Getting through the battlefield in Risk of Rain 2 is no small task, especially when you start throwing in the game-altering artifacts that take the combat and turn it on its head. However, players will quickly find out that not all of them are meant to help you, instead building up the difficulty to give veterans a fresh challenge.
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Some artifacts stand out among the rest and it shows with how popular they are amongst the fan base, leaving some to go unnoticed and gather dust at the bottom of the barrel. Whether players are looking to sharpen their skills or take a much needed helping hand, they cover the whole spectrum of needs for all skill levels.
16 Frailty
The artifact that will effect your game in the most annoying way possible, doubling the amount of fall damage the player receives and making it lethal.
Considering most of the levels in the game will give you fall damage at some point, only those that specifically want to make things as hard as possible should consider.
15 Death
Not for the faint of heart, only those that want to take on a real challenge and put their team to the test should attempt.
If anyone in your party dies, the whole team goes down. This will either make or break a group, exposing the weakest parts of the whole.
14 Evolution
Monsters now get better and better items every stage, making planning for a fight a real coin flip. Going all the way up to legendary, this will repeat with every loop.
A fun challenge that will vary in difficulty depending on what item the monster picks up, it's one of the best talismans for keeping players on their toes and turning the fights on their head.
13 Chaos
Taking off the training wheels and making you vulnerable to your own teams items or attacks, it will make the entire battle feel more alive and force players to think more before every move.
This is a great segue into using the more challenging artifacts and will put your actual battle skills to the test. The Chaos artifact can quickly correct all the bad habits of anyone looking to push the game a little further.
12 Metamorphosis
As soon as you enter the run for this artifact it will randomly swap out your character and keep you stuck with it for the rest of the run, resetting skill challenges and starting you over.
This will take away a lot of the reliances a player has on specifics, forcing you to use characters you wouldn't normally pick and rounding out your whole game nicely.
11 Soul
This will spawn a blue wisp when you kill a monster, giving players an additional enemy right after taking one down. The worst part is they don't even give you XP or gold and just spawn to make you're life more difficult.
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Usually the more chances at taking out enemies the better, however this doesn't even work for battle practice as wisps aren't exactly the most challenging monster.
10 Vengeance
Doppelgängers will spawn with the exact same equipment as their player, this includes hidden items. Spawning in every 10 minutes, the monsters won't know what hit them.
Standing out as one of the only artifacts that seems to lower the difficulty, Vengeance is a nice addition if you're looking for a small boost.
9 Enigma
Instead of toning down the random equipment, Enigma will throw you further into the fire. Swapping out equipment every time it's activated, things can take a hard left turn for the better or worse.
One of the benefits is if you're stuck with a bad piece of equipment then you don't have to wait long to get rid of it, although good equipment doesn't last long either.
8 Spite
Throwing the battlefield into disorder, monsters will now spawn up to 30 bombs. This will make killing enemies a risk in itself, a solid defense and some serious evasive skills are needed.
Luckily the range of these bombs isn't a ton but they make up for it in numbers, forcing the player to think every time they take an enemy out.
7 Dissonance
Throwing the player into a chaotic landscape, this will throw off the map and let monsters spawn in a random spots. Taking away the safety net of knowing where the danger lies, it's a good way to mix up the gameplay.
The Special Boss monsters will still be in their usual spawns, making sure you don't find yourself fighting off the main enemy at the starting point.
6 Honor
Another challenge that shouldn't be taken lightly, Honor will turn the difficulty up on all enemies by making them elite. Putting the days of an easy kill far behind you, only the most experienced should equip.
While it doesn't give some of the benefits that most players are looking for in an artifact, it does bring an added test for those that are confident in their skills
5 Sacrifice
Taking away chests seems like a bad deal at first but this artifact makes monsters drop items after taking them out. It also doesn't take away pre determined chests and opens up the item bulk.
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This is especially helpful if players don't have the Command artifact equipped and doubling your chances of great items with Spawns on at the same time.
4 Swarm
Taking those beefed up monsters and splitting them in half, players will be coming up against double the enemies that have half the health.
Each monster will also only give half of the rewards, putting an emphasis on big area attacks and taking away those daunting health bars that show up on boss spawns.
3 Kin
Taking the Void Fields and turning them into a one stop shop, the first type of monster you run into will decide the enemies for the rest of the stage.
This also opens up the option of having no monsters being chosen and getting through the event without an encounter.
2 Glass
Boosting your allies attack power by a whopping 500% while at the same time taking away 90% of their health, it's important to get the big hits while you still can.
A double edged sword, this artifact is the best thing you can do for the character. Although coming up against an evasive enemy could run you into big trouble.
1 Command
Taking away the element of surprise, players can now choose their items and customize the drops to their specific play style.
A huge advantage for any player that relies on certain items, Command is widely considered the best artifact you can get.