Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts : Best Loadouts

Here's how to choose skills for Hallowed Concepts and the free update in Risk of Rain 2.

Hallowed Concepts adds Enforcer and Acolyte to Risk of Rain 2, and the free update that came with it gives six older Survivors one new skill each.

Every slot with a choice gets a pick and a reason below. Enforcer starts unlocked, and Acolyte has to be unlocked first.

Best Enforcer Loadout in Risk of Rain 2

Enforcer's primary in Risk of Rain 2 is Trenchbroom or Shrapnel Grenade, and the two play alike. Pick Shrapnel Grenade: it arcs for 500% damage, and both of its attacks hit flying enemies.

Its stance attack throws three grenades at 300% each, while Trenchbroom fires a 350% slug and six 70% pellets in stance.

With either primary, empty the magazine, enter Defensive Stance, empty it again, and step out. Leaving the stance reloads the weapon fully, so this loop gives the fastest damage. In stance you fire faster, but the proc coefficient drops from 1.0 to 0.7.

Take Steel Protection as the secondary. Reactivating it exits the stance and parries enemies for 300% with knockback and stun, and any attack it blocks reportedly counts as a parry.

Surge Protection runs on a timer and turns your extra health into an explosion of up to 1,800%, so the shield can drop mid-fight.

Use Shield Tackle as the utility. It charges you forward and knocks enemies back for 600% damage per second, and it goes farther when you hold to spend more charges. It reportedly blocks attacks from the front while you charge.

Ripcord launches a remote grenade whose pulling blast deals 300% and taunts enemies. It can also rocket jump you, though Shield Tackle moves you farther.

For the special, Crash Point leaps you up and lands for 700% damage, and it fits runs that skip turrets and support items. Rally Point slams for 400% and places a Holdout Beacon that grants barrier on kills and teleports stationary minions to you.

Rally Point reportedly pays off when you carry Gunner Turrets, Defense Nucleus, War Banner, Lepton Daisy, or Corpse Lily, because the beacon doubles as a holdout zone.

Acolyte Skills in Hallowed Concepts

Acolyte in Hallowed Concepts gets two options in four slots. Take N'kuhana's Grace as the passive: Acolyte can't heal directly, and all healing plus 40% of the damage you take turn into recoverable health and attack speed.

N'kuhana's Favor turns all healing into attack speed and skips the recoverable health, so you get more attack speed and less safety. The Litany's several special uses are reportedly hard to build in boss arenas such as Mithrix.

Soul Jar is the secondary for groups. It bursts for 150% and haunts enemies for 50% damage per second, though haunt can't kill. Haunted enemies release seeking wights on death, so a bleed, gasoline, or any on-kill effect can chain across a whole map.

Bola Throw is the single-target option. It gathers up to five enemies at 200% and pulls their souls to you. Each soul holds 30% of its enemy's health, and damage to it reflects onto the enemy, so hitting both doubles your damage until the soul dies.

Pick Javelin as the utility. It throws a piercing glaive for 400% that explodes on large enemies and terrain for another 400%, and reactivating dashes you to it for 300%. It can trigger band items and works as travel across a stage.

Blade Sling throws a spinning glaive that deals 200% per second and sits inside enemies, with the same 300% dash. It has less burst than Javelin, so Javelin gets the pick.

Dark Summons is the Litany to take. It turns you into the Anima Harvester, converts missing health into recoverable health, and adds an execute below 25% health to your primary.

Both Litanies need 7 Convictions: Sacrifice gives 2 per use and each kill gives 1. Anima Echo skips the transformation. During the Litany your melee attacks hit an extra time and missing health still converts into recoverable health, so it plays like Acolyte instead of a transformation.

New Commando and Huntress Skills in Risk of Rain 2

The free update to Risk of Rain 2 adds Sabotage as a Commando special. It throws three explosives that attach to surfaces and zap enemies for 400% damage when attacked, on a 7-second cooldown.

Its zaps can trigger Runald's Band and Kjaro's Band, and Suppressive Fire can't. It beats Frag Grenade only when all three explosives stick to one enemy.

Keep Frag Grenade or Suppressive Fire if you like either, and take Sabotage when neither suits you.

On Huntress, skip Laser Cyclone and keep Laser Glaive. Laser Cyclone throws a spinning glaive for 400% per second on a 3-second cooldown, and every catch lets you juggle it for another 400%.

Each juggle reportedly costs a charge, you start with two, and the glaive doesn't recharge the skill while it is out. You also have to watch it instead of moving, while Laser Glaive bounces on its own.

Engineer and Artificer Loadouts

Take Laser Cutter as Engineer's primary. It charges a heavy laser for 270 to 630% damage per second and heals turrets and drones, and it reportedly slows you the longer you charge.

The laser also reportedly heals other mechanical allies such as REX, CHEF, and MUL-T, so your turrets stay up without healing items.

Artificer in Risk of Rain 2 gets Tectonic Blast as a utility. It fires a spread of eight shards at 100% each and oils enemies, on a 7-second cooldown. Oil reportedly slows and weakens them and multiplies ignite damage by four.

Pair it with Flamethrower, since oil boosts ignite. Flamethrower has short range and blocks sprinting, and it can't run alongside Ion Surge because both are specials.

Otherwise keep Snapfreeze and Ion Surge. Snapfreeze freezes enemies in a barrier and kills frozen ones below 30% health, and Ion Surge launches you into the air and explodes for 800%.

REX and Acrid Loadouts in Risk of Rain 2

REX in Risk of Rain 2 gets Proliferation as a utility. It costs 20% HP to throw a flower that shoots for 200% damage. Using the utility on a flower teleports you to it, consumes it, and heals 20% HP.

You can place up to two flowers on a 5.5-second cooldown, and the flowers reportedly don't inherit your items. Placing them first makes it slower to dodge with than REX's other utilities, but it reaches spots they can't.

On Eclipse 8 the health cost is a risk, so skip it there.

Cloying Breath is the new Acrid special. It emits a lingering cloud of toxic breath for 240% damage per second on a 12-second cooldown with a 0.4 proc coefficient, and it applies Poison or Blight, whichever you chose.

Its range is short and its area is smaller than Epidemic's. It was built for Blight, where it reportedly beats Epidemic on single-target burst. Take it with Blight, and keep the default build otherwise.

Pair it with Ravenous Bite and Acrid plays as a melee fighter, and that reportedly causes trouble in fights such as Mithrix and False Sun.

What to Do Next

Run Shrapnel Grenade with the reload loop on a few stages before you judge Enforcer, since the loop is where the damage comes from. If a run hands you turrets or banners, switch the special to Rally Point on your next run.

On Acolyte, watch how fast you earn Convictions before you commit to Favor, because that pace decides whether the Litany arrives in time.

Build Enforcer around the Shrapnel Grenade reload loop and Acolyte around Soul Jar and Javelin, and leave Laser Cyclone alone.

FAQ

Q. Which Enforcer skills should I pick in Risk of Rain 2?

A. Go with Shrapnel Grenade on the primary and Steel Protection on the secondary. Shield Tackle covers the utility, and Crash Point fits a run without turrets while Rally Point fits one with them.

Q. Is N'kuhana's Favor worth the risk on Acolyte?

A. It trades safety for attack speed, so it suits a run where you can reach the Litany fast. Grace is the steadier choice.

Q. Should I use Laser Cyclone on Huntress?

A. Laser Glaive asks for less effort, since Cyclone spends a charge on each juggle and doesn't recharge while it is out.

Q. Does Cloying Breath beat Epidemic with Blight in Risk of Rain 2?

A. With Blight it wins on single-target burst, while Epidemic still covers groups better.

Q. Do I need Hallowed Concepts to get the new skills?

A. The six skills ship in the free update, so the DLC isn't required, though each skill has its own unlock condition.

Also, check out our review of Hallowed Concept and other guides below :

• Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts Review
• Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts : How to Unlock the New Abilities for Six Survivors
• Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts : How to Unlock Acolyte With the N’tormat
• Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts : How to Find the Secret Boss With the Page of Reincarnation
• Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts : How to Unlock Every New Skin
• Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts : How to Unlock Every Alternate Skill for Enforcer and Acolyte