Risk of Rain 2 Hidden Realms update adds Acrid the Survivor plus two new bosses

(Image credit: Hopoo Games)

The Risk of Rain 2 Hidden Realms update is out on PC today, December 17, and it's got more big additions for the ever-expanding roguelike. Two explorable Hidden Realms are the headlining feature, but the update also introduced a new Survivor, alternate layouts for existing biomes, as well as more items and enemies.

The new Survivor is Acrid, another returning character from the original Risk of Rain. Acrid retains his melee-ranged hybrid play style in Risk of Rain 2, and he's as poisonous as ever, but his abilities have been tweaked to account for the jump to 3D. Here's his full kit:

  • Passive - Poison: some attacks apply poison which deals damage over time but cannot kill enemies.
  • Primary - Vicious Wounds: maul an enemy, dealing double damage every third hit.
  • Secondary - Neurotoxin: spit toxic bile that damages and poisons enemies.
  • Utility - Caustic Leap: leap into the air, damaging, stunning, and poisoning nearby enemies on impact. Leave behind a pool of acid that deals damage.
  • Special - Epidemic: release a deadly poison that deals damage and poisons enemies. The poison continually spreads to up to 20 enemies. 

(Image credit: Hopoo Games)

Developer Hopoo Games is keeping quiet on the actual Hidden Realms of the update, but it did reveal that the Titanic Plains and Distant Roost received new map variants that allow "entirely new layouts." Likewise, while one of the new bosses remains a secret, Hopoo confirmed that the iconic Scavenger boss from the original game has returned along with a new Void Reaver monster. 

As you look for the Hidden Realms, you'll encounter a variety of new loot, including two Lunar items, seven new regular items, and a new equipment item called the Jade Elephant. A few dispensers will also be scattered throughout the world, namely Overgrown 3D Printers and Adaptive Chests. Exactly what these do is anyone's guess.

Hopoo also released a list of community requested quality-of-life changes made in the Hidden Realms update. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Prevent Golems from ever being chosen as a Teleporter boss
  • Force Teleporter boss to initially target the player who activated the Teleporter
  • Add confirmation dialogs to quit game prompt
  • Prevent multishop terminals from having three question marks 
  • Remove ping cooldown in single-player mode 
  • Added "Total Minion Kills" to end-of-game report 
  • Made Radar Scanner effect greener to prevent confusion with Wandering Vagrant nova 

If you're new to Risk of Rain 2 or just want to dig up every secret, we've got everything you need to know about Risk of Rain 2 character unlocks, Risk of Rain 2 items, and Risk of Rain 2 challenges.  

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.