Hexes

Known Hexes2 of 14 named so far

• Hex of Strife

  Confirmed by official sources

  Gives the teleporter one Shrine of the Mountain effect — but without the extra rewards. Bigger bosses, no bonus items.

• Hex of Blindness

  Confirmed by official sources

  Restricts your vision to 96 metres, shrouding the rest of the stage in darkness.

The developer confirmed there are fourteen Hexes in total but named only these two in public material. The remaining names are being gathered from runs and community reports; until they are checked, this page lists what is confirmed rather than guessing.

How the trade works

1. 1. You pick up a Hex. It takes an inventory slot and makes the run worse — for example, Hex of Strife adds a Shrine of the Mountain effect to the teleporter without giving the extra rewards a real Shrine of the Mountain would.
2. 2. You find the exchange. The developer has deliberately kept the exact method out of public material, describing it only as something you discover during a run.
3. 3. You receive a Hallowed Item. These sit alongside the game's strongest items. Infernal Mark applies Soul Brand, which turns enemies on each other; Dream Crucible absorbs a cooldown or consumption once per stage.

Why take a Hex at all

The trade only makes sense if the Hallowed Item on the other side is worth more than the pain you carried to get it. Hallowed Items are described as sitting among the strongest items in the game, so the calculation is usually: how much can my build absorb right now, and can I reach the exchange before the Hex costs me the run?

That makes Hexes a tempo decision rather than a power decision. Early on, when a run is fragile and your item count is low, a Hex that inflates a boss or blinds you has the highest chance of ending things. Later, once your build already answers the stage's threats, the same Hex is far cheaper. Reading which stage you are on matters as much as reading the Hex.

Costing the two known Hexes

The “where it hurts most” column is our reading of the mechanic, not a developer statement — treat it as a starting point for your own judgement rather than a rule.

Hexes next to the rest of the game

Hallowed Concepts is not the first expansion to hand out power with a catch. Void Cradles, Halcyon Shrines, Computational Exchange and drone buffs all let a run snowball while asking for very little in return. The developer has said this expansion deliberately sharpens both halves of that bargain instead of softening it: the steal is bigger, and so is the risk. Hexes are the clearest expression of that intent, because a Hex gives you nothing at all until you convert it.

Practically, that means Hexes behave more like a debt than an item. They occupy attention as well as an inventory slot, and the correct play is often to route toward the exchange early rather than to play around the penalty for a whole stage cycle.

The developer's own walkthrough

Risk of Rain

The developer's own explanation of what Hexes are and why anyone would carry one

• States the design intent in one line: Hexes exist to make a run harder, with negative effects and no upside at all.
• Describes Hex of Strife as giving the teleporter a Shrine of the Mountain effect without the rewards that normally come with it.
• Describes Hex of Blindness as cutting vision down to a fixed radius and shrouding the rest of the stage.
• Presents Hallowed Items as the other half of the bargain, and says the exchange method itself was being kept secret at the time.