Artificer

Escaped : ..and so she left, in love with a new passion: to explore.
Vanished : ..and so she vanished, her place forever vacant

**Artificer** is a playable character in Risk of Rain 2.

Wielding a diverse armament of destructive skills, Artificer's strength lies in her devastating offense that can break through even the bulkiest of enemies, aided by the versatile Snapfreeze. However, her power comes at the cost of survivability, as she has no defensive or movement skills aside from her high-flying Ion Surge, so the player must be adept at dodging and be especially aware of their surroundings.

Completing the Pause. challenge will unlock Artificer as a playable survivor.

## Skills

Passive

 Description
 * On the Nintendo Switch version, ENV Suit can be changed to a toggle.

Primary

 Cooldown
 Proc Coefficient
 Description
 * enemies, dealing 50% extra total damage over time.
* Explodes on contact in a 2m radius.

 Cooldown
 Proc Coefficient
 Description
 * Unlocked via the Artificer: Massacre Challenge. *(As Artificer, perform a multikill of 20 enemies.)*
* Explodes on contact in a 6m radius.

Secondary

 Cooldown
 Proc Coefficient
 Description
 * The player can sprint while charging the Nano-Bomb, but beginning to charge it will cancel sprinting. They will need to start charging and then sprint, and repeat this for each attack.
* The attack charges a bit during its initial animation, causing the minimum damage to be 600% (increased with attack speed).
* Takes 2s to fully charge with base attack speed.
* The orb fires bolts at nearby enemies as it travels, dealing 1/10th of its damage per bolt (up to 200% per bolt with a full charge).
* Bolts fire once every 0.125s, but can only hit the same enemy once every 1s.
* Explodes on contact in a 14m radius.
* The orb's trajectory is affected by gravity and arcs downwards over long distances.

 Cooldown
 Proc Coefficient
 Description
 * Unlocked via the Artificer: Chunked! Challenge. *(As Artificer, fully defeat the teleporter boss in a one-second burst of damage.)*
* The player can sprint while charging the Nano-Spear, but beginning to charge it will cancel sprinting. They will need to start charging and then sprint, and repeat this for each attack.
* Cannot freeze bosses, except the .
* Enemies will burn even while frozen, and burning enemies can be frozen without being extinguished.

Utility

 Cooldown
 Proc Coefficient
 Description
 * Cannot freeze bosses, except the .
* Sprinting while aiming Snapfreeze will immediately cast it, cancelling the startup animation.
* Enemies will burn even while frozen, and burning enemies can be frozen without being extinguished.
* The pillars' hitboxes are about 2.5m across and 5m tall.

Special

 Cooldown
 Proc Coefficient
 Description
 * The fire beam pierces through enemies with a maximum reach of 21m.
* Correction: The in-game description of 2000% damage is incorrect. Flamethrower deals damage 22 times at base attack speed, each hit dealing roughly 95% damage, with approximately half of those hits  enemies. This means Flamethrower deals 2095% raw damage and about 25% extra total damage over time.
	+ The chance to ignite enemies is affected by luck, so changes in luck will affect the amount of damage over time inflicted.
* Flamethrower deals damage over 3 seconds after a 0.6 second startup animation. Increased attack speed increases the number of damage ticks and decreases the windup period.
* Using another skill or sprinting will immediately end Flamethrower.
* The skill does not begin cooling down until the attack ends.
* Critical chance is rolled when using the skill. If the chance succeeds, all hits will deal critical damage.

 Cooldown
 Proc Coefficient
 Description
 * Unlocked via the Artificer: Orbital Bombardment Challenge. *(As Artificer, kill 15 enemies before touching the ground.)*
* .
* Launch velocity is increased with additional movement speed.
* Can be used while airborne, allowing the player to fly perpetually.

## Behaviors

*For an explanation of how these behaviors are implemented read about Enemy AI. This section only applies when the character is controlled by AI.*

1. **Use special (Ion Surge)**: Artificer must be within 5m from the target. Because there is no programmed behavior to utilise the passive ability while in the air, the character will take fall damage when activating this skill.
2. **Use special (Flamethrower) and strafe**: Artificer must be within 16m from the target and have line of sight. This behavior is active for 3 seconds and cannot be selected twice in a row. Since the is no implicit use for  as the special skill, the character will be unable to utilise it.
3. **Use primary and strafe**: there are no distance requirements, but Artificer must have line of sight and be aiming at the target. This behavior cannot be selected twice in a row and a target will be reselected after this. While the behavior is not selectable twice in a row, primary -> chase for a brief moment -> primary is valid.
4. **Use secondary and strafe**: Artificer must be within 25m from the target, have line of sight, and be aiming at it. This behavior is active for 3 seconds.
5. **Use utility**: Artificer must be within 25m from the target, have line of sight, and be aiming at it. This behavior cannot be selected twice in a row and Artificer will sprint during this.
6. **Chase**: no requirements.

## Tips

* Artificer is a burst damage survivor who deals massive damage with infrequent attacks. Due to her unusual primary, she benefits less from attack speed than other survivors, but makes excellent use of items like , , or , which increase her damage regardless of attack speed.
* Even though attack speed doesn't benefit Artificer's primary, it still speeds up her attack animations, allows her to charge her secondary more quickly, and increases the number of times Flamethrower hits.
* and  can benefit Artificer significantly since they massively increase the damage of her Charged Nano-Bomb and Cast Nano-Spear.
* Choosing between Flame Bolt and Plasma Bolt is dependent on playstyle. On one hand, Flame Bolt offers greater single-target damage and provides a debuff for item synergy, while Plasma Bolt is more forgiving in terms of accuracy and offers better AoE capability.
* Because of Artificer’s limited attack charges, attacking too quickly can leave you defenseless while your abilities reload.
* Artificer's secondary options make up the majority of her damage. Charged Nano-Bomb has more damage, is more forgiving, and provides better AoE, while Cast Nano-Spear has the powerful freezing effect, isn't affected by gravity, and is stronger against the .
	+ are great on Artificer, since they allow her to use her secondary more often. With Cast Nano-Spear, enough stacks can trivialize the  by repeatedly freezing him.
	+ Both secondaries can be charged while sprinting, which is crucial for maintaining damage output while dodging attacks.
* Flamethrower boasts the most raw damage of Artificer's abilities, and is her only way to reliably utilize items that rely on high attack speed.
	+ Flamethrower provides a use for many items which aren't otherwise useful for Artificer, like  and  . These can bolster its already impressive damage and even allow a more traditional playstyle based around on-hit items.
	+ Flamethrower has short range, and can't be used while sprinting. This can make it risky to use, especially on later stages or against many threatening targets. Freezing enemies with Snapfreeze or Cast Nano-Spear can help provide breathing room and protect you while your mobility is limited.

* Taking Ion Surge exchanges Flamethrower for a versatile mobility option, which can be used for looting, scouting, and escaping deadly situations. It's particularly effective against the , which struggles to hit Artificer while she's in the air.
	+ While taking Ion Surge does lower Artificer's damage somewhat, this can be offset through good use of her secondary and by prioritizing items which synergize with her burst damage playstyle.
	+ Even with Ion Surge and ENV Suit, it's generally best to spend most of combat on the ground. While grounded, you have more flexible movement options, can take advantage of cover, and can hit your attacks more easily. It's usually best to save Ion Surge as an escape option when you feel threatened, then quickly return to the ground to continue the fight from a better position.

* Each pillar of Snapfreeze hurts and freezes enemies individually. This means that it can be used defensively to buy time to flee from multiple pursuing enemies, or to focus damage on a single important target by luring it into multiple pillars, freezing it repeatedly for easy damage.
	+ This also means that Snapfreeze is useful even against boss enemies that can't be frozen, as they're large enough that they can take damage from many of the pillars.
* Cast Nano-Spear and Snapfreeze cannot freeze most bosses, but can freeze and even execute the .
* If you use Flame Bolt or Flamethrower,  can be an excellent item, as it dramatically increases the damage of the affected attacks.
* Pressing the jump key while in the air will not activate the ENV Suit if the player has any  until all extra jumps have been exhausted. However, pressing and holding the jump key will consume one jump and then activate the passive skill. This is because a jump is only executed when the key is initially pressed.
* Artificer can struggle against small flying enemies because of her delayed attacks. Area of effect items like  and  can help clear the skies while  paired with  can help guarantee one-shots on  and .

* Because Artificer doesn't have a horizontal movement ability, mobility items and strafing skills are extremely important to help dodge attacks. Always keep moving in combat, as moving even a little will dramatically reduce the damage you take.
	+ A full-height jump puts Artificer out of melee range for many non-boss enemies, such as . Combining this with ENV Suit can help Artificer dodge many attacks from low-tier enemies, especially in the early game when her mobility is limited.

## Lore

```
With the intense belief that heaven is a planet, not a mystical place, the High Court search deep into space for the Promised Land.

Intensely driven by both dogma and science, the High Court holds amazing technological marvels - with nearly all of them hidden deep within their halls.

The House Beyond represents the most ambitious of the High Court's followers, spearheading Zone 5 deep space travel. With the advantage of their unique ENV Suit, the House Beyond have gone deeper in space than any other House in the High Court by an order of magnitude. The ENV Suit, worn by the Artificers of the High Court, is an engineering marvel - able to calibrate to the conditions of any environment. The technology behind the ENV Suit, like all other High Court technology, is still undisclosed.
```

## Version History

Anniversary Update
* Gameplay Changes
	+ - Tendril Damage: 20% of explosion ⇒ 10% of explosion
		- Tendril Fire Frequency: 0.25s ⇒ 0.125s
	+ Tendril Same Target Frequency: 2s ⇒ 1s
	 *Developer Notes: This change is made specifically to avoid the Artificer’s Nano-Bomb tendrils proccing Ice and Fire Bands. The tendrils will now fire twice as often, but at half the damage.*
* Quality of Life
	+ Graphics Updates
		- Update skin visuals

Early Access Content Update 5
* Gameplay Changes
	+ *Developer Notes: We want to enforce the Artificer’s role as a high-damage, high AoE character. Nano-Bomb in general was core to the fantasy, but was pretty much inferior to Nano-Spear in every way.*
		- * Blast Radius: 4m ⇒ 6m
		- * Now has slight gravity
			* Blast Radius: 10m ⇒ 14m
			* Blast Damage, Max Charge: 1200% ⇒ 2000%
			* Blast Force: 1300 ⇒ 3000
			* Lifetime: 5s ⇒ 10s
			* Improved FX for clarity
		- * No longer has -75% damage falloff at the edge of the blast
* (Undocumented) Updated descriptions for , , , and  to include keywords

PC Early Access Patch (Build ID No.4892828)
* Bug Fixes
	+ Fix Artificer being able to hit herself with projectiles when backed up against a wall

Early Access Hidden Realms Content Update
* Bug Fixes
	+ Ensure  state stops charging animation if interrupted

PC Early Access Patch (Build ID No.4233443)
* Gameplay Changes
	+ - Update proc coefficient, travel speed, and fire rate to match

Early Access 'Skills 2.0' Content Update
* Major Content and Changes
	+ Added New Skill Variant:
		- Fire a bolt for 220% damage that explodes in a small area. Hold up to 4.
	+ Added New Skill Variant:
		- Charge up a piercing nano-spear that deals 400%-1200% damage and freezes all enemies.
	+ Added New Skill Variant:
		- Burst into the sky, dealing 800% damage and stunning nearby enemies.
	+ Added New Skin:   Artificer
	+ Added New Class Challenge:   Artificer: Mastery
* Gameplay Changes
	+ Add 2 new skill variants
	+ Add 1 new skin
* Bug Fixes
	+ Canceling Artificer’s  early now properly stops the sound

Early Access Patch (Build ID No.3961583)
* Bug Fixes
	+ Fix the Artificer's  being stretched

Early Access Scorched Acres Content Update
* Gameplay Changes
	+ New Passive:
		- ☂ The Artificer now hovers while holding Jump.
	+ Add new crosshair
	+ Add new bloom effects for
* Bug Fixes
	+ Prevent attacks with proc coefficient 0 applying Crowd Control effects like
	+ Set interrupt priority of frozen state to be higher than stun state to fix issues with the   being interrupted by

Early Access Patch (Build ID No.3731106)
* Gameplay Changes
	+ **[Community Suggestion]** Increase Artificer proc coefficient on  from 0.2 to 1.
	+ **[Community Suggestion]** Increase Artificer proc coefficient on  pillars from 0 to 1.
	+ **[Community Suggestion]** Increase Artificer's  explosion radius from 1.5m to 2.5m to alleviate it not always freezing enemies who trigger it
		- *\*Artificer mistakenly had very low proc coefficients. Consider these bug fixes.\**
* Bug Fixes
	+ **[Community Found]** Fix  Snap Freeze explosion radius not being large enough to always freeze enemies who trigger it

## Gallery

* Default
* Chrome
* Chrome
* Chrome
* Chrome
* Chrome

## Trivia

* Artificer has several unused skills relating to her elements, most notably the skill people tend to call "Laser Bolt."
* Artificer is referred to internally as "Mage."
* All of Artificer's challenge skills can be unlocked at once by enabling the Artifacts of Kin and Swarms. Repeatedly restart the run until the first stage's chosen monster is , then take the  from the Escape Pod. Activate the Teleporter, round up at least 20 Beetles (including all those from the Horde of Many), and die from the Fuel Array's explosion. This will kill all the Beetles at once, which will clear both the Chunked and Massacre challenges. Since the player's body is launched into the sky by the Fuel Array's explosion, this also will clear the Orbital Bombardment challenge.