Risk of Rain 2 got a big update at the end of last week, with a new major expansion dropping for the third-person shooter. The DLC is called Hallowed Concepts, and it landed during the Triple-I Initiative on Thursday the 8th.
Hallowed Concepts includes two new characters, the Acolyte and the Enforcer. The expansion also includes some new stages to bulk out the rotation, fresh enemies and bosses, and a number of gameplay-altering items. Perhaps the most impactful addition, however, is the new hexes.
I’ve not tried them all, and I’m pulling my numbers from the Steam page, but the expansion includes 14 hexes and 11 hallowed items. These modifiers make things significantly more challenging, but once equipped, you can later cleanse them in exchange for the hallowed items (if you’re lucky).
If you seek out this voluntary pain, you might lower your health, reduce your ability to jump, or increase your overall squishiness, but if you can swap out the hex in question for a nice item at a shrine later on, you might think it’s worth the risk.
The other highlight of the expansion is the two new playable characters. The Enforcer is unlocked as standard, but there’s a bit of work to do to unlock the Acolyte.
I focused on the Enforcer and spent the whole weekend mastering this powerful tank, and I had a great time learning his nuances. In particular, I bloody love his Minority Report-inspired reload.
The Enforcer, who I last encountered in Risk of Rain Returns, is the perfect damage dealing tank, and I think a lot of players are going to enjoy spearheading the attack with him thanks to his extremely effective riot shield. Yeah, he’s a bit clunky, and yeah, he runs like he’s holding his trousers up with one hand, but he’s so good at soaking up damage and then returning it directly.
The Acolyte, on the other hand, is a melee monster who can dance around the battlefield and slice enemies with her glaive. After lumbering around with the Enforcer, the change of pace will feel more pronounced, but these two new survivors couldn’t be much more different.
Out of the two, the Acolyte is definitely the one who will require more mastery given her convoluted health system and nimble movement, but given how hard you lot push your builds in Risk of Rain 2, I’m sure you’ll be fine putting in the hours.
The new expansion includes a couple of new bosses, and those that I’ve experienced, I’ve liked a lot (there’s a secret boss that I’ve just not managed to reach yet). All told, Hallowed Concepts feels like a solid DLC for the game, and thanks to the new wrinkles delivered by the hex system, it should change up the dynamic of many a run, boosting overall unpredictability and giving you new dangers to consider.
At this stage, with four DLCs in the bag and all of the items and secrets that are now baked into the cake and just waiting to be discovered, Risk of Rain 2 is an absolute feast of roguelike design, systemic gameplay, and discovery. If you’re after an action-packed co-op game with tons of depth, there aren’t many bigger or better out there.
It took a while for Gearbox to finally get to grips with Risk of Rain 2, after taking over from the original creators (Hopoo Games). I think with Hallowed Concepts, the devs have finally managed to get a firm hold on things. Now all we need is cross-platform play.
