Risk of Rain 2 – All Items Tier List

Ranking of all the items in Risk of Rain 2, including commons, uncommons, legendaries, and actives (plus advice!).

Other Risk of Rain 2 Guides:

• How to Unlock All Characters.
• Beginner’s Guide (Tips and Tricks).
• Altar of Gold, Gilded Coast and the Aurelionite.
• How to Restore Your Unlocks.
• Shrine / Environment Guide.
• How to Find Teleporters.
• Newt Alter locations.
• Mercenary Guide.
• Engineer Guide.
• Artificer Guide.

Intro

All credit goes to Jcyguas!

This guide is organized by way of quality, so white items will have their own list, so will green, red, etc. This is because S TIER would be dominated by red items only if they were all in one category. Plus, the higher quality items are obviously better than the lower quality items.

Furthermore, certain items are especially good on certain characters. This will be notated under the description of the item if so.

Whites

S Tier

These are the items you really want to fish for on any character. They all stack very well, so if you come across a 3D Printer with one of these, don’t be afraid to grab a few extra.

Lens-Maker’s Glasses

• Your attacks have a chance to critically strike.
• This is just a straight damage increase. Each stack, you gain an additional 10% chance to deal double damage. The more of this, the better.

Tri-Tip Dagger

• Your attacks have a chance to cause the enemy to bleed.
• This is a really great item, especially when stacked a few times. The extra damage ticks may not seem like a lot, but with a few stacks of this item, basically every hit will cause a bleed.

Backup Magazine

• Add 1 charge of secondary skill.
• What a great item! In a white! Depending on your class, this could be more powerful. Gives you another charge of your RMB ability, which STACKS.

Sticky Bomb

• Chance on hit to attach a detonating bomb.
• This item is excellent on classes with high attack speed. Essentially makes your attacks do AOE. Both the chance on hit and the damage stack. Especially powerful on Engineer.

Armor Piercing Rounds

• Deal additional damage to bosses.
• Some will disagree with me here, but this item is incredible for downing bosses. 20% is a pretty hefty boost, which stacks +10% per item.

A Tier

You should be happy to get these items, but don’t go too far out of your way.

Soldier’s Syringe

• Increases attack speed.
• Honestly this is a great item on most classes. Some could argue for S Tier. Faster attack speed means things die faster. Wow!

Tougher Times

• Chance to block incoming damage.
• Don’t sleep on the teddy bear. The teddy bear WILL save your life and you won’t even realize it. Has the potential to block deadly attacks. Great item.

Personal Shield Generator

• Gain a shield that recharges outside of danger.
• You can’t go wrong with extra health. The shields recharge faster than you normally gain health.

Crowbar

• Deal extra damage to enemies near full health.
• This makes killing enemies quite a bit easier. When stacked high, the damage can be pretty insane. Helpful on Artificer or sniper robot, but useful on all characters.

Bustling Fungus

• After standing still, heals yourself and your allies.
• Really good item that can save your life. You do have to stand still for 2 seconds to get it to proc, but the healing is pretty strong. Just make sure to find some cover first. With Engineer, this item applies to your turrets!

Medkit

• Regain health after being hurt.
• This is one of the better healing items because it is active in combat. In late game, the effect is pretty negligible, but it’s great for a while.

B Tier

These are pretty good items.

Stun Grenade

• Chance on hit to stun enemies.
• Really good on characters with a ton of attacks, such as the Engineer or robot. The CC is good for interrupting deadly attacks. When stacked, you can stun-lock enemies if paired with Soldier’s Syringe.

Cautious Slug

• Increase health regen while out of combat.
• People really love the slug but I kind of disagree. The health regen is nice while you’re moving from mob-to-mob or looting, but I would greatly prefer healing items that help me out in combat.

Gasoline

• Killing an enemy sets nearby enemies on fire.
• This item seems like it would be very good, but I’ve found it to be pretty lackluster. It does, however, help quite a bit when stacked high. There are better options for AOE damage.

C Tier

Monster Tooth

• Killing an enemy spawns a healing globe.
• After going on about in-combat healing, you would think this item would be higher ranked. But each globe only gives 10hp (+5 per stack), which is very low, especially when you have 1000+ hp at higher levels. Plus, enemies take longer to kill once the difficulty ramps up.

Paul’s Goat Hoof

• Increases movement speed.
• Honestly this item is pretty handy, but most of your dodging will come from other abilities or items. You will inevitably get this item in your run anyway, but don’t go crazy for it.

Warbanner

• AOE buff that strengthens attack and movement speed. Drops down on level-up.
• You’re going to get this item every run, and the effect is pretty powerful. But the inconsistency of the proc is impossible to rely upon, and the stacking effect only applies to the radius of the banner and not its buff.

Energy Drink

• Increases sprint speed.
• Not a terrible item. Helps you get around faster, especially if your playing one of the more slow classes.

Rusted Key

• Allows you to open hidden lockboxes.
• The extra loot is of course nice, but when you get a key you kind of have to go out of your way to find the lockbox. I would rather just get an item. BUT the rarity of the loot inside the lockbox increases per stack.

D Tier

Bundle of Fireworks

• Opening a chest causes missiles to launch towards nearby enemies.
• The added damage is pretty nice, and the missiles can hit hard if they all go on one mob. But it’s reliant upon your opening of chests, which may or may not occur in combat or near difficult enemies.

Greens

S Tier

These are the items you really want to fish for on any character. They all stack very well, so be very glad if you get more than one!

AtG Missile Mk. 1

• Chance to fire a missile.
• Really an excellent item that stacks well. Stacks add +300% damage/stack, so having a few of these can really nuke down mobs. Best thing is you don’t have to worry about hitting anything!

Will-o’-the-Wisp

• Does a bunch of AOE damage upon killing an enemy.
• If you can get a few of these, or even just one, your AOE damage will be incredible. Packs of enemies will quake in their boots just looking at you. This item stacks bigly.

Leeching Seed

• Dealing damage heals you.
• Here’s the healing item you really want. It won’t save you in a pinch, but it will sustain you for long fights where you probably shouldn’t live otherwise.

Infusion

• Killing and enemy permanently increases your health by 1, up to 100 (+100 per stack).
• Damn good item. I’ve seen dudes go hard for Infusions. If you get a 3D printer with on of these bad bears, grab at least 3. The extra health goes so far.

A Tier

You should be happy to get these items, but don’t go too far out of your way.

Hopoo Feather

• Gives you an extra jump.
• Very good item. Gives you an extra jump per stack. Be careful of falling damage above 3 jumps, however.

Predatory Instincts

• Critical strikes increase attack speed, which caps at 30% (+30% per stack).
• This item CAN be really good with the right supporting items. By itself it’s pretty bland, but with high crit chance and attack speed from whites, this item can push you into absurd damage levels.

Harvester’s Scythe

• Gives you crit chance and causes your crits to heal for a hefty amount.
• Honestly this is an amazing item with high crit items working in tandem. At high crit levels the healing will be insane. But you have to complete a Prismatic Trial in order to unlock this item.

Fuel Cell

• Gives +1 equipment charge.
• This is a great item! Depending on your equipment of course. An extra foreign fruit can save your life, or an extra damage equipment charge can help you nuke bosses.

Kjaro’s Band

• Chance on hit to strike enemy with a fire tornado, doing 500% damage.
• The damage is very high when procced. You do however have to do the Abandoned Aqueduct event in order to get the two bands, which is reliant on RNG.

B Tier

These are pretty good items.

Ukulele

• 25% chance to fire chain lightning for 80% damage on up to 3 (+2 per stack) targets within 20m (+2m per stack).
• The increased damage is really nice. I find these pretty commonly, so chances are you’ll have one or two in most runs. Can’t complain, more AOE!

Old War Stealth Kit

• Grants invisibility upon taking heavy damage.
• This item is pretty good as it allows a few moments for you to find cover or heal after taking a hard hit. The chance for it to proc increases the more damage you take.

Berzerker’s Pauldron

• Killing 3 enemies in 1 second increases attack and movement speed for 6s.
• Not a bad item at all. If you’ve got a lot of AOE, this will proc more often than you would assume.

Runald’s Band

• Chance on hit to strike enemy with an ice blast, doing 250% damage and slowing.
• Not as great as Kjaro’s Band, but the slow is nice. Although it is only an 8% chance, just as with Kjaro’s.

C Tier

Red Whip

• Grants a movement speed boost upon leaving combat.
• Not a bad item! Helps you get to the loot faster.

Bandolier

• On kill, chance to drop an ammo pack that resets all cooldowns.
• Not a bad item, but you sort of have to go out of your way to pick up the ammo packs, which can be difficult when you’re dealing with a ton of enemies.

Chronobauble

• Slows enemies on hit.
• Really a pretty good item overall, but the stacking effect only increases the duration of the slow.

Wax Quail

• Jumping while sprinting boosts you forward.
• The Quail is pretty great for getting you around quickly, and it can really help on the Huntress because you can attack while sprinting.

D Tier

Rose Buckler

• Increases armor while sprinting.
• Honestly this is one of my least favorite items. The armor is pretty small, and you only get the buff while sprinting. It can help you in a pinch, though.

Reds (Legendary)

All of the reds are pretty great. Some are better than others! But you should be happy to get any of these.

S Tier

These are the top tier legendaries that can really make your run.

Brilliant Behemoth

• All of your attacks explode.
• Such a great item on any class. I’m always super glad to get one of these. With other great items like Will’o the Wisp or Gasoline, your AOE will be incredible.

Unstable Tesla Coil

• Fire out lightning that hits 3 (+3 per stack) enemies for 200% base damage every 0.5 seconds. The Tesla Coil switches off every 10 seconds.
• Very high damage output. Works incredibly well on the Engineer, as the turrets are affected by all the items you own of course.

Dio’s Best Friend

• Revives you upon death.
• Such a great item. Can save your run! It only has one use, however.

Rejuvenation Rack

• Increases all healing received by 100%.
• Obviously an amazing item. When you’ve got 5 or 6 healing items, a few Leech Seeds maybe, and this item–that’s when you know your run is gonna get far.

A Tier

Ceremonial Dagger

• Killing an enemy releases homing daggers.
• The damage output on this item is surprisingly high. Just adds to your AOE, but with a few Will’o the Wisps, this item can be redundant. It does have a longer range than other on-kill AOEs.

Alien Head

• Reduce skill cooldowns by 25%.
• It may not seem like much at first, but the 25% reduction is YUGE! Your damage will greatly increase. Great item overall.

Soulbound Catalyst

• Kills reduce equipment cooldown by 4s.
• This is a really good item, but I’ve found it to be pretty rare, and to unlock it you need to activate 8 different Newt Altars.

Hardlight Afterburner

• Adds 2 charges of your utility skill.
• Very good item. The effect varies based on which class you’re playing, but for most it means increased mobility and survivability.

B Tier

These are pretty good items.

N’Kuhana’s Opinion

• Store 100% (+100% per stack) of healing as Soul Energy. After your Soul Energy reaches 10% of your maximum health, fire a skull that deals 250% of your Soul Energy as damage.
• Item description is a bit confusing, and its even worse in-game. But it’s a good item. It basically takes your healing rate and converts it to damage every so often.

Frost Relic

• Killing an enemy surrounds you with 3 icicles that deal damage.
• This item basically gives you AOE damage around your character model. So it works best when getting up close, works especially well with the Merc.

57 Leaf Clover

• All random effects are rolled +1 times (+1 per stack) for a more favorable outcome.
• This item unlocks after doing 20 stages in one run, which is pretty challenging. But once you get it, it makes your in-game luck increase.

Brainstalks

• Upon killing an elite monster, enter a frenzy for 3s where skills have no cooldowns.
• By the time you have this item, elites will be crawling around all over the place. So chances are you can snowball pretty quickly with long periods of no cooldowns. Super fun! To get this item, just beat a rare in Monsoon difficulty.

C Tier

Happiest Mask

• Killing enemies has a 10% chance to spawn a ghost of the killed enemy with 500% damage. Lasts 30s.
• To be honest, I’m not so sure about this item. You CAN spawn a ghost of boss mobs, but personally I’ve found the damage and proc chance to be pretty lackluster overall. Not my favorite red to get.

H3AD-ST v2

• Increases jump speed and allows you to hold space to slam down.
• Personally, this is my least favorite red. By the time I get this I usually have a better mobility item, and the slam down is pretty janky and doesn’t do much damage.

Sentient Meat Hook

• 20% chance on hit to fire homing hooks at up to 10 enemies for 100% damage.
• Another red that I don’t much care for. I find the hooks to be annoying, and they usually pull mobs when I’m not quite ready for it. Could be good for mass AOE builds though.

Wake of Vultures

• Gain the power of any killed elite monster for 8s.
• Pretty lackluster red. The elite effects usually aren’t that good–fire damage, frost damage, or extra shields. Not my favorite.

Active Items (Q)

Not all actives were created equal! Actives obviously become more potent when you have more than one charge of them.

S Tier

These are the top tier actives that can really help out your run. The more charges you have of these, the better.

Disposable Missile Launcher

• Fire a swarm of 12 missiles that each deals 300% damage.
• Really a stellar item. Get real close to the boss, and spam Q to nuke. Or, use it on large groups of enemies to finish them off quick.

Ocular HUD

• Gain +100% Critical Strike Chance for 8 seconds.
• I love this item. It really makes your crit builds crazy. In fact, you don’t even need to be building crit, the damage is just so insane.

Preon Accumulator

• Fires preon tendrils, zapping enemies within 35m for up to 600% damage per second. On contact, detonate in an enormous 20m explosion for 4000% damage.
• To get this item, you have to unlock the timed chest on the third stage. This is a very strong item, which works very well on bosses and enemy packs, especially with a few fuel cells or on MUL-T.

A Tier

Pretty good actives. Don’t sleep on ’em.

Foreign Fruit

• Instantly heal for 50% of your maximum health.
• This is a contender for S Tier. It’s actually such a great item, and if you have this I guarantee it will save your life.

The Back-Up

• Call 4 Strike Drones to fight for you. Lasts 25 seconds.
• If you have enough fuel cells, The Backup can melt bosses. Works really well with MUL-T. Very solid damage increase otherwise.

Milky Chrysalis

• Temporarily allows flight.
• The added mobility is great, and with a few fuel cells you can fly forever.

Primordial Cube

• Fire a black hole that draws enemies within 30m into its center. Lasts 10 seconds.
• Very good item. Void Cube and Huntress can get ridiculous. Void Cube can completely nullify the threats certain elite packs have. Just throw it out and all your AOE on-hit procs go wild on them.

B Tier

Royal Capacitor

• Call down a lightning strike on a targeted monster, dealing 3000% damage and stunning nearby monsters.
• This item can absolutely nuke bosses. Or, pair it with a Cube as MUL-T, and annihilate groups of mobs. You have to hit 2 Mountain Shrines and kill the boss to unlock this item.

Gnarled Woodsprite

• Gain a Woodsprite follower that heals for 1.5% of your maximum health per second. Can be sent to an ally to heal them for 10% of their maximum health.
• The healing on this guy is insane. I prefer damage actives, but you can grab this on MUL-T for huge survivability buff.

Radar Scanner

• Reveal all interactables within 500m for 10 seconds.
• This item will reveal all chests and such on the map. But I would much rather have a different active. If you find one, use it real quick then go back to whatever you had. The pings disappear after 10s.

C Tier

The Crowdfunder

• Fires a continuous barrage that deals 100% damage per bullet. Costs $1 per bullet. Cost increases over time.
• The damage on this is solid, but I would really rather not spend my money. I’m stingy that way.

Tier List