Terms and Definitions

Proc: The chance for an item to trigger another item. Let’s take something simple, like commando’s M1. Each shot of commando’s M1 has a 1.0 proc chance. That means it has a 1x chance to trigger an item. If the item is Tri-Tip Dagger, commando would have a 10% chance to proc it each hit. If we’re talking about Something like MUL-T’s railgun, which has a proc of 0.6, it means it has a 0.6 chance of “procing” something. If we’re using the same Tri-Tip Dagger, each shot would have a 6% chance to proc the item (It would also proc it for a shorter amount in the Tri-Tip’s case. Tri-Tip length is calculatoed as 3*proc-coffecient). It’s a bit tricky to understand, but it’s one of the fundemental concepts of items in ROR2!

WOV: Wake of Vultures, a legendary item that grants the powers of an elite enemy.

DOT: Damage over Time.

Effigy: Effigy of Grief, a lunar equipment that cripplies all enemies in the radius of the bubble.

WW: Whirlwind, Mercenary’s default M2.

Crit: A critical strike, an attack that deals 2x damage; it is caused by a plethora of items.

R: The default bind for a characters “Special” skill.

M1: The default bind for a character’s “Primary” skill.

M2: The default bind for a characters “Secondary” skill.

Shift: The default bind for a characters “Utility” skill.

Prelude

 

The Death Mark!

 

It sure does…exist. The Death Mark is a unique uncommon item that, when 4 or more debuffs are applied to an enemy, creates a 50% damage vunerability for said enemy for 7 (+7 each stack) seconds. Does it sound bad? It sure is! But…Risk of Rain 2 is a rougelite. Sometimes, you gotta roll with the punches and take what’s given to you. And for that, this guide was made! and also because the stupid wiki won’t update the debuff list adubhvsauhdibhsj If you enjoy feel free to send a steam award my way :). I’d really appreciate it! And with that out of the way, let’s begin with:

The Debuffs

I’ll only be showing the debuffs that Survivors can trigger throughout a run, since…y’know…you don’t play as the Monster’s last time I checked.

Ignite AND Burn

Ignite is a damage over time (DOT) debuff that is applied by Flame Bolt and Flamethrower (two of Artificer’s Skills), Gasoline, the Incinerator Drone, and the Molten Perforator.

Burn is just Ignite, but hot. It stacks along with Ignite – 12 Burn stacks and 4 Ignite stacks is 16 “Fire” Stacks overall – but they deal damage and count towards Death Mark separately. If you get Ifrit’s Distinction (the elite equipment of blazing enemies), you can proc Burn yourself, but you’re more likely to trigger this from a Wake of Vultures buff. It can also be triggered by an allied Magma Worm or Elder Lemurian (via Happiest Mask).

Bleed

One of the best debuffs in the game, as well as my personal favorite, Bleed is triggered by Tri-Tip Dagger and Shatterspleen on Crit. It also can be triggered by an allied Imp (+ Overlord), provided you have Happiest Mask.

Hemorrhage

Hemorrhage is the unique debuff of Bandit’s M2’s. It’s a stronger bleed that deals 2000% damage per second instead of 20%. It’s triggered by Crits with M2, either via Lens Maker’s Glasses or Bandit’s passive, Backstab.

Poison/Blight

Posion/Blight is the unique debuff/passive of resident Poison Doggo, Acrid! It’s a really good DOT effect, and while they both count separately towards Death Mark, I put them together since in a single player/unique character run, you’ll only ever have one at a time.

Hellfire Tincture

Did you know this was a debuff? Me neither. But apparently, to the monsters, it’s a DOT effect that counts towards Death Mark. You can figure out what procs it using context clues.

Expose (Mercenary)

A debuff added in the 1.0 update in order to make Mercenary more of a skill based character, Expose is triggered by the last hits of his M1 and alternate R. It reduces his cooldowns by 1 second. While being a bad initial Death Mark debuff due to being removed on any attack, it can be used to finish off a close to triggering Death Mark.

Pulverize/Buildup

Pulverize (Buildup) is the unique debuff(s) of Shattering Justice. They both proc Death Mark, but only one can be applied at a time. Buildup stacks up to 5, at which point it becomes Pulverize, lowering the enemies armor by 60.

Cripple

Cripple is the “Lunar” debuff of the game. It can be proc’ed by the Effigy of Grief, Perfected Elites, and most of Mithrix’s attacks. It slows the enemy drastically and reduces their armor by 20, and is quite dangerous for melee users to use as a Death Mark debuff. However, for ranged characters, it can mow down bosses quickly in combination with Death Mark.

Weaken

Weaken is the unique debuff/passive of Rex, being applied by his M1 and default Shift. As the name implies, it “weakens” the enemy, giving them -30 armor, 40% reduced movement speed, and 40% reduced damage. It’s always on Rex due to it being on his M1, and makes him one of the best characters to proc Death Mark with. A strong debuff overall.

Clay Slow

Clay Slow is a 50% slow that is caused by all “clay goo” attacks. Mired Urn will be your main way to proc Clay Slow, but allied Clay Templars/Dunestriders can proc it too! I’m not sure if enviromental components can give debuffs to enemies, but pots can cause it as well!

Laser Slow

Laser Slow is another 50% slow caused by a plethora of “laser” styled attacks. This includes Arrow Rain (default Huntress R), and Mobile Turrets on Engi. Allied Solus Control Units, Alloy Worship Units, and apparently Mini Mushrums (I never knew this) can also proc Laser Slow, but a Happiest Mask proc is required.

Chronobauble Slow

Chronobauble Slow is a 60% slow caused by, you guessed it, the Chronobauble. Keep in mind, all slows count separately to Death Mark. So theoretically, you could make a super slow Death Mark build using Mired Urn as Clay Slow, TR-58s (Mobile Turrets) as Laser Slow, Chrono, and our next debuff:

Ice Slow

Ice Slow is an 80% slow caused by Runald’s Band and Glacial Elites, as well as Celestine Elites for whatever reason. This is one of my go-to’s for general Death Mark builds, as it’s a super consistent way to apply a debuff if your character has a 400% damage dealing item or move.

Root (Rex + Hooks of Heresy)

Root is a unique debuff as it has two different types, similar to Ignite and Burn: Rex Root and Hooks Root. Rex Root is caused by Rex’s default R, and Hooks Root is caused by the “explosion” of Hooks of Heresy. Rex Root doesn’t completely immobilize targets, but in exchange, Rex gets healing from it. Hooks Root, however, does completely immobilize targets, including Mithrix. Of course, they apply seperately. Two very strong Debuffs.

Malachite Debuff

You won’t be getting this in a normal run easily, so I’ll gloss over this one. Malachite is a debuff that prevents healing, and is caused by the Malachite Elites and their respective aspect, N’kuhana’s Retort.

Ruin

Ruin is the unique debuff of the Essence of Heresy. Similar to Blight, Ruin is a stacking debuff that does no damage but is applied by every hit you deal with any damaging attack. Once activated, each stack of Ruin will deal 120% damage + 300% at base. Even though this debuff doesn’t do anything in the damage department until activated, it still triggers Death Mark.

(Credit goes to some_dude for the image)

Inject

Inject is the new unique debuff of REX’s alternate R. Upon being used on an enemy, said enemy will drop healing fruits upon death that will heal 25% HP each. Only one enemy can be affected with the debuff at a time, but can be used to proc Death Mark and then switched to a different enemy. I couldn’t find an image of it in the wiki! Go figure.

Best Debuff Setup For Each Survivor Part 1

This will be a setup guide for each survivor and how to proc it Death Mark easily. This is written in the context of Vanilla Single Player runs. If you would like a consistent Command Death Mark combo, I’d recommend:

Any Command Run (w/o debuffs)

Shattering Justice, Runald’s band, Tri-Tip Dagger (or Shatterspleen if you’re doing a 10 lens build), and Chronobauble. With this setup and 10 Tri-Tip’s, you will apply death mark every STRONG hit, making this the most consistent Deathmark build for the most consistent artifact.

And with that, we can start going through the characters.

Characters with 1 Debuff

 

 

Acrid

Acrid has the special trait of basically relying on his debuff, his debuff being a choice between Poison and Blight. The choice between those two is past the scope of this guide, but acrid relies on dealing damage using his DOT. Bleed complements his DOT WONDERFULLY, so tri-tip is always a must, Death Mark or not. Shattering Justice and Shatterspleen aren’t quite as good as on other characters, because unless you use visions of heresey, Acrid has no reason to throw out a ton of moves at once, meaning those debuffs won’t stack. Hellfire Tincture is great, as it complements his hit and run playstyle, and does MASSIVE damage due to his great healthpool and innate armor. For acrid, I would recommend the following items/debuffs to complement Death Mark.

Poison/Blight (Obviously)

 

Tri-Tip and Chronobauble (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

 

Hellfire Tincture, Mired Urn, Runald’s Band, Molten Perforator, and Effigy of Grief (Recommended)

The following are DISCOURAGED on acrid. They work, but aren’t quite as good options.

Shattering Justice, Any Elite Equip + WOV, Gasoline, and Shatterspleen (Reasons listed above).

Mercenary

He…um…sure does have a debuff. Expose is a debuff that applies on every third hit of Mercenary’s M1, and apparently by his alternate R. It is instantly used upon the next hit from the Mercenary, and m1 is not a strong hit. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend Runald’s Band, as the band would have to be applied before the hit, and then timed within the frame in order for it to work with Death Mark (it also doesn’t proc with WW). Mercenary is a proc Machine, and his invicibility frames allows him to trigger Hellfire Tincture WITHOUT taking damage, which is especially useful during Eviserate, when you are literally on top of the enemy. With that being said, I would recommend the following items/debuffs for Mercenary to compliment Death Mark.

Expose…(I mean, it’s free?)

 

Hellfire Tincture, Tri-Tip Dagger/Shatterspleen, Gasoline (Crowd Control is Mercanary’s Game) Shattering Justice, Mired Urn, Any Elite Debuff, and Chronobauble (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! YOU HAVE OPTIONS)

The following items would be discouraged:

Effigy of Grief (You’re usually INSIDE said cripple circle), Runald’s Band (reason listed above).

 

Bandit

Bandit! The new kid on the block, he comes with a really, really good debuff, Hemmorhage. It deals 2000% damage per second, and is applied with every crit! The catch? It’s on one of the worst M2’s in the game. Bandit’s M2’s, Serrated Shiv and Dagger, is a choice between Melee and 0 damage. It’s…not very good. With Bandit, I usually go with Hooks of Heresey, which also causes a debuff anyway (Root)! So, the guide works fine if for either or. Otherwise, Bandit is a proc king that can cause Runald’s Band with every shot of his R. So, for this…can’t think of a cool nickname for him…very cool guy? I’d recommend the following items:

Runald’s Band (Discussed Above), Tri-Tip Dagger, Shatterspleen (Crit’s are amazing and stack well with hem), Shattering Justice, Mired Urn, Any Elite Debuff, and Chronobauble.

I would discourage the following:

Effigy of Grief (Shotgun and Serrated Dagger means Bandit perfers to play up close), and Hellfire Tincture (Bandit is tied with the second lowest health with the game, and Tincture will get you killed more then it helps.)

Engineer (TR58 Turrets)

My little babies! The TR58 turrets are the mobile turrets for Engineer. Along with Arrow Rain, they have the unique trait of applying Laser Slow on hit. Otherwise, it’s engineer as usual. High proc rates, no equipment. You know the deal:

Shattering Justice, Molten Preforator, Tri-Tip + Shatterspleen, Laser Slow (ofc), Chronobauble, Mired Urn (multiple procs), and Any Elite Debuff (TURRETS RETAIN THESE).

Discouraged:

Effigy + Tincture (Turrets can’t use these), Gasoline (Bad as always).

 

Huntress (Arrow Rain)

…why would you ever run this? before I s*** on Arrow Rain, I’ll admit: Eclipse 5+ arrow rain got me feeling some type of way, because MAN is that crowd control borderline required. Otherwise… It’s…bad. It applies Laser Slow, but…please run Ballista. Otherwise; basic glass cannon Huntress.
Encouraged:

Gasoline (glaive), Molten Preferator, Tri-Tip + Shatterspleen (who is this bad on?), Shattering Justice, Chronobauble, Effigy of Grief.

Discouraged:

Mired Urn (Stay AWAY FROM THE ENEMY), Hellfire Tincture, and Runald’s Band (what PROCS this)

 

Artificer

Artificer! She’s in an interesting spot. She can inflict 2 debuffs…but they’re the same debuff. I…now that I think about it, it’s not that unique LOL. However, what is unique is that Flame inflicts burn, a debuff that already exists amongst items! This means that gasoline and molten perforator are not needed for Death Mark Artificer! Which is a blessing and a curse..it’s a blessing because perforator kinda sucks on arti, but gasoline is decent. Reguardless, you can do none flame arti. Why? Don’t. Anyways, Arti is a damage dealer that benefits from murdering things. So then, the following would be encouraged for her:

Runald’s Band (duh), Shattering Justice, Any Elite Debuff (including blazing!), Tri-Tip (specifically for flamethrower, flame bolt is sloooow), Effigy of Grief (GREAT FOR HER), and Chronobauble.

Of course, I would discourage the following:

Gasoline and Molten Perforator (discussed above), Mired Urn and Hellfire Tincture (fly little one!).

Characters with 2 Debuffs

 

 

Rex

REX is a…interesting case. He technically has 3 debuffs, but one of them is bound to his m1, and the other two are alternating R’s. This means, unlike huntress or artificer, REX can never have less then OR more then 2 debuffs. And analzying his character playstyle…I’ll be blunt with you. Go with whatever you want. REX is one of those special characters who can play both up close (meaning he can use tincture) and far away (meaning he can use Effigy of Grief). He has some insane proc chances with his m1 and m2’s…so to be quite honest, there’s no bad Death Mark setup for him. Since he only requires TWO debuffs, any two debuffs work fine on him due to his flexible nature. If there was a Death Mark character, it would for sure be this little guy 🙂
P.S; Thanks to TehEpic again for somehow figuring this out, but apparently, Rex can have 3 Debuffs! If you replace his m2 with HoH, the two roots count seperately. This isn’t useful info but it sure is comical.

Best Debuff Setup For Each Survivor Part 2

Rex literally broke the formatting of page 1. Nice one little guy. Anyways,

SPOILERS! DO NOT LOOK AT THE BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE “NEW” CHARACTER!

The Heretic

 

Now that I think about it…REX and the Heretic are similar in alot of ways. Both are the only two characters to have 2 base debuffs, one of them being root for some reason on each, and both of them have high DPS for good proc chance. Plus, 10+ stacks of ruin will always proc Runald’s Band. However, unlike REX, the Heretic doesn’t like playing upclose. While shecandue to the invincbility provided by shift, her constant health drain means Hellfire Tincture kills more then it helps. For that reason, and since she’s so similar to REX, I’ll only list the items/debuffs I’d discourage with her.

 

 

Hellfire Tincture (reason listed above) and Mired Urn (Prefers to stay away from the action)

 

Characters with no Innate Debuffs

 

 

Commando, Captain, Engineer, (w/o TR58) and MUL-T

What do these 4 have in common, you may ask? Insane frickin proc chances. These 4 + rex (who was discussed in part 1) are the best item proc’ers in the game, no contest. They’re all ranged characters (with the exception of…melee MUL-T?) that can stack up bleed easily and rack up massive damage for the bands easily. For these 4, i’d recommend the following items/debuffs:

Molten Perferator (Procs ALOT), Tri-Tip, Shatterspleen, Runald’s Band, Chronobauble, Any Elite Equipment/WOV, Shattering Justice, and Effigy of Grief.

On the flipside, I wouldn’t recommend the following items:

Gasoline (too inconsistent), Hellfire Tincture (Stay AWAY from the enemies!) and Mired Urn.

 

Loader, Artificer (w/o either flame skill???) and Huntress (w/o arrow rain)

Now, why did I seperate these 3 from the other 4? Mainly, these 4 are the “heavy” hitters of the cast. Each one of these guys have an attack that deals 2000%+ damage, meaning in combanation with Death Mark they can melt anything with ease. On the other hand, the tradeoff is that these Survivors have difficulty proc’ing things (especially Arti, with her inability to use Solider’s Syringes). Based off of these traits, I would recommend the following items/debuffs for these 3.

Gasoline (murder), Shatterspleen, Tri-Tip, Chronobauble, Shattering Justice, Effigy (except loader), and Runald’s Band(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

I would discourage the following items:

Molten Perferator (too little procs), Any Elite Equipment (not worth the reward), Hellfire Tincture (except Loader), and Mired Urn (except loader)

 

TL;DR and Post Script

TL;DR the Debuffs that can proc death mark are:
Ignite (Cause by flame bolt, incin drone, flamethrower, gasoline, and molten perforator)
Burn (Cause by any enemy fire enemys)
Bleed (Caused by Tri-Tip, Shatterspleen, and the Imps)
Hemorrhage (Caused by crits with serrated x on Bandit)
Poison/Blight (Acrid)
Hellfire (…)
Pulverize + Buildup (Caused by Shattering Justice)
Cripple (Caused by Effigy of Grief and Perfect Elites)
Weakened (caused by DIRECTIVE: REX moves)
Clay Slow (Caused by Mired Urn and any “clay goo” like enemy.)
Laser Slow (Caused by Huntress Arrow Rain, Mobile Engie Turrets, and any laser enemy)
Chronobauble Slow (…)
Ice slow (Caused by Runald’s band and the Glacial + Celestine Elites)
Root (caused by Hooks of Heresay and Tangling Growth)
Malachite Elite debuff (…)
And lastly,
Ruin (Caused by Essence of Heresy)

Suffice to say, you have options. Some more practical then others.

Special thanks to somedude…literally…

If this guide gets enough traction, I can totally add images for each item to make it look prettier and update it 🙂 if not…I think I like it the way it is.

If you enjoyed this guide, be sure to drop me a steam award and a favorite if you’d like. If you want me to write any other guides (I have 320+ hours in this game, I know alot about it) be sure to let me know. Take care and have a wonderful life friend 🙂

Here we come to an end for Risk of Rain 2 The Death Mark Guide! (All Debuffs that Proc it and More) hope you enjoy it. If you think we forget something to include or we should make an update to the post let us know via comment, and we will fix it asap! Thanks and have a great day!