You crash-land on Petrichor V with one way off the planet: find the Teleporter, charge it and beat the boss it calls down. Chests, shops and drops keep you stocked with items on the way, and items stack, so one lucky pickup can carry a whole run. Void items, Lunar items and equipment pile extra tricks on top.
The catch is the clock. Enemies level up as the minutes pass, so every stage you spend looting is a stage the planet spends getting meaner, and the whole run is a bet on how much loot is worth the time. Commando and Huntress start unlocked, and the rest come with an expansion or unlock through challenges. Play solo or with friends online, and keep looping to see how long you last.
- Developer
- Hopoo Games, Gearbox Software
- Publisher
- Gearbox Publishing
- Release
- 1.0 (Windows): 2020-08-11 · Hallowed Concepts: 2026-10-08 · Alloyed Collective: 2025-11-18 · Seekers of the Storm: 2024-08-27 · Survivors of the Void: 2022-03-01 · Early Access (Windows): 2019-03-28
- Platforms
- Windows, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Game data
Items
Items are the loot that makes a Risk of Rain 2 run: stackable passives in every rarity, plus equipment you fire on a cooldown. You find them in chests, shops and boss drops, unlock the harder ones through challenges, and most extra copies make the effect stronger. Void items corrupt their regular twins, so check before you pick one up.
Survivors
Each Risk of Rain 2 survivor has a primary, secondary, utility and special skill, and only Commando and Huntress are open from the start. The rest come with an expansion or unlock through challenges, from a clean Teleporter run to a Lunar Coin trip. Compare base health, damage and default skills, then check what an unlock asks of you before you commit a run to it.
Collectibles
Artifacts
Artifacts let you change a run's rules before you start. Some give you more control over your build; others make enemies or mistakes more dangerous. Unlock them through their challenges, then decide which tradeoffs suit the run you want.
Challenges
Challenges give your Risk of Rain 2 runs a goal beyond survival: unlock a survivor, earn an alternate skill or work toward a skin. Some ask for a specific kill, others restrict your pickups or demand a clean Teleporter event. Match the attempt to the reward you want.
Risk of Rain 2 Controls
| Action | Desktop |
|---|---|
| Move | W, A, S, D |
| Jump | Space |
| Interact | E |
| Activate equipment | Q |
| Toggle sprint | Ctrl |
| Primary skill | Left Mouse Button |
| Secondary skill | Right Mouse Button |
| Utility skill | Shift |
| Special skill | R |
| Info screen | Tab |
| Ping | Middle Mouse Button |
Risk of Rain 2 gameplay tips
- Learn the game on Drizzle, then climb. Drizzle gives every survivor +70 armor and slows the difficulty clock to half speed, so mistakes cost less while you find your feet. Rainstorm is the default. Monsoon is where mastery skins come from: each survivor's Mastery challenge asks you to beat the game or obliterate on Monsoon, so check the challenges before you decide you're done with Drizzle.
- You never have to clear a stage. Find the Teleporter, activate it and stay inside its radius while it charges, then beat the boss it summons and move on. The clock keeps raising enemy levels the whole time, so loot what you need before you activate it.
- Take duplicates of items that scale instead of chasing variety. Soldier's Syringe adds 15% attack speed with every copy, and Bustling Fungus heals 4.5% of your health every second you stand still, plus another 2.25% per extra copy. The items list has the per-stack numbers for each one.
- Check a Void item's twin before you pick it up. Void items corrupt their regular counterpart, so Weeping Fungus corrupts your Bustling Fungus and Benthic Bloom does the same to 57 Leaf Clover. They come with Survivors of the Void, so check the twin first if your build leans on the base item.
- Save 10 Lunar Coins to free Artificer, the survivor suspended in time in the Bazaar Between Time. The challenge is called "Pause." Lunar Coins also buy Lunar items, so don't spend them all at the first shop you find.
- Try the Artifact of Command if you want to pick your own items. Every drop becomes a Command Essence that opens a menu of items to choose from. Enter its code at the Compound Generator on Stage 5 and clear the trial to unlock it, then toggle it on before a run from the artifacts list.