Summary
Risk of Rain 2continues to be one of the most successful roguelikes of today, with a new expansion announced recently that fleshes out an unexplored faction in Alloyed Collective. After Gearbox took over the franchise when Hopoo left, their first expansion to the game,Seekers of the Storm, was initially not well received. Imbalanced characters, a mixed bag of items, and some deep underlying issues with the game’s code all caused the DLC to receive a very negative rating on Steam. However, over the past few months, Gearbox has released supplemental updates, fixing all the issues raised, and the expansion is now very highly regarded.
Riding off the back of this comeback story, Gearbox’s next expansion, Alloyed Collective, takes Survivors back to Petrichor 5, fleshing out the metal orbs of the Solus faction. Mysterious and unknowable, the Solus enemies were introduced inRisk of Rain 2’s early access period, where they seemed to share a connection with the Alloy Vultures of Siren’s Call. Since then, little has been done to expand their presence, but all of that will be changing in the upcoming DLC.
Risk of Rain 2 Alloyed Collective Will Explore the Solus Constructs
Since coming out of early access,Risk of Rain 2’s expansions have each focused on particular aspects of the setting’s many and varied enemies. 1.0 made the Moon into a proper stage, forcing players to fight the Lunar Constructs there. Survivors of the Void expanded on the void creatures, adding more enemies and adding the notoriously difficultVoidling secret boss. Then, when Gearbox took over and released Seekers of the Storm, it went back to the first game’s roots, giving players an alternative final boss made in the image of Providence.
Now it’s the turn of the Solus constructs to shine, but there isn’t too much known about them. Reclusive and robotic, the Solus have been just one small part ofRisk of Rain 2’s lore. Thought to reside in the region of Siren’s Call where they watch over the Alloy Vulture eggs, it would seem that Gearbox wants to expand their presence on Petrichor 5. The developer mentions how Alloyed Collective will explore new stages, featuring caverns, scrapyards, and fortresses, showing that the little floating cores could be much more integral to the planet than previously understood.
All the Confirmed New Content in Alloyed Collective
In theAlloyed Collective announcement, Gearbox revealed what to expect from the next expansion. It’s mostly typical stuff for aRisk of Rain 2expansion, and will surely add to the game’s already impressive replayability.
What to Expect From the New and Returning Survivors
Gearbox has promised that the two additional Survivors will include one new, and one returning one. There’s little clue as to what the new Survivor could be, but it could be a scavenger of sorts, salvaging and modifying the Solus wrecks. The update will also bring an old character back, updating their kit for the new game. Most of theoriginal Survivors have made the jump from 2D to 3D, with the most recent one being Chef, but there are three left that haven’t been ported over.
Enforcer was a tank class fromRisk of Rain 1, using a sturdy shield as a bulwark and a shotgun that did high burst damage up close. The Survivor has been added unofficially in a popularRisk of Rain 2mod, and it’s very likely that Gearbox could pick them as the next returning Survivor, although likely in a different form to the modded version.
Risk of Rain Returnsadded three Survivors not present in the original release of the first game.
Miner was very popular inRisk of Rain 1for providing a uniquely unmoveable melee class compared with the nimble Mercenary. There’s a lot that could be done to update the Miner forRisk of Rain 2, but their standard moveset already fits quite well with the sequel’s less vertical level design, and it would be very fun to play this stoic pickaxe-wielder again.
HAN-D is perhaps the least likely to return, as, while not the same as MUL-T, they share similar themes. HAN-D is a much more melee-oriented version of MUL-T, although their ability to fire off a Drone could synergize with Alloyed Collective’s renewed focus on Drone companions. However, with severalnew characters added inRisk of Rain Returns, Gearbox could buck the trend of Survivors exclusively coming back from the 2013 game.
Alloyed Collective Promises to Enhance Drone Functionality
Speaking of Drones, they have often been a bit of a side-feature ofRisk of Rain 2. Somewhat useful in the early-game, Drones often fall off in usefulness later on, their arsenals or healing potential rapidly falling behind players snowballing with items. A few updates have added some welcome new additions, such asSpare Drone Partsthat massively beefs up Drones, as well as the Bolstering Lantern that gives survivors a boost for being near allies, including Drones. Despite this, though, Drone playstyles are often inconsistent, and they aren’t helped by the Drone AI, causing them to fly to the corners of the map, or roll on their own heads like the TC-280.
The new update is looking to change things, bringing something called a Drone Station, letting Survivors customize their drones. It’s unclear yet how this will work, but the idea of Drones being more reliable is going to be a great boost to some characters. In past updates, theRemote Caffeinator made Firework builds possiblein Risk of Rain 2, so seeing another niche part of the sandbox be expanded is very welcome indeed. But what happened to the Drone in the final shot of the trailer is anyone’s guess.
A New Boss Could Change Risk of Rain 2’s Endgame
Gearbox has also promised to change up the endgame with anotherfinal boss forRisk of Rain 2. This would be the third final boss route that players could take, not counting Obliteration or the Voidling, and it could come with some very enticing new rewards, not to mention be great for player choice. Seekers of the Storm was the first expansion to let players play as a boss canonically with False Son, and while that might not be repeated in Alloyed Collective, the new Survivor is most likely going to be locked behind defeating whatever Solus-aligned monstrosity the developer puts at the end.
