No survivor in Risk of Rain 2 is intrinsically the best/worst as it’s ultimately down to personal preference. That said, some are more flexible with their kit, have better mobility, or deal excellent damage without being locked to specific item pick-ups. Here’s my best character RoR2 tier list.
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ROR2 Tier List
Before we start, there are some slight differences to consider based on whether you’re going for a strong looping run or an Eclipse run. That said, the RoR2 tier list below will aim for a more generalized ranking that’s flexible for beginners, experienced loopers, and Eclipse runners. I’ve opted for tiers S, A, B, and C because no character is that bad to warrant a D or F tier. Let’s start with the best characters at the S Tier who have great mobility, damage, and survivability and move to the more situational ones at the C Tier who have varying amounts of those core strengths.
S Tier
- Void Fiend: The Void Fiend from the Survivors of the Void DLC is a great example of power creep. He’s one of the best characters in terms of survivability due to his innate heal and built-in Blast Shower cleanser for debuffs. Plus, he doesn’t fall behind in damage and mobility due to his alternate form.
- Loader: This is my favorite character in Risk of Rain 2 (And Returns) so there might be a bit of a bias here. The Loader, despite her melee abilities, is actually a prowling ranged assassin. Learning when you should engage from range and drop down all your abilities to one-shot groups is essential. Grab a few Backup Magazines to triple your mobility which keeps you safe along with your barrier. Plus, you’ll have a lot of fun swinging around the level with no fall damage.
- Bandit: The Bandit wields one of the best passives in the game that auto-crits and doubles your damage if hitting enemies from behind. Plus, you get to increase your damage permanently by last hitting with Desperado. Co-op means you can proc your passive more often with others drawing aggro, and solo means you can more easily proc Desperado. Overall, a great DPS survivor with excellent mobility who you’ll find at the top of many RoR2 tier lists.
A Tier
- Railgunner: Another example of SotV DLC power creep and it might be worse with the Railgunner because they can one-shot almost anything from range with the right items. The only reason why this isn’t in the S tier is because I have some problems with mobility and there are some instances where the RG can get ganged up. I admit that it could be a skill issue because I haven’t played RG much but this character can overall output some insane damage if you use your mobility skill right to escape danger. That said, you’ll usually find RG at the top of RoR2 tier lists in the community.
- Acrid: My second favorite character is Acrid, and while this acidic pupper is hard to get used to, he can be an incredible DPS frontline with a few tricks and items. First off, get used to Poison (Don’t use Blight) attack animation canceling with the sprint button. Second, Leap is your crucial skill for both going in for damage and escaping. Third, grab on-kill items to heal yourself and increase your damage, as well as Razorwire and Tesla Coil, and you’re ready to mow down crowds and bosses while running around them with animation-canceling attacks.
- Engineer: A complete anti-thesis to the standard practice that mobility is key for survival. The Engi is a slow-moving artillery, and he’s incredible because his turrets share his items, which makes him an incredibly item-dependent character. That said, his potential skyrockets if you can pick up Bustling Fungus for heals, Needles for damage, and a few mobility items like Hopoo Feather for double jumps.
- MUL-T: Despite the flexibility of this bot, the community-favorite way to play MUL-T is with the double Rebar Punchers where you hold R and M1 to pierce everything across the map. It’s an insanely strong tactic solo with Crowbars, crit glasses, and Scythes. I would also stack some Magazines for mobility because you’ll need to move around a lot, especially once your scaling drops down a bit.
- Captain: One of the most efficient survivors to play since you can hack beacons and chests for free. Also, he has one of the best M1 attacks and I love the nuke on him for AOE damage. That said, to make use of this you’ll need plenty of mobility items like sprints and double jumps because the Captain doesn’t have any.
- Huntress: The Huntress needs a lot of items to make her work but the best part is that she’s highly flexible when it comes to item selection since she can make use of anything. Her lower A-tier ranking is due to her health but she does make up for it with superb mobility.
B Tier
- Mercenary: I like “melee” characters as you can tell. So the Mercenary is a tricky one. He has the potential for S tier if you play him with cooldown reduction, Lysate Cells, additional Hopoo Feathers, attack speed, and damage items. He can be incredibly fun as you dodge damage forever. That said, he’s extremely situational and depends on RNG for hardcore looping or Eclipse runs.
- Artificer: One simple way to improve your Artificer gameplay is to stop using Flamethrower and start using Ion Surge. Channeling that DPS isn’t worth it if you can’t move out of damage when you’re about to be one-shot. That said, I’m not the biggest fan since Railgunner and Void Fiend fill many of the same AOE damage beats as Artificer but more efficiently and with better mobility.
- REX: The playstyle of REX is quite exciting and fun as you’re constantly trading health for damage and healing it back, bursting down early-game bosses. That said, playing this character makes me feel squishier than playing Huntress as one stray hit from a boss or an elite can end your run. At least Huntress can evade enemies for days.
C Tier
- Commando: I would like to issue a formal apology to all Commando mains but in my experience, he has just been a lackluster survivor to start off your run. He can get incredibly strong late game because he has great scaling with his M1 and Suppressive Fire plus a ton of mobility. That said, while you can loop for days if you get lucky in the early game, his damage isn’t the best starting out. Still, there’s a lot of love for Commando being the baseline for the series.
Lastly, I wanted to mention Heretic who requires the Lunar item route to play. He hovers betwixt the B and C tier with great stats and health but I haven’t had a chance to test him much so mileage may vary for those who take Lunar items a lot and have played Heretic reliably.
That’s it for my RoR2 tier list for the best survivors in the game. For more Risk of Rain 2 guides, check out our red items guide.
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