Risk of Rain 2 Mercenary – Unlock Guide & Best Skills

Risk of Rain 2’s Mercenary is probably the hardest Survivor to master, but because of his speed and near-invincibility, Mercenary is a huge player favorite.

However, to make the most of Mercenary’s quick-paced attacks and fluid movements in RoR2, it’s best to go in with a bit of know-how.

This article is to help you understand all RoR2 Mercenary skills so you can pair them better for the perfect Risk of Rain 2 Mercenary build.

Along with a skills guide, we’ll also tell you how to get Mercenary in Risk of Rain 2. So, let’s master the only melee survivor in RoR2.

How to Unlock Mercenary in Risk of Rain 2?

Before mastering Mercenary in Risk of Rain 2, you must unlock the RoR2 Survivor by completing the True Respite challenge. It’s a pretty straightforward challenge where you have to sacrifice yourself, and the Mercenary is your reward.

We won’t give any verdict on the nature of this challenge because, for some, it was super-easy, while others are still struggling to get started.

To start True Respite, you have to find a Celestial Portal, which appears after you complete Rallypoint Delta.

However, some players have complained of not finding a Celestial Point even after completion, while others say they found one without even attempting the Rallypoint Delta.

We’ll move forward by saying that no matter how, where, or when you find it, you need to enter a Celestial Point to initiate Risk of Rain 2 Mercenary unlock. Here’s a step-by-step guide to unlocking Mercenary is Risk of Rain 2.

Step 1- Finish Stage Eight OR Wander Around

This is where the Celestial Point problem appears. One way to generate a Celestial Point is to complete the 8th stage in RoR2.

Here’s the rundown of the 8th stage.

You’ll first complete the 5 stages and then start again from the 1st stage. This means the 3rd stage will become the 8th stage- and after completing this loop, a Celestial Point will spawn.

There is no 100% surety, but it is your best bet- unless you are willing to wander around and find the Celestial Point yourself, the chances of which are very low.

Step 2- Find Obelisk

Once you find the Celestial Portal, it’s time to enter the teleporter- which will transport you to ‘A Moment, Fractured.’ There, you have to locate the Obelisk.

Don’t waste your time wandering around, just follow the blue-glowing rocks to the top of the last island, and there you’ll see the Obelisk. It’s a couple of big, blue, icy towers- difficult to miss.

Step 3- Sacrifice Your Character

And, by sacrifice, we mean obliterate your character. As you walk up to the Obelisk, you’ll see the option to interact with it.

Do that, choose the ‘obliterate yourself’ option, and enjoy a swift sacrifice of your beloved character, who you built up with so much time and effort.

Yes, that’s us trying to invoke a guilt trip.

Once you complete this RoR2 ritual, you’ll unlock Mercenary for good. But, the job is only half done. After unlocking the Mercenary, you now have to unlock his skills too.

Some basic skills are available to use straight after you unlock the Mercenary in Risk of Rain 2, but the best ones need unlocking.

It’s not that tough, though.

Risk of Rain 2: Mercenary’s Best Skills

Like most RoR2 characters, Mercenary also has 8 skills or abilities in his arsenal. There’s 1 Passive, 1 Primary, 2 Secondary, 2 Utility, and 2 Special skills.

Out of these 8, the Passive, Primary, 1 Secondary, 1 Utility, and 1 Special are equipable right after you unlock Mercenary in RoR2.

The other 3, you have to unlock by completing different RoR2: Mercenary challenges. First, we’ll discuss the basic ones and then move on to the challenges and locked skills.

RoR2: Mercenary’s Default Skills

The following 5 skills are usable straight after unlocking the Mercenary, but these aren’t too special.

As is the case for any melee fighter, the default Mercenary skills are best for short-range combat. But, the added invincibility while using a couple of these is amazing.

1. Cybernetic Enhancements – Mercenary’s Passive Skill

Don’t let the super cool name fool you into thinking this is some meta-level skill. It only helps the Mercenary do a double jump.

We’ll admit that it’s a very handy skill and helps avoid lots of damage, but they could have chosen a more suitable (boring) name to match the skill’s level.

2. Laser Sword – Mercenary’s Default Primary Skill

The already unlocked Primary skill of Mercenary is a good one because it complements his speed very well.

The Laser Sword deals 130% damage in a single front slice and it is an Agile skill, meaning you can use it even when you are sprinting.

Another characteristic of this skill is with every third strike you land, the area of damage (AoD) will increase resulting in higher damage to your enemies and exposing them as well.

3. Whirlwind – Mercenary’s Default Secondary Skill

Mercenary’s Secondary is the real damage dealer out of all his default skills.

Using Whirlwind will land a horizontal slice twice in quick succession. Each slice causes 200% damage, totaling 400%. The cooldown time for this is a mere 2.5 seconds. By the time your enemy recovers from the combo, Whirlwind will be ready again.

4. Blinding Assault – Mercenary’s Default Utility

Using the Blinding Assault, you can stun your enemies and potentially land 900% damage.

A single dash forward results in 300% damage, and if you land the blow, you can do it again and again, up to 2 times. After that, the 8s cooldown time kicks in.

To know how many uses the Utility has left, look for the color on the hot bar. Red means 1 use, Yellow means 2 uses, and Blue means 3 uses.

5. Eviscerate – Mercenary’s Default Special Skill

The Special is nothing special, to be honest. Using Eviscerate deals a mere 110% damage, that too to the nearest enemy.

One thing that we do like is that it makes Mercenary invincible for a total of 1.9s. The attack only lasts 1.3s, and the 0.6s is bonus invincibility.

RoR2: Mercenary’s Challenges & Unlockable Skills

Aside from the 5 above, you can unlock 3 more skills by completing 3 Mercenary challenges.

Once unlocked, you can choose and replace the skills of the same category. The 3 unlockable skills include 1 Secondary skill, 1 Utility, and 1 Special Skill.

1. Rising Thunder – Mercenary’s Unlockable Secondary Skill

Using Rising Thunder, Mercenary will let fly a slicing uppercut which deals 550% damage to the enemy and kicks you up into the air, away from the enemy.

It’s a combo of offensive and defensive skill, but we think the default secondary – Whirlwind – is much more deadly.

How To Unlock – Finish Risk of Rain 2: Mercenary: Demon of the Skies challenge. Just keep Mercenary in the air for 30 seconds without touching the ground.

2. Focused Assault – Mercenary’s Unlockable Utility

Again, we would prefer the default Utility over this one because this one is only usable once and lands a total of 700% damage.

Focused Assault does have the advantage of exposing the enemy after 1 second, but we still prefer Blinding Assault.

How To Unlock – Finish Risk of Rain 2: Mercenary: Flash of Blades challenge. It’s a tricky one because you have to use 20 skills in 10 seconds. Pile everything up before you attempt this one.

3. Slicing Winds – Mercenary’s Unlockable Special Skill

Now, this is a skill we feel is worthy of completing any challenge. A Slicing Wind attack will unleash a wind of blades on the enemy (will target 3 enemies at once) landing 100% 8 times.

So, a total of 2400% damage will be dealt with 3 enemies at once. And the last hit will expose the enemies as well. There’s no invincibility, but it’s great for team battles.

How To Unlock – Finish Risk of Rain 2: Mercenary: Ethereal challenge. You’ll need to complete the Prismatic Trial with 100% health — you cannot drop any health throughout the mission.

And that’s all we have on Mercenary in Risk of Rain 2 right now. Building and mastering this melee survivor is a lot of effort, especially since you have to unlock some skills too. But, Mercenary is one of the few Risk of Rain 2 characters worth all this effort.

Also, while you’re here, check out the Best Risk Of Rain 2 Mods You Should Try Right Now.