Risk of Rain 2 Item and Synergy Guide

Risk of Rain 2 throws a wild mix of items your way, each with its own effects and hidden potential. Maybe you’ve picked up a stack of Tri-Tip Daggers or found yourself juggling several Lunar items, but wondered why some runs feel unstoppable, while others end in a quick defeat. Understanding how items interact—whether it’s combining crowbars with on-hit effects or figuring out just how crazy things get with a few 57 Leaf Clovers—can make all the difference. Knowing which item combinations break the game open and which just clutter your inventory turns each run from a game of chance into something a little more strategic, and a lot more fun.

Item Tier List

Not all Risk of Rain 2 items are created equal. Some will carry you to late-game godhood, while others… you’ll wish you left on the ground. Here’s a straightforward tier list to help you decide what’s worth picking up, what’s situational, and what might actually make your run tougher. These groupings are based on overall power, usefulness across survivors, and how they fit into the wild chaos of most runs.

S Tier – Absolute Game-Changers

These items turn decent runs into power trips, no matter your survivor or build.

57 Leaf Clover Converts random chance effects into near-certainty. On-kill procs, crit chance, and healing all benefit, making unlucky streaks a thing of the past. Stacking only makes it better.
Gods of On-Hit: Ukelele, Brilliant Behemoth, AtG Missile Mk. 1 Ukelele chains attacks for massive crowd control. Behemoth gives all your hits an explosion. AtG Missiles pile on bonus single-target damage. They shred mobs and bosses alike.
Shatterspleen Adds explosive bleed on crits. Bleeding enemies now go out with a bang, melting huge health pools.
Alien Head & Hardlight Afterburner Lower skill cooldowns (Alien Head) or give extra skill charges (Afterburner). These let skill-based characters spam strong moves nonstop.
Brainstalks For five seconds after killing an elite, all skills have no cooldown. Turns a single kill into a tidal wave of attacks in heavy fights.
Gesture of the Drowned Automatically uses your equipment off cooldown and reduces its cooldown, letting you fire off powerful gear with almost no downtime (just be careful which equipment you pair it with!).

A Tier – Consistently Strong Picks

These items boost survivability or damage in most builds and work well with stacking.

Harvester's Scythe & Predatory Instincts Both scale with crit chance. Free healing on crit (Scythe) or bonus attack speed (Predatory). Combined with lens-makers, they’re excellent pickups.
Tougher Times The teddy bear. Blocks incoming hits, saving your life when it matters most, especially when stacked high.
Soldier’s Syringe & Backup Magazine Faster attack speed (Syringe) allows more on-hit effects. Backup Mags give extra secondary skill uses, huge for certain survivors.
Infusion Permanently increases your health for each kill, especially powerful early on or if you’re clearing lots of mobs.
Will-o'-the-wisp & Gasoline Both cause area-of-effect explosions on kill. Will-o'-the-wisp covers the whole screen at high stacks.
Hopoo Feather & Wax Quail Extra jumps (Feather) or fast horizontal movement from jumping (Quail) dramatically increase maneuverability and let you dodge attacks with ease.

B Tier – Good, but Needs the Right Context

Solid choices but not run-defining unless stacked or paired with other effects.

Tri-Tip Dagger Bleed on hit is solid for speedy attackers, but falls off against single bosses without stacking.
Crowbar Massive boost to opening damage on healthy enemies, but less useful after the first hit.
Focus Crystal Only helps in close range. Great on melee survivors, not as great for ranged.
Energy Drink Sprint speed boost helps dodging and map traversal. Not vital, but always nice.
Bustling Fungus Heals you and allies while standing still. Insane for stationary styles (like Engineer turrets). Useless on mobile survivors.

C Tier – Situational or Outclassed

You’ll pick these if there’s nothing better, or if you have a niche build in mind.

Medkit & Cautious Slug Extra healing, but most damage comes in big spikes. You'll rarely notice these making the difference.
Personal Shield Generator A bit more health, but it doesn’t scale and disappears quickly when taking damage.
Stun Grenade Occasional stuns help vs. swarms, but become less valuable at higher difficulty levels.
Bandolier Dropping an ammo pack to refresh cooldowns can be clutch, but it’s random and best with lots of kills.

D Tier – Avoid Unless You’re Desperate

These items barely move the needle or have major drawbacks.

Bundle of Fireworks Fires off a volley when opening chests, which is rare late-game. DPS is unreliable.
Recycler Useful only when you’re desperate for a reroll and nothing else good spawns.
Monster Tooth Drops healing orbs on kills, but isn’t noticeable in tough boss fights.
Warbanner Grants a temporary buff at level up, but you quickly outpace its usefulness.

Notes on Lunar and Boss Items

Lunar Items: Many are double-edged swords. Gesture of the Drowned is top tier, Shaped Glass can be great with high skill but dangerous, and Transcendence completely changes how you heal. Always read their effects carefully.
Boss Items: Most are worth picking up, but prioritize Shatterspleen, Resonance Disc, and Planula. Others like Genesis Loop or Queen’s Gland can be situational.

Stacking Items: When One Isn't Enough

Risk of Rain 2 rewards collecting multiples of the best items. Stacking Soldier’s Syringe is a classic for attack speed monsters. Will-o'-the-wisp or Gasoline cover huge areas with explosions once you stack several. Items like Tougher Times and 57 Leaf Clover become exponentially more reliable (and broken) at higher stacks.

Not every item will win you the run, but picking the right ones can mean the difference between a legendary finish and an early defeat. Use this list as a quick guide to prioritize what you grab, and remember: luck still plays a part—so make each pickup count!

Lunar Item Guide

Lunar items in Risk of Rain 2 break the usual rules. Most come with major power… and major drawbacks. Unlike regular loot, you buy them from Lunar Pods using Lunar Coins or trade at the Bazaar Between Time’s Lunar Seer. Picking the right ones can make you feel unstoppable—or ruin a promising run. Here’s how they work and what to watch for.

What Makes Lunar Items Unique

Blue rarity: Always found in Lunar Pods, never normal chests.
High risk, high reward: Every Lunar item brings big benefits, but with a tradeoff that often changes how you play.
Can’t scrap: You can’t turn them into scrap to trade at scrappers, so once you take it, you’re stuck with it.

Learning whether to take (or skip!) a Lunar item is part of mastering the game. Let’s break down some of the most important ones you’ll see, plus strategies for fitting them into a run.

Must-Know Lunar Items

Gesture of the Drowned

Effect: Equipment activates automatically whenever it’s off cooldown, and cooldown is reduced.
Downside: No manual control—could trigger at the wrong moment or waste charges.
Best for: Equipment with consistent, low-risk effects (e.g., Royal Capacitor, Forgive Me Please).
Avoid with: Anything you want precise timing on, like Fuel Array or Blast Shower.

Shaped Glass

Effect: Doubles your damage.
Downside: Halves your max health each time you stack it. Stack twice, you’re at 25% health.
Best for: Confident dodgers, glass cannon builds, anything built around avoiding damage or deleting bosses instantly.
Watch out: A single enemy hit can end your run if you’re careless, especially at higher stacks.

Transcendence

Effect: Converts all but one HP into regenerating shields. Boosts total shield amount.
Downside: No more natural healing; most on-hit healing won’t work, but shield recharges after not being hit.
Best for: Characters with ways to block or avoid big hits, or items that help regenerate shields.
Things to know: Items that heal shields (like Bustling Fungus on turrets or N’kuhana’s Opinion) become better. Medkits and Lifesteal do nothing.

Corpsebloom

Effect: All healing is doubled.
Downside: You only heal for 10% of the effect per second, instead of instantly. Healing over time stacks up, but takes longer to reach full.
Best for: Survivors who avoid burst damage or can shield themselves in between hits.
Potential issue: If you get hit often, slow healing means you may die before the healing has time to catch up.

Brittle Crown

Effect: Gain gold when hitting enemies.
Downside: Lose a percent of gold whenever you get hit.
Best for: High-damage, ranged survivors who rarely get hit, farming money quickly on early stages.
Not for: Players who struggle with dodging or tank hits. Getting swarmed wipes your wallet fast.

Purity

Effect: Reduces all skill and equipment cooldowns.
Downside: All random effects are now less lucky (your “proc chance” drops to 1/2—no more chains of luck).
Great on: Characters with powerful, reliable skills and weak proc-based builds.
Problems: Ukelele, AtG Missiles, 57 Leaf Clover, and other RNG-based effects become unreliable.

Beads of Fealty

Effect: Does nothing—by itself.
Secret: Use them at the Bazaar Between Time and choose the ‘Obliterate’ option for a secret boss and an extra ending (and skin unlocks).
Tip: Only pick up if you’re aiming for that special event.

Other Notable Lunar Items

Here’s a quick rundown of the rest, and how they might shape your run:

Effigy of Grief: Places a slowing field that affects both you and enemies. Borderline troll item, rarely helpful.
Mercurial Rachis: Drops a buff zone that moves around, granting +50% damage. Trouble is, it helps monsters, too.
Strides of Heresy: Replaces your Utility skill with a short invisibility/heal over time. Strong on survivors with a weak default Utility.
Hooks of Heresy / Visions of Heresy: Replace other skills with new attacks (replacing secondary or primary, respectively). These sometimes suit a character better or worse depending on playstyle.
Defiant Gouge: Lunar interactables spawn more enemies, but reward more loot for surviving. Turn up the difficulty for more payout—sometimes worth it, sometimes deadly.
Egon’s Uncertainty: Randomizes your stats on taking damage. Consistency goes out the window—not recommended unless you like chaos.

Strategies for Lunar Items

Synergy and Stacking

Stacking Lunar items usually makes both their positive and negative effects stronger. Shaped Glass, for example, can eventually cut your health to almost zero if you’re greedy. Multiple Gestures make equipment cycle faster, but you have even less control. Keep this in mind when taking extra copies: sometimes the power isn’t worth the price.

Swapping and Removing Lunar Items

If you regret grabbing a Lunar item, the Bazaar Between Time offers a Lunar Cleansing Pool. Dump three items in to receive a Pearl or Irradiant Pearl, which beef up your survivor without side effects. This is a rare, lucky break—don’t count on finding a pool every run.

Lunar Items That Change Your Playstyle

Some Lunars, like Transcendence or Shaped Glass, mean you have to rethink how you approach combat. Slow, deliberate movement and positioning matter more. Corpsebloom, on the other hand, asks you to avoid burst damage at all costs or rely on defensive powers. If a run offers lots of healing, maybe skip Corpsebloom. If you’re finding good shields, Transcendence can shine.

Key Takeaways

Lunar items can make or break a run. Assess risks carefully, especially if you already have a lot of health, healing, or proc-based effects.
Know your survivor. Not every item suits every style. Loader or Mercenary might handle Shaped Glass, but maybe not MUL-T.
Cleanse when needed. If you’re desperate to get rid of a Lunar burden, keep an eye out for the Cleansing Pool.
Plan around what you pick up. A Lunar item often shapes your strategy for the whole game.

Choose wisely—and sometimes, the wildest risk pays off the most.

Void Item Guide

Void Items in Risk of Rain 2 add a strange flavor to your runs: they’re corrupted versions of common or rare items, each with a huge upside—but a major tradeoff. When you pick up a Void Item, it instantly transforms all copies of its non-Void counterpart in your inventory. That means you can’t stack both effects; it’s one or the other for your whole run. Some Void Items are total game-changers, and a few can straight-up sabotage your build if you’re not paying attention. Let’s break down how these items work, which are must-picks, and which are better left in their purple pods.

How Void Items Work

Void Items were introduced in the Survivors of the Void expansion. You’ll find them in purple Void Cradles scattered around the map—or rarely as drops from Void enemies and bosses. Picking one up corrupts all your existing versions of its "base" item, changing the effect permanently on that run. You never lose an item slot—just the original effect.

Key Points

The swap is instant and total. If you grab a Void item that corrupts your stack of Lens-Maker's Glasses, every Glasses you have turn into the Void version.
Void Items can be stacked, and often the effect gets stronger (or downside gets nastier) the more you have.
Some Void Items are strict upgrades, while others only suit certain survivors or playstyles.

Let’s go through the most impactful Void Items, grouped by how they change core mechanics.

Damage and Proc-Based Void Items

Polylute (Corrupts Ukulele)

Effect: Striking an enemy zaps 3 (plus 2 per stack) targets with 60% total damage, but only if they’re below 35% health.
Playstyle Note: Less reliable for crowd clear, but deadly for finishing off low-health mobs and bosses.
When to grab: If you find yourself needing more boss melter power and you don’t rely on Ukulele’s consistent AoE.

Singularity Band (Corrupts Kjaro’s/Burner Bands)

Effect: Instead of random fire/freeze procs, creates a black hole sucking in enemies for a short time when you deal high burst damage (similar proc conditions to Bands).
Big Upside: Helps group enemies for team or grenade spamming, but you lose chunked fire/ice bursts.
Recommended for: Builds with big single hits, like Loader punch or Huntress ballista.

Plasma Shrimp (Corrupts AtG Missile Mk. 1)

Effect: While shielded, every shot fires a missile. No shield? No missiles.
Best On: Survivors with lots of shields (thanks to items like Topaz Brooch, Personal Shield Generators, or Transcendence).
Watch For: If your shield is always down, you lose missile damage completely.

Healing and Defense Void Items

Weeping Fungus (Corrupts Bustling Fungus)

Effect: Heals you while sprinting instead of standing still.
Great on: Characters always on the move (basically everyone but stationary turrets).
Don’t Use With: Engineer’s turrets—they can't sprint, lose all fungus healing.

Needletick (Corrupts Tri-Tip Dagger)

Effect: 10% chance to collapse enemies for big damage over time, rather than just making them bleed.
Playstyle: Strong single-target burst, weaker for consistent chip damage or on-hit healing.
When to skip: If your build is focused on healing from bleed sources.

Voidsent Flame (Corrupts Will-o’-the-wisp)

Effect: Explodes on killing elite enemies, not regular mobs, with extra damage.
Summary: Not as consistent for mob packs, but much higher damage against tougher targets.
Best for: Boss farming or elite-heavy waves.

Utility and On-Hit Void Items

Encrusted Key (Corrupts Rusted Key)

Effect: Every stage, a hidden cache spawns a Void item instead of a Rusted one (guaranteed Void loot).
Pro: Free reliable source of Void items.
Con: No regular Rusted Key chests for green/legendary loot.

Benthic Bloom (Corrupts 57 Leaf Clover)

Effect: Upgrades 3 items at random every stage: white → green, green → red, red → boss/void/pearl.
WARNING: Uncontrollable, can steal crucial items or break build synergy.
Who Should Grab: Chaos enjoyers, or runs where you want to force red items.

Mobility and Miscellaneous Void Items

Pluripotent Larva (Corrupts Dio’s Best Friend)

Effect: Revives you once, but all your items get corrupted on revival. Essentially, you become a true Void monster.
Upside: Second chance to survive a run-ending mistake, but you lose every non-corrupted item for good.
Use If: You have lots of Void items already or you’re feeling reckless.

Safer Spaces (Corrupts Tougher Times)

Effect: Blocks 1 hit every 15 seconds. Unlike the original, it’s consistent, but doesn’t stack for more frequency.
Summary: More steady protection, but loses the chance to block tons of damage in a short time.

Tips and Synergies for Void Items

Assess What You Sacrifice

Always remember: Void Items are not additive, they’re transformative. If your build relies on an item’s classic effect—a Commando stacking Tri-Tip for bleed, or an Engineer leaning on Bustling Fungus—turning it into the Void version can gut your strategy.

Know the Survivors

Engineer: Avoid Weeping Fungus—turrets can't sprint and lose all healing.
MUL-T/Loader/Survivors with shield: Plasma Shrimp is a huge nuke upgrade.
High single-hit damage survivors: Singularity Band does wonders for grouping and damage.

Stack With Purpose

Stacking Void Items can seriously amplify their upsides. Just watch for diminishing returns: Polylute zaps more targets per stack, but only versus low-HP enemies. Needletick adds collapse damage, but doesn't stack bleed for healing builds.

Heavily Random (or "Meme") Items

Benthic Bloom introduces chaos: as it upgrades items, you might suddenly get a run flooded with reds, but you also lose control. Pluripotent Larva is a panic button for late-game runs or meme builds.

What Void Items to Avoid

Some Void items sound good but can undercut your build:

Weeping Fungus: Don’t pick if Engineer turrets are important to you.
Encrusted Key: Only pick if you prefer Void items over regular loot.
Benthic Bloom: Skip if you like a planned, stable build.

Wrapping Up: Choosing Void Items Wisely

Void Items aren’t just about power—they warp your entire approach. Sometimes they’re a straight buff, other times they shift your strategy in big ways. Before cracking open a Void Cradle, ask: “Will this item fit my survivor, my playstyle, and my current build?” Treat Void Items as big swing choices. Learning what every purple pickup actually does—and what you trade away—is key to surviving past stage five and all the way to Mithrix.

Remember: there’s power—sometimes chaos—inside every Void Cradle. Pick with care, and let the Void rewrite your run.

Synergy Guide

Synergy in Risk of Rain 2 is the key to pushing your runs from mediocre to monstrous. The game hands you dozens of items with effects that multiply—or sometimes even break—the rules when paired together. Focusing on combos instead of just picking anything shiny off the ground lets you make the most of every scavenged pickup, and can turn any survivor into a late-game boss-melter.

Let’s break down how item synergy plays out, classic pairings, some weird-but-effective combos, and tips for making your loadout punch above its weight.

How Item Synergy Works

Synergy means two (or more) items play off each other for a result that’s bigger than the sum of its parts. In Risk of Rain 2, this often means:

Triggering more procs: Stacking on-hit effects for a burst of crowd control or damage.
Multiplying healing: Chaining self-heal items and Regeneration for unkillable builds.
Fueling item-multiplied damage: Feeding triggers (like firing missiles or deploying turrets) into effects that scale with how often they go off.
Combos with cooldowns: Items that reset skills or grant bursts of power when abilities are up.

Some synergies are obvious (Bandolier + Backup Magazine). Others hide out until you experiment or see a high-level run shredding the final boss in seconds.

Classic Synergy Combos

1. “Proc-Chain” Builds

Core Items: Ukulele, AtG Missile Mk. 1, Tri-Tip Dagger, Gasoline, Will-o’-the-wisp, Polylute
How It Works: Every hit can trigger extra effects—like chain lightning, missiles, or burning explosions. With high attack speed or area-of-effect attacks, one hit leads to dozens of side effects, constantly damaging or weakening everything nearby.
Best For: Survivors with fast or multi-target attacks (Commando, MUL-T).

2. “Heal-While-You-Hit” Builds

Core Items: Leeching Seed, Harvester’s Scythe, Tri-Tip Dagger (for Bleeds), Paul’s Goat Hoof (more attacks = more procs)
How It Works: You heal every time you deal damage, especially on crits or via bleed. Perfect for survivors always in the thick of it.
Best For: Huntress, Loader, melee builds.

3. “Ultimate On-Use” Builds

Core Items: Gesture of the Drowned (automatically uses your equipment on cooldown), Fuel Cell, Recycler/Volcanic Egg/Royal Capacitor
How It Works: Stacking Gesture and Fuel Cells lets you spam equipment effects nonstop—great for constant boss nukes or speed boosts.
Best For: Any survivor—especially those who can stay mobile.

4. “Band Burst” Builds

Core Items: Runald’s Band, Kjaro’s Band, equipment with high-damage single hits (Preon Accumulator, Loader’s Fist)
How It Works: Bands fire off massive ice/fires blasts with every big hit. Stack them with cooldown reduction and high-damage skills to keep blasting repeatedly.
Best For: Loader, Huntress (Ballista), Railgunner.

5. “Infinite Sprints”

Core Items: Energy Drink, Paul’s Goat Hoof, Hopoo Feather, Wax Quail, Rose Buckler
How It Works: Run forever, jump like a rocket, and enjoy heavy damage reduction while sprinting. Get Weeping Fungus for healing at full speed.
Best For: Mercenary, Loader, Huntress.

Top Synergetic Item Interactions

Crowbar + Backup Magazine + Artificer

Extra secondary charges (Backup Magazines) let Artificer fire more charged Nanobombs, multiplying the power of Crowbar’s bonus damage on high-Hp enemies—especially effective before enemies fall below the Crowbar threshold.

Shattering Justice + Any On-hit Proc

Reduce enemy armor dramatically with Shattering Justice and increase all other on-hit effects (like bleed, burn, or missile barrages). Especially great for melting bosses and chunky elites.

Lens-Maker’s Glasses + Harvester’s Scythe + Predatory Instincts

More crit chance means more healing and attack speed when you need it most. Once you get ~8-10 Glasses, you’ll crit constantly, activating the rest of the chain non-stop.

Dio’s Best Friend + Transcendence + Jade Elephant

Survivors with these can play ultra-risky, as you’ll always have another shot (Dio’s revive) even with only shield for health. Jade Elephant gives you masses of armor to eat any hit, and Transcendence shields recharge fast.

Synergy & Void Items

Void items shake up classic combos by twisting an item’s core mechanic. If you’re running items like Plasma Shrimp (missile barrages while shielded), stack everything that gives you shields—Transcendence, Topaz Brooch, Personal Shield Generator. Combine with high-attack speed (Soldier’s Syringe, Predatory Instincts) for constant missiles.

Convert Bleed into Collapse with Needletick? Stack extra on-hit and single-target damage to maximize big collapse procs, but steer clear if you rely on life-steal from bleed.

Benthic Bloom can upend all planning, so only use if you’re open to wild changes in synergy mid-run.

Lesser-Known (But Powerful) Combos

Focus Crystal + Melee Survivors

Melee hits in close? Stack Focus Crystals for 20% extra nearby damage per item. Loader, Acrid, Mercenary, and even Captain (via his special shotgun) benefit massively here.

Shaped Glass + Transcendence

Double your damage but lose half your health—unless your “health” is all shields, which recharge anyway. You’re a glass cannon, but a rechargeable one.

Hopoo Feather + Old War Stealthkit + Wax Quail

Get a Hopoo Feather or two to double jump, Wax Quail for explosive sprint-jump, and Stealthkit to become invisible when hit. You’ll fly past mobs, dealing bonus quail-jump damage, and disappear when attacked.

Making Synergy Work for You

1. Specialize Early

As you collect white-tier (common) items, focus on one or two effects. Stack on-hit for damage, bleed for healing, or movement for speed. Diversify too much and nothing “pops.”

2. Build for Your Survivor

Remember what your Survivor does best. MUL-T and Commando want attacks-per-second. Loader and Huntress want big hits and on-kill bursts. Acrid? Poison and area damage.

3. Look for ‘Trigger’ and ‘Effect’ Items

Some items are good for triggering effects (like primary attacks), others for multiplying the result (like every missile on a proc-on-hit). Both sides matter.

4. Don’t Undervalue Movement

A slick combo only works if you can stay alive to use it. Movement speed, jumps, and shield items have sneaky synergy with almost every build—offense, defense, or utility.

5. Adapt as You Loot

Every run deals random drops. Flex your strategy as items roll in, and always check for new synergies. Sometimes the “off-meta” combo will be your best path to a deep-stage run.

Synergy is where the game really opens up. Focus your pickups, experiment with item chains, and watch for combos that turbocharge your strengths or cover your weaknesses. Every combo discovered is one more way to finish a run in style.

Best Items for Each Character

Risk of Rain 2’s cast is packed with playstyles, and they don’t get equal value from every item. Picking the right gear is the difference between ‘barely scraping by’ and ‘lasering Mythrix off the map in seconds.’ Here’s a survivor-by-survivor guide to must-have items for every character—what to prioritize, what to skip, and what truly transforms a run.

Commando

Commando shines with consistent, rapid-fire attacks. His best items push on-hit effects and crit scaling.

Must-Haves:
- Soldier’s Syringe: Increases fire rate—great for triggering more on-hit.
- Tri-Tip Dagger: Stacks up tons of bleeds with his fast attacks.
- Lens-Maker’s Glasses: Crit chance activates bonus effects on his reliable output.
- Ukulele: Outgoing hits chain to nearby enemies—more shots, more chain lightning.
- Predatory Instincts: High crit gives attack speed, further boosting his DPS.
Skip: Focus Crystal—he can’t stay close enough for melee buffs.
Legendary Picks: Brilliant Behemoth (AOE), Shattering Justice (armor shred for bosses).

Huntress

Huntress is about mobility and high single-target hits, with some splash. Prioritize anything that boosts her short cooldowns or one-shot potential.

Must-Haves:
- Paul’s Goat Hoof and Energy Drink: Amplify her movement for hit-and-run.
- Backup Magazine: Gives more charges for Laser Glaive—insane room clear.
- Harvester’s Scythe: Pairs with her high crit for lifesteal.
- Runald’s Band/ Kjaro’s Band: Glaive and Arrow Rain reliably trigger bands.
- Crowbar: First-hit big damage applies on Glaive and primary.
Skip: Tougher Times if you favor dodging; she’s not built for standing still.
Legendary Picks: Alien Head (CDR), Clover (chance), Sentient Meat Hook (combined attack).

MUL-T

MUL-T cranks out the hits with double equipment slots and built-in attacks-per-second. He’s the ultimate on-hit platform.

Must-Haves:
- Disposable Missile Launcher: Autotriggers with Gesture for continuous barrages.
- ATG Missile Mk. 1: More on-hit missiles, scales with as many as you stack.
- Fuel Cell: Lets him double up on equipment use.
- Sticky Bomb: Massive on-hit potential with rapid attacks.
- Old Guillotine: MELTS bosses and elites that regularly appear.
Skip: Crowbar—benefits less thanks to chip-damage weapons.
Legendary Picks: Unstable Tesla Coil, Wake of Vultures.

Engineer

Engineer relies on turrets to do most of the work—so build for them, not yourself.

Must-Haves:
- Bustling Fungus: Every placed turret becomes a healing station.
- Infusion: Passively maxes out turret HP.
- Lens-Maker’s Glasses: Makes turrets crit, multiplying their firepower.
- N’kuhana’s Opinion: Converts Fungus healing from turrets to more offense.
- Shattering Justice: Turrets shred armor for you.
Skip: Movement items don’t help turrets, so don’t over-prioritize.
Legendary Picks: Aegis (mass over-healing), Dio’s Best Friend (turret “revive”).

Artificer

Artificer lands big, slow hits. Stack everything that amps burst or rewards cooldown management.

Must-Haves:
- Backup Magazine: Lets her chain more Charged Nanobombs.
- Crowbar: Multiplies her opener’s punch.
- Bandolier: Restores cooldowns on kill for non-stop spells.
- Will-o’-the-wisp: Blasts packs when kills trigger explosions.
- Runald’s/Kjaro’s Bands: Big damage hits trigger bonus bursts.
Skip: Bleed—she doesn’t attack often enough.
Legendary Picks: Hardlight Afterburner (extra utility), Brainstalks (spam everything).

Mercenary

Mercenary revolves around short-range burst and staying untouchable. Think movement, healing, and on-kill to keep his flow going.

Must-Haves:
- Harvester’s Scythe: Scales with his crit-heavy style for tons of sustain.
- Focus Crystal: His skills happen up close; pack these and melt elites.
- Wax Quail: Let’s him chain jumps, combos with dashes.
- Leeching Seed: Converts burst to healing.
- Old War Stealthkit: Free escape when hit.
Skip: Crowbar—wants sustained, not single-hit.
Legendary Picks: Alien Head, Frost Relic (safety in melee).

Loader

Loader is all about single, super-charged hits and pure melee mayhem.

Must-Haves:
- Focus Crystal: Her entire kit is face-to-face.
- Crowbar: Her charged punch triggers huge bonus damage.
- Infusion: Loads of HP for her up-close risk.
- Topaz Brooch: Shields add essential safety.
- Bands: Her punch triggers Band bursts every time.
Skip: Attack speed items—most of her value’s in cooldowns and one-shots.
Legendary Picks: Unstable Tesla Coil, Shattering Justice.

Acrid

Acrid spreads poison, then finishes with big AoE and dot ticks.

Must-Haves:
- Tri-Tip Dagger: Extra bleed stacks turn bites into HP bars melting.
- Focus Crystal: Always in melee range.
- Harvester’s Scythe: Poison isn’t affected by crit, but Frenzied Leap and basic attacks love it.
- Infusion: Scalable health pool.
- Leeching Seed: Extra healing from attacks (including poison’s damage ticks).
Skip: Missile items—not built for attack speed.
Legendary Picks: Rejuvenation Rack (momentum healing), Aegis.

Captain

Captain supports the squad, and is funky—shotgun primary, utility air drop.

Must-Haves:
- Backup Magazine: Gives more Defensive Microbots.
- Crowbar: Shotgun can open with chunky hits.
- Shattering Justice: Debuffs bosses for the squad.
- Lens-Maker’s Glasses: Crit for multi-pellet buckshot and supporting biggest hits.
- Fuel Cell: More Beacon drops.
Skip: Melee-only items, unless using special builds.
Legendary Picks: Defensive Matrix, Hardlight Afterburner.

Bandit

Bandit thrives with burst crit and getting resets for his high-DPS finishers.

Must-Haves:
- Predatory Instincts: Stacks attack speed off crits, pairs with his playstyle.
- Lens-Maker’s Glasses: Maximizes crit chance.
- Harvester’s Scythe: Self-healing for risky ult chain.
- Backup Magazine: More secondary shots for damage spikes.
- Crowbar: His secondary and Skskulker hit hard early.
Skip: Area damage like Will-o’-the-wisp—he's better at single targets.
Legendary Picks: Brainstalks, Shattering Justice.

Heretic

Heretic is a hidden survivor with high mobility, stacking HP, and built-in debuffs.

Must-Haves:
- Infusion: Keeps scaling her health.
- Harvester’s Scythe: Regular crits sync well with all attacks.
- Will-o'-the-wisp: High kill count = area bursts.
- Energy Drink: Pushes movement over the top.
- Lens-Maker’s Glasses: Always relevant.
Skip: Queen’s Gland, unless focused on swarming.
Legendary Picks: 57 Leaf Clover, Dio’s Best Friend.

Railgunner

Railgunner is all about perfect aim and raw crit damage—certain items are way more important.

Must-Haves:
- Lens-Maker’s Glasses have no effect; skip them.
- Focus Crystal: Big hits up close apply twice with Supercharge.
- Crowbar: Maximizes one-shot power.
- Bands: Supercharge and charged shots trigger them.
- Backup Magazine: Let's her spam secondary more.
Skip: Crit items (except Predatory Instincts for attack speed).
Legendary Picks: Brilliant Behemoth, Shattering Justice.

Void Fiend

Void Fiend can range swap for burst or dot style.

Must-Haves:
- Infusion: Matches his scaling health pool.
- N’kuhana’s Opinion: Uses his healing well.
- Predatory Instincts: Flips attack speed up.
- Bands: Benefit his secondary’s single-hit.
- Will-o’-the-wisp: Triggered by range attacks.
Skip: On-kill items that don’t scale with his toolkit.
Legendary Picks: Defiant Gouge, Frost Relic.

Quick Tips for All Survivors

Prioritize movement—speed, jumps, and mobility save more runs than raw damage.
Survivors with ranged basics love on-hit triggers; melee users scale best with Focus Crystal and on-kill.
Crowbar, Bands, and Glasses fit nearly all, but don’t force square pegs into round holes—work with strengths.
Some items (Dio’s, Clover, Behemoth) never hurt, and always consider taking one if you find it.

Matching survivor kits with the right loot turns a tough run into a highlight reel. Watch your pickups, sync your strategy, and turn every drop into a new reason to make the next boss panic. Good luck out there!