---
title: "Risk of Rain 2: Beginner-to-Advanced Guide"
game: "Risk of Rain 2"
game_url: "https://qna.gg/games/risk-of-rain-2"
author: "Qloud"
author_url: "https://qna.gg/players/Qloud"
topics: ["Bosses", "Beginners", "Secrets", "Endings"]
summary: "Everything you need to beat Risk of Rain 2 in 2026: the run loop, item priorities, unlocking every survivor (including the Alloyed Collective DLC), stage secrets, the different endings, and what's coming in Hallowed…"
url: "https://qna.gg/g/risk-of-rain-2-beginner-to-advanced-guide-2e8048d5"
published: "2026-09-27T16:29:14.861Z"
updated: "2026-09-27T16:29:14.861Z"
source: "QnA.GG"
---

# Risk of Rain 2: Beginner-to-Advanced Guide

Everything you need to beat Risk of Rain 2 in 2026: the run loop, item priorities, unlocking every survivor (including the Alloyed Collective DLC), stage secrets, the different endings, and what's coming in Hallowed Concepts.

*Researched September 2026 — current as of the Alloyed Collective DLC (released November 18, 2025) with Hallowed Concepts announced but not yet released. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.*

## Quick Start

1. **Time is your enemy.** Difficulty goes up constantly as the clock runs (and faster on harder difficulties). Loot efficiently, but don't comb every corner of every stage.
2. **Spend gold as you earn it.** Chest prices go up as difficulty rises, so saved gold loses value. Open chests all through the stage.
3. **The teleporter** ends each stage. Charge it by staying inside its radius, then kill the boss and move on. Loop back to stage 1 after stage 5, or take the ending path.
4. **Stack movement and survival items early.** Paul's Goat Hoof, Energy Drink, Tougher Times, and Medkit/Bustling Fungus keep a new player alive better than raw damage does.
5. **Look for Lunar Coins.** They carry over between runs and are spent in the **Bazaar Between Time**, which you reach through a blue portal after a Newt Altar is activated.
6. **Rainstorm is the standard difficulty.** Drizzle is the easy setting, good for learning or unlocking things. Beating **Monsoon** unlocks the **Eclipse** levels for that survivor.
7. **Unlocks come from challenges.** Check the Logbook > Challenges to see what's next.
8. **Printers (3D Printers) and Scrappers** let you turn junk items into ones you want. Use them.
9. **Look for elite enemies** (Blazing, Glacial, Overloading, Malachite, and more). They hit much harder, so focus them first.
10. **Co-op scales everything.** Items are shared by whoever opens the chests, so talk about who gets what.

## Survivors and How to Unlock Them

| Survivor | Unlock (challenge) |
|---|---|
| Commando | Default |
| Huntress | Default (since the Anniversary Update) |
| Bandit | *Warrior*: reach and complete the 3rd Teleporter event without dying |
| MUL-T | *Verified*: complete the first Teleporter event 5 times |
| Engineer | *Engineering Perfection*: complete 30 stages |
| Artificer | *Pause.*: free the survivor suspended in time at the Bazaar Between Time |
| Mercenary | *True Respite*: obliterate yourself at the Obelisk |
| REX | *Power Plant*: repair the broken robot with an Escape Pod's Fuel Array |
| Loader | *Guidance Offline*: defeat the unique guardian of Siren's Call |
| Acrid | *...To Be Left Alone*: stabilize the Cell in the Void Fields |
| Captain | *Washed Away*: beat the game |
| Railgunner (SotV) | Unlocked by default with Survivors of the Void |
| Void Fiend (SotV) | *Dragged Below*: escape the Planetarium or complete wave 50 in Simulacrum |
| Seeker (SotS) | Unlocked by default with Seekers of the Storm |
| False Son (SotS) | *Purified Freedom*: purify the Heart using the Halcyon Seed |
| CHEF (SotS) | *Order Up!*: complete the Wok's recipe in Reformed Altar |
| Operator (AC) | Unlocked by default with Alloyed Collective |
| Drifter (AC) | *Lost in Transit*: free the survivor from the vault in Solutional Haunt |

**Heretic** is a special, hidden form. Collect all four Heresy lunar items (Visions, Hooks, Strides, and Essence of Heresy) and your survivor transforms for the rest of the run.

SotV = Survivors of the Void, SotS = Seekers of the Storm, AC = Alloyed Collective. You need the DLC enabled in the lobby to use its survivors and content.

### Good first survivors

- **Commando:** simple kit, a good way to learn items.
- **Huntress:** auto-targeting primary and great mobility, but fragile.
- **MUL-T:** tanky, with a very strong nailgun primary. Very beginner-friendly.
- **Engineer:** turrets do the work. Excellent for Monsoon and for learning.
- **Captain:** orbital strikes plus beacons (healing, shocking, or hacking chests).

## Items

### Rarity Tiers

| Tier | Colour | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Common | White | Soldier's Syringe, Tougher Times, Lens-Maker's Glasses, Paul's Goat Hoof, Bustling Fungus, Crowbar, Sticky Bomb, Tri-Tip Dagger, Armor-Piercing Rounds |
| Uncommon | Green | Ukulele, AtG Missile Mk. 1, Predatory Instincts, Harvester's Scythe, Hopoo Feather, Will-o'-the-wisp, Leeching Seed, Kjaro's Band, Runald's Band |
| Legendary | Red | 57 Leaf Clover, Brilliant Behemoth, Ceremonial Dagger, Soulbound Catalyst, Sentient Meat Hook, Alien Head, Aegis, Rejuvenation Rack, Happiest Mask |
| Boss | Yellow | Drops from teleporter bosses (Titanic Knurl, Queen's Gland, Pearls from Cleansing Pools, and more) |
| Lunar | Blue | High-risk items: Shaped Glass, Gesture of the Drowned, Brittle Crown, Transcendence, Purity |
| Void (SotV) | Purple | "Corrupted" versions that replace their normal counterparts, like Polylute (replaces Ukulele) and Voidsent Flame |
| Equipment | Orange | Primordial Cube, Preon Accumulator, Royal Capacitor, Gorag's Opus, Fuel Array |

Alloyed Collective added 22 new items across these tiers, plus two new item types: **Temporary Items** and **Meal Items** (foods like Seared Steak and Hearty Stew). It also added the **Collective** elite, which gives its allies a protective dome and 25% lower skill cooldowns.

### Early Stack Priorities

1. **Mobility:** Paul's Goat Hoof, Energy Drink, Hopoo Feather.
2. **Crit and proc items:** Lens-Maker's Glasses (up to 100% crit with enough stacks), Predatory Instincts, Harvester's Scythe.
3. **Survival:** Tougher Times, Medkit, Bustling Fungus (on stationary builds like Engineer), Leeching Seed.
4. **On-hit/proc damage:** Ukulele, AtG Missile, Sticky Bomb, Tri-Tip Dagger.

**Proc coefficient** decides how often a skill triggers on-hit items. Fast multi-hit skills (like MUL-T's nailgun) are great for on-hit builds.

### Lunar Items: know the trade-offs

- **Shaped Glass:** doubles your damage but halves your max health. Strong, but it can end a run in one mistake.
- **Gesture of the Drowned:** equipment activates automatically with reduced cooldown. Amazing with some equipment and terrible with others.
- **Transcendence:** turns your health into shield that regenerates.
- **Brittle Crown:** gain gold on hit, lose gold when you get hit.

## Stages and Secrets

| Stage | Environments (base game + SotV) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Distant Roost, Titanic Plains, Siphoned Forest (SotV) |
| 2 | Abandoned Aqueduct, Wetland Aspect, Aphelian Sanctuary (SotV) |
| 3 | Rallypoint Delta, Scorched Acres, Sulfur Pools (SotV) |
| 4 | Abyssal Depths, Siren's Call, Sundered Grove |
| 5 | Sky Meadow |
| Final | Commencement (the moon) |

Seekers of the Storm and Alloyed Collective add more stage variants (Alloyed Collective alone added seven stages, including Pretender's Precipice, Iron Alluvium, Repurposed Crater, and Conduit Canyon).

### Hidden areas and interactables

- **Bazaar Between Time:** a shop using Lunar Coins. It's also where Artificer is freed.
- **Gilded Coast:** reached through a gold portal. Fight **Aurelionite**.
- **Void Fields:** reached through the null portal in the Bazaar. Stabilize cells for items, and unlock Acrid.
- **A Moment, Fractured / Obelisk:** obliterate yourself to "end" the run and earn Lunar Coins. It also unlocks Mercenary.
- **Newt Altars:** pay a Lunar Coin to open the blue portal to the Bazaar.
- **Shrines:** Chance (gamble gold), Mountain (a harder boss for extra items), Combat, Blood, Order (rerolls your items), Woods, and Cleansing Pools (trade lunar items for Pearls).

### Endings / Final Bosses

| Ending | Where | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Main | Commencement | Mithrix |
| Void (SotV) | Planetarium | Voidling |
| Storm (SotS) | Prime Meridian | False Son |
| Solus (AC) | Alloyed Collective finale | Solus Wing / Solus Heart |
| Obliteration | A Moment, Fractured | none (you give up the run for Lunar Coins) |

### Mithrix tips

- **Phase 1:** melee and ranged attacks. Dodge his hammer smash (a direct hit deals 1200% damage) and keep moving.
- **Phase 2:** Mithrix leaves the arena and Lunar Chimeras and Wisps spawn. Kill them all to progress.
- **Phase 3:** he returns with an empowered hammer that leaves lingering flame pillars, plus a rotating-pillar spin attack. Lunar adds keep trickling in.
- **Phase 4:** he steals **all** your items (he is invulnerable while doing it). Each chunk of damage you deal (about 1% of his health per item) returns items in the order you found them, so bring a plan that works without items: equipment, drones, or allies.

## Difficulty and Eclipse

| Difficulty | Notes |
|---|---|
| Drizzle | Easy: slower scaling and regen/armor buffs |
| Rainstorm | Standard |
| Monsoon | Hard: faster scaling. Beating it unlocks Eclipse for that survivor |
| Eclipse 1–8 | Stacking modifiers (for example, shorter teleporter radius, less healing). Beat each level to unlock the next. |

## Artifacts

Artifacts are run modifiers you toggle in the lobby. You unlock them by entering codes at the **Bulwark's Ambry** (reached through artifact portals on Sky Meadow). Examples: Command (choose your items), Sacrifice (items drop from enemies instead of chests), Swarms, Spite, Glass, and Honor.

**Artifact of Command** is great for learning what items do.

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

- Wasting time: hunting every chest on stage 1 means the game gets harder while you're still weak.
- Not using Printers and Scrappers to focus your build.
- Picking Shaped Glass without a plan for staying alive.
- Ignoring Elites.
- Dying in co-op without a Dio's Best Friend. Dead players stay out until the next stage, so play safe while the teleporter charges.
- Forgetting DLC toggles: you can turn DLC content on or off in the lobby, and DLC unlock challenges need it on.

## Advanced Tips

- **Loop for power.** After stage 5, going back to stage 1 (looping) keeps you collecting items. Once you're strong enough, loop until you're ready for the ending.
- **Shrine of Order:** it turns every item in a tier into one random item from that tier. It's a gamble. Use it when a tier is full of weak items, and one big stack of a good item would be an upgrade.
- **Printers:** feed scrap into printers for exact items. On-hit builds want Ukulele, AtG, and Crit, while mobility builds want Goat Hoof and Energy Drink.
- **Teleporter bosses:** Shrine of the Mountain doubles the teleporter boss and its item drops. Use it when you're ahead.
- **Co-op:** split items by role. A tank takes survival, and a damage player takes crit and on-hit.

## What's Next: Hallowed Concepts (announced)

**Hallowed Concepts** was announced on April 9, 2026. Dev diaries so far (as of September 2026) have revealed:

- **2 new survivors:** **Acolyte** (close-range glaive combos with a cost) and **Enforcer** (Steel Protection shield that blocks everything, a parry on reactivation, Shield Tackle, and Rally Point).
- **Hexes** (10, pure downsides) and **Hallowed** items (11) that you earn by enduring Hexes.
- **Trials of N'kuhana:** pocket-realm trials (Winnowings of Survival, Predation, and Mortality) found by ringing gongs on stages.
- 3 new standard stages, 3 new bosses, 4 enemies, a new elite type, and 16 new survivor skins.
- It will be shown at **The Triple-i Initiative on October 8, 2026**. No release date had been given as of late September 2026.

## FAQ

**How do I unlock all survivors?**
Complete the challenges listed above, found in the Logbook > Challenges menu.

**What's the easiest survivor?**
MUL-T and Engineer are the most forgiving. Commando is the simplest to learn.

**Do I need DLCs?**
No. The base game is complete. The DLCs add survivors, stages, items, and new endings.

**What are Lunar Coins for?**
Buying lunar items and access in the Bazaar, and unlocking some content. They carry over between runs.

**How do I get Eclipse?**
Beat Monsoon with a survivor to unlock Eclipse 1 for them.

**How many players in co-op?**
Up to 4 players online (per the Steam page).

**When is Hallowed Concepts coming out?**
There's no release date as of September 2026. Watch the Triple-i Initiative on October 8, 2026 for news.

## Sources

- [Risk of Rain 2 on Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/app/632360/Risk_of_Rain_2/)
- [Risk of Rain 2 Steam news (Hallowed Concepts dev diaries, Acolyte and Enforcer reveal)](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/632360)
- [Risk of Rain 2 Wiki — Survivors](https://riskofrain2.wiki.gg/wiki/Survivors)
- [Risk of Rain 2 Wiki — Challenges](https://riskofrain2.wiki.gg/wiki/Challenges)
- [Risk of Rain 2 Wiki — Alloyed Collective](https://riskofrain2.wiki.gg/wiki/Alloyed_Collective)
- [Risk of Rain 2 Wiki — Huntress](https://riskofrain2.wiki.gg/wiki/Huntress)
- [Risk of Rain 2 Wiki — Mithrix](https://riskofrain2.wiki.gg/wiki/Mithrix)