Risk of Rain 2: How to Unlock Every New Survivor Skill in Hallowed Concepts

The Hallowed Concepts update gives six of the original Risk of Rain 2 Survivors a brand-new alternate skill, and none of them are handed to you for free. Each one sits behind a character-specific challenge, and those challenges range from a one-run formality to a fight that can take several attempts. Here is exactly what each skill is and what you have to do to earn it.

Quick answer: Complete the listed challenge while playing as that specific Survivor. The new skill unlocks in that character’s skill menu the moment the challenge registers.

All six new Survivor skills and their unlock challenges

Survivor	New skill (slot)	Challenge
Artificer	Tectonic Blast (Utility)	One Giant Leap
REX	Proliferation (Utility)	Invasive Growth
Acrid	Cloying Breath (Special)	Miracle
Engineer	Laser Cutter (Primary)	Mad Scientist
Huntress	Laser Cyclone (Secondary)	Tomb Raider
Commando	Sabotage (Special)	Retribution

You have to clear the matching challenge on the exact Survivor whose skill you want. Finishing Tomb Raider as Huntress does nothing for Commando’s Sabotage, and so on. The sections below are ordered from the quickest unlock to the hardest.

Artificer – Tectonic Blast (One Giant Leap)

This is the easiest skill in the set. The challenge is to reach the final boss on the moon without charging a single pillar. Artificer can do that with no items at all.

Make your way to Commencement, skip every Pillar of Mass, and use Ion Surge to gain height and float straight up into the boss arena. Once you arrive at the Mithrix fight without having activated any pillar, Tectonic Blast unlocks for the Utility slot.

REX – Proliferation (Invasive Growth)

Invasive Growth asks you to beat the game while holding at least five different Lunar items. The copies do not count, so each of the five has to be unique.

The simplest route is the Bazaar Between Time. Buy five or more distinct Lunar items there, then finish your run through any ending. With the five unique Lunar items still on you at the finish, Proliferation unlocks in REX’s Utility slot.

Acrid – Cloying Breath (Miracle)

Miracle requires you to beat the game after sequencing your inventory at least once. Sequencing happens at a Shrine of Order, which rerolls every item of each rarity into a single shared item of that same rarity.

A Shrine of Order reliably appears on Rallypoint Delta. There is also one waiting after you defeat the final boss on the moon, sitting among the floating rocks just before the exit. Use the shrine once, then complete the run. Cloying Breath then unlocks as Acrid’s new Special.

Engineer – Laser Cutter (Mad Scientist)

Mad Scientist tasks you with repairing an Equipment Drone using an Escape Pod’s Fuel Array. The tricky part is that the Fuel Array is volatile and will explode when it drops to 50 percent health, so avoiding damage while you carry it is the whole challenge.

When you land on the first stage, grab the Fuel Array off the back of your dropship. It stays on your person from that point on.

Keep moving and avoid taking hits. The item is fragile, so it is often safer to clear the opening area before picking it up rather than hauling it through the very start of the run.

Find an Equipment Drone. These show up across several biomes, including Aphelian Sanctuary and Scorched Acres. Feed it the Fuel Array to repair it, and Laser Cutter unlocks as Engineer’s new Primary.

Huntress – Laser Cyclone (Tomb Raider)

Tomb Raider wants you to claim an Artifact from the Bulwark’s Ambry in 25 minutes or less. The timer is the real pressure here, so lower the difficulty and rush through the early stages.

Reach at least stage five and find a Compound Generator (the artifact computer). Sky Meadow and Helminth Hatchery are good places to look for one.

Enter an artifact code on the 3×3 light-node grid. The Artifact of Command code is three squares across the top row, three squares across the middle row, and three triangles across the bottom row. Submit it to open the portal.

Inside Bulwark’s Ambry, feed a key to the Artifact Reliquary in the center to start the trial, then keep killing enemies until more keys drop. Hand each key back to the Reliquary until the enemies stop spawning, then grab the Artifact. Doing this before the clock hits 25 minutes unlocks Laser Cyclone for Huntress’s Secondary.

Commando – Sabotage (Retribution)

Retribution is the toughest unlock of the six. You have to defeat the final boss while holding 8 Karma, using the new optional Karma system that makes the moon confrontation far more punishing.

Turn Karma on from the character select screen before starting the run. It is off by default.

Build up Karma during the run. It is earned through several actions, such as reaching 50 collected items, defeating enemies like Aurelionite, or getting kicked out of the Bazaar. A fast loop is to visit the Bazaar Between Time, take three Lunar items for three Karma, and then deal enough damage to Nute to get ejected for one more. That is four Karma per Bazaar trip, so repeat until you reach eight.

Beat Mithrix with 8 Karma active. He is significantly harder at this level, so lowering the difficulty is worth considering. Once he goes down, Sabotage unlocks as Commando’s new Special.

Karma 8 Mithrix can wipe even a strong build, so treat the lower difficulty as a practical tool rather than a last resort.

How to confirm a skill unlocked

After the challenge registers, the new skill appears in that Survivor’s loadout menu, where you can slot it into its matching ability button before your next run. If it is not there, the challenge was not completed on that exact character, so start a fresh attempt with the correct Survivor selected.

Players can access Hallowed Concepts in Risk of Rain 2 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.