[2023] Dev Thoughts 31 - Risk of Rain Returns

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

Hey!

Thanks again for joining us for the Dev Thoughts, today we're going to take a look at a brand new survivor for Risk of Rain Returns and talking to Hopoo Games composer Chris Christodoulou about the soundtrack.

The majority of this content, along with the great new survivor trailer, are contained in the video version of the Dev Thoughts linked above, so make sure you watch it so you don't miss out!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1337520/Risk_of_Rain_Returns/

For the words-n-gifs fans among us, let's get acquainted with Risk of Rain's newest survivor...



Drifter
The first brand new survivor debuting in Risk of Rain Returns is Drifter. This resourceful brawler got more than she bargained for when she stowed away on the ill-fated Contact Light - luckily she has some unique skills to not only handle the dangerous inhabitants of Petrichor V but she also has some powerful tools to empower herself and her fellow Survivors.





Key to Drifter’s power is her ability to utilise Scrap generated by her primary ability Blunt Force. This may appear as useless rubbish to the other survivors - but to Drifter it’s a valuable resource.





Blunt Force is a 3 hit combo melee attack that hits enemies in a wide area - each successful hit generates lumps of Scrap which litter the floor near Drifter - gather these quickly to fuel your more powerful abilities.

Blunt Force isn't the only way to generate Scrap - Drifter’s Utility ability Suffocate also fills your meter without having to collect Scrap from the environment - This large melee strike stuns and does 200% damage - any enemy below 20% health when attacked with Suffocate is immediately consumed and converted to Scrap.





Once you have gathered Scrap you have everything you need to fuel Drifter’s other two abilities - including her secondary attack Cleanup. This ability tosses out some of your Scrap as piercing projectiles in a short-range burst - imagine a trash powered shotgun that makes mincemeat of even the toughest enemies.





Finally her special ability makes her a true powerhouse on the battlefield - not only to herself but her allies - when your Scrap meter is 75% full you gain access to Salvage.

Salvage allows Drifter to generate 4 temporary items - these can then be collected by any player making her the survivor with the strongest support abilities in Risk of Rain. Have your teammates not been as fortunate as you when rolling the dice at chance shrines? Create some temporary items to share among your team before facing the tough challenges that await you.





Of course there is nothing stopping you from just taking all the items for yourself and becoming the most powerful Survivor on the planet - key to success as Drifter is to keep churning out temporary items as quickly as you can - they only last a short time in your inventory so continuing to replace them as they expire will maintain your strength.





Like all the other survivors, Drifter has a trio of alternate abilities to unlock, but I won't spoil those for you today, you can discover them yourself when Risk of Rain Returns is released later this year!





Chris Chrisodoulou Interview
I interviewed Hopoo Games composer Chris Christodoulou about his approach to the Risk of Rain Returns soundtrack - what changes he has made to the original OST, the approach he has taken to the new tracks coming in the game and much much more! .... You still here? Expecting some more words-n-gifs of a video interview?? Go watch the video Dev Thoughts linked at the top of the page! The interview is there!!



Thanks again everyone for your continued support, all of us at Hopoo Games are very excited for you to play Risk of Rain Returns soon! In the meantime don’t forget to join our Discord[discord.gg] and follow us on Twitter, Twitch[www.twitch.tv], Youtube or TikTok[www.tiktok.com] to keep up to date with the latest on the game - next time we’ll be taking a look at the final new character dropping into Risk of Rain Returns…



Cya then!

Jonathan
Hopoo Games
Community Manager