Risk of Rain 2 – Another Commando Guide

Overview

Commando is like a middle ground between Huntress and MUL-T, actually, more like between everybody. An all-rounded character seems pretty good for a rougelike on paper, but his skillset is purely single target focused in a game that likes to throw hundreds of enemies at you at once. 
 
Ok, sounds fine, he trades crowd control for being someone who can take down big threats sooner. Right? Except there’s MUL-T who has the highest health pool, better burst damage, and an even better proccing primary; Mercenary, though restricted to melee, has loads of i-frames; Loader, who literally just instant kills and has the best mobility, etc. 
 
You know one of those items in a game that has nothing to show for choosing it over anything else? That’s Commando as a whole. But like that item, he’s usually more fun to use, and is a fun challenge. 
 
This guide can shine some light on the starting class you should be thankful for. 
 
 
 

Skills

 
Double Tap is your primary, so you should always be holding it down when facing an enemy, obviously. Since it always shoots twice, it’s safe to say it actually has a proc coeff of 2, making it a really good proccing primary. 
 
However, it has horrible falloff and bloom. Getting in close range of an enemy is dangerous for Commando’s little health pool, (well maybe not early game) so he’s forced to stay at about medium range and circle strafe clusters of enemies similar to Huntress. Just expect Double Tap to be at about 40% damage most of the time. 
 
 
After switching back to Phase Round for a while, I actually don’t think it’s a downgrade like people make it out to be. Full Metal Jacket used to be the main source of damage in the first game, but Phase Round is not FMJ, it’s a weak, sluggish, piercing shot that might as well do as much damage as Captain’s tazer. 
 
Though it does have a use, proccing through multiple enemies. A multi-target hit compliments Commando’s purely single-target kit, and can speed up garbage cleanup (I don’t mean for these to rhyme) in the late game. The "travels through terrain" part rarely comes into play unless you want to shoot a cheeky ATG while hiding from a Vagrant explosion or something. If you’re planning on doing a looping run, I’d give Phase Round a try. This, Phase Blast, and Suppressive Fire also reset Double Tap’s bloom (spread) so that’s nice. 
 
 
Phase Blast is the opposite to Phase Round. You trade late game multi-target proccing for a damage boost early-mid game. The reason I didn’t mention late game is because that’s where it starts to become less useful, and suffers the same fate as Artificer’s flamethrower. Sure you could land a big punch if you get close enough…and survive, but in the late game, every survivor starts to rely on on-hit items. Enemies scale too fast to rely on base damage from skills, and I’m sure you’ve seen how long it takes to kill one thing without crits or bleed. Is the stronger base damage attack really worth risking a leg when you can proc more safely with your ranged attacks? 
 
 
Tactical Slide is a straight upgrade, I think we can all agree. Just use this. A little extra horizontal distance in mid-air isn’t worth giving up the other benefits. 
 
 
Suppressive Fire is exactly what it is, suppressive fire. I don’t know why people expect a machine gun + stun. It’s essentially a squirt bottle to any non-boss enemy to tell them to "stop it, get some help". Guaranteed stun with 600% damage that now scales with attack speed is actually really good. Also, the aim assist helps with hitting flying enemies from further ranges. 
 
 
Frag Grenades are great early game AoE, and makes Commando have good burst damage when paired with Phase Blast. Though that combo makes you pretty terrible against flying enemies. And it starts being less useful even earlier in the late game than phase blast for the same reasons. Another note, the explosion timer only starts on the first bounce, so you can throw from behind cover without worrying about it triggering too early. It’s also the only Commando skill that can proc bands by itself. 
 
If you find yourself struggling in the early game as Commando, then it’s the perfect sidegrade. I’d recommend getting used to Suppressive Fire as soon as you can though, it scales much better. 
 
 
 

Item Synergies

I won’t include stuff like Lens Maker’s Glasses and Tougher Times because those are equally good on everybody. 
 

S Tier: Bow Down

 
Soldier’s Syringe: Commando is one of the best survivors to put syringe on. 145% His great proc rate and DPM in general is sweet. 
 
Tri-Tip Dagger: Can stack bleed really fast. 
 
Will-o’-the-wisp: AoE makes Commando viable a God, since that’s his biggest weakness right out of the escape pod. 
 
Ukulele: Like Wisp, but it’s guaranteed to hit enemies. 
 
Predatory Instincts: More attack speed is always nice, but it’s only after you crit. Needs a few glasses to be reliable. 
 
Leeching Seed/Harvester’s Scythe: Fast attack speed=fast healing. 
 
Brilliant Behemoth: "Haha explosions go brrrrrr" everywhere, and has a bit of AoE. 
 
Sentient Meat Hook: It’s ukulele but it pulls everything in. 
 
Brainstalks: If you kill an elite, (happens all the time late game) you can spam Suppressive Fire. There’s your machine gun+stun. Frags also work. 
 
Alien Head: ^Minus the first part. 
 
Shattering Justice: Constantly hitting enemies means you’re constantly stacking the debuff. Works better the lower your burst damage is. 
 
Strides of Heresy: Upgrades his utility skill. 
 
Item Scrap: Reminds Commando that he’s not the most useless thing on the planet. 
 

A Tier: Ooo Nice

 
Gasoline: Amazing AoE if there’s no Wisp to upgrade to. 
 
Stun Grenade: Proccing stuns frequently is very useful for reducing the amount of piss you might have to deal with. But since you already have Suppressive Fire, it’s only useful when SF’s on cooldown. 
 
Backup Magazine: Doubles the amount of penetrative proccing/point blank damage you can put out. 
 
Sticky Bomb: Good as last resort AoE and bonus damage, triggers often. Rip old stickies. 
 
AtG Missile Mk. 1: Complementary burst damage. Now that I think of it, every on-hit item procs a lot on Commando so I won’t keep saying it. 
 
Berzerker’s Pauldron: Boosts attack speed and movement speed, but needs to proc off of other items since you most likely won’t be able to kill the enemies fast enough with your single target skillset. 
 
Ceremonial Dagger: Can easily start a proc chain. Also, bonus damage. 
 
Unstable Tesla Coil: Great AoE but only in close range. 
 
Frost Relic: ^ 
 
Hardlight Afterburner: Basically permanent uptime on tactical dive/slide. 
 
Molten Perforator: Ukulele, but unguaranteed to hit enemies. 
 
Mired Urn: Lifesteal AoE but only in close range. 
 
Super Massive Leech: Better leech seed but with a long cooldown. 
 
Gorag’s Opus: A big stack of soldier’s syringes but with a long cooldown. 
 

B Tier: Meh

 
Warbanner: Very rare attack speed buff. 
 
Focus Crystal: Slight power boost to Phase Blast. 
 
Bandolier: It’s 1 more use of a skill when an ammo pack accidentally falls on your helmet. 
 
Rose Buckler: Pretty much will only come into effect if you slide into something with your utility. (it counts as sprinting because it doesn’t break it) 
 
Chronobauble: At least your enemies will constantly be slowed? 
 
Death Mark: If you proc chain debuff items, it will add another one. Rarely seen because it’s dependent on other items. 
 

F Tier: Don’t pick this up

 
Brittle Crown: You will be hit all the time. 
 
Fuel Array: Halves your health and can’t use equipment. This is just challenge mode. 
 
 
 

Playstyle

How you play Commando is similar to playing Huntress, but with more sustainability. 
 
You can’t tank anything, parade the mobs into giant clusters so you can attack from the outside and still proc through everything. If you have Phase Round equipped, you don’t have to worry about getting the piercing, you’d have to try not to in Monsoon difficulty. 
 
If you have Phase Blast equipped, it’s going to be used as a second primary more than a secondary, until late game at least. Use Suppressive Fire as an opener to close the distance, then meatshot with Phase Blast and back up while firing Double Tap. If Suppressive Fire is down when you need the stun, use tactical slide and reposition. 
 
Focus down the biggest threats and reposition when the garbage comes. Use Suppressive Fire to stall for a bit more time or use it as supplementary spam. Frag Grenades can help with the crowd control that comes after the biggest threats have been removed. 
 
But remember, when late game rolls around, every survivor relies on procs. And while you may not be the best at it, (damn you MUL-T) it’s still your best weapon. Just keep spamming Double Tap and/or Phase Round and suppress the mob. 
 
Good luck…and git gud boi. 
 

This is all about Risk of Rain 2 – Another Commando Guide; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!