Risk of Rain unlock all characters - characteres standing outside the drop pod.

Risk of Rain Returns characters – how to unlock them all

If you’re looking to unlock all characters in Risk of Rain Returns, you’re at the right place. Let’s go through everything you need to know. In total, there are 14 unlockable characters in the game and each one requires completing different tasks. Since each one also comes with different weapons and gameplay mechanics, they add replayability to the game and allow you to experiment until you find your favorite character. Let’s see how to unlock them all.

Risk of Rain unlock all characters - exploring one of the maps in the game.

Enforcer

To unlock the Enforcer, you must kill the Wandering Vagrant, the Colossus, and the Magma Worm bosses. This can be completed in multiple playthroughs, so you’ll get it eventually while playing the game normally. If you need help with these, check out our guide on how to find hidden event bosses in Risk of Rain Returns.

Bandit

The Bandit is the easiest character to unlock since you will get him once you complete Stage 3 in any difficulty.

HAN-D

After beating Stage 5, teleport to the final level ‘Risk of Rain’. To unlock HAN-D head to the far left of the stage and access the second room from the top. Within this room, look for a destroyed gray container and interact with it to unlock the Robot Janitor.

Engineer

The Engineer is unlocked once you purchase 40 drones across all your runs.

Miner

To unlock the Miner in RoRR, head to the Magma Barracks and travel to the bottom right corner. If you’re in the right variation, you should find a magma pool with a tunnel. Enter the tunnel, defeat the Lemurian, and you’ll unlock the Miner.

Sniper

You will unlock the Sniper once you beat the final boss (Providence) for the first time.

Acrid

To unlock Acrid in Risk of Rain Returns, head to the top right corner of Sunken Tomb. Look for a crate on that corner and break it to free Acrid. However, you will need to defeat him before he is unlocked.

Mercenary

The Mercenary will be unlocked once you beat the game five times in any difficulty, with any character.

Loader

To unlock the Loader, you must collect 30 unique items in a single run. This is fairly easy, especially since the final stage is full of item chests.

Chef

To unlock the Chef character in Risk of Rain Returns, you must find the following items in a single run:

  • Bustling Fungus
  • Meat Nugget
  • Sprouting Egg
  • Foreign Fruit
  • Bitter Root

To make this easier, consider using the Artifact of Command before starting your run.

Pilot

To unlock the Pilot, you need to collect 15 Monster Logs. This can be done in multiple runs, and they drop after defeating bosses randomly, so take your time and you’ll unlock him eventually.

Artificer

To unlock the Artificer, you must complete 10 unique stages (including variations of the same stage). Keep playing and you’ll unlock her eventually.

Drifter

The Drifter can be unlocked by recycling 6 drones in a single playthrough. Just bring them to a drone recycler which can spawn randomly anywhere, and that’s all.

Robomando

The last of the unlockable characters in Risk of Rain Returns is Robomando, who is also the hardest to unlock. To unlock Robomando in RoRR, play on Drizzle difficulty and get the Strange Battery from a jar on the far right of the Temple of Elders. Find the Rift Chest in the Final Stage by jumping down on the far right of the map, hugging the left wall, and placing the battery there. Die or complete the run.

Then, start another playthrough on Rainstorm difficulty, find the same Rift Chest on Stage 2, and defeat the boss on Stage 3. After the boss, access the teleport only when the timer is between 22 and 23 minutes and look for a green arrow. Head there, activate the robot, and die to it. Once you die, you will unlock Robomando.

To summarize, these are all the Risk of Rain Returns characters and everything you need to know on how to unlock them. Most can be unlocked by playing the game normally. However, some characters such as Robomando, will require following very specific steps and are impossible to get without a guide. Before leaving, consider checking out our guide on all Risk of Rain Returns differences compared to the original game to see if you’ve noticed all of them.

Harry Mourtzanakis

Harry has been a gaming fan ever since the days of Gameboy Advance and over the past 20 years, the one thing that has remained stable is his love for anything video game-related. Nowadays, you'll see him enjoying almost any type of game including FPS, survival, RPG, farming sims, and soulslike titles. Sometimes it’s all about action and intense fights, and others it’s better to relax in a cozy farmhouse. Combined with his Master's in Philosophy, Harry is able to share his passion for gaming through guides, reviews, and more.