With the release of Survivors of the Void, Huntress went from being unlockable to being unlocked by default. The character is widely considered weak compared to other survivors since she primarily does chip damage while sprinting away from foes. Although she has a small health pool and dies quickly, Huntress’s mobility makes up for many of her faults. Most of Huntress’ abilities in Risk of Rain 2 can be cast while sprinting, allowing her to benefit from items like the Energy Drink and Rose Buckler in her build far more than other characters.
The Huntress makes up for her lack of easy, raw damage output with mobility. We enjoy playing the Huntress in Risk of Rain 2 because her playstyle is so unique and interesting. She definitely makes for an exciting and challenging playthrough. Without further ado, we’ll dive into what makes the Huntress unique.
How Do Huntress’s Abilities Work?
Primary Skill – Strafe
Huntress’s default primary is Strafe. Her primary options don’t require aiming, as they automatically home in on the closest enemy so long as they are within 60 meters of her. Strafe fires a single arrow once every 0.5 seconds. The great thing is Strafe can be cast while running, and each arrow does 1.5x her base damage.
Compared to Commando’s primary in Risk of Rain 2, it does half the damage and hits four fewer times within a second. The arrow has an ordinary proc-coefficient of 1.0, making it potentially activate items at a regular rate twice every second.
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Huntress’ Alternate Primary – Flurry
Huntress’s alternate primary is Flurry, which is intended to be used for on-hit builds. Flurry works like Strafe but fires every 1.3 seconds instead of 0.5. Flurry shoots three arrows at once, but each arrow does Huntress’ base damage, unlike Strafe. Two things make Flurry better than Strafe. Within 4 seconds, Flurry fires nine arrows while Strafe fires 8.
Flurry scales harder into runs where you build crit and attack speed, alongside on-hit effects. Criting with Strafe doubles the arrow output, dealing four times the natural damage of Flurry. Although each arrow has reduced damage and a 0.7 proc coefficient, on-hit effects and critical hits truly make this alternative shine.
To unlock this primary, you must get the Huntress: Finishing Touch achievement. The Finishing Touch challenge requires you to land a killing blow with every single hit of Laser Glaive. The easiest way to accomplish this feat is to play on Drizzle and stack damage items like Crowbar or Delicate Watch. After stacking damage items, look for groups of Lesser Wisps or Beetles; they are the lowest HP enemies in the first stage.
Secondary Skill for the Huntress in Risk of Rain 2
Huntress’s Secondary is Laser Glaive, a bouncing projectile that increases by 10% per bounce, up to 6 times. The attack naturally does 2.5x Huntress’s base damage and won’t bounce if there isn’t a second enemy nearby. The attack doesn’t require aiming and has the same range as her primaries. If every hit of Laser Glaive goes through, Huntress will deal roughly 23x her base damage.
Laser Glaive also has a proc-coefficient of 0.8 per bounce and passes through the terrain. There isn’t a damage fall off for this ability. Yet, Laser Glaive only locks onto an enemy if they are within 60 meters of her.
Utility Skills
Huntress’s first Utility skill is Blink, allowing her to teleport a medium distance relative to her movement speed. Unlike her unlock, Huntress’s primary Utility enables her to move vertically up or down based on where she aims. The higher Huntress’s speed is, the farther she goes with both of her Utilities.
Although Huntress can only use this ability once every 7 seconds in Risk of Rain 2, it is usually better for verticality. You can use both this ability and its alternative not to take fall damage.
Huntress’s second Utility is Phase Blink, which can store three charges. Each charge regenerates every 2 seconds, allowing for three times the dashes for a slightly shorter distance with each burst. Although this ability grants more horizontal movement than its alternative, there is no vertical movement when blinking.
This affects Huntress so directly because she excels horizontally, but her weaker special ability is the only efficient way for her to get vertical movement. This decision is widely down to preference, but you unlock Phase Blink merely by picking up 12 crowbars in one run.
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Specials
Huntress has two specials to utilize, with her first being Arrow Rain. The move starts with Huntress blinking into the air and floating there, prompting you to place the Arrow Rain on any terrain. Arrow Rain does roughly 20x her natural damage in an area over 6 seconds but struggles to hit enemies that can remove themselves from the AOE and enemies that are airborne. This ability is one of the only easy ways to get Huntress airborne, but it is not worth it for the downsides that Arrow Rain comes alongside.
Huntress’s alternate secondary is Ballista, a strong-hitting ability that teleports Huntress backward very slightly into the air before firing three strong bolts wherever she aims. Each shot blasts 9x base damage and has a normal proc-coefficient of 1.0. You can use this ability to cheese some verticality out of Huntress, but it is strong since it is the one ability that Huntress can genuinely aim with.
Alongside the massive damage from this weapon, it also interrupts Huntress’s gameplay flow significantly less than its counterpart. Both moves have the same cooldown, but Ballista allows you to hit all targets, unlike Arrow Rain.
To unlock Ballista, you need to get Huntress: Piercing Wind. To complete the Piercing Wind challenge, you must start and finish either Rallypoint Delta or Scorched Acres without falling below 100% HP. It’s worth noting that 100% HP does include shields, but not batteries like Topaz Brooch or Aegis.
How to Build Huntress in Risk of Rain 2
Both of Huntress’ primaries are strong for different reasons, so you may choose to take either. Deciding to take Flurry likely means that you intend on building Crit items. Crit items include Lens Maker Glasses, Predatory Instincts, Harvester’s Scythe, Shatterspleen, and the Laser Scope in Risk of Rain 2. If you take Flurry on Huntress, build her more like Commando than how you would if you had Strafe.
Taking Strafe on Huntress usually means focusing more on mobility over Crit and On-Hit effects. Moreover, taking Strafe also means Huntress won’t scale as well into Risk of Rain 2’s late game.
Taking Flurry means you intend on scaling while suffering early. In terms of Utility, both options are excellent in their own right. We prefer Phase Blink, but the verticality from Blink isn’t something that is easily refused. Ballista is generally better than Arrow Rain in every way aside from the vertical movement. Therefore, we recommend Risk of Rain 2 Huntress builds also include Ballista.
In terms of items, Huntress, does well with items you’d also find in Commando builds in Risk of Rain 2 if you take Flurry. Aside from that, things that synergize with sprinting are best on Huntress. Energy Drink becomes a straight upgrade to Paul’s Goat Hoof, and Rose Buckler is rarely active.
Wax Quail makes dodging even easier. Little Disciple becomes even more potent on Huntress, and Weeping Fungus is somehow even better on the Huntress. Huntress works best with movement items. Yet, we argue that these are definitely the strongest when they are on her instead of any other Survivor.
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Huntress Tips & Tricks
- Huntress’ Ballista teleports her a small distance backward, which you can use to dodge or maneuver to a location she can barely reach.
- Any time Huntress Crits with Flurry, all six shots are guaranteed crits. Each Flurry hit can activate Predatory instincts, meaning you can stack six stacks of the item with one use of the ability.
- Although the proc chance of Flurry is lower than average, getting a Crit and firing double the natural amount of arrows will allow for each hit to have an opportunity to activate items.
- Getting a 100% Crit chance will allow Flurry to fire 18 arrows every 4 seconds, each doing double damage. This far out scales Strafe’s damage capabilities.
- To avoid fall damage, you can use Blink, Phase Blink, Laser Glaive, Arrow Rain, and Ballista. Also, jumping during the animation of Laser Glaive will send you higher into the air.
How to Unlock the Huntress in Risk of Rain 2
Before the release of Survivors of the Void, the Huntress had to be unlocked in Risk of Rain 2. However, Huntress is not unlocked by default, and you don’t need to do anything else to get her.
Wrap Up
That’s our guide for everything you need to know about playing Huntress in Risk of Rain 2. Overall, Huntress builds similarly to Commando when she uses Flurry, but she stands out as one of the more highly mobile characters in Risk of Rain 2. If you love high-speed gameplay and high crit arrows, then Huntress is the survivor for you.
For more great insights, check out our in-depth guide on the Shrine of Order in Risk of Rain 2 and how it compares to other shrines in the game. We hope you have found this guide on how to play and build Huntress in Risk of Rain 2 helpful. If you have any other tips or tricks you’d like to share with aspiring RoR2 players, please feel free to do so using the comment section below.
