Highlights
- Active Items in Risk of Rain Returns are powerful abilities that can be activated every 45-70 seconds to trigger strong effects.
- Foreign Fruit is a simple but essential Active Item that provides a significant heal, especially for Survivors lacking in survivability.
- The Dynamite Plunger is a highly underrated Active Item that, when used strategically, can quickly eliminate mobs of enemies with explosive damage.
Active Items in the Risk of Rain games aren't usually the most 'talked about' aspect compared to the white, green, and red items. However, a well-utilized Active Item can make all the difference in a run, especially in Risk of Rain Returns. For those of you who are unaware, Active Items are different from standard items like Crowbars or Gasoline in that players can (typically) only hold one at a time, and must choose when to activate it.
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Essentially, think of them like an 'ultimate' extra ability that is able to be used every 45-70ish seconds to trigger some pretty powerful effects. With that in mind, let's go over all the Active Items currently in Risk of Rain Returns and talk about which ones are the absolutely strongest.
10 Foreign Fruit
A Healing Snack In Your Pocket At All Times
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Foreign Fruit | Healing | On use, Heals player for 50 percent of their health. | 45 seconds |
First up is Foreign Fruit, a tried and true classic that has been in all three games. According to the Logbook entry for this item, the 'actual' name for it is Fabien's Nutapple, but Foreign Fruit just rolls off the tongue so much better. In any case, this item is probably one of the most simple Active Items in regard to its effect. When used, players get a massive heal, and that's really all it does. However, on certain Survivors (secret or not) that excel in offense but not so much in Survivability, this Fruit can be a total lifesaver when there just aren't any Guardian's Hearts or Infusions in sight.
9 Jar Of Souls
Doubling The Enemy Count, But The Transparent Ones Are Your Allies
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Jar of Souls | Damage & Utility | When used, a ghost is summoned for every enemy on screen, very similar to the Happiest Mask's effect. Ghosts have 70 percent damage and last for 15 seconds. | 45 seconds |
Those of you that have come right from Risk of Rain 2 to Risk of Rain Returns are likely a bit wary of anything that mentions 'ghosts'. This is because, in RoR2, the main item that caused ghosts to spawn AKA the Happiest Mask, really wasn't very useful. The ghosts were relatively helpful at best, and the item almost never triggered.
However, it's best not to use the Happiest Mask as a reference point when looking at the Jar of Souls, as the utility of this item is miles ahead of the Happiest Mask. As long as players wait until there's a big mob of enemies (such as during a teleporter event), they'll find that these ghosts make the absolute most of the 15 seconds they have and help out a ton.
8 Shattered Mirror
This Game's 'Shadow Clone Jutsu'
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Shattered Mirror | Damage | When used, a shadow version of the player character is created just behind them and this shadow follows their exact attacks, essentially doubling the player's damage from abilities and attacks for 15 seconds. | 75 seconds |
This next Active Item is one that, when the description is first read, might seem more complicated than it actually is. Don't worry about the whole 'shadow' aspect of this item, it basically just doubles the player's damage output through both attacks and abilities for about 15 seconds, as their shadow copies all their movements.
There's no real need to think about how to 'utilize' this item best, as players should just activate it when they're about to start fighting a boss or difficult elite enemy. When used correctly with even just a bit of Crit Chance from Lens Maker's Glasses, the Shattered Mirror can make every teleporter event a cakewalk, and can almost entirely skip the second phase of the Providence Fight.
7 Disposable Missile Launcher
40 Dollars Of Materials Has Never Been So Cost-Effective
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Disposable Missile Launcher | Damage | When used, 12 missiles are fired off, homing in on nearby enemies and dealing 300 percent damage each. | 45 seconds |
The Disposable Missile Launcher is another one that 90 percent of RoR fans will likely recognize. In RoR2, this offense-focused Active Item is game-breakingly strong in very specific builds, and pretty useful in just about every other situation.
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In Risk of Rain Returns, it's maybe a bit weaker than its RoR2 version, but the Disposable Missile Launcher is in no way weak. It's a fantastic Active Item for players who always forget to use their Active Items at the right time, as they can basically just trigger it whenever it's up and still get a lot out of it. Very useful for single-target damage but equally as helpful in clearing out small mobs.
6 Dynamite Plunger
The More Enemies On Screen, The Better This Item Is
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Dynamite Plunger | Damage | Hitting an enemy with an attack drops a stick of dynamite, when this Active Item is used, all dynamite is detonated for 200 percent damage | 45 seconds |
This next Active Item is one of the ones that players are sadly sleeping on. The Dynamite Plunger takes a bit of practice to use optimally, but once you really figure out how it works, this thing can shred a whole mob of enemies (teleporter boss included) in an instant.
Basically, while this Active Item is held, players have a 'passive ability' activated where, when they hit an enemy, that enemy drops a stick of dynamite at their feet. That might not sound like much, but it's not meant for single-target damage. Instead, if say...a Commando uses their Full Metal Jacket to hit 40+ enemies in a mob at once, that's 40 sticks of dynamite on the ground underneath them that are now ready to be detonated with a simple button press. So, it should be pretty easy to see how this item could be very helpful in the right circumstances.
5 Crudely-Drawn Buddy
A Bit Tedious To Unlock, But Absolutely Worth The Time Investment
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Crudely-Drawn Buddy | Utility | On uses places a blown-up inflatable decoy, which attracts and confuses nearby enemies for 8 seconds, will take on the appearance of the current Survivor. | 45 seconds |
The Crudely-Drawn Buddy is an Active Item that a lot of players might not even realize they don't have unlocked yet. It requires players to get 15 perfect active reloads on the Sniper, in a row, in order to be unlocked. But, once players have it in their item pool and happen to find it, they'll quickly discover just how useful this Active Item is.
Not only does this item create an adorable (yet surprisingly large) blow-up decoy mimicking the currently selected Survivor, but it really does basically pull all aggro of any enemies that come anywhere near it. Having 8 entire seconds without any enemies paying attention to the player can easily mean the player can heal up, melt the boss while they're distracted, loot a couple of chests, or activate the teleporter to get out of a dangerous situation.
4 Prescriptions
For Performance-Enhancing Pills, They Sure Do Enhance Performance
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Prescriptions | Damage | When activated, the player's damage is increased by 30 percent and their attack speed by 40 percent for the next 8 seconds. | 45 seconds |
Prescriptions might be the most 'cut and dry' entry on here, as it really is just a boring (but powerful) temporary damage buff. When activated, this item gives players a big boost in their damage output and attack speed for the next 8 seconds, which is more than enough time to shred through an entire hoard, kill the teleporter boss, or even burn through one of Providence's health bars. It might be a bit lackluster compared to a lot of the other Active Items with interesting effects or eye-catching visuals, but sometimes the simpler the effect, the better.
3 Shield Generator
A Literal Invincibility Button
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Shield Generator | Utility | On use, the player becomes invulnerable for the next 8 seconds. | 45 seconds |
There's a reason the Loader is so incredibly strong by default in Risk of Rain Returns. The ability to just 'turn on' an invincible shield (AKA the Debris Shield) for 2 seconds almost constantly means it's very difficult for a Loader player to die before their build really starts taking off.
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So, an Active Item that basically does the same thing, albeit with a longer effect (and a longer cooldown) is obviously going to be useful. With this item, players can trigger it and just jump into a horde of enemies, popping all their abilities without a care in the world. And, in the last phase of the Providence fight especially, this item can be a massive help.
2 Unstable Watch
There's A Lot You Can Do In A Few Seconds Of Frozen Time
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Unstable Watch | Utility | On use, all time is stopped for the next 7 seconds, outside of the Survivor's time and their actions. | 67 seconds |
The Unstable Watch is a lot of players' favorite Active Item in Risk of Rain Returns, hands down. In essence, it basically does the same thing as the Shield Generator as it completely prevents the player from taking damage for a short time, but the way it goes about achieving this is different. Instead of making the Survivor invincible, the Unstable Watch freezes time for everything but the player, allowing them to completely unload all their Abilities on their target without having to worry about positioning or anything else.
1 The Back-Up
Keeping Drones On-Call
Appearance | Name | Category | Effect | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Back-Up | Damage | On use 4 allied drones are spawned in for 10 seconds. | 45 seconds |
And last is Back-Up, another item that longtime RoR fans are likely very familiar with. It's another Active Item with a pretty basic effect, but one that has a lot of uses in a lot of different builds. The drones summoned by this item aren't incredibly powerful or anything, but they get the job done.
And, for melee characters especially, having a portable ranged option on hand can make players feel a lot safer overall. It's not the best Active Item, not by a long shot, but The Back-Up is absolutely good enough to warrant a spot on here.
