Risk of Rain 2 Tier List: Ranking All Characters [December 2023]

Mercenary

When Risk of Rain 2 was first released, every magazine had listed Mercenary in A tier. His abilities, including double jump, I-frames, and slamming, were some of the most overpowerful ones in the game.

However, during the recent update, he received a huge nerf, In which his Base Health and Regeneration, along with cool down, have been changed dramatically. 

These days, Mercenary is just an average melee survivor with traits that are now a shadow of his past self. This doesn’t necessarily mean he is a bad survivor. It’s just that with so many changes in his abilities, he has become immensely unpopular.

Likewise, it would be better for new players if they first learned how his techniques actually work rather than just jumping into the game and expecting miracles.

B Tier

Acrid

I’ve used Acrid a lot in multiplayer. My duo friend usually gets Acrid with Blight, while I use Poison, which creates an epic combination to reach further levels. However, at the same time, Acrid is quite honestly the last character I pick in solo or other modes.

His abilities are good, but they provide no more value than being a hit-and-run specialist. If you look at his primary, Vicious Wounds, it’s good, but then again, you have Mercenary that does the same thing better and can also survive later stages, unlike Acrid, who always struggles to finish off enemies.

Acrid got a recent regeneration buff that further expands over the vicious wound and ravenous bite. But still, if you think about it, the 10% health over time is below ordinary.

Suppose you still like Acrid. My personal recommendation is to only use him in multiplayer. If that is not possible, get all the necessary items like Ukulele, Ceremonial Daggers, Gasoline, and Will-o-the-wisp, until and unless Acrid can do more than just melee attack and survive in later stages of the game. He will always be in the C tier for me (at least in survivor mode).

Artificer

I know a lot of people would disagree with Artificer being at B. But genuinely speaking, I think she deserves an upgrade from C to B. Very recently, Artificer received tons of buff that included an increased nano bomb damage with additional drop-off during the fight.

The patch, 1.0 drastically changed the Blast Radius, Damage, and Force. The Ion surge has also gotten a small tweak, which seems unnecessary.

My thoughts on Artificer are that she feels like the best survivor in the early game, thanks to her high DPS. But, as you progress she starts feeling completely useless. Her mobility with items remains a challenging problem to tackle.

The overall takeaway from Artificier’s rank in this Risk Of Rain 2 Tier List Is that suppose you still want to use her. Try to get her the best items from loot chests, find a proper build for Flamethrower and  Ion Surge, and become immensely pro with Fireball.

A Tier

Engineer

Starting at A Tier, we have the tedious and specialist – Engineer. He is perhaps also the strongest individual survivor in Risk of Rain 2. I know many people hate his primary, and I agree they are inconsistent.

However, his stats are the strongest in ranged fights and can deal the highest damage. Engineer’s mobility is debatable and average at best, but the Bubble Sheild (Utility) makes up for it in the long run. My biggest concern about an Engineer is that he often feels bored. The TR12 Gauss Auto or TR58 Carbonizer Turrets are doing all the work; you are just following along.

If you are new to Risk of Rain 2, I’d highly advise using Engineer. His ability to distract the enemies through Turrets and become stronger with items like Bustling Fungus, Soldier’s Syringe, Hellfire Tincture, and Razorwire is beyond powerful.

Also, remember, folks, he is called an Engineer because it requires planning. I’ve seen many players just being overly aggressive against enemies in survival and then complaining about the character. The engineer has more departments, and he isn’t Acrid, who can completely squeeze enemies.

Rex

Rex stands out as a top-tier survivor in Risk of Rain 2, boasting a destructive and independent playstyle. One notable aspect of Rex is his self-sufficiency, as players can rely solely on him even without grabbing early-game items. His well-balanced kit allows him to deal significant damage while maintaining survivability throughout various stages of the game.

Despite not undergoing frequent updates, Rex’s core abilities remain powerful. The Natural Toxins, Seed Barrage, and Tangling Growth collectively contribute to his effectiveness. However, Rex is capped at an A-tier ranking due to the drawback of losing health during combat.

Rex’s lackluster mobility, coupled with the repetitive gameplay of spamming abilities, can be challenging for players. Yet, his unique ability to self-heal from level 1 without additional equipment serves as a compensatory factor. For newcomers to Risk of Rain 2, using Rex might not be advisable solely based on tier rankings. 

MUL-T

As you would have expected, MUL-T, like Bandit did get some nice buffs, and now he is back on track. However, unlike other characters like Mercenary, there were only a few changes to MUL-T.

His Transport Mode Cool Down has now been decreased to 6s. Moreover, the Retool swap duration has also been reduced to 0.4s. The Nail Gun, which we are used to spamming, also got a few updates. The Proc Coefficient has now been changed to 0.6, and Damage has gotten a nice buff as well, changing from 60% to 70%.

In my opinion, the most important MUL-T Update that has brought him back to the A-tier list was an increase in base acceleration.

MUL-T still has the highest Health Pool in the game, combined with excellent weaponry at his disposal. He remains an exclusive survivor with features like “carrying two pieces of equipment at once” and being the only ranged survivor with armor compared to all others who have zero.

The mobility factor is also there but slightly reduced, thanks to his highest attack speed. If you haven’t used MUL-T for a while, I promise you; that this update has really made him the most potent ranged survivor in Risk of Rain 2.

Huntress

Also known as the Glass Cannon of the game, Huntress is perhaps the most versatile and robust survivor in Risk of Rain 2. Her Damage Per Second, along with a single target, is simply insane.

She can just melt enemies, and her movement is the good thing about her. She can also shoot while sprinting, which is helpful in situations where you are trying to rotate or fall back and can still hold off the enemy.

It’s safe to assume Huntress is a decent survivor, and ranking her at A tier is fair. However, she does lack some essential aspects of the game. That goes on to say her primary range is the biggest problem. You often have to get a close range and deal some damage.

All things aside, Huntress will always emerge as an A-tier survivor. Her abilities are everything a survivor needs, and this gets topped off with crazy movement, which is debatable but best in the game for me. Huntress would have made it to the S Tier if her Health Pool had not been this low.

Void Fiend

As the name suggests, this character is a void-mutated eldritch that can harness the Void as a deadly weapon against enemies. While fighting, he stores his corrupted energy to reach the critical point.

Once the energy bar is full, Void Fiend shows his true power and unleashes his aggressive abilities to take down enemies in a single go. You can unlock Void Fiend by playing through the game as Railgunner and beating the final boss. This means you must have Railgunner unlocked to get Void Fiend in your profile.

Void Fiend is a unique character and only relies on corruption energy to unleash its true abilities. It has a primary ability named Drown that casts a slowing long-range beam and deals 300% damage. However, the Corrupted Drown ability can deal up to 2000% damage, making it an ideal option to use against tough opponents.

He comes with special abilities of Suppress and Corrupted Suppress that enable him to sacrifice either Health or Corruption in order to increase the other.

Heretic

Heretic is a secret playable character that is unlocked when you acquire all of the four Lunar items. The ability of the collected item is switched with the survivor’s ability, gradually transfiguring it into a heretic.

The primary ability of Heretic is blowing tracking shards that bang for 120% base damage after a delay. It’s acquired with 12 charges, having a reload time of 2 seconds. Slicing Maelstrom, a secondary ability to initiate a projectile that encircles enemies, giving 875% damage, dealing with 700% damage, and rooting enemies due to the explosion after 3 seconds delay having a recharge time of 5 seconds.

Shadowfade abstracts the survivor for 3 seconds with +30% moving speed while it heals for 18.2% of its total health. Ruin is a special ability that accumulates the stacks of ruin for 10 seconds. On activation of the skill, all the ruin stacks detonate to an extensive range, causing 300% damage with 120% additional damage per stack.

S Tier

Rail Gunner

Railgunner is a deadly markswoman with impeccable abilities. She uses an M99 Sniper as her primary weapon to punish the enemy and take them down from a distance without getting engaged in close-ranged fights.

This character is suitable for players who are good at sniping as Railgunner delivers an excellent long-range damage output with powerful Supercharge. You can purchase her for a total of 10 dollars. After buying the DLC, you will have the Railgunner survivor unlocked from the get-go. 

Like Bandit, Railgunner provides passive abilities as you cannot get random critical strikes while playing with this character. Railgunners provide critical strikes while attacking the enemy’s weak points.

The exciting thing about Railgunner is that each 1% critical strike chance converts into +1% critical strike damage. The XQR Smart Round System ability increases her damage by 100%. The unique Supercharge Ability releases a Pierce damage that deals 150% increased Weak Point damage to the enemies and causes 4000% Pierce damage.

Bandit

Meet Bandit, the newest S-Tier character in Risk of Rain 2. With swift movement and high-damage attacks, Bandit excels at catching enemies off guard and backstabbing them in stealth mode. His passive skill, Backstab, turns attacks into Critical Strikes from behind. Armed with a shotgun as his primary weapon, he shoots five pellets with 100% damage each before reloading.

The Serrated Dagger Ability lets Bandit perform a 360% damage melee slash. His Lights Out ability fires a revolver shot, dealing 600% damage, ideal for taking down tough bosses. Success in landing a killing blow resets ability cooldowns. Mastering Bandit takes effort, but his sneaky attacks and Critical Strikes make him a formidable force against both regular enemies and bosses.

Loader

Moving on with the S Tier, we first have the Loader, the insane Spiderman, who can literally do anything. The Loader has been in the game for a while and hasn’t been updated for an entire year. Her primary abilities always start with no fall damage, further expanding with her character being the best melee survivor in Risk of Rain 2.

The loader has the second-highest health pool in the game. With the recent 1.0 patch, she has improved over her bands’ meta, and players can get guaranteed to proc that further expands with longevity through green items.

One of the main problems with other survivors in this tier list guide was that, although nearly all characters are unique. They always lack a significant feature but in the case of the Loader. She is the most mobile survivor in the game while still dealing insane damage.

I highly recommend not jumping directly to the Loader for new players in Risk of Rain 2. Reading this tier guide. She can be tough to control, especially since her swinging mechanic needs a lot of consistency because that is your only chance to damage enemies.

Captain

Ever since the Captain set foot in the Risk of Rain 2 universe after patch 1.0. He has immensely become my favorite survivor in the game. His main meta of being efficient and having destructive weapons is what brings me back.

Captain’s M1, the Vulcan Shotgun, is without a doubt the best M1 in the game. On the other hand, his secondary is somewhat weird, it’s often inconsistent, and personally, Power Tazer isn’t my type. This gets compensated because his passive, Defensive Microbots allow him to be incredibly defensive in situations where rotation is a must.

If you are able to use his hacking features properly and get items like Legendary Chest, it can save you a decent amount of time, and being efficient with Captain is always the goal.

Although, I said Captain is my favorite survivor in the game. I didn’t say I use him often. The Orbital Strikes require a lot of practice, and If you aren’t willing to do that. There is a decent amount of chance you will end up canceling the process, and to top it off, hitting air enemies with it is an absolute mess.

Who Is the Best Character In Risk of Rain 2?

After the recent patch, Captain and Loader are without a doubt the best survivors in Risk of Rain 2. They are very independent of their gameplay and aren’t affected by any sort of enemy. Both Captain and Loader are capable of winning games on their own.

Changes Due To Latest Patch

Last Updated: Version 1.2.4

Here are all the changes in Risk of Rain 2 that players need to be aware of.

Artificer:

• Flame bolt damage has increased from 220% to 280%.
• Plasma bolt damage has increased from 220% to 280%.

Captain:

• The captain’s first beacon’s stock is now increased by Lysate Cell.
• The captain can only have two deployed beacons active at once.

Risk Of Rain 2 Tier List At A Glance

Our Risk of Rain 2 Tier List was solely based on personal preferences, and honestly, we weren’t biased with any survivor in the game. Moreover, at the end of the day, all tier lists are made from gameplay styles and compatibility.

Suppose you like Commando and can get decent runs through him. Forget about this tier list and keep playing him. The goal in Risk of Rain 2 is always to find the right combination in terms of items and game style.

I also recommend multiplayer users find a useful meta between two survivors and use them efficiently. I use Acrid with my friend so we can get decent poison and melt all enemies out there.