Risk of Rain 2 is a great game, especially in terms of replayability. But it has a lot of room for improvement and add-ons. Thankfully, the game is relatively easy to mod, and there’s a plethora of good stuff out there, to add new content, quality of life improvements, or exciting little features.
Below are my go-to mods I don’t usually play without, which I think helps give the game a little more pizzazz (especially when you play with other people.
Shoutouts, before we begin to R2API and BepinEx, which are the true must-have mods. Both make a lot of the modding scene possible. Also, the majority of mods have one or both as a requirement) in a similar way to how the Skyrim Script Extender does for that game.
Share Suite
Share Suite is the mod that keeps your friendships intact. My least favorite part about playing this game with friends on launch was the issue of items getting sniped by other people, not even out of malice, but because they genuinely were the items everyone agreed were best for their character. Usually, this resulted in one of two scenarios for a run: either one person got all of the items and carried everybody else through, or everybody got a smattering of items, ended up underpowered, and wiped.
Share Suite sidesteps that issue by giving everyone all of the item pickups and money that another person grabs. Cash goes into a shared cash pool, and everybody gets a duplicate of any item one person picks up.
There’s a bit of nuance here as well, with things like 3D printers and Resequencing working only on the person who activates it, not everyone. The mod is very configurable and just a godsend for anyone who likes to play with friends without worrying about loot distribution.
Bigger Bazaar
In combination with the above, this leads to more fun (if sometimes easier) runs. Essentially it adds a corner of the Bazaar Between Worlds, which allows you to buy items with cash saved between levels (instead of draining the money into a pittance of EXP, you get to keep it if you open a Bazaar portal).
The items are completely randomized, and each player can only buy three, but it’s an excellent way to spice up runs or bolster ones that have been screwed over by bad drops.
Boss Item Drops
This is a simple little mod that allows for the Queen’s Gland, Titanic Knurl, Genesis Loop, and Little Disciple to drop from their respective bosses even when they’re not the teleporter boss. It ensures you see those cool boss items more than once in a blue moon, great for people like me who drift in and out of this game.
Item Stats Mod
This one lists the exact percentages or other values associated with items when you mouse over them, including how much they give when stacked as you accumulate more. This one is mostly here to free up more space in the brain, so I don’t need to memorize the exact proc coefficient of Runald’s Band. It works well in combination with the last mod to see if an item might be worth taking.
Stats Display
This final mod is another helpful numbers mod that tells you your character’s stats, including their fire rate, damage per hit, and crit ratio, as well as the stats (like enemies killed0 you only get at the end of each level. It helps you see exactly where you lack on a given run and what you want to look for to shore up weaknesses.
Plus, I’ll admit, I just like numbers.
These are my top five Risk of Rain 2 mods, though there are plenty of other great ones out there that didn’t quite make the cut for one reason or another. If you haven’t tried any of these mods, or modding Risk of Rain 2 at all, I recommend it; there’s some very interesting stuff out there to spice things up if the game is getting stale.
