Risk of Rain 2 sold over four million units on PC alone by March 2021, not even counting console sales. That’s the kind of staying power few roguelikes achieve.
Within just one month of its early access release in 2019, the game had already reached the million-copy milestone. Despite being released years ago, I’m still pouring hours into this addictive loop of chaos and strategy. Furthermore, the modding community continues to breathe fresh life into RoR2 with quality-enhancing additions that transform the gameplay experience. The excitement hasn’t slowed down either—the Alloyed Collective DLC that launched back in November 2023 was just one of many updates that kept Risk of Rain 2 characters feeling fresh and challenging. After logging well over 100 hours across countless runs, I’m still discovering new Risk of Rain 2 items and combinations that change how I approach each run. Here’s why this remarkable roguelike still dominates my gaming time in 2026.
What Makes Risk of Rain 2 Unique in 2026
Image Source: Kotaku
Hopoo Games took an extraordinary risk when creating the sequel to their beloved roguelike. Instead of refining the 2D formula that made the original successful, they reimagined the entire experience in three dimensions, selling over a million copies within their first month on Steam Early Access.
From 2D to 3D: A Bold Genre Shift
The transition to 3D wasn’t originally planned—initial concepts merely involved letting players control monsters from the first game. However, as development progressed, Hopoo realized the potential for something more ambitious. “We thought it was a great way to evolve on the core experience of Risk of Rain, staying true to the experience, while having fans feel like it was an evolution worthy of a sequel,” the developers explained. This dimensional leap opened vast new design possibilities for item effects and abilities that simply weren’t possible in 2D.
Core Gameplay Loop: Loot, Survive, Repeat
The fundamental gameplay cycle remains elegantly simple: spawn, fight, collect money, open chests, acquire items, grow stronger, face tougher enemies, and repeat. Each level challenges you to find and activate a teleporter, triggering a boss battle while hordes of enemies attack your position. According to the developers, “The player never really feels safe, or like they can take a deep breath, and that is something that can keep you playing for hours at a time and not even realize it”.
Scaling Difficulty and Replay Value
What truly sets Risk of Rain 2 apart is its time-based difficulty system. The longer you spend in-game, the harder everything becomes. This creates a compelling risk-reward tension—spend more time gathering items to power up, or race against the clock to stay ahead of the difficulty curve. The scaling difficulty affects everything from enemy health and damage to spawn rates and even item costs. After completing five stages, you can either fight the final boss or “loop” back to earlier stages with significantly increased challenge. This elegant system ensures no two runs feel identical, especially when combined with the game’s vast array of items and character options.
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Survivors and Playstyles: The Heart of ROR2
Image Source: Yahoo
Playing as different survivors is what gives Risk of Rain 2 its remarkable depth. The roster has expanded dramatically since launch, offering vastly different experiences with each run.
Diverse Roster: From Commando to Operator
The journey begins with Commando, a well-rounded character with no particular weaknesses or strengths, combining mobility and offense in his tactics. His high attack speed and proc coefficient make him ideal for stacking item effects. At the other end of the spectrum sits Operator, one of the newest additions from the Alloyed Collective DLC, who excels with drones as force multipliers. Between these poles exist numerous playstyles—from Huntress’s agile, homing attacks to Loader’s Spider-Man-like grappling hooks that deliver devastating melee damage.
Unlocking New Characters Through Challenges
Each survivor requires completing specific challenges. Want to play as Acrid? You’ll need to survive the Void Fields. Fancy the Artificer? That’ll cost Lunar Coins at the Bazaar Between Time. These requirements create natural progression milestones that keep players engaged beyond single runs, gradually expanding your roster with characters that dramatically alter gameplay approaches.
How Playstyles Evolve With Item Builds
Items transform survivors in radically different ways. Engineer’s turrets inherit all his items, making Bustling Fungus essential for his defensive playstyle. Meanwhile, Commando thrives with attack speed items that trigger on-hit effects. For Void Fiend, crit items like Lens-Maker’s Glasses maintain his corruption form indefinitely, creating an entirely different experience.
Expansions and Updates That Kept It Alive
Expansions have continuously injected fresh content into Risk of Rain 2, maintaining its relevance through regular gameplay additions. These expansions have transformed the game from its original state into something far more diverse and engaging.
Survivors of the Void: Railgunner and Void Fiend
The first expansion, Survivors of the Void, landed in March 2022, introducing two distinctive characters. The Railgunner brought first-person sniping to the game, delivering devastating single-target damage from extreme distances. Additionally, the mechanically complex Void Fiend offered a corruption-based playstyle that fluctuates between controlled and corrupted forms, each with radically different abilities. This expansion also introduced Void Items that permanently alter normal items, creating fascinating build variations.
Seekers of the Storm and Alloyed Collective
Seekers of the Storm, the second expansion, added three new survivors including the Seeker, alongside 17 new items and six environments. Following this, Alloyed Collective arrived in November 2025, becoming the third major expansion. It notably included:
- Two unique survivors: Operator (a drone commander) and Drifter (a junk collector)
- Seven new environments with dynamic layouts
- 18 fresh items including meal items and temporary items
Anniversary and Quality-of-Life Updates
Throughout the years, Hopoo Games maintained momentum with free updates. The Anniversary Update reintroduced the fan-favorite Bandit from the original game, complete with shotgun and smoke bombs. It also overhauled the final stage and introduced extensive logbook updates to track lifetime stats. These quality-of-life improvements, coupled with character rebalancing and additional skill variants, ensured Risk of Rain 2 remained fresh even between major content drops.
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Mods and Community: The Secret to 100+ Hours
The modding scene has single-handedly doubled my playtime in Risk of Rain 2. Thanks to Thunderstore, installing mods has become remarkably accessible through mod managers like r2modman.
Top Mods on Thunderstore in 2026
The most downloaded Risk of Rain 2 mod remains r2modman with over 9 million downloads, followed by BepInExPack and R2API—essential foundations for most modding setups. Quality-of-life mods like BetterUI and ProperSave have become nearly mandatory for longtime players. ProperSave particularly stands out by saving progress at the start of every stage, allowing breaks during lengthy runs.
How Mods Extend Gameplay and Variety
Even in 2026, Gearbox’s Seekers of the Storm update inadvertently broke many legacy mods, yet the community quickly adapted. Players looking to enhance their experience without overhauling the game gravitate toward mods like WolfoQualityOfLife, which speeds up printers and scrappers while adding helpful buff icons. For those seeking fresh content, character mods like Chef, Enforcer, and even Sonic the Hedgehog offer entirely new playstyles.
Community Events and Multiplayer Longevity
Nevertheless, modded multiplayer remains somewhat divisive. Some players complain about joining “normal” quickmatch games only to discover modded lobbies. Others relish the collaborative chaos of shared mods like “Share Suite,” which allows teams to distribute items, money, and experience. Consequently, many veterans toggle between vanilla and modded experiences depending on their mood.
Conclusion
After spending countless hours with Risk of Rain 2, I still find myself returning to its chaotic battlefields time and again. The game stands as a testament to what happens when developers take bold risks and support their vision long-term. Certainly, the transition from 2D to 3D opened up possibilities that fundamentally changed how we experience roguelikes, creating a three-dimensional playground where items, abilities, and enemies interact in endlessly surprising ways.
The elegant difficulty scaling system remains unmatched even in 2026. Therefore, each run feels genuinely different as you balance the risk of powering up against the ticking clock of increasing challenge. Additionally, the diverse survivor roster ensures I never feel stuck in a gameplay rut – switching from Commando’s rapid-fire approach to Operator’s drone management feels like playing entirely different games.
What truly sets Risk of Rain 2 apart, however, is how Hopoo Games and now Gearbox have maintained their commitment to meaningful expansions. Rather than simply adding content, each update has thoughtfully expanded the core experience. The three major DLCs – Survivors of the Void, Seekers of the Storm, and Alloyed Collective – didn’t just add characters but fundamentally altered how players approach runs through new mechanics and item interactions.
Meanwhile, the modding community deserves equal credit for the game’s longevity. Thanks to accessible tools like r2modman, even casual players can transform their experience with quality-of-life improvements or wild new content additions. This community-driven expansion essentially creates an infinite game that adapts to exactly how you want to play.
Most games fade into memory after a few years, yet Risk of Rain 2 continues to thrive because it nailed the fundamentals so perfectly. The core loop of fighting, looting, and growing exponentially powerful still delivers that dopamine rush hundred hours later. Despite newer roguelikes flooding the market with flashier graphics or novel gimmicks, none have matched the perfect balance of chaos and strategy that keeps me coming back to this sci-fi masterpiece.
Disclaimer: This article reflects personal gameplay experiences and opinions about Risk of Rain 2. Game features, mods, and community trends mentioned may vary based on platform, updates, and individual player experiences.
FAQs
Q1. How long can a typical Risk of Rain 2 run last? A typical run can last anywhere from 30 minutes to over 2 hours, depending on your playstyle and how many stages you choose to complete. Some players have even reported runs lasting 4-5 hours or more when “looping” through stages multiple times.
Q2. Is it possible to play Risk of Rain 2 indefinitely? While you can’t play infinitely after defeating the final boss Mithrix, you can choose to “loop” back to earlier stages at the 5th stage instead of fighting him. This allows you to continue playing and scaling in difficulty for as long as you can survive.
Q3. What keeps players engaged in Risk of Rain 2 after 100+ hours? The game’s replayability comes from its diverse character roster, randomized item builds, scaling difficulty, and extensive modding community. Regular content updates, expansions, and the ability to unlock new characters and abilities also contribute to its long-term appeal.
Q4. How has Risk of Rain 2 evolved since its initial release? Since launch, the game has received multiple expansions and updates, including “Survivors of the Void,” “Seekers of the Storm,” and “Alloyed Collective.” These added new characters, items, environments, and gameplay mechanics, significantly expanding the core experience.
Q5. What makes Risk of Rain 2’s difficulty system unique? The game features a time-based difficulty scaling system where the longer a run lasts, the harder it becomes. This creates a compelling risk-reward dynamic, challenging players to balance powering up with progressing quickly enough to stay ahead of the increasing difficulty.
Disclaimer
This review reflects my personal experience with Risk of Rain 2 throughout thousands of runs. Undeniably, not every player will have identical experiences due to the game’s random nature and varied playstyles.
My enjoyment of the game stems from hundreds of hours spent mastering its mechanics, albeit others may find certain aspects frustrating. The final boss, as noted by some players, features abilities that can feel unfair rather than challenging. Moreover, the lack of respawn mechanics in multiplayer means less experienced friends might be forced to watch idly after dying until the next stage begins.
Throughout this review, I’ve emphasized the aspects I find compelling as a long-term player. Conversely, newer players might encounter a steeper learning curve before discovering what makes ROR2 special. The game excels at balancing player satisfaction in a genre designed for punishment, though some runs will inevitably feel more frustrating than rewarding.
My assessment comes from the perspective of someone who has unlocked all characters, items, and achievements—experiences that color my perception. Risk of Rain 2 may not be revolutionary in game design, yet it executes its core concepts with exceptional polish and depth. Your mileage may vary based on playstyle preferences, platform choice, and tolerance for roguelike mechanics.