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Risk of Rain Returnsis a reimagined version of the original Risk of Rain, bringing updated graphics and music, as well as tons of new content. Risk of Rain Returns is a 2D roguelike where you must survive against hordes of alien lifeforms on the mysterious planet of Petrichor V after your transport ship crash lands.
Whether you’re familiar with Risk of Rain 2 or have never played any game in the series before, there’s always something new to learn. Below, we’ll take a look at a few tips that will make your first steps into Risk of Rain Returns a bit easier.
Start On Drizzle Difficulty
Risk of Rain Returns is hard. Even on the easiest difficulty, Drizzle, you’ll probably be dying a lot. Until you get the hang of your chosen Survivor and unlock more items, your success rate will probably be quite low.
We recommendstarting on Drizzle difficulty, at least until you’ve unlocked more Survivors and items. Later unlocks candrastically improve your chance of surviving, but you’ll need to complete specific tasks beforehand. There’s no penalty for playing on Drizzle difficulty, so it’s definitely your best option to make the early game easier.
Movement Is Key
Because Risk of Rain Returns is a 2D game, you are pretty limited in your range of motion. Because of this,movement items are extremely valuable, and can make your runs much easier.Paul’s Goat Hoof increases your movement speed, allowing you to escape from enemies, whileHopoo Feather grants you an extra jump, allowing you to evade attacks by jumping above them.
These are just two of the most useful movement items in the game; there are plenty of others. Although you can’t select which items you find (at least not without the Artifact of Command), it’s good to keep these in mind for when you do find them. Learning how to move around the map is key to avoiding enemy attacks while also traversing the landscape.
Choose The Right Survivor
There are15 different Survivorsto unlock and play as in Risk of Rain Returns, each with their own unique playstyle.Every Survivor is good at something, but they all also have their weaknesses, too. It’s important to find a Survivor that suits your playstyle.
The requirements to unlock most Survivors aren’t the hardest, so again, we recommend playing on Drizzle difficulty to do this. A few Survivors, like theEnforcer,Engineer, andPilotjust take time to unlock, making them good options that don’t necessarily need you to get far into a run. Still, unlocking every Survivor and finding the right one for you will greatly improve your experience.
Don’t Take Your Time
While this may sound counterintuitive when learning a new game, Risk of Rain Returns will actuallypunish you for taking your time. Risk of Rain Returns’sdifficulty is based on a timer, located at the top right of the screen. Over time, enemies will get stronger, meaning they can quickly out-scale you, especially if you’respending too long on one stage.
In general, it’s recommended to take aroundfive minutes to find the Teleporter and complete each stage. Try to find the Teleporter as quickly as you can will buying any items you find along the way, but don’t take too long exploring the stage, or else enemies will get too strong to handle.
Learn From Your Mistakes
Like other roguelikes, Risk of Rain Returns is a game about trying, failing, and trying again. You will probably die a lot in the first few hours of the game, and that’s to be expected. The key to success islearning from any mistakesyou may have made, like spending too long on a stage, gambling all your money into shrines, or attacking when you should have retreated.
If you’re able to keep an open mind and think about what you’re doing as you go, you’ll find yourselfimproving with each new run. Trying new things can also help; even if they don’t necessarily work out, you’ll probably learn something new about an item interaction or the Survivor you’re playing as.
Unlock New Abilities Through Providence Trials
Every Survivor in Risk of Rain Returns has at least threealternate abilitiesthat can be unlocked by completing certain challenges. These abilities offer different playstyles that may give you the edge on a run. However, if killing 3,000 enemies as Commando sounds like too much work, you may alsounlock abilities through Providence Trials.
Providence Trials are short challenge stages that haveunique rules and objectives. These challenges are usually centered around the new ability you unlock upon completing them, so they double as a kind of tutorial to allow you to see the practical uses of the ability before you unlock it. If you feel like you’ve come up against a wall, try unlocking new abilities in Providence Trials.
