New Risk of Rain 2 character Operator transforms drones into deadly weapons

Risk of Rain 2 Alloyed Collective will introduce us to a new survivor that takes drones to the next level. The third expansion for the beloved roguelike looks to be righting the wrongs of Seekers of the Storm. Having revamped and relaunched the disappointing DLC to a much more positive reception, Gearbox has since brought back one of the game's co-creators to work on its next project, and added some of the most popular RoR 2 mod makers into the mix as well. Now, in a new dev diary, the team shows off the pack's debuting survivor, Operator, and I'm already eager to put them to the test.

The return of Risk of Rain 2's main programmer and co-designer Jeffrey 'Gohr' Hunt (who had previously expressed his disappointment in how Gearbox was initially handling Seekers of the Storm) puts Alloyed Collective in the ideal possible position to succeed. But building on one of the best roguelikes in recent years is still a big task. The expansion promises six stages, six enemies, seven drones, 15 items, another elite type, and fresh boss battles. It's also introducing two more characters, one returning and one new, and the latter has now been revealed.

Drone expert Operator is a natural fit, the team explains. With Alloyed Collective unleashing seven more drone types and a modification station to adjust them, it wanted "a survivor that made the most of these new and improved battle companions." Operator starts each stage with two drones of his choice, although "he's certainly more than capable of defending himself without them."

Operator's signature weapon is the H3-11 OCR Custom pistol, which "does a respectable amount of damage" and has the bonus effect of any kill shots ricocheting to the lowest-health enemy nearby to deal 75% of the bullet's original damage. While you can just blast with it, if you hold off on shooting it will build up stacks, increasing potency. At the full charge of three, it's "highly accurate, does massive damage, and has no damage fall off." Combine that with the aforementioned bounce, and he can be a devastating precision machine.

His utility, 'Ascent Protocol,' grabs onto a drone as it boosts rapidly up into the air before gradually coasting down to the ground again. Use this to quickly reach high ground, or simply unleash your pistol blasts and other abilities from the sky like a lithe AC-130. You're able to reactivate the skill on another drone after a brief cooldown, allowing you to sustain your flight for even longer.

Operator's special, 'Ejection Core,' overcharges a drone and hurls it bodily in the direction of your choice. "Not only does the drone impact hit like a truck, it also launches enemies into the air, and applies the 'bugged' debuff to them and stuns them while they are airborne." Enemies that are bugged fall more slowly and take additional damage, so this essentially disables them and sets them up for you and your team to unleash a devastating barrage.

There's one more trick up Operator's sleeve, and it's a big one. His secondary, 'Admin Override,' commands your currently active drone to "attack its target with an ability that is different and unique to every drone in the game, new and old." This combines with his passive, 'Drone Queue,' which cycles through all your available drones in a run after using any of his abilities. Collecting more during a run will add charges to the override ability, which you can hold onto and unleash during a particularly tough event.

As an example of Admin Override in action, the Healing Drone will provide both heals and a temporary speed boost. The Bombardment Drone unleashes a new move that dashes at its victim to unleash chain lightning that stuns affected enemies, making them an easy target for a follow-up bombing run. Speaking of which, the TC-280 Prototype's override ability delivers a beefy strafing run that looks capable of wiping out just about anything.

The Risk of Rain 2 Alloyed Collective DLC is set to launch in 2025. "We don't have a release date for you today," Gearbox apologizes, "there are still a handful of things we want to sort out before we give you a date." The good news is that we're "still very much on track for a release later this year as promised. In the end we want the team to have the time it needs to make DLC 3 without having to crunch."

While we wait for the new expansion to arrive, here are the best co-op games you and your friends can enjoy together in 2025. If you're planning to chat, or just want to get the edge on your enemies in the thick of the action, we've picked out the best gaming headset for PC.

Has Risk of Rain 2 been fully redeemed in your eyes, or are you still waiting on Alloyed Collective to make a definitive conclusion? Let us know in the PCGamesN community Discord server, where you can share your thoughts with the staff and fellow readers.