Railgunner is one of the newest Risk of Rain 2 survivors added in the recent Survivors of the Void DLC. She is a lethal ranged sniper with piercing shots that guarantee critical hits whenever she hits an enemy’s weak spot. She works best when taking down massive enemies with gigantic health pools. Yet, she can struggle when being swarmed at close range.
Most survivors in Risk of Rain 2 require accomplishing a challenge to unlock, but if you already own the Survivors of the Void DLC, she is already unlocked and ready to kill. You still have to unlock her abilities if you wish to try out a new play style.
How Railgunner’s Abilities Work in Risk of Rain 2
Passive Ability – Magnetic Accelerator
Magnetic Accelerator is Railgunner’s passive, which disables her ability to receive random critical strikes. Instead, she is guaranteed to get critical hits when striking enemies’ exposed weak points that are revealed while scoped in. All critical strike chance stats are converted into critical strike damage. Gaining an extra 50% critical chance adds to her normal damage, giving her 150% bonus damage instead of the normal 100% critical damage.
The Only Primary Ability for Railgunner in Risk of Rain 2 – XQR Smart Round System
Railgunner’s only primary ability is XQR Smart Round System. This ability fires tracking rounds that deal 100% damage each. This skill becomes inactive without any nearby targets.
The XQR Smart Round System fires four times per second at base attack speed, and each shot has a slight recoil in Risk of Rain 2, enough to push Railgunner back slightly. It’s also important to note that both this ability and her utility abilities cannot hit weak spots.
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Railgunner Has Many Secondary Abilities in RoR2
M99 Sniper
The M99 Sniper is the bread and butter of Railgunner’s kit. Activating this secondary ability replaces Railgunner’s primary ability with M99, and her vision becomes scoped in. While scoped in at an enemy, weak points are revealed, and striking them causes guaranteed critical damage. After firing from the M99 Sniper, her active then changes to Active Reload.
M99
The M99 requires the M99 Sniper Secondary to activate, replacing the XQR Smart Round System when primed, only being able to be used while scoped in. This single shot deals 1000% base damage, and after firing the M99, Railgunner begins Active Reload. More details on Active Reload for Railgunner in Risk of Rain 2, next.
Active Reload
After using ammo to fire M99, a progress bar slides from left to right in the middle of the screen. Pressing your primary fire button when the progress bar reaches the lit-up section will skip part of the reload animation and allow you to use M99 and XQR Smart Rounds again.
Timing the reload perfectly adds 500% damage to the next shot from Railgunner’s Secondary or Special upon being fired, regardless of whether it hits an enemy or not.
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HH44 Marksman
HH44 Marksman is Railgunner’s alternative secondary option. The HH44 Marksman replaces Railgunner’s primary with HH44 like the M99 Sniper whenever she becomes scoped in. Unlike the M99 Sniper, the HH44 has a short-range scope allowing for easier mid-ranged fights while highlighting weak points.
To Unlock HH44 Marksman for Railgunner in Risk of Rain 2, you must complete the Marksman challenge. The Marksman challenge requires you to fire 30 scoped-in sniper shots without missing a weak point.
HH44
The HH44 fires twice per second at base attack speed for 400% base damage per shot. Using the HH44 does not require any Active Reload during shots, allowing for consistent fire but less damage per shot overall.
Utility Abilities for Railgunner
Concussion Device
Concussion Device is Railgunner’s default Utility ability which throws out a small mine that pushes all enemies and you away. The force of the push is based on the target’s current velocity and location when the device detonates. The Concussion Device does no damage, holds two charges, and can be used while sprinting. This skill does not prevent fall damage, unlike Acrid’s Caustic Leap or Frenzied Leap.
Polar Field Device
The Polar Field Device is Railgunner’s second Utility ability which throws out a mine that deploys a slowing AOE field for 12 seconds. This device can be thrown while sprinting and only holds one charge, unlike the Concussion Device.
To unlock Polar Field Device for Railgunner in RoR2, you must complete the Annihilator challenge. This challenge requires you to deal 1,000,000 damage in one shot as Railgunner. This challenge can be achieved by using the Supercharge ability while stacking Crowbars or Shaped Glass. It’s pretty fun to be able to hit this damage level with a good build on Railgunner in Risk of Rain 2.
Railgunner Specials
Supercharge
Supercharge turns Railgunner’s Primary Weapon into a charged shot after a short windup time. After waiting two seconds with base attack speed, the next shot fired with Railgunner’s primary will deal 4000% damage and an additional 150% weak point damage.
After firing the supercharged shot in Risk of Rain 2, Railgunner’s abilities are disabled for a short time, except for her utility and any abilities granted from Heresy items.
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Supercharged Railgun
After using Supercharge Railguner’s primary fire becomes Supercharged Railgun. This shot deals 4000% damage, pierces through enemies, and its critical strike damage is multiplied by 1.5. If the shot isn’t fired, Railgunner’s weapons will not be disabled, and the ability will go on cooldown.
Cryocharge
Cryocharge functions like Supercharge by replacing Railgunner’s primary fire with a charged, freezing bolt. The windup delay is the same as Supercharge, but firing the Cryocharge shot doesn’t disable Railgunner’s abilities.
Cryocharged Railgun
After activating Cryocharge, Railgunner’s primary turns into Cryocharged Railgun, which launches a freezing bolt that deals 2000% damage. Enemies brought to or below the freezing execution threshold won’t be executed and require a second shot to be destroyed.
How to Build Railgunner in Risk of Rain 2
Railgunner is one of few characters that can build Critical Hit items without needing to gamble on whether they will activate or not. Unlike Risk of Rain 2′ Bandit, where you might argue that getting a Critical Strike chance is a waste, Railgunner doesn’t waste a single Crit stat, even when other Survivors would have maximized their Critical Strike chance and began wasting stats.
The Best Crit Items for Your Risk of Rain 2 Railgunner Build
Every Critical Strike item increases Railgunner’s guaranteed Crits, making her the objectively best Survivor in the game to collect Critical Strike items. Lens Maker Glasses adds 10% raw damage onto every Crit bonus, and Harvester’s Scythe adds 5% raw damage and heals Railgunner for 8+ health with every single shot.
Predatory Instincts guaranteed to activate on every critical chain from other damage sources and grants the same bonus as Harvester’s Scythe. The Laser Scope in Risk of Rain 2 effectively doubles Railgunner’s Damage output. Moreover, Shatterspleen adds AoE damage onto every kill Railgunner gets, and Ocular Hud does the same effect as Laser Scope for 8 seconds.
Other Great Stats for Railgunner to Build in RoR2
Railgunner synergizes exceptionally well with Attack Speed and Mobility, just like any other Survivor in Risk of Rain 2. It is important to remember that Active Reload becomes faster with Attack Speed, HH44 shoots faster with Attack Speed, and Supercharge’s windup and cooldown are reduced with the same stat. This makes basic Attack Speed items really good on Railgunner and the temporary buff from Predatory Instincts incredibly powerful.
Railgunner can take four different sets of abilities and be effective with practically the same item builds. Both of Railgunner’s Secondaries are incredibly strong, alongside her Specials. This means it’s entirely down to preference whether you’d want high burst or high sustained damage during fights.
It is important to remember that both HH44 and Cryocharge provide Railgunner with some highly needed horde-clearing capabilities, but they also reduce many of her strengths. Again, it’s down to personal choice, but since you can build on-kill chaining effects, we’ve found the default ability setup effective regardless of Railgunner build in Risk of Rain 2. Still, you might have to rely on using Supercharge to deal with large sums of enemies, which can leave you prone to damage.
Tips & Tricks on How to Play Railgunner in Risk of Rain 2
- Railgunner’s XQR Smart Round System has slight knockback with each shot. This means it would be faster to backpedal with it than walk forward.
- Getting an excessive sum of Attack Speed means Railgunner’s XQR Smart Round System will allow you to use it while aiming down to ascend into the air, functionally working as a substitute for the knockback provided with Railgunner’s Utility.
- Getting Backup Magazines on Railgunner in Risk of Rain 2 will provide multiple shots to M99, allowing you to fire twice before reloading. The damage buff from Active Reload only applies to one of these shots.
- Both Railgunner’s Specials have a Proc Coefficient higher than one and are the only abilities in the game that do this. Cryocharged Railgun has a 1.5 Proc Coefficient, and Supercharged Railgun has a 3. This means a 20% chance to activate a status such as bleed with Supercharge becomes a 60% chance and lasts three times as long.
- Concussion Device has a 0.0 proc coefficient, so you can only get kills with it by knocking enemies into hazards or off the stage.
Even More Tips and Tricks for Raingunner
- Freezing with the Cryocharged Railgun will execute low-health targets when they get hit by a separate damage source. This means Ukulele Procs or blasts of damage from items like Gasoline or Will-o’-the-Wisp will instantly activate the execution.
- Void Infestors have no Weakspots, making them incredibly hard to kill as Railgunner in Risk of Rain 2.
- The Concussion Device can be used to reset the space between Railgunner and her enemies. This is great for those that get too close for comfort in Risk of Rain 2.
- The Weak Points on enemies can be hit by both Railgunner’s Specials without the need to Scope, as long as you remember where they are on certain enemies.
- All enemies of the same name share Weak Points, regardless of whether they are Elite or not.
- Hungering Gaze, the Primary from Visions of Heresy, gets complicated in combination with either Railgunner’s Secondaries. We don’t recommend picking it up unless you have an excessive supply of Backup Magazines.
Wrap Up
Railgunner is a very powerful Survivor who introduces a very fluid gameplay loop. We even ranked Railgunner #2 on our Risk of Rain 2 character tier list! Despite how complicated she seems at first glance, most of her abilities only charge her primary fire. While seeming excessive at a glance, she’s relatively easy to pick up once you get the hang of her.
She is your closest first-person shooter experience in Risk of Rain 2. Moreover, she definitely adds a unique gameplay style to this already diverse cast of Survivors.
For more information to help you succeed in RoR2, check out one of our other great guides. We think you will benefit greatly from our tutorial on using Egocentrism in Risk of Rain 2.
