In Risk of Rain 2, the difference between a decent run and a god run often comes down to how well your items synergize. While some combos are just fun gimmicks, others can completely break the game. Whether you’re chasing high Eclipse wins or just like seeing the screen melt in chaos, here are 10 of the most powerful, creative, or absurd item combinations currently in the game.

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#10: Squid Polyp + Remote Caffeinator

Squid Polyp is often written off as a meme, spawning short-lived turrets when you interact with objects. But thanks to buffs, they now scale with enemy level—not your own—making them surprisingly effective in late-game runs. Their survivability is limited, but when paired with Remote Caffeinator, you get a healing item that also spawns and sustainsyour turrets. With high attack speed scaling (not damage), a small army of squids becomes a knockback-heavy, chaos-inducing defense squad. It’s a weird combo, but oddly effective—and definitely underrated.

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#9: Gasoline + Ignition Tank

This one’s explosive—literally. Gasoline creates burning explosions on kill, and Ignition Tank triples the burn damage. Stack gas for bigger AoE and longer burns; stack tanks for potency. Ideally, get both. With high stacks, you’ll be wiping entire screens after one enemy falls. The one downside is limited use on Mithrix or other single-target bosses, but for stage clears, this is one of the most satisfying synergies around.

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#8: Will-o’-the-Wisp + Ukulele (or Meat Hook)

Will-o’-the-Wisp triggers an explosion on kill with a full proc coefficient, allowing for additional procs—like Ukulele’s chain lightning or Meat Hook’s enemy pull. This creates a feedback loop of AoE damage. Wisp hits, chains to Uke, which zaps others, triggering more Wisp, etc. Replace Uke with Meat Hook, and you’re grouping enemies into your explosions. Add Shatterspleen or Voidsent Flame, and now it’s just total screen-clearing destruction.

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#7: Polylute + Plasma Shrimp

Polylute converts Ukulele into a single-target, multi-hit item, and Plasma Shrimp fires missiles on every hit as long as your shield is up. The synergy? Every Polylute zap counts as a new hit, and Shrimp procs every time—ignoring normal proc coefficients. Throw in an ICBM and watch three missiles fly out per hit. This combo is absurd for bosses or high-HP enemies and can turn you into a missile-spamming machine with the right support items.

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#6: Headstompers + Wax Quail + Movement Speed

Headstompers is one of the most misunderstood items in the game. While it deals up to 10,000% damage on ground impact from height, most survivors can’t reach those altitudes consistently. Enter Wax Quail. With its slope-jump mechanic, you gain vertical mobility with movement speed—no cooldowns needed. Use slopes to launch yourself sky-high and land apocalyptic stompers. When optimized, this combo can wipe stages with a single descent.

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#5: Shatterspleen + Critical Strike

Shatterspleen grants crit-based bleed and death explosions that scale with enemy max health—making it the only AoE item in the game that scales this way. With consistent crit, you cause bleed that stacks, then detonates on death for 400% base damage + 15% of max HP. It’s brutal. Add Crowbars or Watches, and the chain reaction becomes even deadlier. This isn’t just good—it’s meta-defining.

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#4: Watches + Crowbars + Crit + Armor-Piercing + (Optional: Focus Crystal)

While not flashy, this combo is core to high-efficiency damage. These white-tier items stack multiplicatively, not additively. One Crowbar, one Watch, one Crit item, one AP round—that combo does more than four of the same item. Add Focus Crystal for close-range boosts. It’s the bread-and-butter of any reliable build, and it amplifies almost every other synergy on this list.

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#3: Forgive Me Please + Soulbound Catalyst

A combo made in chaos heaven. Forgive Me Please (FMP) triggers all on-kill effects. Soulbound Catalyst reduces equipment cooldowns on kill. When used together, they create a loop: FMP causes kills → Soulbound reduces cooldown → FMP recharges. Add Gas, Wisp, Daggers, or Bottled Chaos, and the synergy turns wild. It’s late-game heavy and resource-dependent, but in a looped run, it might be your most reliable screen-clearing build.

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#2: Spinal Tonic + Gesture of the Drowned

Spinal Tonic is one of the best equipment items stat-wise, but it comes with a debuff—unless you keep it active. Enter Gesture. It auto-activates equipment and reduces cooldowns, letting you maintain permanent Tonic uptime with just a few stacks. That debuff? Never happens. The result is a permanent stat buff: +100% damage, +70% attack speed, +300% regen, and more. One of the oldest and most powerful synergies in the game.

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#1: Spare Drone Parts + Empathy Cores

This synergy isn’t just strong—it breaks the game. Spare Drone Parts boosts all drones by giving them chain guns and missile launchers. Empathy Cores spawn damage-scaling Solus Probes for every ally. The more drones, the stronger the probes. Together, they create an unstoppable force. Even at Eclipse 8, this combo can carry an entire run solo, and it’s so powerful that some speedrunners call for its ban. The only drawback is item rarity—you need a red and a yellow. But if you land both? It’s over.

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Final Thoughts

Risk of Rain 2’s brilliance lies in how individual items can come together in unexpected, delightful ways. While you don’t need these synergies to win, learning to recognize and build around them can be the difference between surviving and dominating. Let us know in the comments what your favorite combo is—or which one we missed. See you next run!