Items are a very important part of the Risk of Rain roguelike games, some would even say they're the most important part. Yes, the Survivor a player chooses to control has a massive impact on the way they'll approach a run of Risk of Rain, Risk of Rain 2, or Risk of Rain Returns, but the success or failure of their run usually depends on their items.

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While white (AKA common) items will end up making up the bulk of their build, green items are the second most common and will typically have more of an impact per item than white items do. And then there are red items, of course, but they're the most difficult to find by design, so focusing on white and green items is probably for the best. With that in mind, let's go over what green items to look out for in Risk of Rain Returns, what characters they work best for, and why they're so powerful.

15 Smart Shopper

A Literal Money-Printing Item

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Smart Shopper	Utility	Killed enemies drop 25 percent more gold	+25 percent more gold per stack

Much like how the Life Savings white item has a massive impact on the player's starting economy in Risk of Rain Returns, Smart Shopper has a massive impact on the entirety of a run's economy. And, when paired together, these two items will absolutely turn a player into a menace in a multiplayer lobby, as they'll gain the money to buy all the chests much quicker than everyone else, and may just hog all the items if the host wasn't careful enough to put the 'Force Item Sharing' option on.

14 Infusion

More Kills = More Permenant HP

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Infusion	Health	Killing an enemy grants +1 Permanent Health	+0.5 HP per kill per stack

Next up is Infusion, an item that Risk of Rain 2 veterans may be surprised to see on a 'best of' list. In Risk of Rain 2, Infusion isn't bad per se, but it's certainly not amazing. Granted, in that game, the maximum amount of permanent HP players could gain from a single stack of Infusion was 100, but that wasn't the case in the original Risk of Rain. Back then, Infusion just gave 1 permanent HP per kill, per stack, and there was no limit. This means that with just a couple of Infusions early on the player's health could grow to some ridiculously high levels, and that strategy hasn't changed in Risk of Rain Returns.

13 Will O' The Wisp

One Of The Most Satisfying 'Chain Reaction' Items

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Will O' The Wisp	Damage	The player has a 33 percent chance to cause the enemy on kill to explode into a lava pillar that deals 300 percent damage and knocks any nearby enemies upward.	+200 percent explosion damage per stack

Out of all the items across both (technically 3) Risk of Rain games, Will O' The Wisp might be the most satisfying when it triggers. This item, when in the player's inventory, has a chance to cause enemies to literally explode when they die, dealing massive damage to any other enemies around them and potentially starting a chain reaction of explosions. It's a fantastic item in Risk of Rain 2 but it's even stronger in the 2D games since enemies group up much easier as a whole due to the lack of an entire dimension.

12 ATG Missile MK 1

The Anchor Of Most On-Hit Builds

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	AtG Missile MK 1	Damage	10 percent chance on-hit to fire a homing missile at enemy that deals 300 percent total damage.	+10 percent chance on-hit per stack (max 10 stacks)

Again, this is another item that fans of both the original Risk of Rain and Risk of Rain 2 would be blown away if it wasn't included here. The Anti-Tank Guided Missile MK 1 or ATG Missile MK 1 can turn just about any Survivor in Risk of Rain Returns into a moving artillery.

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Though to be fair, this item is much better on Survivors with high-damage attacks on a short cooldown or Survivors with a high rate of fire, but it honestly works on just about anyone (outside of maybe Acrid, but there's even an argument to be made there). Additionally, when paired with some other on-hit items, it often causes a reaction of on-hit triggers as one ATG Missile triggers a Sticky Bomb which triggers Ukelele which leads to Gasoline that then triggers Will O' the Wisp, and so on.

11 Tough Times

Flat Damage Reduction Makes A Big Difference

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Tough Times	Utility	Each Tough Times' increases the player's Armor by 14.	+14 Armor per stack

In the original Risk of Rain, the Tough Times item was a bit misleading, as the original description stated that the item caused the player to take 14 percent less damage, and this was simply not true. In actuality, the item always gave the player +14 Armor, which was still very helpful, but not the same thing.

Then, in Risk of Rain 2, they brought a tattered version of the item back as a white item (AKA Tougher Times) which did actually give players a 14 percent chance to 'block' incoming damage. And now, all these years later in the Risk of Rain Returns remaster/remake, Tough Times is back and it finally has a proper description. In any case, while not as absurdly overpowered as it is in RoR2, Tough Times in RoRR absolutely goes a long way in keeping the player alive.

10 Ukulele

Better Now Than It Has Ever Been

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Ukulele	Damage	20 percent chance on-hit to have chain lightning bounce from main target to up to three targets for 66 percent total damage.	+66 total damage per stack

The Ukulele item is another one that's been very good in every appearance it's made, but in the 2D games in particular it shines the brightest since enemies aren't nearly as spaced out. Of course, this doesn't include the Void version (the Polylute) that was introduced in the Risk of Rain 2 Survivors of the Void update, but that's really an entirely separate item. In any case, Ukulele is a great grab on just about any character, though it is typically better on characters who benefit more from on-hit items than others.

9 Prison Shackles

Makes Kiting Enemies So Much Easier

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Prison Shackles	Utility	Slow enemies on-hit for -50 percent movement speed for 1.5 seconds.	+0.5 seconds slowed per stack

A lot of players are sort of 'relearning' how the original Risk of Rain gameplay loop worked, and this is where a lot of their perceived 'unfair difficulty' comes from. The original Risk of Rain game is so incredibly different from Risk of Rain 2, but because they're the same IP a lot of people forget that.

For example, in the original game, kiting enemies was much more crucial than it is in Risk of Rain 2, due to having an entire extra dimension to easily maneuver around enemies in RoR2. Because of this, Prison Shackles are incredible in helping keep enemies at bay, and they're one of the best items by far for someone like Acrid.

8 Guardian's Heart

One Of The Best Healing Items In The Game

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Guardian's heart	Health	Gain a 60 Health Shield. Shield recharges when out of danger for 7 seconds.	+60 Shield per stack

Next up is another Health-based and/or survivability item, Guardian's Heart. This is essentially a better version of the Personal Shield Generator from Risk of Rain 2, but this one scales by a flat 60 per stack instead of by 8 percent of the character's maximum HP.

And, one might think that the percentage option sounds better, but Health Values don't really get all that high in Risk of Rain 2. Say a character has about 550 health at level 4 on the first stage, then their Personal Shield Generator is only giving them a 44 Health Shield. This is all just a roundabout way of saying that Guardian's Heart is just a very good defensive option.

7 Hopoo Feather

Just A Godsend For Survivability & Maneuverability

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Hopoo Feather	Utility	Gain an extra (+1) jump.	+1 jump per stack

Finally, here's an item (named after the original developers of the IP) that's better in Risk of Rain 2 than it is in Risk of Rain Returns. In RoR2, even having just one Hopoo Feather makes getting around the stages exponentially easier and also trivializes the Mythrix endgame fight.

And, while it's not quite as good in Risk of Rain Returns, it's still by far one of the best green items. Remember, jumping in this game is one of the best evasive options, so of course having an extra jump is going to do a lot.

6 Chargefield Generator

An Item That Melee Characters Are Always Looking Out For

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Chargefield Generator	Damage	Killing an enemy creates a ring of electricity that deals 50 percent damage every half second to 50 percent of enemies within its AoE. The ring starts at a radius of 4.7 meters and grows 1.3 meters with each kill up to 40 meters total. If the player isn't currently killing enemies the ring will dissapear after 6 seconds.	+20 percent damage per stack

Here's another RoRR item that a lot of people are sleeping on, Chargefield Generator. Sure, that damage percentage is pretty low, and sure additional stacks don't add a lot of additional damage, but the sheer range of this thing.

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During the teleporter event alone, a player who is both fighting the boss and killing mobs will notice that their ring very quickly reaches the maximum coverage and will constantly be damaging every enemy in sight. Chargefield Generator is an item that only gets worse as the run progresses, but if players get it early (especially on a melee character) it can help out a ton.

5 Golden Gun

More Money Means More Muscle

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Golden Gun	Damage	Based on current gold, the player deals up to 40 percent bonus damage. Bonus caps at 700 Gold, though that cap scales with time.	-50 percent less Gold required for cap per stack

This next item is almost a no-brainer as to why it was included. After the first couple of stages, players will often find themselves with a lot more money than they'll need at any one time. And, once they start looping or spend enough time in the Contact Light final stage, their excess Gold will quickly reach the tens of thousands.

With Golden Gun, this excess Gold actually serves a purpose, as it'll enable the player to deal up to 40 percent bonus damage with enough money. Of course that 700 gold 'cap' will scale over time, so players should always try to keep a decent hoard of Gold if they plan on utilizing this item.

4 56 Leaf Clover

Probably The Best Item In The Game

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	56 Leaf Clover	Utility	Elite Mobs have a 4 percent chance to drop items when killed.	+1.5 percent chance to drop items per stack (max 65 stacks)

The original 56 Leaf Clover that Risk of Rain 2's red item (The 57 Leaf Clover) is referencing is now 'back' in Risk of Rain Returns. This item being just a green in terms of rarity is honestly just as overpowered as it's even been.

The ability to have Elite Mobs, which start essentially replacing all regular mobs after looping or after enough time, drop items on death is absurd which is exactly why the percentage is so low. Granted, this isn't an item worth stacking all that much, but it's worth getting at least one in every run, if possible.

3 Harvester's Scythe

Turning Offense Into A Method Of Healing

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Harvester's Scythe	Health	Gain 5 percent Crit Chance & Critical Strikes heal the player for 8 Health.	+2 Critical Strike HP heal per stack

The next one is another pretty obvious inclusion, the Harvester's Scythe is the perfect 'the best defense is a good offense' item example. With this item obtained, players with a couple of Lens Maker's Glasses can now reliably sit there and unload into a hoard of enemies and typically heal back to full in a few seconds at most. Granted, it's usually not enough healing to let players sit in the middle of enemies and do this, but it's good enough to heal them from a safe distance or in a pinch.

2 Prophet's Cape

Probably The Second Best Item In The Game

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Prophet's Cape	Health	When struck, this item briefly blocks all incoming damage for the player (has a 15-second cooldown). Blocking damage, in general, heals the player for 3 Health each time.	+1 Health healed per Blocked damage per stack

At a glance of its in-game description, the Prophet's Cape item may seem decent, but not really all that 'incredible'. Wrong, this item is amazing. The in-game description doesn't at all mention that the cape itself will block damage for the player briefly when they're hit by an enemy and that this invulnerable period also counts towards the cape's healing. So, stack that on top of other things that block damage, such as Barriers, Shields, items like Repulsion Armor, or abilities like the Enforcer's Protect and Serve, and it's obvious why this item is so beloved.

1 Locked Jewel

Great For Econ & Survivability

Appearance	Name	Category	Description	Scaling Per Stack
	Locked Jewel	Health	Activating an interactable heals 35 percent of the player's maximum barrier and grants 8 Gold (Gold gained scales with time)	+15 percent more interactable heal per stack

And for the last great green item on here, let's take a look at the Locked Jewel Item. This item is just absolutely amazing for a game like Risk of Rain Returns where players will be interacting with objects constantly.

Whether it's Chests, Doors, Drones, Containers, Teleporters, or anything else that they can interact with, each time they do they'll gain a pretty sizable amount of Barrier and some extra Gold. This creates sort of a self-sustaining loop where players can loot chests mid-combat, gain some Barrier to keep them safe, get some Gold from killing enemies, gain some Gold from Locked Jewel, and will then have enough to go and interact with the next chest.

Risk of Rain Returns

Franchise

risk of rain

Platform(s)

PC , Switch

Released

November 8, 2023

Developer(s)

Hopoo Games

Publisher(s)

Gearbox Publishing