Risk of Rain 2

Risk of Rain 2 Classes Guide: All Abilities, Stats, & How to Unlock Each Class

Posted on Jun 18, 2024 by justin

Each class in Risk of Rain 2 offers a unique way to experience the game. The game’s different characters have various combat and survival capabilities, allowing each run to be as distinct as possible. If you’d like to know more about the different classes in Risk of Rain 2, here, we'll cover all of their abilities, stats, and how to unlock them!

Risk of Rain 2 Classes Guide: Abilities, Stats, & How to Unlock Each Class

At the time of writing, 14 classes in Risk of Rain 2 exist. Players can choose one of two characters upon starting a new game. Normal progression and completing specific tasks in the game’s vanilla version unlocks the other nine classes. Two characters are only unlockable after purchasing one of the game’s DLCs. The last Survivor class is unique, since players can’t normally select it from the character selection screen.

Commando

The Commando is one of the default character classes in Risk of Rain 2. This Survivor offers excellent balance, mobility, and versatility, making it an excellent all-rounder and starting point for new and veteran players. How to Unlock: No unlock requirements, unlocked at the beginning of the game.

Abilities

Double Tap: Rapidly shoot an enemy for 100% damage.
Phase Round: Fire a piercing bullet for 300% damage. Deals 40% more damage every time it passes through an enemy.
Tactical Dive: Roll a short distance.
Suppressive Fire: Stunning. Fire repeatedly for 100% damage per bullet. The number of shots increases with attack speed.

Tips & Tricks

Phase Round can be changed to the Phase Blast ability, removing the bullet’s piercing feature for two close-ranged high-damaging shots.
Tactical Dive can be changed to the Tactical Slide ability, allowing the Commando to slide and fire simultaneously.
Suppressive Fire can be changed to the Frag Grenade ability, allowing the Commando to throw an explosive that deals 700% damage to an area. This ability can hold up to two charges.

Stats

Health: 110 (+33 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per secondArmor: 70 at Drizzle difficulty, 0 for other difficulty settings

Huntress

The Huntress class may not fire as many ranged shots as the Commando, but this character can be ideal for those who want a high-damaging unit from the beginning of the game. This Survivor class is also mobile, thanks to some of its abilities that allow her to teleport short distances. How to Unlock: No unlock requirements, unlocked at the beginning of the game.

Abilities

Strafe: Fire a seeking arrow for 150% damage. Can be used while sprinting.
Laser Glaive: Throw a seeking glaive that bounces up to 6 times for 250% damage. Damage increases by 10% per bounce.
Blink: Disappear and teleport forward.
Arrow Rain: Teleport to the sky. Target an area to rain arrows, slowing all enemies and dealing 225% damage per second.

Tips & Tricks

Strafe can be changed to the Flurry ability, allowing the Huntress to fire three to six homing arrows.
Blink can be changed to the Phase Blink ability, allowing the Huntress to store three charges for this skill.
Arrow Rain can be changed to the Ballista ability, allowing the Huntress to fire up to three energy bolts, each dealing 900% damage.

Stats

Health: 90 (+27 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 70 at Drizzle difficulty, 0 for other difficulty settings

Bandit

If you prefer high-damage output when landing precise shots, then the Bandit is one of the classes in Risk of Rain 2 that should be on your roster. This Survivor class thrives in the short- to mid-range field, as it promotes quick yet powerful bursts from the equipped shotgun. How to Unlock: Complete the third stage without dying.

Abilities

Backstab (Passive): All attacks from behind are Critical Strikes.
Burst: Fire a shotgun burst for 5x100% damage. Can hold up to 4 shells.
Serrated Dagger: Lunge and slash for 360% damage. Critical Strikes also cause Hemorrhaging.
Smoke Bomb: Stunning. Deal 200% damage, become invisible, then deal 200% damage again.
Lights Out: Slayer. Fire a revolver shot for 600% damage. Kills reset all your cooldowns.

Tips & Tricks

Burst can be changed to the Blast ability, allowing the Bandit to fire a single shotgun slug that deals 330% damage. This skill can still hold up to four charges.
Serrated Dagger can be changed to Serrated Shiv, allowing the Bandit to turn this skill into a ranged ability. However, the ranged version is weaker than the melee variant.
Lights Out can be changed to the Desperado ability, allowing the Bandit to stack tokens from killing monsters. Using tokens increases the damage dealt by Desperado.

Stats

Health: 110 (+33 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 70 at Drizzle difficulty, 0 for other difficulty settings

MUL-T

Unlike other classes in Risk of Rain 2, MUL-T allows the player to switch between different abilities on the fly. Doing so promotes versatility during combat while offering excellent survivability and reasonably high health. How to Unlock: Complete the Teleporter Event five times.

Abilities

Auto-Nailgun: Rapidly fire nails for 70% damage. Finishes with a blast of 12 nails.
Rebar Puncher: Fire a piercing rebar that deals 600% damage.
Blast Canister: Stunning. Launch a canister for 220% damage. Drops stun bomblets for 5x44% damage.
Transport Mode: Heavy. Zoom forward, gaining 200 armor and 220% movement speed. Deals 250% damage to enemies.
Retool: Passively hold TWO equipment at once. Activating 'Retool' switches the active Equipment and MUL-T's primary attack.

Tips & Tricks

Auto-Nailgun can be changed to the Scrap Launcher ability, which holds four charges instead of 12. However, this ability magnifies the damage output for each shot to 360%.
Rebar Puncher can be changed to the Power-Saw ability, increasing the primary skill’s damage to 1,000%.
Retool can be changed to the Power Mode ability, allowing MUL-T to equip both primary attacks at once. This Survivor class also gains 100 armor but loses 60% movement speed while in this mode.

Stats

Health: 200 (+60 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 11 (+2.2 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 82 at Drizzle difficulty, 12 for other difficulty settings

Engineer

The Engineer is one of the classes in Risk of Rain 2 that prioritizes defense and crowd control over run-and-gun tactics. For instance, players can use the Engineer’s traps to control the battlefield, preventing problems like mobbing. How to Unlock: Complete a total of 30 stages.

Abilities

Bouncing Grenades: Charge up to 8 grenades that deal 100% damage each.
Pressure Mines: Place a two-stage mine that deals 300% damage or 900% damage if fully armed. Can place up to 4.
Bubble Shield: Place an impenetrable shield that blocks all incoming damage.
TR12 Gauss Auto-Turret: Place a turret that inherits all your items. Fires a cannon for 100% damage. Can place up to 2.

Tips & Tricks

Pressure Mines can be changed to the Spider Mines ability, allowing the Engineer to place higher-damaging explosive traps that walk to nearby enemies.
Bubble Shield can be changed to the Thermal Harpoons ability, turning the defensive skill into an offensive one that deals 500% damage per hit. It can store up to four charges.
TR12 Gauss Auto-Turret can be changed to the TR58 Carbonizer Turret, allowing the Engineer to place an automated firing machine that deals twice the damage.

Stats

Health: 130 (+39 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 14 (+2.2 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 70 at Drizzle difficulty, 0 for other difficulty settings

Artificer

The Artificer class is for the Risk of Rain 2 player who wants to prioritize offense over defense. This Survivor's ability to melt the health of the toughest bosses in the game competes with the best of the best. However, she lacks defensive and movement abilities, making this class suited for those who want a “high risk, high reward” playstyle. How to Unlock: Free the survivor suspended in time in the Bazaar Between Time Hidden Realm for 10 Lunar Coins.

Abilities

ENV Suit (Passive): Holding the Jump key causes the Artificer to hover in the air.
Flame Bolt: Ignite. Fire a bolt for 280% damage. Hold up to 4.
Charged Nano-Bomb: Stunning. Charge up an exploding nano-bomb that deals 400%-2000% damage.
Snapfreeze: Freezing. Create a barrier that hurts enemies for 100% damage.
Flamethrower: Ignite. Burn all enemies in front of you for 2000% damage.

Tips & Tricks

The Flame Bolt can be changed to the Plasma Bolt ability, losing the skill's Ignite passive but transforming the bolt from a single-target shot to an area of effect (AoE) blast.
Charged Nano-Bomb can be changed to the Cast Nano-Spear ability, turning it into a Freezing skill. However, the maximum damage output of this ability is lower.
Flamethrower can be changed to the Ion Surge ability, turning it into a Stunning skill. However, the overall damage output of this ability is lower.

Stats

Health: 110 (+33 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 70 at Drizzle difficulty, 0 for other difficulty settings

Mercenary

The Mercenary is a melee fighter in Risk of Rain 2. Despite this class' playstyle being fairly risky because of its short-ranged attacks, the player can still land devastating blow after devastating blow to enemies with this character's abilities that possess low cooldowns. How to Unlock: Obliterate yourself at the Obelisk.

Abilities

Cybernetic Enhancements (Passive): The Mercenary can jump twice.
Laser Sword: Agile. Slice in front for 130% damage. Every 3rd hit strikes in a greater area and exposes enemies.
Whirlwind: Quickly slice horizontally twice, dealing 2x200% damage. If airborne, slice vertically instead.
Blinding Assault: Stunning. Dash forward, dealing 300% damage. If you hit an enemy, you can dash again, up to 3 total.
Eviscerate: Target the nearest enemy, attacking them for 110% damage repeatedly. You cannot be hit for the duration.

Tips & Tricks

Whirlwind can be changed to the Rising Thunder ability, which changes the skill’s effect to “unleash a slicing uppercut, dealing 550% damage and sending you airborne.”
Blinding Assault can be changed to the Focused Assault ability, which enhances the move's damage output and exposes hit enemies for 1 second.
Eviscerate can be changed to the Slicing Winds ability, changing the skill’s effect to “fire a wind of blades that attack up to 3 enemies for 8x100% damage, and the last hit exposes enemies.”

Stats

Health: 110 (+33 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 90 at Drizzle difficulty, 20 for other difficulty settings

REX

Another “high risk, high reward” character, REX can deal massive damage to enemies both near and far at the cost of this half robot/half plant being. REX is a difficult Survivor class to master, as timing is an essential key to landing hits. However, skilled Risk of Rain 2 players will find REX's playstyle to be satisfying upon understanding and applying its unique mechanics. How to Unlock: Use a Fuel Array to repair the Broken Robot in the Abyssal Depths.

Abilities

Natural Toxins (Passive): Certain attacks Weaken enemies when hit, reducing their movement speed, armor, and damage.
DIRECTIVE: Inject: Fire 3 syringes for 3x80% damage. The last syringe Weakens and heals for 60% of the damage dealt.
Seed Barrage: Costs 15% HP. Launch a mortar into the sky for 450% damage.
DIRECTIVE: Disperse: Fire a Sonic Boom that Weakens all enemies hit.
Tangling Growth: Costs 20% HP. Fire a Sonic Boom that damages enemies for 550% damage. Heals for every target hit.

Tips & Tricks

The primary skills can be changed to the DIRECTIVE: Drill ability, allowing REX to fire a volley of seed bullets that deal 450% damage per second.
DIRECTIVE: Disperse can be changed to the Bramble Volley ability, which changes the skill’s effect to “spend 20% HP to fire a Sonic Boom that damages enemies for 550% damage and heals REX for every target hit.”
Tangling Growth can be changed to the DIRECTIVE: Harvest ability, changing the skill’s effect to “fire a bolt that deals 330% damage and injects an enemy and drops multiple healing fruits that heal for 25% HP on death.”

Stats

Health: 130 (+39 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 90 at Drizzle difficulty, 20 for other difficulty settings

Loader

The Loader can deal massive damage, and it's also arguably one of the strongest classes in Risk of Rain 2. She takes advantage of her velocity to hit hard. Additionally, this character typically only needs one punch to topple various monsters. How to Unlock: Defeat the Alloy Worship Unit, which only spawns after destroying six Alloy Vulture nests in the Siren’s Call.

Abilities

Scrap Barrier (Passive): The Loader is immune to fall damage. Striking enemies with the Loader's gauntlets grants a temporary barrier.
Knuckleboom: Swing at nearby enemies for 320% damage.
Grapple Fist: Fire your gauntlet forward, pulling you to the target.
Charged Gauntlet: Heavy. Charge up a piercing punch for 600%-2700% damage.
M551 Pylon: Throw a floating pylon that zaps up to 6 nearby enemies for 100% damage. Can be grappled.

Tips & Tricks

Grapple Fist can be changed to the Spiked Fist ability, adding a stunning effect to the skill. Additionally, the move now deals 320% damage and can pull light enemies to Loader.
Charged Gauntlet can be changed to the Thunder Gauntlet ability, reducing the skill's maximum damage but dealing an additional AoE hit for 1,000% damage.
M551 Pylon can be changed to the Thunderslam ability, reducing the skill's range but significantly increasing damage.

Stats

Health: 160 (+48 per level)
Health Regen: 1.5 to 3.75 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 90 at Drizzle difficulty, 20 for other difficulty settings

Acrid

Acrid is a large, poison-spewing ex-prisoner with various attacks that deal damage over time effects. Like Loader, Acrid has a high damage output and can even become the stronger character among the classes in Risk of Rain 2 with the right setup. Stack Poison and Blight to bosses using Acrid’s attacks, and watch enemy health bars melt like hot knives going through butter. How to Unlock: Activate the Null Portal in the Bazaar Between Time and complete the Void Fields.

Abilities

Poison (Passive): Poisonous attacks apply powerful damage over time.
Blight (Passive): Attacks that apply Poison apply stacking Blight instead, dealing 60% damage per second.
Vicious Wounds: Maul an enemy for 200% damage. Every 3rd hit is Regenerative and deals 400% damage.
Neurotoxin: Poisonous. Spit toxic bile for 240% damage.
Caustic Leap: Poisonous. Stunning. Leap in the air, dealing 320% damage. Leave acid that deals 25% damage.
Epidemic: Stunning. Leap in the air, dealing 550% damage. Reduce the cooldown by 2s for every enemy hit.

Tips & Tricks

Neurotoxin can be changed to the Ravenous Bite ability, adding Slayer and Regenerative effects to the skill. The damage output of this ability also increases.
Caustic Leap can be changed to the Frenzied Leap ability, removing its Poisonous effect. However, the skill deals more damage and reduces its base cooldown for 2 seconds for each enemy hit.

Stats

Health: 160 (+48 per level)
Health Regen: 1.5 to 3.75 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 15 (+3 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 90 at Drizzle difficulty, 20 for other difficulty settings

Captain

The Captain specializes in AoE as this Survivor rains tactical drops from orbit. The air support varies, as he can call anything from a high-damaging kinetic strike to healing beacons. However, his maximum health leaves much to be desired, even if it takes a while before you can unlock this character. How to Unlock: Defeat the final boss.

Abilities

Defensive Microbots (Passive): Passively gain Microbots that shoot down nearby enemy projectiles. Drones are also given Microbots.
Vulcan Shotgun: Fire a blast of pellets that deal 8x120% damage. Charging the attack narrows the spread.
Power Tazer: Shocking. Fire a fast tazer that deals 100% damage. Travels farther if bounced.
Orbital Probe: Stunning. Request up to 3 Orbital Probes from the UES Safe Travels. Each probe deals 1000% damage.
Orbital Supply Beacon: Request a permanent Supply Beacon. Can only be requested twice per stage.
Beacon: Healing: Heal all nearby allies for 10% of their maximum health every second.
Beacon: Shocking: Periodically Shock all nearby enemies, immobilizing them.
Beacon: Resupply: Recharge Equipment on use.
Beacon: Hacking: Hack all nearby purchasables to a cost of $0 over time.

Tips & Tricks

Orbital Probe can be changed to the OGM-72 ‘Diablo’ Strike ability, which signals a kinetic strike to an area 20 seconds after activation. Then, everyone, including playable characters, standing in that area receives 40,000% damage.

Stats

Health: 110 (+33 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 70 at Drizzle difficulty, 0 for other difficulty settings

Railgunner

The Railgunner focuses on high-damage, long-range shots. As a skilled markswoman, this Survivor can kill many enemies with a single strike from her powerful railgun. However, she shares the same health capacity as the Captain, making her a veritable glass cannon. How to Unlock: Purchase the Survivors of the Void DLC.

Abilities

Magnetic Accelerator (Passive): All Critical Strike Chance is converted into Critical Strike Damage.
XQR Smart Round System: Fire aggressive tracking rounds for 100% damage.
M99 Sniper: Activate your long-range scope, highlighting Weak Points and transforming your weapon into a piercing 1000% damage railgun.
M99: Launch a heavy projectile for 1000% damage.
Active Reload: Perfectly time your reload to recover faster and boost the damage of your next shot by +100%.
Concussion Device: Throw out a device that pushes you and all nearby enemies away. Can hold up to 2.
Supercharge: Fire a piercing round for 4000% damage and 150% Weak Point damage. Afterwards, all your weapons are disabled for 5 seconds.
Supercharged Railgun: Launch a super-charged projectile for 4000% damage. Critical Strike damage is multiplied by 1.5.

Tips & Tricks

M99 Sniper can be changed to the HH44 Marksman ability, activating the Railgunner’s HH44 railgun that fires faster yet weaker bullets.
Concussion Device can be changed to the Polar Field Device ability, slowing hit enemies and projectiles when hit.
Supercharge can be changed to the Cryocharge ability, charging the Railgunner’s railgun with weaker freezing rounds.

Stats

Health: 110 (+33 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 70 at Drizzle difficulty, 0 for other difficulty settings

Void Fiend

The Void Fiend is a transformative Survivor in Risk of Rain 2, promoting flexible and versatile gameplay. This eldritch being builds energy and unleashes it on nearby enemies, dealing massive damage. Players that use the Void Fiend should master all of its abilities, including those in its corrupted form. How to Unlock: Defeat the boss in The Planetarium, reach the end of the Survivors of the Void expansion, or complete 50 waves in the Simulacrum.

Abilities

Void Corruption (Passive): At full Corruption, transform your abilities into more aggressive forms.
Drown: Fire a slowing long-range beam for 300% damage.
Corrupted Drown: Fire a short-range beam for 2000% damage.
Flood: Fire a plasma missile for 600% damage. Fully charge it for an explosive plasma ball instead, dealing 1100% damage.
Corrupted Flood: Fire an arcing plasma bomb for 1100% damage.
Trespass: Disappear into the Void, cleansing all debuffs while moving in an upward arc.
Corrupted Trespass: Disappear into the Void, cleansing all debuffs while moving at a fast-forward angle.
Suppress: Crush 25% Corruption to heal yourself for 25% maximum health.
Corrupted Suppress: Crush 25% maximum health to gain 25% Corruption.

Tips & Tricks

At the time of writing, the Void Fiend is the only character among the normally unlockable classes in Risk of Rain 2 that doesn’t have unlockable abilities.

Stats

Health: 110 (+33 per level)
Health Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second, depending on the difficulty setting
Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
Speed: 7 meters per second
Armor: 70 at Drizzle difficulty, 0 for other difficulty settings

Heretic

The Heretic is a unique Survivor in Risk of Rain 2, primarily because players can’t unlock this character normally. Instead, you can transform into this being by holding four Heresy items, which are the Visions of Heresy, Hooks of Heresy, Strides of Heresy, and Essence of Heresy. Despite being a strong Risk of Rain 2 class, the Heretic has a negative health regen. So, players must keep tabs on this character’s health more frequently than normal to prevent an early death. How to Unlock: Any character can transform into the Heretic by holding all four Heresy items.

Abilities

Nevermore: Squawk a solemn reply.
Hungering Gaze: Fire a flurry of tracking shards that detonate after a delay, dealing 120% base damage. Hold up to 12 charges (+12 per stack) that reload after 2 seconds (+2 per stack).
Slicing Maelstrom: Charge up a projectile that deals 875% damage per second to nearby enemies, exploding after 3 seconds to deal 700% damage and root enemies for 3 (+3 per stack) seconds. Recharges after 5 (+5 per stack) seconds.
Shadowfade: Fade away, becoming intangible and gaining +30% movement speed. Heal for 18.2% (+18.2% per stack) of your maximum health. Lasts 3 (+3 per stack) seconds.
Ruin: Dealing damage adds a stack of Ruin for 10 (+10 per stack) seconds. Activating the skill detonates all Ruin stacks at unlimited range, dealing 300% damage plus 120% damage per stack of Ruin. Recharges after 8 (+8 per stack) seconds.