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.