You boot up Risk of Rain 2 with Commando and Huntress, and most of the other portraits are locked. Some unlocks happen on their own while you play. Others send you to a hidden shop with a pocket full of Lunar Coins, or into a hidden realm. Know which is which before you start a run, because a few of these unlocks only work if you plan for them.
Expansion
Base game
Commando
The easy first pick. Double Tap fires fast enough to trigger item effects constantly, Phase Round pierces enemies and walls, Tactical Dive rolls you out of trouble and Suppressive Fire stuns whatever it hits.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Well-rounded gunner
- Base Health
- 110 (+33 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Double Tap
- Secondary Skill
- Phase Round
- Utility Skill
- Tactical Dive
- Special Skill
- Suppressive Fire
- How to Unlock
- Available from the start.
Huntress
A hit-and-run archer. Strafe fires seeking arrows even while you sprint, Laser Glaive bounces between enemies, Blink teleports you clear of danger and Arrow Rain slows everything inside the target area.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Fast, fragile ranged attacker
- Base Health
- 90 (+27 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Strafe
- Secondary Skill
- Laser Glaive
- Utility Skill
- Blink
- Special Skill
- Arrow Rain
- How to Unlock
- Available from the start.
Bandit
Rewards getting behind enemies, because every hit from behind is a critical strike. Burst fires shotgun shells, Serrated Dagger lunges and makes crits bleed, Smoke Bomb turns you invisible and Lights Out resets every cooldown when it kills.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Backstab combo fighter
- Base Health
- 110 (+33 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Burst
- Secondary Skill
- Serrated Dagger
- Utility Skill
- Smoke Bomb
- Special Skill
- Lights Out
- How to Unlock
- Warrior challenge: reach and complete the 3rd Teleporter event without dying.
MUL-T
Built to soak hits. It carries two primaries, a rapid Auto-Nailgun and a piercing Rebar Puncher, and Retool swaps both of them along with a second piece of equipment. Blast Canister stuns and Transport Mode barrels forward with a pile of extra armor.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Tanky brawler with two primaries
- Base Health
- 200 (+60 per level)
- Base Damage
- 11 (+2.2 per level)
- Base Armor
- 12
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Auto-Nailgun, Rebar Puncher
- Secondary Skill
- Blast Canister
- Utility Skill
- Transport Mode
- Special Skill
- Retool
- How to Unlock
- Verified challenge: complete the first Teleporter event 5 times.
Engineer
You set up the fight and let it run. Pressure Mines cover the approach, Bubble Shield blocks all incoming damage inside it and up to two turrets inherit your items. Bouncing Grenades fill the gaps while everything recharges.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Turret and mine setup
- Base Health
- 130 (+39 per level)
- Base Damage
- 14 (+2.8 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Bouncing Grenades
- Secondary Skill
- Pressure Mines
- Utility Skill
- Bubble Shield
- Special Skill
- TR12 Gauss Auto-Turret
- How to Unlock
- Engineering Perfection challenge: complete 30 stages.
Artificer
Pure elemental burst. Flame Bolt ignites, Charged Nano-Bomb stuns, Snapfreeze freezes weak enemies solid and Flamethrower burns everything in front of you. Hold the jump key and the ENV Suit hovers you in the air.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Burst caster for crowds and bosses
- Base Health
- 110 (+33 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Flame Bolt
- Secondary Skill
- Charged Nano-Bomb
- Utility Skill
- Snapfreeze
- Special Skill
- Flamethrower
- How to Unlock
- Pause. challenge: free the survivor suspended in time in the Bazaar Between Time for 10 Lunar Coins.
Mercenary
A melee dancer with a double jump. Laser Sword exposes enemies on every third hit, Whirlwind slices twice, Blinding Assault chains dashes through enemies and Eviscerate keeps you untouchable while it works through the nearest target.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Dodging melee fighter
- Base Health
- 110 (+33 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 20
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Laser Sword
- Secondary Skill
- Whirlwind
- Utility Skill
- Blinding Assault
- Special Skill
- Eviscerate
- How to Unlock
- Unlocked with the True Respite challenge.
REX
A half-robot, half-plant that spends its own health to hit hard. DIRECTIVE: Inject weakens and heals, Seed Barrage lobs a mortar, DIRECTIVE: Disperse shoves enemies back and weakens them, and Tangling Growth roots enemies and heals for every one it hits.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Ranged fighter that pays in health
- Base Health
- 130 (+39 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 20
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- DIRECTIVE: Inject
- Secondary Skill
- Seed Barrage
- Utility Skill
- DIRECTIVE: Disperse
- Special Skill
- Tangling Growth
- How to Unlock
- Power Plant challenge: repair the broken robot with an Escape Pod's Fuel Array.
Loader
Heavy hits and no fall damage. Grapple Fist pulls you across the map, Knuckleboom swings at anything nearby, Charged Gauntlet punches harder the faster you move and M551 Pylon zaps nearby enemies from a spot you can grapple to.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Grapple-hook bruiser
- Base Health
- 160 (+48 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 20
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Knuckleboom
- Secondary Skill
- Grapple Fist
- Utility Skill
- Charged Gauntlet
- Special Skill
- M551 Pylon
- How to Unlock
- Guidance Offline challenge: defeat the unique guardian of Siren's Call.
Acrid
Lets poison do the work. Every attack applies damage over time, Vicious Wounds heals you on every third hit, Neurotoxin spits from range, Caustic Leap stuns and leaves acid behind and Epidemic spreads a disease from enemy to enemy.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Poison melee hybrid
- Base Health
- 160 (+48 per level)
- Base Damage
- 15 (+3 per level)
- Base Armor
- 20
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Vicious Wounds
- Secondary Skill
- Neurotoxin
- Utility Skill
- Caustic Leap
- Special Skill
- Epidemic
- How to Unlock
- ...To Be Left Alone challenge: stabilize the Cell in the Void Fields.
Captain
Calls in help from the UES Safe Travels. Orbital Probe drops strikes on a target area, Supply Beacons heal allies or lock down enemies, Power Tazer stuns and Defensive Microbots shoot down incoming projectiles.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Orbital strikes and beacons
- Base Health
- 110 (+33 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Vulcan Shotgun
- Secondary Skill
- Power Tazer
- Utility Skill
- Orbital Probe
- Special Skill
- Orbital Supply Beacon
- How to Unlock
- Washed Away challenge: beat the game.
Heretic
A secret survivor with huge health and damage, and health that drains over time. Hungering Gaze fires tracking shards, Slicing Maelstrom roots enemies, Shadowfade makes you intangible and heals you and Ruin detonates stacks you build by dealing damage.
- Expansion
- Base game
- Role
- Hidden high-health bruiser
- Base Health
- 440 (+132 per level)
- Base Damage
- 18 (+3.6 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 8 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Hungering Gaze
- Secondary Skill
- Slicing Maelstrom
- Utility Skill
- Shadowfade
- Special Skill
- Ruin
- How to Unlock
- Not on the character menu. Hold all four Heresy items at once to become the Heretic.
Expansion
Survivors of the Void
Railgunner
A marksman who turns critical chance into critical damage. XQR Smart Round System fires tracking rounds, M99 Sniper scopes in and highlights weak points, Concussion Device blows enemies off you and Supercharge fires one huge piercing shot that disables your weapons afterward.
- Expansion
- Survivors of the Void
- Role
- Long-range single-target sniper
- Base Health
- 110 (+33 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- XQR Smart Round System
- Secondary Skill
- M99 Sniper
- Utility Skill
- Concussion Device
- Special Skill
- Supercharge
- How to Unlock
- Included with the Survivors of the Void expansion.
Void Fiend
Corruption builds when you take damage, land crits or carry Void items, and at full Corruption every skill turns into a stronger version. Drown beams from range, Flood fires plasma, Trespass cleanses debuffs and Suppress trades Corruption for health.
- Expansion
- Survivors of the Void
- Role
- Two-form caster
- Base Health
- 110 (+33 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Drown
- Secondary Skill
- Flood
- Utility Skill
- Trespass
- Special Skill
- Suppress
- How to Unlock
- Dragged Below challenge: escape the Planetarium or complete wave 50 in Simulacrum.
Expansion
Seekers of the Storm
Seeker
A meditative brawler who keeps the whole team up. Spirit Punch fires piercing fists, Unseen Hand stuns and heals you, Sojourn turns you into a flying fireball and Meditate heals nearby allies and stacks Tranquility to power up every skill.
- Expansion
- Seekers of the Storm
- Role
- Mid-range healer
- Base Health
- 115 (+34 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 20
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Spirit Punch
- Secondary Skill
- Unseen Hand
- Utility Skill
- Sojourn
- Special Skill
- Meditate
- How to Unlock
- Included with the Seekers of the Storm expansion.
False Son
A heavy hitter who gets stronger from items that raise max health. Club of the Forsaken swings and slams, Lunar Spikes throw from range, Step of the Brothers dashes through enemies and Laser of the Father burns targets down and refills your spikes.
- Expansion
- Seekers of the Storm
- Role
- Durable close-range fighter
- Base Health
- 180 (+54 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Club of the Forsaken
- Secondary Skill
- Lunar Spikes
- Utility Skill
- Step of the Brothers
- Special Skill
- Laser of the Father
- How to Unlock
- Unlocked by a hidden challenge.
CHEF
Likes to use more than one skill per target. Dice throws a cleaver you can recall, Sear scorches nearby enemies, Roll charges forward with a rolling pin and Glaze coats enemies in oil so fire burns harder. Kill with two or more skills and the enemy drops healing food.
- Expansion
- Seekers of the Storm
- Role
- Combo cook with cleavers and oil
- Base Health
- 110 (+33 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Dice
- Secondary Skill
- Sear
- Utility Skill
- Roll
- Special Skill
- Glaze
- How to Unlock
- Unlocked by a hidden challenge.
Expansion
Alloyed Collective
Operator
Fights through drones. Drone Tech starts you with companions, H3-11 OCR Custom fires a charged pistol, ADMIN-OVERRIDE makes a drone use its special, Ascent Protocol lifts you into the air and Ejection Core launches a drone that sends enemies skyward.
- Expansion
- Alloyed Collective
- Role
- Drone commander
- Base Health
- 90 (+27 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 0
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- H3-11 OCR Custom
- Secondary Skill
- ADMIN-OVERRIDE
- Utility Skill
- Ascent Protocol
- Special Skill
- Ejection Core
- How to Unlock
- Included with the Alloyed Collective expansion.
Drifter
Collects Junk in fights and spends it on skills. Blunt Force bashes and drops Junk, Cleanup tosses debris, Repossess leaps and bags a monster or interactable to throw, and Salvage turns Junk into temporary items.
- Expansion
- Alloyed Collective
- Role
- Melee scavenger that spends Junk
- Base Health
- 170 (+52 per level)
- Base Damage
- 12 (+2.4 per level)
- Base Armor
- 20
- Movement Speed
- 7 m/s
- Primary Skill
- Blunt Force
- Secondary Skill
- Cleanup
- Utility Skill
- Repossess
- Special Skill
- Salvage
- How to Unlock
- Unlocked by a hidden challenge.
Expansion
Hallowed Concepts
Enforcer
Holds the line behind a shield. Steel Protection blocks everything from the front and parries when you let go, Trenchbroom turns from a slug into rapid piercing shells while you brace, Shield Tackle charges forward and Rally Point slams down a beacon that grants barrier on kills.
- Expansion
- Hallowed Concepts
- Role
- Defensive frontliner with a shield
- Base Health
- -
- Base Damage
- -
- Base Armor
- -
- Movement Speed
- -
- Primary Skill
- Trenchbroom
- Secondary Skill
- Steel Protection
- Utility Skill
- Shield Tackle
- Special Skill
- Rally Point
- How to Unlock
- Included with the Hallowed Concepts expansion.
Acolyte
A glaive fighter whose healing works differently. Healing and part of the damage you take turn into recoverable health instead. Blade Slice chains quick strikes, Bola Throw gathers enemies and pulls their souls to you, Blade Sling hurls a glaive you can dash to and Sacrifice deals a huge hit.
- Expansion
- Hallowed Concepts
- Role
- Close-range glaive fighter
- Base Health
- -
- Base Damage
- -
- Base Armor
- -
- Movement Speed
- -
- Primary Skill
- Blade Slice
- Secondary Skill
- Bola Throw
- Utility Skill
- Blade Sling
- Special Skill
- Sacrifice
- How to Unlock
- Unlocked by a hidden challenge.
What Every Survivor Brings to a Risk of Rain 2 Run
Every survivor has a primary, secondary, utility and special skill. Many also carry a passive that changes how the whole kit works, like Mercenary's double jump, Loader's immunity to fall damage or Acrid's poison. Each slot starts with a default skill, and most slots have an alternate you earn through a challenge, so an unlocked survivor is a starting point, not the finished kit. The challenges list has the requirement for every alternate skill and skin.
Health and damage are a base value plus a gain for every level you earn during a run. Armor is flat protection that trims every hit you take.
Which Survivor to Pick First
Start with Commando. Nothing in the kit punishes a mistake: Double Tap hits fast, Phase Round pierces, Tactical Dive gets you out of trouble and Suppressive Fire stuns. Double Tap also fires so quickly that it sets off on-hit item effects constantly, which makes Commando the cleanest way to learn what your items actually do. Huntress plays at range, but she has less health to cover for mistakes.
After that, pick by how you like to fight:
- Soak damage while you learn. MUL-T is built to take hits, and Transport Mode piles armor on while you charge in. False Son (Seekers of the Storm) leans the same way, and every item that adds max health makes his kit stronger.
- Melt crowds and bosses. Artificer's Flamethrower and Charged Nano-Bomb clear packs and chunk bosses. Railgunner (Survivors of the Void) gives all of that up for one huge shot on a single target.
- Back the team up. Seeker heals allies with Meditate, Captain's Supply Beacons heal or lock down a spot, Operator commands drones and Enforcer plants a Rally Point that grants barrier on kills.
- Play something that rewards skill. Bandit wants you behind enemies, Mercenary lives on dodging and Void Fiend asks you to manage Corruption.
How to Unlock Every Risk of Rain 2 Survivor
Past Commando and Huntress, every survivor has a way in, and the order you tackle them in matters more than it looks.
Let some unlocks come to you. Engineer and MUL-T count progress across runs, so they unlock while you're busy with something else. Bandit is the odd one out. It wants one run that gets through a Teleporter event without dying, so play that run carefully instead of hoping for a lucky one.
Budget your Lunar Coins for Artificer. Freeing her costs more than the Newt Altar that opens the route, so count both before you start. Pay a coin at a Newt Altar and a blue portal appears once the Teleporter finishes charging. It leads to the Bazaar Between Time, where she waits in a crystal to the right of the Newt.
Carry REX's Fuel Array to the Broken Robot. It comes from your starting Escape Pod, and the robot sits in the Abyssal Depths, up on the platforms around the middle.
Loader and Acrid each need a detour. Loader's guardian is the Alloy Worship Unit in Siren's Call, and it only spawns once you've destroyed the Alloy Vulture nests. Acrid's challenge sits in the Void Fields, a hidden realm you reach through the Null Portal in the Bazaar Between Time, so Artificer's trip and Acrid's trip start at the same shop.
Captain and Mercenary come later. Captain's Washed Away just wants a finished run. Mercenary's challenge is in the spoilers section below, so skip it if you'd rather find it yourself.
Void Fiend needs the Survivors of the Void expansion. You can escape the Planetarium, or push through Simulacrum to its goal wave. Simulacrum is a separate wave mode, so that route doesn't need a finished run.
Survivor Unlock Spoilers
These are the one-line requirements. They give away places and encounters you may want to find on your own, so skip this section if you'd rather work them out yourself.
- Mercenary: Obliterate yourself at the Obelisk in the hidden realm A Moment, Fractured.
- False Son: Purify the Heart of the False Son using the Halcyon Seed.
- CHEF: Complete the Wok's recipe in Reformed Altar.
- Drifter: Free the survivor from the vault in Solutional Haunt.
- Acolyte: Revive the survivor within Soulbound Threshold.
Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Survivor
- Judging a survivor by the default kit. Alternate skills can change how one plays. Commando's Phase Blast, for example, swaps a piercing shot for two close-range blasts.
- Reading base damage as strength. Most survivors start with the same damage, so the difference lives in the skills, not the number.
- Rushing every unlock at once. A clean-run challenge or a coin budget is easier to hit while you're learning one survivor properly than while you're chasing the rest at the same time.
FAQ
Which survivors are unlocked from the start in Risk of Rain 2?
Commando and Huntress. If you own an expansion, its default survivor comes with it, so Railgunner (Survivors of the Void), Seeker (Seekers of the Storm), Operator (Alloyed Collective) and Enforcer (Hallowed Concepts) need no challenge. Everyone else is earned.
Why can't I see an expansion survivor on the character select screen?
Survivors, items and stages from an expansion only appear in runs that start with that expansion enabled. Switch it on before you launch the run, then check the screen again.
Can I pick the Heretic from the character select screen?
No. The Heretic is a secret survivor you turn into mid-run by holding every Heresy item at once: Visions of Heresy, Hooks of Heresy, Strides of Heresy and Essence of Heresy. Those items unlock through the Blockade Breaker challenge, and you'll find them in the items list. Heretic's health drains over time, so keep healing close.