Survivors

18 playable characters plus the secret Heretic, four skill slots deep on every one

Data from build 21587608, updated 23 Sep 2026

Risk of Rain 2’s roster runs 19 characters deep. Eighteen you can pick straight from the drop pod, plus the Heretic, a secret survivor you can only become mid-run. Every one of them, Heretic included, works off four loadout slots (Primary, Secondary, Utility, and Special). Most slots offer two alternate skills to choose between, and clearing a specific in-game challenge unlocks the second option in each. A handful of survivors also carry a passive that shapes how their whole kit plays. Commando, Huntress, Railgunner, Seeker, and Operator start unlocked. The rest of the roster is gated behind a challenge tied to that character: clear the third Teleporter event without dying to unlock Bandit through “Warrior,” or survive 30 stages to unlock Engineer through “Engineering Perfection.”

Roster Mechanics

Skill Loadouts

Every survivor runs on four skill slots (Primary, Secondary, Utility, and Special). Most slots give you two alternate skills to pick from, and they rarely play the same way. Commando’s Secondary chooses between Phase Round, a piercing shot that ramps up damage with every enemy it hits, or Phase Blast, a pair of close-range blasts for when things get messy. His Special works the same way: Suppressive Fire locks enemies down with stunning suppression, while Frag Grenade trades control for raw explosive damage and stacks up to two charges.

Unlocking the Roster

Commando, Huntress, Railgunner, Seeker, and Operator are unlocked as soon as you own the game or the DLC they shipped with. Everyone else has to be earned, usually through a challenge tied to that specific character. Bandit unlocks through “Warrior”: reach the third Teleporter event and clear it without dying. Engineer unlocks through “Engineering Perfection,” which just asks you to survive 30 stages. The Heretic skips the unlock system entirely. Collect all four Heresy items in one run to transform into it, and the form doesn’t carry over to your next one.