Risk of Rain 2 Survivor Roster: Stats, Skills, and Unlock Paths

Risk of Rain 2 ships with a roster of distinct Survivors, and each one bends a run in a different direction. A sniper-flavored run feels nothing like a poison-stacking melee rampage. This guide breaks down all 15 playable classes, their core stats, default and alternate skills, and how to drag each one out of the locked column on the character select screen.

How the roster is structured

Risk of Rain 2 currently has 15 Survivors. Two are available from the moment you boot the game, nine more become unlockable through normal progression and special challenges, two require DLC ownership, and one cannot be picked from the menu at all. That last entry, the Heretic, is built mid-run by collecting specific items.

Stats below assume Drizzle and Monsoon ranges where noted, and damage values are taken from base abilities.

Commando

The default pick alongside Huntress. Commando is the textbook "no surprises" class. Decent mobility, mid-range damage, and a kit that anyone can pilot without crashing into a Magma Worm five seconds in.

Unlock: Available from the start.

Default skills

• Double Tap: Quick shots at 100% damage.
• Phase Round: Piercing bullet at 300%, with +40% extra damage each time it passes through a target.
• Tactical Dive: Short utility roll.
• Suppressive Fire: Sustained fire at 100% per shot, scaling with attack speed, and applies Stunning.

Alternates worth picking up

• Phase Blast swaps the piercing shot for two close-range slugs.
• Tactical Slide lets you fire while sliding.
• Frag Grenade trades suppressing fire for a 700% AoE grenade with two charges.

Stats

• Health: 110 (+33 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

Huntress

The other starter. Huntress hits harder per shot than Commando, locks onto targets with seeking projectiles, and her teleport gives her a clean exit from danger. The tradeoff is a smaller health pool.

Unlock: Available from the start.

Default skills

• Strafe: Seeking arrow at 150% damage, usable while sprinting.
• Laser Glaive: Glaive bouncing up to 6 times at 250%, gaining 10% per bounce.
• Blink: Short teleport.
• Arrow Rain: Targeted arrow storm at 225% per second, slows enemies.

Alternates

• Flurry fires 3 to 6 homing arrows instead of single shots.
• Phase Blink gives the dash three charges.
• Ballista swaps Arrow Rain for up to three energy bolts at 900% each.

Stats

• Health: 90 (+27 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

Bandit

A short to mid-range burst dealer. Bandit's backstab passive turns every rear-flank shot into a Critical Strike, which feels great once you get used to circling around foes.

Unlock: Reach and clear the third stage without dying.

Default skills

• Backstab (passive): Rear attacks always Critical Strike.
• Burst: Shotgun burst at 5x100% damage, up to 4 charges.
• Serrated Dagger: Lunge for 360%, with Critical Strikes applying Hemorrhaging.
• Smoke Bomb: 200% damage, vanish, then another 200% on reappearing. Stunning.
• Lights Out: A 600% revolver shot. Kills reset every cooldown. Slayer effect.

Alternates

• Blast replaces the shotgun burst with a single 330% slug.
• Serrated Shiv makes the dagger a weaker ranged knife throw.
• Desperado stacks tokens on kills to amplify the special's damage.

Stats

• Health: 110 (+33 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

MUL-T

The bulky multitool. MUL-T carries two primaries at once and swaps between them mid-fight. Compared to most other Survivors he has nearly double the health pool, which makes early survival much friendlier.

Unlock: Finish the Teleporter Event a cumulative five times.

Default skills

• Auto-Nailgun: Rapid nails at 70%, ending with a 12-nail burst.
• Rebar Puncher: Piercing rebar at 600% damage.
• Blast Canister: 220% canister plus stun bomblets at 5x44%. Stunning.
• Transport Mode: Charge forward gaining 200 armor, 220% speed, dealing 250% on contact.
• Retool (passive): Hold two equipment slots and swap between them along with your active primary.

Alternates

• Scrap Launcher turns the nailgun into a 360% damage four-shot launcher.
• Power-Saw bumps the secondary to 1,000% damage.
• Power Mode equips both primaries simultaneously, granting 100 armor at the cost of 60% movement speed.

Stats

• Health: 200 (+60 per level)
• Damage: 11 (+2.2 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 82 on Drizzle, 12 otherwise

Engineer

A control-heavy class built around traps, turrets, and a panic-button bubble shield. You set the battlefield, then let it punish anything that walks in. Engineer rewards positioning more than reflexes.

Unlock: Complete a total of 30 stages.

Default skills

• Bouncing Grenades: Charge up to 8 grenades at 100% each.
• Pressure Mines: Two-stage mines dealing 300% base or 900% when fully armed. Cap of 4.
• Bubble Shield: Drop a damage-blocking dome.
• TR12 Gauss Auto-Turret: Up to 2 turrets that inherit your items and fire at 100%.

Alternates

• Spider Mines walk toward enemies for higher damage.
• Thermal Harpoons swaps the shield for offensive 500% projectiles, up to 4 charges.
• TR58 Carbonizer Turret doubles the turret's damage.

Stats

• Health: 130 (+39 per level)
• Damage: 14 (+2.2 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

Artificer

Pure offense. Artificer melts boss health bars faster than most classes can locate them, but she trades that ceiling for thin defenses and weak escape tools. Mistakes here cost runs.

Unlock: Free the captive Survivor in the Bazaar Between Time for 10 Lunar Coins.

Default skills

• ENV Suit (passive): Hold jump to hover.
• Flame Bolt: Ignite. 280% damage per bolt, 4 charges.
• Charged Nano-Bomb: Stunning. Charges from 400% up to 2000%.
• Snapfreeze: Freezing barrier at 100% damage to enemies.
• Flamethrower: Ignite. Cone burn at 2000% total.

Alternates

• Plasma Bolt drops the Ignite for an AoE shot.
• Cast Nano-Spear swaps the heavy primary into a Freezing skill at lower max damage.
• Ion Surge converts the flamethrower into a Stunning vertical burst at reduced damage.

Stats

• Health: 110 (+33 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

Mercenary

Melee with style. Short cooldowns plus invincibility windows give Mercenary a flowing, dive-in-and-out rhythm. The catch is obvious: you have to be inside punching range to do anything.

Unlock: Obliterate yourself at the Obelisk.

Default skills

• Cybernetic Enhancements (passive): Double jump.
• Laser Sword: Agile. 130% slice, every third hit exposes enemies in a wider area.
• Whirlwind: 2x200% horizontal slashes, vertical version while airborne.
• Blinding Assault: Stunning. 300% dash, chainable up to three times on hit.
• Eviscerate: Locks onto a target, attacks for 110% repeatedly, and grants invulnerability.

Alternates

• Rising Thunder swaps Whirlwind for a 550% uppercut that launches you skyward.
• Focused Assault adds longer expose windows to the dash.
• Slicing Winds trades Eviscerate for a ranged 8x100% multi-target attack.

Stats

• Health: 110 (+33 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 90 on Drizzle, 20 otherwise

REX

A walking half-plant half-robot anomaly with abilities that cost HP to fire. Mastering REX means juggling damage output against your own health bar, which sounds awful and somehow ends up satisfying.

Unlock: Use a Fuel Array to repair the Broken Robot in the Abyssal Depths.

Default skills

• Natural Toxins (passive): Certain hits Weaken enemies, cutting their speed, armor, and damage.
• DIRECTIVE: Inject: 3 syringes at 3x80%. The last Weakens and heals 60% of damage dealt.
• Seed Barrage: Costs 15% HP. Mortar at 450% damage.
• DIRECTIVE: Disperse: Sonic Boom that Weakens hit enemies.
• Tangling Growth: Costs 20% HP. Sonic Boom at 550%, heals per enemy hit.

Alternates

• DIRECTIVE: Drill replaces the primary with a seed-bullet volley at 450% per second.
• Bramble Volley changes the secondary to a 550% heal-per-hit Sonic Boom.
• DIRECTIVE: Harvest fires a 330% bolt that drops healing fruits when enemies die.

Stats

• Health: 130 (+39 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 90 on Drizzle, 20 otherwise

Loader

A grapple, a momentum punch, and immunity to fall damage. Loader builds speed and turns it into a one-shot fist that flattens most things she runs into. Arguably the strongest unlock in the base game once geared.

Unlock: Defeat the Alloy Worship Unit, which only appears after destroying six Alloy Vulture nests in Siren's Call.

Default skills

• Scrap Barrier (passive): No fall damage. Hits with the gauntlet grant a temporary shield.
• Knuckleboom: Swing for 320% damage.
• Grapple Fist: Pulls Loader to a target.
• Charged Gauntlet: Heavy. Charges between 600% and 2,700%.
• M551 Pylon: Floating pylon zaps up to 6 nearby enemies at 100% each, and can be grappled.

Alternates

• Spiked Fist adds stun and lets you pull lighter enemies in.
• Thunder Gauntlet lowers the charged punch ceiling but adds a 1,000% AoE hit.
• Thunderslam cuts pylon range for a sharp damage boost.

Stats

• Health: 160 (+48 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 1.5 to 3.75 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 90 on Drizzle, 20 otherwise

Acrid

Acrid stacks poison on top of poison and watches health bars vanish. Damage-over-time is the entire identity here, and it scales especially hard against bosses.

Unlock: Activate the Null Portal in the Bazaar Between Time and clear the Void Fields.

Default skills

• Poison (passive): Poison attacks apply long damage over time.
• Blight (passive): Replaces Poison with stacking Blight at 60% per second.
• Vicious Wounds: 200% maul, every third hit deals 400% and is Regenerative.
• Neurotoxin: Poisonous spit at 240%.
• Caustic Leap: Poisonous and Stunning. 320% leap that leaves acid for 25% damage.
• Epidemic: Stunning leap at 550% damage, with 2s cooldown reduction per enemy hit.

Alternates

• Ravenous Bite adds Slayer and Regenerative to the secondary, plus a damage bump.
• Frenzied Leap trades Poisonous for higher damage and a per-hit cooldown reduction.

Stats

• Health: 160 (+48 per level)
• Damage: 15 (+3 per level)
• Regen: 1.5 to 3.75 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 90 on Drizzle, 20 otherwise

Captain

Captain handles AoE through orbital strikes and supports allies with stationary Beacons. Drone-friendly, projectile-suppressing, and capable of erasing a stage if you call in a Diablo Strike at the right time.

Unlock: Defeat the final boss.

Default skills

• Defensive Microbots (passive): Shoots down nearby enemy projectiles. Allied drones also get them.
• Vulcan Shotgun: 8x120% pellet spread. Charging narrows the cone.
• Power Tazer: Shocking projectile at 100%. Travels further on bounces.
• Orbital Probe: Stunning. Up to 3 calls per use, 1,000% per probe.
• Orbital Supply Beacon: Permanent beacon, twice per stage.
• Beacon: Healing: Heals 10% max health per second to nearby allies.
• Beacon: Shocking: Periodically immobilizes nearby enemies.
• Beacon: Resupply: Recharges Equipment on use.
• Beacon: Hacking: Slowly reduces purchasable costs to $0.

Alternates

• OGM-72 'Diablo' Strike swaps Orbital Probe for a 20-second-delayed 40,000% kinetic strike. Friendly fire applies. Plan accordingly.

Stats

• Health: 110 (+33 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

Railgunner (DLC)

A long-range sniper that turns Critical Chance into Critical Damage. Massive single-shot ceiling, fragile build, and a scoped Weak Point system that rewards precision.

Unlock: Own the Survivors of the Void DLC.

Default skills

• Magnetic Accelerator (passive): Crit Chance converts to Crit Damage.
• XQR Smart Round System: Aggressive tracking shots at 100%.
• M99 Sniper: Scope mode. Highlights Weak Points, piercing 1,000% railgun shots.
• M99: Heavy projectile at 1,000%.
• Active Reload: Time the reload window for faster recovery and +100% damage on the next shot.
• Concussion Device: Pushback grenade, up to 2.
• Supercharge: 4,000% piercing shot with 150% Weak Point damage, then a 5-second weapon lockout.
• Supercharged Railgun: 4,000% projectile with crit damage multiplied by 1.5.

Alternates

• HH44 Marksman swaps the sniper for a faster but weaker railgun.
• Polar Field Device trades concussion for slow on impact.
• Cryocharge replaces Supercharge with a weaker freezing variant.

Stats

• Health: 110 (+33 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

Void Fiend (DLC)

A two-form Survivor balancing a stable humanoid stance and a corrupted one that hits like a freight train. Mastery means knowing when to flip between them and when to bleed Corruption for healing.

Unlock: Defeat the boss in The Planetarium, finish the Survivors of the Void expansion, or complete 50 waves in the Simulacrum.

Default skills

• Void Corruption (passive): At full Corruption, all skills transform into aggressive versions.
• Drown: Slowing long-range beam at 300%.
• Corrupted Drown: Short-range beam at 2,000%.
• Flood: Plasma missile at 600%, or 1,100% with a charged plasma ball.
• Corrupted Flood: Arcing plasma bomb at 1,100%.
• Trespass: Cleanse debuffs while moving upward.
• Corrupted Trespass: Cleanse debuffs while moving forward fast.
• Suppress: Burn 25% Corruption to heal 25% max health.
• Corrupted Suppress: Burn 25% max health to gain 25% Corruption.

Void Fiend is the only base-roster Survivor without unlockable alternate skills.

Stats

• Health: 110 (+33 per level)
• Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
• Regen: 0.6 to 1.5 per second
• Speed: 7 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

Heretic

The roster's oddball. You cannot select Heretic from the character screen. Instead, you transform mid-run by holding four specific items, the Heresy set: Visions of Heresy, Hooks of Heresy, Strides of Heresy, and Essence of Heresy. The payoff is wild stats and a strong kit, with a passive that drains health, so keep healing on hand.

Unlock: Hold all four Heresy items on any Survivor.

Default skills

• Nevermore: A solemn squawk.
• Hungering Gaze: Flurry of tracking shards at 120% base damage. Up to 12 charges (+12 per stack), 2s reload (+2 per stack).
• Slicing Maelstrom: Charges a projectile at 875% per second, exploding after 3 seconds for 700% damage and rooting enemies for 3 (+3 per stack) seconds.
• Shadowfade: Phase out, gain +30% speed, heal 18.2% (+18.2% per stack) of max HP. Lasts 3 (+3 per stack) seconds.
• Ruin: Stacks for 10 (+10 per stack) seconds on damage. Activating detonates all stacks for 300% plus 120% per stack of Ruin.

Stats

• Health: 440 (+132 per level)
• Damage: 18 (+3.6 per level)
• Regen: -0.9 to -3.6 per second
• Speed: 8 m/s
• Armor: 70 on Drizzle, 0 otherwise

Quick unlock reference

For anyone scrolling just for the unlock condition:

• Commando and Huntress: starters.
• Bandit: clear stage 3 without dying.
• MUL-T: 5 Teleporter Events.
• Engineer: 30 stages cleared in total.
• Artificer: free the time-stuck Survivor in the Bazaar for 10 Lunar Coins.
• Mercenary: Obliterate at the Obelisk.
• REX: repair the Broken Robot in Abyssal Depths with a Fuel Array.
• Loader: defeat Alloy Worship Unit after destroying six Alloy Vulture nests in Siren's Call.
• Acrid: complete the Void Fields via the Bazaar's Null Portal.
• Captain: beat the final boss.
• Railgunner and Void Fiend: own Survivors of the Void DLC. Void Fiend has additional in-game unlock paths.
• Heretic: collect all four Heresy items mid-run.

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