Level

Level is a statistic that all characters have in Risk of Rain 2. The higher a character's level, the higher their stats. As in most games, all characters in Risk of Rain 2 begin at level 1 and steadily level up, becoming progressively stronger over time.

The level of a character affects their:

• Base maximum health
• Base health regeneration
• Base damage

It is important to note that these three stats don't all level up at the same rate, health increases by 30% of the base stat while damage and regeneration increase by 20% of their base stats (Though most monsters have 0 regeneration to begin with and as such will not increase when gaining levels). This means that, with no items and at higher levels, fights will tend to take longer as entities gain more health than damage (an effect which is further amplified when the player's levels begin to stagnate).

Player Level

Players level up by gathering experience. The biggest source of experience is from defeating monsters, which drop whitish-blue experience orbs when killed that are automatically collected by the player that kills them. The amount of experience dropped depends on the current difficulty, the type of monster, and whether the monster is an Elite. The experience collected by the killing player will be equally received by every other player. As such, a kill from a drone will also grant experience to the player. However, if a monster is killed by a non-player entity, e.g., fall damage, or the Void Fog, that experience is lost. An exception to this is an enemy dying from falling off the stage. In this scenario the experience will be rewarded to whoever last damaged the aforementioned enemy, however long ago that had occured. This will most likely be the player as there are very few non-player sources of damage.

Aside from killing monsters, players can acquire small amounts of experience by opening barrels. Additionally, when proceeding to the next stage via Teleporter or portal, all of the player's leftover gold is converted into half that much experience before entering the next stage.

A player's current level can be found using the formula $level = log_{1.55}(1+0.0275*totalexp)+1$, with a minimum of 1. The amount of experience required to reach a certain level can be found with $exp = -4/0.11*(1-1.55^{level-1})$.

Since each subsequent level requires 1.55 times as much experience as the previous one, leveling up outside of early stages becomes nearly impossible. Ultimately, players require items to survive and fight on.

Ambient Level

Non-player characters use a completely different leveling system than players, instead scaling their level with the ambient difficulty. This ambient level is given by the formula ${\textstyle enemyLevel = 1 + (coeff - playerFactor) / 0.33}$, where coeff is the difficulty coefficient and playerFactor is a constant that scales with the player count of the game (see the math behind scaling difficulty). This level is displayed in the top-right corner of the screen, alongside the current scaling difficulty. This level is capped at 99 for the default and any alternate game modes. However, Simulacrum is an exception since it both uses its own level formula and also the level is capped at 9999.

A monster's level also determines how much experience it will drop for a player that kills it; the experience reward is found with ${\textstyle reward = coeff \times monsterValue \times rewardMultiplier}$. The experience yield of a monster is exactly half the amount of gold it drops.

Although this level system is used primarily for monsters, nearly all non-player characters, including player minions, use the ambient level. Player minions will use the player team level (the one shown by the player's hp bar) or the ambient level, whichever is greater at the moment. There are a few exceptions:

• Engineer'sEngineerThe Engineer is a unique class that requires planning and positioning to be successful.
  Class: Ranged
  HP: 130 (+39 per level)
  Damage: 14 (+2.8 per level)
  Armor: 0
  Umbra: Fortification Expert TR12 Gauss Auto-TurretTR12 Gauss Auto-Turret (Special)Place a turret that inherits all your items. Fires a cannon for 100% damage. Can place up to 2.
  Survivor: Engineer and TR58 Carbonizer TurretTR58 Carbonizer Turret (Special)Place a mobile turret that inherits all your items. Fires a laser for 200% damage per second that slows enemies. Can place up to 2.
  Survivor: Engineer use the player level because the inherited items should be sufficient for a power boost.
• Strike Drones100sThe Back-up
  Call drones for back up. Lasts 25 seconds.
  Call 4 Strike Drones to fight for you. Lasts 25 seconds. summoned by the player also use the player level, which is most likely a bug. However, Strike Drones summoned by Equipment Drones or by ScavengersScavenger
  Item HoarderHP: 3800 (+1140 per level)
  Damage: 4 (+0.8 per level)
  Class: Ranged
  Speed: 3 m/s
  Armor: 20 do scale with the ambient level since their summoner also does.
• Allied LemuriansLemurian
  HP: 80 (+24 per level)
  Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
  Class: Ranged / Melee
  Speed: 7 m/s
  Armor: 0 and Elder LemuriansElder Lemurian
  HP: 900 (+270 per level)
  Damage: 16 (+3.2 per level)
  Class: Ranged
  Speed: 13 m/s
  Armor: 0 spawned through the Artifact of DevotionDevotionReplace broken drones with Lemurian Eggs. Offer an item to gain followers.
  Code:
  
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  use the player level as well, but the items they are given will more than make up for their lower stats.
• The following enemies, even though hostile to players, do not scale with the ambient level because they are spawned by special means: the unique Elder LemuriansElder Lemurian
  HP: 900 (+270 per level)
  Damage: 16 (+3.2 per level)
  Class: Ranged
  Speed: 13 m/s
  Armor: 0 in Abandoned Aqueduct'sAbandoned Aqueduct (Stage 2)
  Origin of Tar
  You dream of sand beneath your feet.
  
  Massive skeletons and pools of tar are littered around, and a towering aqueduct pouring down tar dominates the area. secret area, the Artifact ReliquaryArtifact Reliquary
  StabilizedHP: 100000 (+30000 per level)
  Damage: 10 (+2 per level)
  Class: Ranged
  Speed: 0 m/s
  Armor: 100000, and any Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
  Void Infestor is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
  Click for more info. Void InfenstorsSurvivors of the Void - DLC Content
  This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
  Click for more info.Void Infestor
  HP: 45 (+14 per level)
  Damage: 11 (+2.2 per level)
  Class: Melee
  Speed: 14 m/s
  Armor: 0 that specifically come out of killed Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
  Voidtouched is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
  Click for more info. VoidtouchedSurvivors of the Void - DLC Content
  This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
  Click for more info.Voidtouched (Affix Buff)
  Gain the power of a Voidtouched Elite.Collapse on hit and block one hit every 15 seconds. enemies.

Trivia

• The game uses a 64-bit integer to track the accumulated required experience up to any level. Since 94 is the highest level before the integer overflows, this is technically the highest level achievable by the player.
  • This is not normally achievable since if the player keeps looping to continue farming monsters, the difficulty coefficient will grow so much that the credits received by the Director will overflow to negative and will be unable to spawn any monsters. It is possible to keep collecting gold from barrels, or by using Forgive Me Please45sForgive Me Please
    Throw a cursed doll that repeatedly triggers your 'On Kill' effects.
    Throw a cursed doll out that triggers any On-Kill effects you have every 1 second for 8 seconds. with Ghor's TomeGhor's Tome
    Chance on kill to drop a treasure.
    4% (+4% on stack) chance on kill to drop a treasure worth $25. Scales over time., or by using Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
    Roll of Pennies is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
    Click for more info. Roll of PenniesSurvivors of the Void - DLC Content
    This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
    Click for more info.Roll of Pennies
    Gain gold on taking damage.
    Gain 3 (+3 per stack) gold on taking damage from an enemy. Scales over time. before enemies stop spawning, and then trade this gold for experience before leaving a stage. However, the exponential growth of the experience required for each new level ensures this is beyond realistic to continue levelling up after enemies stop spawning.
• The game actually keeps track of the experience gathered for all the various teams, i.e., Neutral, Player, Monster, and Void. Enemies and allies scaling by the ambient level do so with the use of a hidden item, which overrides the relevant team's actual level. As discussed in the ambient level section, some special spawns do not scale with the ambient level, which means they will be at the respective team level, which will most likely be 1. However, since any team is hostile to every other team, it is possible for the Monster and Void teams to acquire experience from killing each other.
  • The player and drones do not reward experience upon death.
  • Using the Artifact of ChaosChaosFriendly fire is enabled for both survivors and monsters alike.
    Code:
    
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    is another way to orchestrate enemies killing each other and acquire experience, even if it is from friendly fire. This is noticeable in Bulwark's AmbryBulwark's Ambry (Hidden Realm)
    Hidden Realm: Bulwark's Ambry
    The area consists of block-shaped platforms, with the Artifact Reliquary in the center. where the Artifact Reliquary's health bar visually indicates when it levels up from monsters killing each other.
  • While the death implosion of Void ReaversVoid Reaver
    HP: 1900 (+570 per level)
    Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
    Class: Ranged / Self-Destruct
    Speed: 6 m/s
    Armor: 0, Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
    Void Jailer is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
    Click for more info. Void JailersSurvivors of the Void - DLC Content
    This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
    Click for more info.Void Jailer
    HP: 2200 (+660 per level)
    Damage: 14 (+2.8 per level)
    Class: Ranged / Self-Destruct
    Speed: 7 m/s
    Armor: 0, and Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
    Void Devastator is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
    Click for more info. Void DevastatorsSurvivors of the Void - DLC Content
    This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
    Click for more info.Void Devastator
    Destroyer of WorldsHP: 2800 (+840 per level)
    Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
    Class: Ranged / Self-Destruct
    Speed: 8 m/s
    Armor: 20 can kill friendlies, the experience orbs cannot reach the offending entity since it has been destroyed. As such, these kills will never grant experience.
    • The same applies for the Jellyfish'sJellyfish
      HP: 60 (+18 per level)
      Damage: 5 (+1 per level)
      Class: Self-Destruct
      Speed: 10 m/s
      Armor: 0 and Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
      Larva is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
      Click for more info. Larva'sSurvivors of the Void - DLC Content
      This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
      Click for more info.Larva
      HP: 45 (+14 per level)
      Damage: 11 (+2.2 per level)
      Class: Self-Destruct
      Speed: 1.5 m/s
      Armor: 0 suicide attacks with the Artifact of ChaosChaosFriendly fire is enabled for both survivors and monsters alike.
      Code:
      
      ●▲●
      ●▲●
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      .
• Characters that follow the ambient level choose the higher value between the ambient level and their team's level. Considering most non-player teams rarely level up, this is only relevant for player allies and drones in difficulties lower than Monsoon where the player level can stay ahead of the ambient level for a limited amount of time.