocked through the “Warrior” achievement, which requires the player to clear the first 3 stages in a single run. This can be cleared pretty easily on Drizzle difficulty, if you are struggling.

Abilities of The Huntress

The Huntress is unlocked through the “Warrior” achievement, which requires the player to clear the first 3 stages in a single run. This can be cleared pretty easily on Drizzle difficulty, if you are struggling.

The Huntress’s Primary Fire “Strafe” shoots out a seeking arrow that deals 150% damage. This ability can also be used whilst sprinting. This ability is amazing, the game will automatically lock a target for you based on where the camera is centred, thus making the Huntress not have to aim at all in later stages of the run.

Risk Of Rain 2 Huntress Character Roguelike PC Game

Her Secondary Fire is “Laser Glaive”. The Huntress launches a seeking glaive that bounces between enemies dealing progressively more damage the more enemies hit. The base damage of this ability is 250% and deals an extra 10% per bounce.

“Blink” is an almost instant teleport in any direction the Huntress wants, including upwards.

Her Ultimate is “Arrow Rain”. Upon activation, the Huntress will jump high into the air and have a circle reticle on the ground, pressing M1 or R again will begin raining arrows down into the circle, slowing enemies and dealing 225% damage per second.

The Huntress has the lowest base health of all of the survivors, but definitely makes up for it with her super high mobility and damage.

In very late parts of the game, almost any attack will one-shot kill the player, which is why high speed and damage are more important than health during the run. The Huntress is one of the best and most fun playable characters in Risk of Rain 2.

The Engineer

The Engineer is unlocked by completing the first stage 30 times and unlocking the “Engineering Perfection” achievement. This isn’t really something players should grind for, unless they really want to play the Engineer. My best advice is to just play through the game as normal until you unlock him.

Abilities Of The Engineer

“Bouncing Grenades” is the Engineer’s Primary Fire. Eight 100% damage grenades are released after a short charge. The Engineer’s Secondary Fire “Pressure Mines” drops a mine that deals 300% damage to any enemy that walks near it. Up to 10 mines can be placed at once.

The Engineer Risk Of Rain 2 Roguelike PC Game

His utility “Bubble Shield” creates a dome shield that blocks all damage entering from the outside, anything shot from the inside will still leave the shield. The Engineer’s Ultimate “TR12 Gauss Auto-Turret” is the key part of his kit. Placing up to 2 turrets that inherit every single passive item picked up throughout the run.

These turrets benefit from pretty much any item in the game in some way and at later parts of the run, will become the primary source of DPS and AOE. Placing both turrets under a Bubble Shield creates an unstoppable force of destruction.

The Engineer has really powerful abilities but can get boring in longer lasting runs, where his strategy involves dropping both turrets and a bubble shield. In Co-op runs is where the Engineer really shines though, being able to have an infinite amount of bubble shields protecting up to 8 turrets that create a massive healing field is amazing.

The Artificer

The Artificer is the mage character of Risk Of Rain 2 and utilises a whole lot of AOE. He is unlocked by getting the achievement “Pause” which requires the player to save up 10 Lunar Coins (across multiple runs) and spend them all at the Bazaar Between Time on a mysterious crystal containing the Artificer.

Unlocking him may prove to be a challenge for players, due to how rare Lunar Coins are. Actually getting to the Bazaar Between Time can prove to be a challenge for players, during most stages, however, there is an alter that costs one Lunar Coin to activate that will guarantee a blue portal after that stage’s teleporter has been cleared. Otherwise, there is a 25% chance for the blue portal to spawn on any given stage.

Abilities of The Artificer

His Primary Fire “Flame Bolt” launches a small fireball that deals 200% damage on contact with an enemy and will Ignite them for extra damage over time. The player starts with a maximum of 4 charges before they have to recharge.

“Charged Nano Bomb” is the Artificer’s Secondary Fire, activating this ability will allow him to begin charging a slow-moving, large ball that travels until it hits an enemy or wall. Upon hitting something, the bomb will explode, dealing between 400% and 1200% damage based on charge time and will stun enemies hit. The fully charged bomb will chain damage to nearby enemies whilst it is travelling.

The Artificer Risk Of Rain 2 Roguelike PC Game

The Artificer’s Utility “Snapfreeze” creates a wall of ice that will Freeze any non-boss enemy hit and deal 100% damage. As a bonus effect, enemies frozen by “Snapfreeze” below 33% health will be instantly killed. This can create insane AOE chains when using this ability in combination with his Nano Bomb.

“Flamethrower” is the Artificer’s Ultimate. This ability shoots out two beams from the Artificer that deal 1700% damage total.

The Artificer has one of the highest damage potentials of all of the survivors available in Risk of Rain 2 yet struggles from no movement abilities and low base speed and health. With the right items however, he is completely unstoppable. I recently had a single player run that lasted over 3 and a half hours on the highest difficulty just because I had gotten such a perfect item setup early game.

The Mercenary

The Mercenary is a melee focused character, utilising a sword and multiple dashes, the Mercenary quickly and efficiently takes out most enemies super quickly. He can be unlocked by getting the “True Respite” achievement, which requires the player to beat the 7th stage and enter the Celestial Portal.

Upon entering the portal, the player is taken to A Moment, Fractured where they need to complete a small jumping puzzle down to a large obelisk that will prompt the player to “Obliterate Yourself?” after activating the Obelisk, the run will end and the Mercenary will be available to play as.

Abilities Of The Mercenary

The Mercenary’s Passive “Cybernetic Enhancements” allows him to jump once middair. His Primary Fire “Laser Sword” slices in front of the Mercenary dealing 130% damage, every 3rd hit will deal 300% damage in a larger area. “Whirlwind” is his Secondary Fire and makes the Mercenary quickly slash twice horizontally dealing 200% both swings, if activated midair it will give a small momentum boost and slash vertically.

The Mercenary Risk Of Rain 2 Roguelike PC Game

The Mercenary’s “Blinding Assault” Utility will make him slash forward, stunning enemies and dealing 200% on hit. If it hits an enemy, the Mercenary can use it again free of cooldown up to 3 times. “Eviscerate” is his Ultimate, it targets the nearest enemy and unleashes a flurry of strikes that deal 110% damage each hit and makes the Mercenary immune to all damage for a short time.

I would recommend unlocking the Mercenary on a run if you are struggling to pick up off the ground – his strong melee focus will make you feel like an absolute badass during the whole thing. Admittedly, he is pretty hard to play in single player due to his melee focus and struggles against flying enemies or bosses, such as the Wandering Vagrant and Clay Dunestrider.

So that’s how you unlock all 6 of the survivors in Risk of Rain 2. It is 100% worth unlocking all of them and trying them out a few times to get the feel of who you like and dislike. On the character select screen, there are 4, “work in progress” characters that will be released over the course of the next year, leading up to the full release of the game.

Let us know what your favourite character from the addictive Risk Of Rain 2 is so far.

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