Image via Gearbox Publishing
Risk of Rain “Returns” with three new characters, and if you’re new to the franchise, unlocking every character might be difficult if you’re going in for a blind run. But don’t worry—I’ll provide a detailed explanation of how to unlock every character in Risk of Rain Returns.
How to unlock all characters in Risk of Rain Returns
Almost every character, except Commando and Huntress (starting characters), has a specific condition that you need to complete to unlock them. Most of these characters only vary in playstyle; however, all are entirely viable to play through the end-game.
Don’t worry; you won’t have to farm Lunar Coins in this game, unlike Risk of Rain 2. Here are the unlock conditions for each survivor in Risk of Rain Returns.
| Survivor Name | Unlock Condition |
| Enforcer | Beat the Wandering Vagrant, Colossus, and the Magma Worm. These three bosses are the first ones you’ll encounter, so you don’t have to progress much. You can also kill them in different runs, making the challenge much more manageable. |
| Bandit | Finish the third stage in a single run. If you’re playing in co-op mode, you must be alive at the end of the third stage. |
| HAN-D | Seek the robot janitor in the final level of the game. The robot is in the Cargo 2 area, on the right side of the multicolored cargo stack. There should be a grey block/door that you can interact with to unlock HAN-D. |
| Engineer | Purchase at least 40 drones. Destroyed and repaired drones count. |
| Miner | In the fourth stage of the game, find the survivor and look for a tunnel at the bottom-right section of the area. Follow the tunnel and slay the boss at the end. If the tunnel is nowhere to be found, try again on your next playthrough. |
| Sniper | Complete the final stage of the game at any difficulty. I recommend unlocking HAN-D and Sniper at the same time for efficiency purposes. |
| Acrid | You can find Acrid in the Sunken Tombs variation of the third stage. Go to the top-right section of the map, where you’ll find a giant metal box. Interact with the box to release Acrid and defeat it in combat. |
| Mercenary | Finish the final stage five times on any difficulty. |
| Loader | Obtain at least 30 unique items in a single playthrough. It’s better to finish this challenge in solo mode so you and your friends won’t have to share loot. |
| Chef | Find a Meat Nugget, Bustling Fungus, Sprouting egg, Bitter Root, and Foreign Fruit in a single run. The easiest way to finish this challenge is to stack Infusion to increase your HP (for the Bitter Root) and use the artifact Command. |
| Pilot | Collect 15 Monster Logs, which you can obtain through random monster drops. Monster Logs found in succeeding playthroughs count toward the total. |
| Artificer | Visit 10 Unique Stages. You will naturally unlock this by playing through the game. |
| Drifter | Recycle six drones in one playthrough. Drone recyclers are random, so you have to explore the map to check for their presence. |
I am well aware there’s a hidden 16th survivor (Robomando). However, there are no concrete unlock conditions for the character yet. Once I find a legitimate way to unlock the survivor myself, I’ll add it to this guide. Check back soon!
For more Risk of Rain, check out What’s new in Risk of Rain Returns? All New Content and Features on .