Risk of Rain Returns: Complete Guide

A guide to Risk of Rain Returns, Hopoo Games' 2023 remake of the original Risk of Rain: how runs work, beating the difficulty timer, item priorities, survivor picks, artifacts, co-op, and what the 1.1.0 update changed.

Researched September 2026. Current as of Version 1.1.0 (August 29, 2025). The 1.0.5 legacy build is still available as a Steam beta branch. Check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• Time is difficulty. The difficulty meter rises as the run goes on, and newly spawned monsters get stronger. Loot efficiently, then move on.
• Find the teleporter, then prepare. Activating it starts a timed event with a boss and waves of enemies. Loot the stage before you activate it, but don't dawdle.
• Open everything you can afford early. Chests are cheapest on the early stages. Gold scales with time too, so spend it rather than hoarding.
• Stacking items is the point. Copies stack. Five Soldier's Syringes means much faster attacks.
• Commando is a good first pick. He's easy to learn. Huntress (auto-aim, attacks while moving) is also beginner-friendly.
• Unlock survivors through challenges. Check the challenge log. Each survivor, skill and skin has an unlock condition, and many unlock naturally (for example, some are tied to finishing stage 3).
• Play Drizzle if you're new. It's the easiest difficulty. Monsoon is the hardest standard mode.
• Use the ping/emote system in co-op (added in 1.1.0) to call out chests, the teleporter and dangers.

How a Run Works

• Drop in on a stage chosen from a small pool for that stage number.
• Loot: spend gold on chests, shrines, drones and interactables.
• Find the teleporter: it's randomly placed. Activate it to start the countdown.
• Survive and kill the boss: the teleporter charges while bosses and swarms attack.
• Advance to the next stage. After several stages the loop repeats with harder variants, and eventually you can go for the ending.

Difficulty

Difficulty | Who it's for

Drizzle | New players. Slower scaling and more forgiving.

Rainstorm | The standard experience

Monsoon | Veterans. Faster scaling and nastier enemies.

The difficulty bar at the top of the screen shows the current difficulty level. The core decision in every run is the time-versus-loot trade-off: each extra minute on a stage gives you more items but stronger enemies.

Items

Items come in rarity tiers: Common (white), Uncommon (green), Rare (red), plus Use/Equipment items that you activate, and special boss items. Many stack. Tiers below follow the original game's item list, which Returns carries over; exact percentages were rebalanced in places, so check the in-game logbook for current numbers.

Common items worth taking every time

Item | Effect (general) | Why

Soldier's Syringe | Attack speed | Raw DPS. Stacks well.

Lens-Maker's Glasses | Crit chance | More damage, and helps crit-based synergies

Paul's Goat Hoof | Movement speed | Dodging is survival

Meat Nugget | Chance to drop healing nuggets | Sustain

Bustling Fungus | Heals you while standing still | Great for stationary survivors like Sniper or Engineer

Rusty Knife | Chance to cause bleed | Damage over time that stacks

Headstompers | Damage when landing on enemies | Situational fun

Uncommon and Rare highlights

Item | Tier | Why it's great

AtG Missile Mk. 1 | Uncommon | Free homing missiles on hit

Hopoo Feather | Uncommon | Extra jump. Mobility and escape.

Ukulele | Uncommon | Chance to fire chain lightning on hit (the store page's example)

Will-o'-the-wisp | Uncommon | Chance on kill to create a lava pillar

56 Leaf Clover | Uncommon | Elites have a chance to drop items

Brilliant Behemoth | Rare | Every attack explodes. Transforms most survivors.

Ceremonial Dagger | Rare | Homing daggers on kill. Clears crowds.

Tesla Coil | Rare | Passive lightning around you

Alien Head | Rare | Lower cooldowns

Ancient Scepter | Rare | Upgrades your special skill

Rules of thumb:

• Attack speed plus on-hit effects (Syringe with Ukulele or AtG) scales very well.
• Mobility is underrated. Goat Hoof and Hopoo Feather stacks prevent most deaths.
• Healing: take at least one sustain item (Nugget, Fungus, or similar) by the midgame.
• Use items: always keep one equipped. Many save runs or clear bosses.

Survivors

Risk of Rain Returns has 15 survivors (plus a hidden one). Veterans of the original will recognize most. Pilot and Artificer are new to Returns, and The Drifter is a new support/brawler.

Survivor | Style | Beginner rating

Commando | All-rounder with guns | Easy

Huntress | Mobile, auto-aiming archer | Easy

Enforcer | Shield tank that holds the front line | Medium

Bandit | Burst gunslinger with cooldown resets | Medium

HAN-D | Melee robot with drones | Medium

Engineer | Turrets and mines, stationary | Easy to medium

Miner | Fast melee diver | Medium

Sniper | Long-range precision | Medium to hard

Acrid | Poison melee | Medium

Mercenary | Melee with invulnerable dashes | Hard

Loader | Grapple fists, huge melee hits | Medium

CHEF | Melee with food-themed skills | Medium

Pilot | New to Returns. Aerial gunner with a parachute. | Medium

Artificer | New to Returns. Elemental caster. | Medium

The Drifter | Collects scrap and spawns temporary items for her team, or keeps them for a big area attack | Medium

Unlocking: each survivor has a challenge (see the challenge log). Some come from progression (for example, finishing stage 3). Others need specific actions. The achievement "Divine Intervention" pops the first time you unlock a survivor.

Alternate skills and skins: Returns adds alternate skills per survivor and Providence Trials, challenge scenarios that unlock extras. Try the trials once you're comfortable with a survivor.

Artifacts

Artifacts are optional modifiers you find hidden in the world and then toggle before a run. Each has an achievement named after where you find it:

Achievement | Artifact | Hint in the name

In the Forest | Honor | A forest stage

In the Hive | Command | A hive stage

Drowned Below | Enigma | Underwater/sunken area

Beneath the Temple | Spirit | A temple stage

In the Meadow | Spite | A meadow stage

Entropy | Tempus | Not location-named

Somewhere Dry | Kin | A dry stage

Among the Mushrooms | Distortion | A fungal area

Near the Core | Sacrifice | Deep, hot stage

Below the Bridge | Glass | Under a bridge

Seeing Ghosts | Cognation | Not location-named

Kaleidoscope | Origin | Not location-named

Two related secret achievements: Sight-Seeing (find the 4 hidden Artifact Shards) and Altered Genome (find the illegal shipment).

Notable artifacts:

• Command: lets you choose items from crates instead of getting random drops. Great for testing builds.
• Sacrifice: monsters drop items and chests are removed. A different, fast-paced loop.
• Glass: much more damage but much less health.
• Honor: all enemies are elites.

Co-op

• Up to 4 players online or couch co-op. Version 1.1.0 added an experimental host option to raise the Player Limit up to 32, with an in-game warning that more than 4 isn't properly supported.
• The host can ban the hidden survivor from the lobby (1.1.0).
• Ping and emotes (1.1.0) make calling out loot and bosses much easier.
• Share items fairly and put healers and drones where the team needs them. Drifter's temporary items are made for teammates.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Fully clearing every stage on Monsoon. The timer punishes you. Loot what's efficient and move on.
• Activating the teleporter at low item count. Loot the stage first, especially early on.
• Ignoring mobility. Most runs end because you couldn't dodge.
• Standing in fire and puddles. Elite modifiers leave hazards. Move off them.
• Not using your use item. It's a free cooldown. Press it.
• Playing only Commando. Other survivors unlock new challenges and skills.

Advanced Tips

• Speed loop early. Clearing stage 1 fast with a few good items beats a slow full clear.
• Crit plus on-crit items scale explosively. Lens-Maker's Glasses stacks enable a lot of synergies.
• Brilliant Behemoth with fast-hitting survivors (Commando, Huntress) turns every shot into an explosion.
• Horizontal mouse aim (added in 1.0.4) lets you shoot left or right independent of movement. Try the "Risk of Rain 2" control scheme on keyboard and mouse.
• Downpatching: if you prefer the old balance or mods, use the Steam beta branch "1.0.5 Legacy post-release build" with password themacrobesdidnothingwrong.
• Steam Deck: 1.1.0 improved the Deck experience (1280x800 default, per-resolution display settings, larger chat scale).

FAQ

Is Risk of Rain Returns the same as Risk of Rain 1? It's a remake with new survivors (Pilot, Artificer, Drifter), items, Providence Trials, new modes, and much better networking and multiplayer.

How many players can play? 4 by default, with an experimental option up to 32 since 1.1.0.

Is it still being updated? Version 1.1.0 arrived in August 2025 after a long gap. Gearbox's main Risk of Rain focus is Risk of Rain 2 and its third DLC, Alloyed Collective.

How do I unlock survivors? Through challenges listed in the game's challenge log. Several unlock from normal progression.

What's the easiest survivor? Commando or Huntress. Engineer is also forgiving, thanks to turrets.

Can I roll back to the old version? Yes. Opt into the "1.0.5 Legacy post-release build" beta branch in Steam properties with the password from the 1.1.0 announcement.

Sources

• Risk of Rain Returns on Steam
• Risk of Rain Returns Steam achievements
• Steam news: Risk of Rain Returns... returns! (V1.1.0) and Patch Notes 1.0.3 to 1.1.0
• Risk of Rain on Wikipedia (original game and Returns remake)