Welcome to our Risk of Rain 2 Survivor Guide (DLC Included). How to play every survivor in Risk of Rain 2? Also includes some synergies and tech. This guide will show you! We know that there are people who have a hard time finishing the Risk of Rain 2 game. If you are one of those who find it difficult to finish the game, let’s take you to our Risk of Rain 2 guide.
Risk of Rain 2 Survivor Guide (DLC Included)
This guide aims to provide a simple but effective way to play every single survivor in the game. If you have any other fun, strong and even funny synergies, comment them below. There’s not a “correct” way to play Risk of Rain 2. You can play whatever you want, even Commando (jk).
Let’s start.
Commando
Commando is the most basic survivor in the game. He is not good, nor bad; falling right in the middle.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of playing Commando is managing your crowd control. Getting a Brilliant Behemoth, Ukulele and other AoE items can make your run much more enjoyable and ease on the difficulty (if you’re playing monsoon.) Shuriken + Kjaro’s & Runald’s band is also a really combo as it provides the burst damage that’s lacking on Commando.
Overall, stick close to enemies to prevent the damage falloff, hold down your primary fire and focus on building burst damage and crowd control.
Huntress
Huntress is considered by many to be the “easier” version of Commando. She excels at consistently reaching SPOILER FOR THE TWO FINAL BOSSES -> Mithrix or Voidling
and can be very fun to play.
Huntress is INCREDIBLY consistent. Her primary has auto aim AND you can fire it while sprinting. She has very good mobility with her dash (or dashes if you’re a chad and go Phase Blink) and is very flexible when it comes to builds. Stack crit and items that synergize with crit, especially if you’re running her alternate primary, since when you crit with that one, you shoot twice as many arrows. Use your Ballista (yes, use Ballista and only Ballista) to shoot a specific enemy in case your auto-aim isn’t locking on them. Movement speed items are great for improving your already amazing mobility.
So, run around the enemies while bombarding them with arrows. That’s it. A focus on high, consistent damage and movement speed does wonders for Huntress.
Bandit
The Bandit is easy to play and very rewarding, offering great damage and mobility.
His rapid-fire shotgun deals loads of damage, especially if you hit them from behind. Bandit’s passive makes it so that any damage you do to an enemy’s back side will guarantee a critical strike. This makes his damage potencial insane, and saves you the hassle of building crit. Additionally, PLEASE build movement speed on Bandit. It makes is oh-so-much-easier to circle around an enemy to explode them with your passive. The bleeding on his secondary also makes him incredible at taking down the insanely beefy late-game bosses, if you’re looping of course. On top of all this, your special (use Desperado for the funny factor) makes Stage 1 and 2 unloseable. Trust me, I don’t have 80 hours on him for nothing. Man’s that powerful.
One last note: Laser Scope turns ANY bad Bandit run (if that’s even a thing) into a god run.
Critical Strike interactions and movement speed are Bandit’s deal. Enjoy obliterating everything in your path.
MUL-T – Risk of Rain 2 Survivor Guide (DLC Included)
MUL-T is almost like Commando in a lot of ways. He is not that agile, though.
He has a “turret” playstyle, owing to his low speed and high health. Don’t forget to use your Transport Mode to up the tempo in the early stages. Furthermore, you can change both of his primaries (he has two) in the survivor select menu. The best ones are the machine gun-like Auto-Nailgun and the piercing precise Rebar Puncher. If you’re planning on shooting a LOT of projectiles, go double Nailgun with the Power Mode special. If you like big single target damage, go double Rebar with the Retool special. By holding it down, you can shoot the Rebar way faster than normal. (Reminder that MUL-T leaves room for a lot of different playstyles, so mix and match until you find your favorite. The loadouts above are just the ones that offer you the best chance of a win.)
MUL-T is so versatile that you can build anything on him. However, attack speed and on-hit effects fit on him like a glove.
Engineer
The beloved Engineer is considered by many to be the easiest character in Risk of Rain 2. And also the funniest.
Engineer is special in the sense that his turrets (maximum 2) copy all of his current items when placed. This makes items such as Bustling Fungus very powerful. Use Thermal Harpoons and your mines to do some damage on your own. Playing Engi, especially without Bungus, can be hard, as you have to manage your crowd control and deal with subpar damage and mobility, at least in the early stages.
Pick Every Single Bungus You Find.
Artificer
Artificer is my least played survivor, so I can’t provide extremely deep insights on how to play her, but I’ll try.
Artificer’s playstyle is short bursts of damage every once in a while. Her abilities do not have the shortest of cooldowns, so manage your battles. Ignition Tank makes your Primary (use the fire one) deal really good damage, so if you get that, good on you. Small tech: sprinting will instantly cast your ice-wall, but will also immediately cancel your flamethrower, so watch out.
Go for burst damage improvements and mobility and watch yourself only struggle (mildly) with bosses.
Mercenary
As Mercenary, you are one of the hardest survivors. However, in my opinion, he can be as fun as Engi.
Mercenary is a melee survivor (unless you’re using the alternate special and utility, then you’re a pseudo-ranged), which means you have to get up close and personal with the enemies. This playstyle makes items such as Focus Crystal incredibly fitting, as you will only back away from enemies to wait for cooldowns and regen some health. Use the last charge of your dash to escape and do just that. Your special does more damage the more attack speed you have, making Soldier’s Syringe a no-brainer for Mercenary.
In short, go for close range damage and cooldown reduction and you’re golden.
REX – Risk of Rain 2 Survivor Guide (DLC Included)
REX is a complicated survivor, but once you get past that, they are VERY powerful.
REX has two sides to all of his abilities (except his primary). Any ability with DIRECTIVE on it will not deal self-damage when used. The more nature-themed abilities will inflict a percentage of your health as self-damage.
His playstyle is actually very simple. Spam your primary and your secondary, so that you get a lot of healing back. Don’t get too scared about your HP bar constantly fluctuating.
REX is highly consistent due to his ways to regen health, so if possible, pick up a Weeping Fungus to add on to your insane sustain.
Health is the key to REX’s success, so manage it well.
Loader
Loader is busted as all hell. Once you get the hang of playing Risk of Rain’s version of Spiderman, you will only get enjoyable runs.
Speed is the most important stat on Loader, as she has the Heavy stat on her Utility, making you deal more damage the faster you are moving. Also, use Spiked Fist to pull enemies closer to you and get near the big targets. Don’t forget to move your camera to where you want to go while grappling around.
As another melee survivor, Focus Crystal proves its worth by increasing your already bonkers damage. Visions of Heresy replaces your primary with a more useful one (debatable).
Go fast. Build speed and speed only. Kick God’s ass and ascend as you deal unorthodox amounts of damage. Oh, Loader also doesn’t take fall damage.
Acrid
Everyone’s favorite dog (?), Acrid is a melee/ranged survivor with an interesting playstyle.
Your Poison does 1% of an enemies health every second. This means that in 100 seconds, any enemy in the game will die to your poison. That alone makes Acrid really strong, especially if you’re looping.
Once you inflict Poison on a crowd of enemies, simply walk away and watch them slowly, painfully crumble. Mobility is key in order to keep your distance while pelting them with your Special and Secondary. Visions of Heresy is again recommended.
Speed and time to waste. If you have both, Acrid’s your man (or dog).
Captain
The last (selectable) survivor of the main game, Captain brings a myriad of interesting ways to play Risk of Rain 2.
His primary might as well be the best one in the game. The ability to have both close and long-range damage is invaluable to possess, and Cap gets it at spawn. But his passive is actually even better. Captain spawns with Microbots, an item that prevents projectiles (hard to say what counts as a projectile in this game. Regular Wisp shots don’t count, but Greater Wisp shots do. Weird) from hitting you. Not enough? Captain also has access to FOUR types of beacons (can only bring 2 with him, duplicates allowed) that alter the game in different ways. Still not enough? Well how about THE MOST DAMAGING ABILITY IN ALL OF RISK OF RAIN 2, INCLUDING THE DLC. That should be enough.
Attack speed and on-hit effects will make your runs even easier with the Captain.
Heretic – Risk of Rain 2 Survivor Guide (DLC Included)
The Heretic is a “survivor” that is only playable after collecting all of the Heresy items.
There’s not much to say about her, as you can’t play as her right away. The only thing I can say is that she has negative health regeneration, so Cautious Slug or any other form of regen (Spinel Tonic actually kills you faster) is really valuable on her. Use your Utility to heal for a bunch and just focus on staying alive.
Regen is the key to making the best of a Heretic “run”.
Railgunner
Railgunner is the first out of the two survivors added in the Survivors of the Void DLC. She focuses on extremely high damage one-shot kills.
First of all, you do not have that much mobility while playing her, so stack some movement speed. Then, focus on crit. Your passive converts all Crit Chance into Crit Damage. Every Weak Spot you hit while aiming will be a Critical Hit, so keep that in mind.
Essentially, you are playing Ranged Loader. As insane as this sounds, it is the reality. Railgunner is that much of a powerhouse.
Stack all forms of crit and burst damage and you’ll one-shot Every. Single. Enemy you come across. Just don’t forget to aim.
Void Fiend – Risk of Rain 2 Survivor Guide (DLC Included)
The Void Fiend is arguably one of, if not the strongest survivor in Risk of Rain 2. Possessing stellar single-target and AoE damage, along with decent mobility and insane healing, rest assured that your runs will be good.
You have a corruption meter as Void Fiend. It goes up by taking damage or dealing a Critical Hit, and it goes down when you heal.
Void Fiend has two forms: Controlled and Corrupted. Controlled is your base form. Your abilities are more down-to-earth and defensive. Your dash goes upwards, your primary is a infinite range slowing beam with aim assist (what the hell?), etc.
Your corruption meter also rises over time. You can either use your Special to reduce it by 25% and heal a bunch, or let it fill up and transform into your Corrupted form. While corrupted, your abilities transform and your playstyle changes from defense to attack.
There are two ways of playing Void Fiend. You can either build healing and never actually transform, or you can collect Void Items (except Wungus) and Crit Chance until you eventually are LOCKED IN to your Corrupted form.
Whether you prefer high damage and an excuse to pick up Void Items or you just want to heal so much that you never die, Void Fiend’s for you.
