Risk of Rain 2 is one of the most supremely exciting rogue-like games to come out in the last decade. Risk of Rain 2has a huge variety of weapons, playstyles, enemies, and its progression systems are the envy of other games in the randomly generated genre – plus, it's an upgrade in every way from its predecessor.
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Even experienced players haven't tried every combo in the game, and some are a little more out of the way than others. It's hard to find rare items sometimes, and other times it's difficult to get a good number of stacks on items that benefit from stacking. However, if you do get to run with one of these Risk of Rain 2 builds, you'll feel unstoppable.
Updated August 10, 2021 by Erik Petrovich: Risk of Rain 2 is a phenomenal game, perfect for a break in the middle of the day or to dive head-first into when it's time to sit down and "relax". There's hardly a moment to catch one's breath in this game, although some of the best RoR2 builds do make it a bit easier than not. While some builds can make just about any survivor flat-out OP, other builds exist to counteract a character's shortcomings, such as the Huntress' reliance on DPS-boosting items.
Risk of Rain 2 is available on the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, and Google Stadia.
7 Huntress + Harvester's Scythe and Ukulele
- Playstyle: Expect to do a lot of dodging, timing attacks, and whittling away enemy health before building into a damage-dealing and self-sustaining Survivor that outclasses others
- Harvester's Scythe: 5 percent Critical Chance, heals player upon Critical Hit for 12 health. Only healing is stackable, not Critical Chance.
- Ukulele: 25 percent chance to create chain lightning on hit, which damages nearby enemies for 80 percent damage. Stacks increase the range and number of targets.
One of the most fun, and most involved, survivors to play as in Risk of Rain 2 is the Huntress. She is great at controlling enemy movements, shutting down attacks, and dealing damage to many enemies at once. Where she fails, though, is in overall damage output compared to the game's other survivors. While the Huntress is great at dodging and thus is one of the most maneuverable choices, she has a hard time taking down single targets like bosses.
When playing as the Huntress, it's important to keep an eye out for any items that flat out increase DPS for the survivor. This Risk of Rain 2 build is more focused on countering the weaknesses of the class rather than building something broken. Nevertheless, look out for the Harvester's Scythe, which increases Critical Strike chance, and the Ukulele, which has a chance to create chain lightning between a number of enemies based on distance and the number of Ukuleles currently stacked.
6 Stacking Razorwire On Any Character
- Playstyle: Risky and up-close, the player must keep an eye on their health and be able to manage it even when taking lots of hits all at once.
- Razorwire: Five nearby targets are hit with razors for 160 percent damage when the player is hit. Stacks increase the number of enemies hit and range.
Razorwire is one of the most powerful and most easily breakable items available in Risk of Rain 2, so much so that it synergizes with every character no matter what – especially when players get a few stacks of them. The item automatically shoots out razors to five enemies in a 25-meter radius when the player is damaged, with the number of enemies and the range increasing for each stack. It's not one of the best Risk of Rain 2 builds, as it only procs on taking damage, but its powerful revenge damage is hard to pass up.
It's an item that pairs especially well with two other drops: the Harvester's Scythe and the Hellfire Tincture. The Harvester's Scythe gives a huge boost to critical strike chance and heals the player for a small amount with each critical hit – getting damaged suddenly turns into healing, with enough crits. The Hellfire Tincture damages the player for one percent of their health five times each second, while damaging enemies for 24 percent of the user's health five times each second too. The player damage triggers razorwire, effectively doubling revenge damage.
5 Mercenary + Soldier's Syringe
- Playstyle: Constant attacking, never spending too long away from combat to make full use of the Syringe item.
- Soldier's Syringe: Increases Attack Speed by 15 percent, which stacks fully with each picked up. If someone has five of these, it's a whopping 75 percent increase.
The Mercenary is a melee character in Risk of Rain 2, which makes them very open to close attacks from the swarms of enemies players are sure to encounter. The Soldier's Syringe is a simple item that increases the player's attack speed by 15 percent. It seems underwhelming, but the potential for more consistent procs related to hits is a game-changer.
RELATED: Risk Of Rain 2: The Best Builds For Artificer (& Tips For Playing The Character)
Dodging attacks and getting back into the fray quickly are the main tools in the Mercenary's arsenal, and having a few stacks of the Soldier's Syringe quickly turns this character into an unstoppable sword-swinging menace, especially when paired with items that proc based on attacks. When it comes to Risk of Rain builds, this one is less complicated but still well worth it when reaching higher stacks.
4 Kjaro's Band + Runald's Band
- Playstyle: OP Combination in the base game, but the two bands must be unlocked in the Abandoned Aqueduct.
- Kjaro's Band: Deals 300 percent damage to enemies with a Flame Tornado upon dealing 400 percent damage to enemies.
- Runald's Band: Enemy movement speed is reduced by 80 percent for three seconds, also taking 250 percent damage when the player deals 400 percent damage to an enemy.
This Risk of Rain 2 build features Kjaro's Band and Runald's Band, two specialty items only unlocked by finding them in the Abandoned Aqueduct; however, their abilities make them well worth a detour. Go through a run until you find yourself in this deserty, hilly zone, and look for what appears to be a large hole in a cliff with a gate on it. There are two pressure plates on the map that players must find, and they and somebody else must step on them at the same time to open a secret area.
Kjaro's Band and Runald's Band will be unlocked shortly after this for future runs. Kjaro's Band deals a huge wave of AOE damage when attacks that do over 400 percent damage connect, while Runald's Band slows an enemy by 80 percent for a few seconds then deals massive damage following an attack that does over 400 percent damage. Together, they proc at the same time, laying waste to enemies quickly.
3 Any Ranged Survivor + Paul's Goat Hoof
- Playstyle: Speed is the name of the game, especially for Ranged survivors, as one can't spend too long in the middle of a fight.
- Paul's Goat Hoof: Simply increases movement speed by 14 percent, which doubles for each stack equipped.
Paul's Goat Hoof is one of the best speed-based items in Risk of Rain 2, and players will see it a lot in their runs. As a ranged character, though, look to pick up as many of these as you possibly can. Getting into a good ranged spot and out of tricky ranged attacks against you are essential skills to master to get to later waves.
RELATED: Risk Of Rain 2: How To Complete The Death Do Us Part Challenge
Paul's Goat Hoof is a good overall item for any build, but the more stacks someone has as a ranged class, the more maneuverable (and more able to do damage) they will be. A strict 14 percent speed boost is fine, but a 140 percent speed boost with 10 of these is unmatched. Moving around at the speed of light certainly makes for one of the more fun Risk of Rain 2 builds.
2 Artificer + Alien Head + Extra Clips
- Playstyle: Much, much faster spellcasting for the Artificer means a deadly, annihilating survivor that's hard to take down.
- Alien Head: Reduces the cooldown on just about everything in the game by 25 percent, or one-quarter less time.
The Alien Head in Risk of Rain 2 is a legendary item that reduces all cooldowns by 25 percent for the player. Stacking these is not recommended, as it offers extremely diminishing returns even with just two stacked – the 25 percent reduction is raised to a mere 30 percent – but it's an absolute must-have for the Artificer.
The Artificer is a ranged spell master, but their best abilities are on long cooldowns. This item makes this class ridiculously powerful with just one equipped, and when paired with other speed-increasing items like the Soldier Syringe and Extra Clips it can make the Artificer flat-out broken.
1 MUL-T + Preon Accumulator +Fuel Cells
- Playstyle: Make sure to keep comboable items equipped in both slots with MUL-T. This Risk of Rain 2 build pairs well with other similar proccing items.
- Preon Accumulator: Zaps enemies within 35 meters for 600 percent damage, increased to 4000 percent damage if an enemy touches the player.
MUL-T is a bot character in Risk of Rain 2 who has synergies with different items than most. The Preon Accumulator zaps enemies within 35 meters for 600 percent of the player's damage per second. If an enemy touches the player, they explode for up to 4000 percent damage instantly. It pairs extremely well with proccing items.
MUL-T is the natural choice for this item for his ability to hold two pieces of equipment at once, making the long cooldown time more manageable with a temporary replacement. Fuel Cells decrease the item's heavy cooldown even further, and MUL-T players with the Preon Accumulator should seek out these as much as possible.
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