Risk Of Rain 2: Pro Tips For Playing As Void Fiend (2024)

Indie hit Risk of Rain 2 has been out for a while now, but in case you were getting a little too comfortable with how the game works, the new Survivors of the Void expansion is here to shake things up. This downloadable content introduces a slew of new stages, items, modes, and even two additional characters, meaning your runs through the game will feel more varied than ever before.

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One of the new characters introduced in this expansion is Void Fiend, a void-afflicted abomination that is perhaps Risk of Rain 2’s most complex character yet. Void Fiend operates on a “Corruption” mechanic, constantly switching between forms and abilities even when you may not want it to. Utilizing this character effectively will likely take a few practice runs, but this guide will give you the information you need to turn the Void Fiend into a Void Friend.

Void Fiend Ability Overview

Void Fiend’s signature characteristic is its transformation mechanic. A Corruption gauge will be present on your screen at all times; at 100 percent it will corrupt you (giving you new abilities) and begin decreasing, while at zero percent it will uncorrupt you and begin increasing. Usage of your Suppress and Corrupted Suppress abilities is the best way to manage this meter, but there are a few other elements that influence Corruption levels as well.

Taking damage, inflicting Critical Strikes, and owning Void Items will all increase your Corruption. Void Items in particular raise your minimum Corruption level, making you transform faster but also reducing the duration of your corrupted form. On the flip side, any healing you receive directly reduces your Corruption level.

Best Items For Void Fiend

Void Fiend is a character practically defined by trade-offs, and its best items reflect this. Void Items found in Void Cradles are especially good on Void Fiend since they will raise its minimum Corruption level. This will result in more frequent transformations in both directions, but considering that your ability cooldowns are reset each time you transform, this is not a negative aspect. If you somehow manage to acquire 50 Void Items in one run, you’ll be able to stay in your corrupted state indefinitely.

Healing items such as Leeching Seed are likewise contradictory regarding Void Fiend. They’re certainly helpful when you need to play aggressive in Void Fiend’s corrupted form, but the healing itself will decrease the time you can stay in that corrupted form. Maybe consider instead defensive items that offer flat damage reduction, such as Repulsion Armor Plate and Rose Buckler.

Generally, you’ll want to be in Void Fiend’s corrupted form as much as possible due to its higher damage potential, so items like Lens-Maker’s Glasses, Soldier’s Syringe, and Tri-Tip Dagger can all boost your offensive power while helping improve Corruption’s uptime. Backup Magazine is also a fantastic item for Void Fiend, as the extra charges of Flood (and Corrupted Flood especially) improve Void Fiend’s AoE capabilities significantly.

Make sure to avoid the Crowbar, Focus Crystal, and Delicate Watch items. These will increase the damage you inflict upon yourself with Corrupted Suppress, causing you much more pain than you would expect and leaving you especially vulnerable.

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Strategies While Playing Void Fiend

Here are a few quick tips to maximize Void Fiend’s potential in the field:

• Void Fiend gains 100 armor while in its corrupted form. Since its Corrupted Drown has a surprisingly short range, this extra armor should encourage you to get into the thick of things and fight enemies aggressively.
• Unlike Corrupted Drown, normalDrown has a deceptively long range. If your aim is on point you can take down enemies from an impressive distance, including flying foes.
• Corrupted Flood fires an explosive bomb that arcs, but uncorrupted Flood fires in a straight line. Although it has a charge time, uncorrupted Flood is thus pretty decent at targeting airborne enemies.
• Both versions of Trespass are great movement abilities to escape hordes of enemies, gain higher ground, or traverse the map more quickly.
• Suppress can be used even at full health to reduce your Corruption level and stay uncorrupted for longer.
• Corrupted Suppress has two charges to facilitate a longer transformation duration, but keep in mind that using both will sacrifice a whopping 50 percent of your maximum health.

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