Welcome to the Chef character guide for Risk of Rain 2! While Chef’s long-awaited arrival brought hope and nostalgia for some fans, the harsh truth is: he’s currently the weakest survivor in the game. There’s just no sugar-coating it—his kit feels underwhelming, clunky, and questionably designed. But if you’re determined to make the most of your apron-wielding cook, this guide will give you everything you need to unlock him, understand his abilities, and extract as much value as possible from his current kit.

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Unlocking Chef

To unlock Chef, all you need to do is enter a Green Portal and place three specific items—Cautious Slug, Bison Steak, and Infusion—into pedestals. This can be done across multiple runs, and you don’t have to place all three in one session. Once completed, Chef becomes available. Easy enough—perhaps fitting, considering how hard you’ll have to work once you start playing him.

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Chef’s Abilities Overview

• Passive – Chef’s Kiss: Enemies damaged by two or more of your abilities drop a healing orb on death. Heals for 10% of max health. Functionally similar to Monster Tooth, with slightly better results.
• Primary – Dice: Throws a cleaver that deals 250% damage on the way out and 375% on recall. Has three charges, each recharging in 2 seconds (reduced by attack speed and cooldown modifiers). You can only have one cleaver active at a time, making careful timing and recall essential.
• Secondary – Sear: A short-range flamethrower that deals 600% damage over 2 seconds—or 675% if the enemy is glazed. Unfortunately, this is one of the worst abilities in the game. It has limited range, low effectiveness, and poor synergy with Chef’s kit overall.
• Utility – Roll: A forward dash that deals 500% damage and stuns. Can be charged for 3 seconds to extend duration and increase damage to 800%, but not speed. The roll can hit enemies multiple times if positioned well.
• Special (Two Options):
  • Glaze: Shoots 7 orbs that apply “Weaken,” reducing armor by 30%, movement speed, and damage by 40% for 7 seconds. Essential for enabling Chef’s passive.
  • Yes Chef: Buffs the next ability cast. Cleavers become a 360° spread, Sear gains three pre-flame orbs, and Roll becomes a whirlwind. Sadly, this special is awful due to its long 15-second cooldown and animation lock. Avoid it.

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Optimal Playstyle & Combos

Let’s be clear: Chef has one good combo. And even that is mostly built on workarounds and compromises. Here it is:

1. Use Glaze on a target to apply Weaken and set up your passive.
2. Use Roll to dash through and hit the enemy multiple times. Spin in place for maximum damage ticks.
3. Use Sear immediately during the roll to stack damage.

This combo works because you can’t use Sear before Roll without canceling it—but Roll then Sear does work. Unfortunately, even this combo is outclassed by simply spamming your Cleavers, which have better range, hit reliably, and scale more effectively.

Chef’s cleavers are your bread and butter (no pun intended). Just throw, recall, and repeat. While his passive encourages ability weaving, it’s often not worth the effort unless you’re specifically targeting tough enemies. In general? Spam Cleavers.

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Why Yes Chef Is Terrible

Yes Chef has a longer cooldown than Glaze (15s vs. 10s) and only starts recharging after the buffed ability is used. It also locks you into a 2-second animation before anything happens. Buffing Sear gives you three orbs—yay. Buffing Roll turns you into a spin attack—meh. Buffing Dice gives you a cool-looking but underwhelming cleaver spread. It’s just not worth it. There’s no strategic value, and it simply doesn’t compete with Glaze.

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The Fundamental Problem with Chef

• His Sear is laughably weak. Even with items like Ignition Tank, it underperforms.
• His kit requires melee range to get optimal value, yet he lacks the durability or reliable escapes to sustain it.
• His cleavers are limited by charges, which slows down his already middling DPS.
• His best abilities are just not worth their animations or cooldowns.

There’s a glaring imbalance when you compare Chef to other survivors—especially new DLC characters. Consider that in the same update we got False Sun’s cross-map death laser, we also got Chef’s point-blank noodle flamethrower. It’s not just underwhelming—it’s baffling.

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Suggestions for Gearbox (If You’re Listening)

• Remove the cleaver charge system. Let it operate on cooldown resets when recalled.
• Buff Sear dramatically. Increase its range, damage, or give it stacking effects.
• Rework Yes Chef entirely. Either let it queue up ahead of time or reduce cooldown and make buffs meaningful.

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Final Verdict

Chef is a disappointment in his current form. Unless you’re playing for the challenge or the novelty, you’ll find his kit frustrating, unrewarding, and outclassed. Hopefully, by the time you read this, he’s been reworked or buffed into a more viable state. But until then, just remember: Glaze, Roll, Sear (maybe), but mostly… just spam Cleavers.