Risk of Rain 2 is a wonderful game that was just finally released into a 1.0 state at the beginning of September this year. The game is widely different visually from its predecessor, going from 2D to 3D, but the core gameplay is mostly the same.

RELATED: Risk Of Rain 2: The 10 Hardest Challenges (& How To Beat Them)

But, the bosses in RoR2 are pretty different, and a lot of players are struggling with them, so it seemed like a good idea to cover some tips and tricks for fighting each boss.

Disclaimer: Risk of Rain 2 is a run-based game. These are just general tips that can help in many situations, but they will not apply all of the time, it's up to the player to decide if they're applicable for their current run. 

Beetle Queen

Risk Of Rain 2: Beetle Queen Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Starting things off easy with the Beetle Queen:

Scariest Attack: Her Acid Shot

Overall Tactic: Circle Around Her And Stay Close

General Tips:

  • Her Acid Shot comes from her mouth, stay away from her front and it won't be an issue.
  • Avoid the flying beetles she spawns, they inflict a Beetlejuice debuff that reduces most stats.

There's really not much to her, there's a reason she's usually the first boss to spawn.

Clay Dunestrider

Risk Of Rain 2: Clay Dunestrider Model In Source Film Maker

Ah, the Grim Reaper of many early players' first couple of runs, the Clay Dunestrider A.K.A "The Shadowy Teapot". The Clay Dunestrider isn’t a complex boss, but it has a few things players need to be aware of:

Scariest Move: Life-Draining Tendrils

Overall Tactic: Circle & Jump, Keep Distance If The Lid Opens

General Tips:

  • It only does the Life-Drain around 20-30% health.
  • The teapot has two phases, high up and low to the ground. If it’s high up, it’ll use those clay balls to attack, which can be annoying, but, it does have to transition fully to its "Ground Phase" before starting the Life-Drain, which is nice. 
  • So, a good tactic is to get it to 40-45% HP, wait around for it to raise itself high into the air, and then do a massive amount of damage to kill it before it comes back down, this way, players can completely avoid the Life-Drain.
  • If there are multiple or it's impossible to stop the Life-Drain from happening, break the tether, keep distance, and try and kill the mobs it's currently siphoning from.

All-in-all Clay Dunestrider isn't awful, but that Life-Drain can easily kill unsuspecting players, so it's smart to be extra cautious, especially on Monsoon difficulty.

Stone Titan

Risk Of Rain 2: Stone Titan Model Within The In-Game Logbook

The Stone Titan is basically just a grown-up version of a Stone Golem, and the strategy is mostly similar:

Scariest Move: Eye Laser

Overall Tactic: Stay Close (Once Again), And Avoid The Stone Construct Shots.

General Tips: 

  • The Eye Laser is the scariest part, no doubt. But, if the player stays insanely close, the Titan very rarely, if at all, actually uses it. 
  • The Stone Construct is the hardest thing to dodge at close range, so get used to its animation and timing ASAP.
  • Stone Fist is easy to avoid, but the AI does try and predict where the player will be when they use it, so it can surprise people.
  • Hiding behind cover so that it walks closer (or if there are multiple) is a perfectly sound tactic.

Stone Golem is easy, but on higher difficulties or with a Shrine of the Mountain, a bunch can spawn, and this is where things get dicey.

Grovetender

Risk Of Rain 2: Grovetender Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Another boss to stay close to, Grovetenders are scary at first because they’re uncommon spawns, but they’re not too difficult:

Scariest Move: Scorched Shotgun

Overall Tactic: On-Kill Effects & Watch Out For Purple Wisps

General Tips: 

  • Scorched Shotgun is the biggest worry, because of the chains, but it's not a huge deal.
  • On-Kill items are amazing for this boss, because of the Purple Wisps that are summoned quite close to it.
  • Careful when getting pulled by Scorched Shotgun near slopes, the collision causes the player to get knocked sky high, where it’s very difficult to dodge projectiles. 

People may be noticing a pattern by now of "Jump in circles around the boss", and Grovetender is no different.

Wandering Vagrant

Risk Of Rain 2: Wandering Vagrant Model Within The In-Game Logbook

The Wandering Vagrant is that one boss that seems like a cakewalk on easy difficulties than wipes the whole party on Monsoon, it can be a real pain:

Scariest Move: Genesis Supernova

Overall Tactic: Keep Medium To Far Distance, And Be Ready For The Supernova

General Tips: 

  • The Vagrant only has three attacks, Orb Volley, Homing Orb Bomb, and Genesis Supernova.
  • Orb Volley is easy to avoid, but they explode in a radius.
  • Homing Orb Bomb is a huge pain and can easily kill in an instant on Monsoon, so be careful. Thankfully, the Orb has its own health bar so focus it down as soon as it spawns.
  • Genesis Supernova is by far the most well-known move and also the most annoying. It will absolutely kill most players on Monsoon, luckily, there are a couple of easy tactics for avoiding it:

1. Supernova only occurs at low percentages, so it's smart to save the burst damage until the Vagrant starts to glow, then try and drain its health bar before this goes off.

2. Hiding behind corners or terrain stops this from doing damage.

3. Run until the character is out of the radius, then go back in and finish it after. 

Vagrant is one of the more simplistic bosses, but also one that can kill the quickest, so it's best not to take it too lightly.

Imp Overlord

Risk Of Rain 2: Imp Overlord Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Imp Overlord is one of the coolest looking bosses in Risk of Rain 2 and also the most dangerous especially on higher difficulties:

Scariest Move: Decimate

Overall Tactic: Keep To A Medium Distance & Keep Jumping

General Tips: 

  • Not a complex boss, but it has insane burst damage, similar to the Vagrant.
  • It constantly teleports, so running in circles does nothing, just keep to a medium distance and watch the surroundings. Luckily, the teleport has a 9-second cooldown.
  • Jumping around as much as possible is an easy way to avoid the Spike Vollies, but not guaranteed.
  • Decimate is scary for a reason, if a player gets caught in this they're basically dead. The hitbox is bigger than it appears and there’s not much windup. Just don't get in melee range if possible

Imp Overlord is one of the most unique bosses in the game, but equally one of the scariest.

Magma Worm

Risk Of Rain 2: Magma Worm Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Magma & Overloading Worm are the most annoying bosses to fight in the first Risk of Rain and that hasn't changed in the sequel:

Scariest Move: Being Near Their Mouth!

Overall Tactic: Stay In The Air As Much As Possible And Avoid The Head

General Tips: 

  • They have two phases, the big leaping phase & the in-and-out phase.
  • Stay away from the head, burn damage sucks, but the damage from their bite is worse.
  • Movement options are key here, save the abilities that move characters around until they start chasing/getting close. 
  • Explosions can actually hit them while they’re underground if the radius of it is big enough.
  • Melee characters struggle with the Worms the most, having a good ranged-damage Equipment Item is mandatory for Mercenary & Loader.

These two are some of the slowest bosses to fight, and also the most annoying, but the way to beat them is also one of the simplest.

Overloading Worm

Risk Of Rain 2: Overloading Worm Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Magma Worm V2, this time with Lightning:

Scariest Move & Overall Tactic: Same as Magma Worm

General Tips: 

  • Honestly, the Overloading Worm is 99% the same as the Magma Worm, it’s just harder and has more health.
  • The one main difference is that the Overloading Worm summons lightning around it that will quickly dwindle a player's health bar.
  • Watch out for the Balls of Lightning that can come out of the ground along with the worm as it leaps out.

Overloading Worm is just a harder variant of Magma Worm, follow the same strategies, and be twice as careful.

Solus Control Unit

Risk Of Rain 2: Solus Control Unit Model Within The In-Game Logbook

The big floating eye boss of Sky Meadow & Siren's Call, Solus Control Unit is almost as simplistic as its design:

Scariest Move: Solus Charged Detonation

Overall Tactic: Kill The Probes, Watch For Circles, & Focus On Movement

General Tips: 

  • Not so bad, has relatively low health compared to when it usually pops up.
  • It floats, so Melee characters will have trouble again, though Loader's grapple makes a big difference.
  • Summons Solus Probes, not a big deal, just take them out immediately.
  • Has a Charge Shot, but they’re inaccurate and easy to dodge, though if they hit it does some insane damage.
  • Solus Charged Detonation summons circles under the players which will activate after a few seconds, get away from these, as they launch people way high up. Also, the damage this move does is shocking.
  • Careful, players are slowed while in the Charged Detonation Circle, save movement abilities to escape this.
  • Generates a huge shield while using the Charged Detonation, forget about damaging it during this, just wait until the move is over and the shield will go away.

Solus Control Unit is a neat boss, but its patterns and flight path can get pretty annoying, especially if players don't have a lot of movement items.

Alloy Worship Unit

Risk Of Rain 2: Alloy Worship Unit Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Another Variant Boss, like Overloading Worm, Alloy Worship Unit is twice as annoying & way tankier:

Scariest Move & Overall Tactic: Same As Solus Control Unit

General Tips: 

  • Spawns once players destroy 6 Alloy Vulture Nests on Siren's Call.
  • This version of the boss is much more aggressive, has almost three times the health, and is just generally not worth summoning. That is...unless the players are incredibly overpowered or are trying to unlock the Loader/Guidance Offline Challenge.
  • Has the same moveset with slight changes & damage increases.

the Alloy Worship Unit is a neat little boss, but its health bar is too big & the fight takes too long.

Aurelionite

Risk Of Rain 2: Aurelionite Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Out of all the variation bosses, this one is the most like its original form, even if it looks super mysterious. Aurelionite is basically just a Golden Stone Titan with a sword:

Scariest Move & Overall Tactic: Same As Stone Titan, Only With The Beacon Mechanic Added In

General Tips:

  • It will spawn once players activate a couple of beacons around the Gilded Coast islands. But, it's invincible until all beacons are activated.
  • This vulnerable period isn’t super long, so the speed-built players in multiplayer should focus on activating the beacons quickly and constantly. 
  • Rather than Stone Fist launching players into the air, Aurelionite uses Stone Sword. While this move is about as easy to avoid as Stone Fist, the hitboxes on the swords that pop out of the ground are larger than they appear, so caution is advised. 

Not a very difficult fight, which is odd given how hard it is to reach. Just rinse and repeat the beacons and follow the same strategies as a normal Stone Titan.

Scavenger

Risk Of Rain 2: Scavenger Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Scavengers aren’t very difficult bosses, but they are relatively rare & they drop 10 items once-beaten:

Scariest Move: Totally Dependant On The Items/Equipment They're Carrying

Overall Tactic: It's A DPS Race, And Is Also Dependant On Items

General Tips: 

  • Overall, their moves are incredibly simple.
  • They use Heavy Shotgun, which is a blast of four projectiles that they fire three times. 
  • They throw ten “Thqibs” that explode on contact, the damage on these varies. depending on the items the Scavenger has, and are actually quite dangerous if they have items with On-Kill Effects.
  • Their third move is where they sit down and search their bag of items for more stuff to add to their buffs. The Scavenger gains 200 Armor during this move, so unless players are able to pierce that, it's best to just focus on recovery while this plays out. That said, if they pull a Legendary item, things can get a bit dicey.

Some players love these guys, some absolutely hate them, it's entirely dependant on what they were carrying.

Twisted Scavenger

Risk Of Rain 2: A Player Fighting A Twisted Scavenger In "A Moment, Whole" Realm

Twisted Scavengers are encounter in the "A Moment, Whole" Realm which is only accessible from the Obelisk while holding Beads of Fealty & they aren't much different from normal Scavengers:

Scariest Move & Overall Tactic: Same As Scavenger

General Tips:

  • There are four "named" variations of these guys & each variation has a set list of items they might have, which includes Lunar Items.
  • Same tactics as the Normal scavenger, just be aware that there are bounds to the arena that will teleport the player back to the middle if they go too far.
  • Funnily enough, if the Scavenger is somehow pushed out-of-bounds, they’ll be killed immediately and their bag will teleport to the middle in order for it to be looted.
  • After being defeated, the run will end & fade to black, so make sure to loot the bag and lunar coins before that happens.

Again, not much different from their normal variant.

Artifact Reliquary

Risk Of Rain 2: A Player Opening The Bulwark's Ambry Portal

Artifacts are a concept from the first Risk of Rain, and they’re back in this one, but a bit harder to unlock, players have to fight the Artifact Reliquary in the Bulwark's Ambry:

Scariest Move: Their Lasers When At Low HP

Overall Tactic: Kill Mobs, Turn In Artifact Keys, Repeat Until Dead

General Tips:

  • Players have to use the Artifact Code on the Compound Generator in Sky Meadow, then go through the portal and fight the Artifact Reliquary in the Bulwark with the Artifact's effect active to unlock it.
  • The lasers it spins around with actually do decent damage, especially the lower its health gets, and they follow players pretty closely.
  • With certain artifacts, this fight is much harder, such as with the Artifact of Death, Frailty, Glass, Metamorphosis, Kin, Soul, Spite, and Swarms.

While technically not a boss, the Artifact Reliquary plays out exactly as a boss-fight would, so many fans would say it counts.

Mithrix

Risk Of Rain 2: Mithrix Model Within The In-Game Logbook

Ah, the final boss, added in the launch 1.0 update, Mithrix. The brother of the final boss from Risk of Rain 1 is here, and he’s not all too happy. Here's how to fight him:

Scariest Move: Most Of Them, But Phase 4 Is The Scariest

Overall Tactic: Well-Timed Jumps/Movement Abilities, Climb The Pillars Around The Arena & Focus On Steady Damage

General Tips: 

Phase 1, Enter Mithrix:

  • Mithrix is difficult, very difficult, and will likely take players multiple tries to beat.
  • His hammer swings are deadly, do 200% damage, and usually have a radius around them, keeping a fair distance is difficult but crucial.
  • If he jumps into the air, watch the center of the arena, he’ll slam down, make sure to jump over the shockwave he creates.

Phase 2, The Mob Phase:

  • Mithrix summons a bunch of Lunar Chimera Golems and Wisps, this is just a mob phase and is relatively easy.

Phase 3 Same As Before, But Twice As Scary:

  • Mithrix comes back, angrier than before. He’s more aggressive, attacks more often, and most of his moves leave a lingering pillar of flame and/or send shockwaves out.
  • When he heads back to the middle and summons the lines of flame around him, this is the critical moment, as these lines explode about 4 times and can easily kill players in an instant. Try and stay between two lines or only pass through right after they’ve exploded.

Phase 4 The Final DPS Battle:

  • His worst phase and the one most people die at.
  • He steals all the items the players are currently holding, then stomps launching orbs here and there.
  • Depending on the items stolen, he can become pretty much unkillable here, it’s not as much of a tactics fight as it is a DPS race.
  • If he kneels, be ready to dodge, as he’ll fire orbs that do 400% damage in eight directions around him.
  • He won’t use his 400% damage orbs at a high health percentage, so if he has a healing item, players can keep him above a certain level until they get more of their items back.

When Mithrix first came out, he was much more difficult, luckily, he’s been tuned in the updates since, and is a bit easier now. Maybe a third sibling will be revealed in one of the upcoming DLC expansions?

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