Artificer

 is a playable character in Risk of Rain 2.

Wielding a diverse armament of destructive skills, Artificer's strength lies in her devastating offense that can break through even the bulkiest of enemies, aided by the versatile Snapfreeze. However, her power comes at the cost of survivability, as she has no defensive or movement skills aside from her high-flying Ion Surge, so the player must be adept at dodging and especially aware of their surroundings.

Completing the Pause. challenge will unlock Artificer as a playable survivor.

Tips

 * is a burst damage survivor who deals massive damage with infrequent attacks. Due to her unusual primary, she benefits less from attack speed than other survivors, but makes excellent use of items like, , or , which increase her damage regardless of attack speed.
 * Even though attack speed doesn't benefit 's primary, it still speeds up her attack animations, allows her to charge her secondary more quickly, and increases the number of times Flamethrower hits.
 * and are some of 's best items, since they massively increase the damage output of her Charged Nano-Bomb and Cast Nano-Spear.
 * Both Flame Bolt and Plasma Bolt can be strong options depending on playstyle. Flame Bolt offers more single-target damage and a useful debuff for item synergy, while Plasma Bolt is more forgiving and offers better AoE capability.
 * Keep a slow, steady pace with your primary, and keep charges in reserve. Attacking too quickly can leave you defenseless.
 * 's secondary options are both fantastic, and make up the majority of her damage. Charged Nano-Bomb has more damage, is more forgiving, and provides better AoE, while Cast Nano-Spear has the powerful freezing effect, isn't affected by gravity, and is stronger against the.
 * are great on, since they allow her to use her secondary more often. With Cast Nano-Spear, enough stacks can trivialize the by repeatedly freezing him.
 * Both secondaries can be charged while sprinting, which is crucial for maintaining damage output while dodging attacks.
 * Flamethrower boasts the most raw damage of 's abilities, and is her only way to reliably utilize items that rely on high attack speed.
 * Flamethrower provides a use for many items which aren't otherwise useful for, like and   . These can bolster its already impressive damage and even allow a more traditional playstyle based around on-hit items.
 * Flamethrower has short range, and can't be used while sprinting. This can make it risky to use, especially on later stages or against many threatening targets. Freezing enemies with Snapfreeze or Cast Nano-Spear can help provide breathing room and protect you while your mobility is limited.


 * Taking Ion Surge exchanges Flamethrower for a versatile mobility option, which can be used for looting, scouting, and escaping deadly situations. It's particularly effective against the, which struggles to hit while she's in the air.
 * While taking Ion Surge does lower 's damage somewhat, this can be offset through good use of her secondary and by prioritizing items which synergize with her burst damage playstyle.
 * Even with Ion Surge and ENV Suit, it's generally best to spend most of combat on the ground. While grounded, you have more flexible movement options, can take advantage of cover, and can hit your attacks more easily. It's usually best to save Ion Surge as an escape option when you feel threatened, then quickly return to the ground to continue the fight from a better position.


 * Each pillar of Snapfreeze hurts and freezes enemies individually. This means that it can be used defensively to buy time to flee from multiple pursuing enemies, or to focus damage on a single important target by luring it into multiple pillars, freezing it repeatedly for easy damage.
 * This also means that Snapfreeze is useful even against boss enemies that can't be frozen, as they're large enough that they can take damage from many of the pillars.
 * Cast Nano-Spear and Snapfreeze cannot freeze most bosses, but can freeze and even execute the.
 * If you use Flame Bolt or Flamethrower,  can be an excellent item, as it dramatically increases the damage of the affected attacks.
 * can struggle against small flying enemies, since she can't rely on her splash damage to hit them and missing her primary leaves her vulnerable to attack. Area of effect items like and  can help with groups of fliers, and  paired with  can help guarantee one-shots on  and . However, a well-placed secondary is often the most consistent strategy, and it's well worth learning their properties so you don't have to rely on items to kill flying enemies.


 * Because doesn't have a horizontal movement ability, mobility items and strafing skills are extremely important to help dodge attacks. Always keep moving in combat, as moving even a little will dramatically reduce the damage you take.
 * A full-height jump puts out of melee range for many non-boss enemies, such as . Combining this with ENV Suit can help  dodge many attacks from low-tier enemies, especially in the early game when her mobility is limited.

Version History

 * Anniversary Update
 * Gameplay Changes
 * Tendril Damage: 20% of explosion ⇒ 10% of explosion
 * Tendril Fire Frequency: 0.25s ⇒ 0.125s
 * Tendril Same Target Frequency: 2s ⇒ 1s Developer Notes: This change is made specifically to avoid the Artificer’s Nano-Bomb tendrils proccing Ice and Fire Bands. The tendrils will now fire twice as often, but at half the damage.
 * Quality of Life
 * Graphics Updates
 * Update skin visuals
 * Update skin visuals
 * Early Access Content Update 5
 * Gameplay Changes
 * Developer Notes: We want to enforce the Artificer’s role as a high-damage, high AoE character. Nano-Bomb in general was core to the fantasy, but was pretty much inferior to Nano-Spear in every way.
 * Blast Radius: 4m ⇒ 6m
 * Now has slight gravity
 * Blast Radius: 10m ⇒ 14m
 * Blast Damage, Max Charge: 1200% ⇒ 2000%
 * Blast Force: 1300 ⇒ 3000
 * Lifetime: 5s ⇒ 10s
 * Improved FX for clarity
 * No longer has -75% damage falloff at the edge of the blast
 * (Undocumented) Updated descriptions for, , , and to include keywords
 * No longer has -75% damage falloff at the edge of the blast
 * (Undocumented) Updated descriptions for, , , and to include keywords
 * (Undocumented) Updated descriptions for, , , and to include keywords
 * PC Early Access Patch (Build ID No.4892828)
 * Bug Fixes
 * Fix Artificer being able to hit herself with projectiles when backed up against a wall
 * Early Access Hidden Realms Content Update
 * Bug Fixes
 * Ensure state stops charging animation if interrupted
 * PC Early Access Patch (Build ID No.4233443)
 * Gameplay Changes
 * Update proc coefficient, travel speed, and fire rate to match
 * Update proc coefficient, travel speed, and fire rate to match
 * Early Access 'Skills 2.0' Content Update
 * Major Content and Changes
 * Added New Skill Variant:
 * Fire a bolt for 220% damage that explodes in a small area. Hold up to 4.
 * Added New Skill Variant:
 * Charge up a piercing nano-spear that deals 400%-1200% damage and freezes all enemies.
 * Added New Skill Variant:
 * Burst into the sky, dealing 800% damage and stunning nearby enemies.
 * Added New Skin:
 * Added New Class Challenge:
 * Added New Class Challenge:
 * Added New Class Challenge:
 * Added New Class Challenge:
 * Gameplay Changes
 * Add 2 new skill variants
 * Add 1 new skin
 * Bug Fixes
 * Canceling Artificer’s early now properly stops the sound
 * Early Access Patch (Build ID No.3961583)
 * Bug Fixes
 * Fix the Artificer's being stretched
 * Early Access Scorched Acres Content Update
 * Gameplay Changes
 * New Passive:
 * ☂ The Artificer now hovers while holding Jump.
 * Add new crosshair
 * Add new bloom effects for
 * Bug Fixes
 * Prevent attacks with proc coefficient 0 applying Crowd Control effects like
 * Set interrupt priority of frozen state to be higher than stun state to fix issues with the  being interrupted by
 * Early Access Patch (Build ID No.3731106)
 * Gameplay Changes
 * [Community Suggestion] Increase Artificer proc coefficient on from 0.2 to 1.
 * [Community Suggestion] Increase Artificer proc coefficient on pillars from 0 to 1.
 * [Community Suggestion] Increase Artificer's explosion radius from 1.5m to 2.5m to alleviate it not always freezing enemies who trigger it
 * *Artificer mistakenly had very low proc coefficients. Consider these bug fixes.*
 * Bug Fixes
 * [Community Found] Fix Snap Freeze explosion radius not being large enough to always freeze enemies who trigger it

Trivia

 * Artificer has several unused skills relating to her elements, most notably the skill people tend to call "Laser Bolt."
 * Artificer is referred to internally as "Mage."
 * All of Artificer's challenge skills can be unlocked at once by enabling the and . Repeatedly restart the run until the first stage's chosen monster is, then take the  from the Escape Pod. Activate the Teleporter, round up at least 20 Beetles (including all those from the Horde of Many), and die from the Fuel Array's explosion. This will kill all the Beetles at once, which will clear both the Chunked and Massacre challenges. Since the player's body is launched into the sky by the Fuel Array's explosion, this also will clear the Orbital Bombardment challenge.