Two kinds of unlock
Risk of Rain 2 unlocks options, not power, and it does it through named challenges rather than a currency. The distinction that trips people up is that “unlocking a character” and “unlocking a skill” are separate things sharing one system: clearing a challenge either adds a survivor to the select screen or opens an alternate skill in a specific slot for a survivor you already have.
Of the 20 survivors on the roster, 8 have their unlock method documented in the material collected here, and the rest are covered by the challenge list below rather than by a one-line summary. Nothing in the game is purchased with in-run gold — a challenge is the only price.
The one long unlock chain
Almost every unlock is a single challenge. The exception is Acolyte, whose unlock is a multi-stage ritual that runs through a Curio, a shrine, a boss and a fourth wave fight before you are asked to hand over a healing item. It is the only unlock in the game that reads like a quest rather than a condition.
Who is available, and who has to be earned8 of 20 states a method
| Survivor | Came from | How it is unlocked | Challenges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commando | Base game | Available from the start | 3 |
| Huntress | Base game | Available from the start | 3 |
| Bandit | Base game | — | 3 |
| MUL-T | Base game | — | 3 |
| Engineer | Base game | — | 3 |
| Artificer | Base game | — | 3 |
| REX | Base game | Unlocked through play | 3 |
| Loader | Base game | — | 3 |
| Mercenary | Base game | — | 3 |
| Acrid | Base game | — | 3 |
| Captain | Base game | — | 3 |
| Railgunner | Survivors of the Void | Available from the start of Survivors of the Void | 3 |
| Void Fiend | Survivors of the Void | — | 0 |
| Seeker | Seekers of the Storm | Available from the start of Seekers of the Storm | 3 |
| False Son | Seekers of the Storm | Unlocked through play | 0 |
| CHEF | Seekers of the Storm | — | 3 |
| Drifter | Alloyed Collective | — | — |
| Operator | Alloyed Collective | — | 0 |
| Enforcer | Hallowed Concepts | Unlocked by default with the Hallowed Concepts DLC | 0 |
| Acolyte | Hallowed Concepts | Revive her at the end of the Soulbound Threshold after beating the Anima Harvester | 0 |
Confirmed by official sources for the rows that state a method; the 12 rows showing a dash have no unlock method published in the material collected here, so no method is claimed for them. Their challenge counts are still listed below.
Every challenge, grouped by survivor42 named conditions
These names are the conditions. Clearing one opens the alternate skill attached to it for that survivor, and the challenge list on each survivor profile shows which skill sits behind which name.
Commando
- Commando: Rolling Thunder
- Commando: Godspeed
- Commando: Incorruptible
Huntress
- Huntress: Finishing Touch
- Huntress: One Shot, One Kill
- Huntress: Piercing Wind
Bandit
- Bandit: Classic Man
- Bandit: Sadist
- Bandit: B&E
MUL-T
- MUL-T: Pest Control
- MUL-T: Gotcha!
- MUL-T: Seventh Day
Engineer
- Engineer: 100% Calculated
- Engineer: Zero Sum
- Engineer: Better With Friends
Artificer
- Artificer: Massacre
- Artificer: Chunked!
- Artificer: Orbital Bombardment
REX
- REX: Bushwhacked
- REX: Dunked
- REX: Full of Life
Loader
- Loader: Swing By
- Loader: Earthshatter
- Loader: The Thunderdome
Mercenary
- Mercenary: Demon of the Skies
- Mercenary: Flash of Blades
- Mercenary: Ethereal
Acrid
- Acrid: Easy Prey
- Acrid: Bad Medicine
- Acrid: Pandemic
Captain
- Captain: Smushed
- Captain: Wanderlust
- Captain: Worth Every Penny
Railgunner
- Railgunner: Marksman
- Railgunner: Annihilator
- Railgunner: Trickshot
Seeker
- Seeker: Airborne Souls
- Seeker: Scorched Earth
- Seeker: Clear Mind
CHEF
- CHEF: It's Getting Hot In Here!
- CHEF: You've Always Been Crazy
- CHEF: Barbecued Bison Recipe Complete
Unlocking everything, in the order that works
- Start with the character you already have. Commando's challenges are the most forgiving entry point, and clearing them teaches the loop that every other challenge assumes you already know.
- Treat challenges as run goals. Most of them are phrased as something to accomplish inside a run, so picking one per run turns the unlock list into a set of objectives rather than a grind.
- Leave Acolyte for last. It is the only chain that spans several runs and needs an expansion plus a spare healing item at the end, so it is a poor first target.
- Artifacts are a separate unlock track. They are not characters or skills, and they are earned by finding codes and clearing trials rather than by challenges. The artifact loop covers that side.
What is still being collected
- The unlock method for the 12 survivors currently showing a dash, which the material collected here does not state.
- Which specific skill sits behind each challenge for the survivors whose kits are still being documented.
- Whether any challenges were added or renamed by patch 1.21 beyond the six new skills.
Frequently asked
- How do you unlock new characters in Risk of Rain 2?
- Two ways, depending on the character. Some are available the moment the game or the expansion they belong to is installed, and the rest are gated behind a specific challenge you have to clear. Nothing is bought with currency.
- Do you unlock new characters by playing?
- For the gated ones, yes — each is tied to a named challenge that describes the condition. Clearing it is what adds the character to your select screen, and that unlock is permanent.
- What are the alternate skills unlocked by?
- The same system. Each survivor has a small set of named challenges, and clearing them opens the alternate skill for a given slot rather than granting the character.
- How many unlock challenges are there?
- 42 are recorded here across the roster, at roughly three per survivor, and each one is named after the character it belongs to.
- Do you need to unlock everything to finish the game?
- No. Unlocks add options rather than power gates — a run is winnable with a starting kit. What they change is how many ways you have to approach a run, which is why collecting them is worth doing over time rather than first.