Risk Of Rain 2: 6 Best Red Legendary Items, Ranked

The roguelike genre as a whole puts a lot of focus on variability and randomness, but usually gives the player a method of permanent progression to make the game more fun over time. Risk of Rain 2 is no different, thriving on the uncertainty of the items players get in each run. However, the Artifact of Command lets players choose exactly what to get, eliminating chance from the equation entirely.

Then the question arises: Which legendary items are the best? Usually, it differs from character to character, but there are some universally good items in each category that benefit the player no matter their character. The list of legendary items is fairly long, with each one having a lot of build potential. However, the best ones don’t force players to change their build; instead, they slot into place so perfectly that they almost won’t notice them at all.

6 Spare Drone Parts

Drone Empowering Facility

• Gain Col. Droneman. Drones gain +50% (+50% per stack) attack speed and cooldown reduction.
• Drones gain 10% chance to fire a missile on hit, dealing 300% TOTAL damage.
• Drones gain an automatic chain gun that deals 6×100% damage, bouncing to two enemies.

A somewhat situational item, Spare Drone Parts are good for anyone with already purchased drones. However, since drones are so easy to buy, as they are available in every stage, this item can help no matter the situation players are in or the build they have. If they manage to pair it with Empathy Cores, a boss item that gives two Solus Probes, then it works extremely well.

In addition to normal drones, Engineer Turrets also gain an advantage from this buff.

The item itself gives the player an ally drone called Colonel Droneman, which spawns once per stage, meaning it will come back even if destroyed. This drone gives a 50% attack speed buff, 50% cooldown reduction, and a 10% chance to fire an AtG Missile on hits. Additionally, drones will also get a high-powered machine gun along with their normal attacks. This means the more drones playesr have, the more AtG Missiles they fire, and the more overall damage they’ll do.

5 Laser Scope

Critical Hit Machine

• Critical Strikes deal an additional 100% damage (+100% per stack).

A simple scope that increases critical strike damage, the Laser Scope packs a lot of punch no matter the build. Whether players have any items increasing their critical hit chance or not, all survivors will naturally perform critical hits now and again. However, with items like the Lens-Maker’s Glasses, players can guarantee that every hit will land a critical.

This means that increasing the damage of each critical hit will directly increase the damage output of every single attack. With x10 Lens-Maker’s Glasses to get guaranteed hits, it’s imperative to get the Laser Scope as soon as possible to maximize damage. Each stack will increase the damage by +100%, meaning instead of 2x damage, players will do 3x, 4x, and so on. The Laser Scope is undoubtedly the best red item for a critical hit build, which is the most common and universal build in the game.

4 Pocket I.C.B.M.

More Rockets, More Destruction

• All missile items and equipment fire an additional 2 missiles.
• Increase missile damage by 0% (+50% per stack)

The best damage-dealing item in the game is arguably the AtG Missile, a rare item that has a certain percentage chance to fire a missile that deals 300% damage on each hit. Multiple stacks of this item lead to players dealing massive damage, especially if they have a high attack speed. It stands to reason, then, that an item that increases the amount of missiles fired from an AtG will be extremely powerful.

The Pocket I.C.B.M. does exactly that, adding two additional missiles to every missile fired normally, and adding +50% damage for each stack of itself. This means that, instead of firing one AtG Missile worth x3 the normal attack damage, players will fire three of them, effectively dealing 9x damage. With sufficiently high attack speed and attack damage, players can use this item to delete enemies from the map with no need to wait for cooldowns.

3 Hardlight Afterburner

Accelerate Across The Stage

• Add +2 (+2 per stack) charges of Utility skill.
• Reduces Utility skill cooldown by 33%.

There’s nothing more satisfying in Risk of Rain 2 than moving around quickly, that’s why Paul’s Goat Hoof, Mocha, and Energy Drink are some of the best items in the game. Not only is it satisfying, it is essential for surviving the swarms of enemies that come after the player. That’s why the Hardlight Afterburner is such a popular choice when it comes to legendary items. Most survivors in the game can benefit from having more abilities, and nobody hates having more movement.

The Hardlight Afterburner adds +2 charges to the Utility skill of all survivors that equip the it. If it’s a survivor like Huntress or Mercenary, players can use it to stay in the air for long periods of time and cover massive parts of the map in seconds. With survivors like Captain, players can use damage-dealing skills much more often, directly increasing their offensive capability.

2 Sonorous Whispers

Vending Machine Elites

• When a large monster is killed it will always drop an item.
• All elites have a 15% chance of dropping an item (+5% per item stack).

While there is much debate about which item is the best in each category, there is no debate that having items is better than not having items. Sonorous Whispers is a new legendary item that guarantees that large enemies always drop an item, and gives a 15% chance for elites to drop one as well. This means that the amount of items that players can receive in a run increases dramatically.

The items that enemies drop can be normal, rare, or legendary.

In the earlier stages, this will only come into effect when fighting bosses or elites. The 15% chance of getting drops from elites is affected by 57 Leaf Clover, so pairing the two items together will let players get a ridiculous amount of items. In the later stages, when boss enemies start to spawn in the world, players will get a guaranteed item drop from them as well, but the main benefit will be the drops from elites. It acts like an Artifact of Command without removing any chests.

1 57 Leaf Clover

A Rabbit’s Favorite Meal

• All random effects are rolled +1 (+1 per stack) times for a favorable outcome.

There is a hidden mechanic in Risk of Rain 2 known as the Proc Coefficient. This stat determines whether an attack can trigger an item effect, and applies to all attacks. The higher the proc coefficient, the higher the chance that the attack can trigger a beneficial on-hit effect. Most attacks by survivors have a 1.0 proc coefficient, meaning they’ll trigger beneficial attacks on hit whenever possible. However, item effects, such as the missile fired from the AtG, also have a proc coefficient, meaning missile hits can trigger more missiles, or ukelele lightning, or a sticky bomb. This can be used to trigger “proc chains,” dealing much more damage than what is apparently possible.

The 57 Leaf Clover rerolls all unfavorable rolls once, meaning players are twice as likely to trigger all item effects. Considering the amount of items that are affected by this increased effect, the 57 Leaf Clover is undoubtedly the best legendary item in the game. Whether it’s the Molten Perforator, the Sentient Meat Hook, the AtG Missile Mk.1, or the Stun Grenade, every item with a percentage chance to trigger benefits from the effect of a 57 Leaf Clover.