Risk of Rain 2 PC Hardware Guide
Official requirements explained
The official minimum requirements for Risk of Rain 2 list an Intel Core i3-6100 or AMD FX-8350 class processor, a graphics card in the GTX 580 or AMD HD 7870 class, 4 GB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. The publisher does not require an SSD. The recommended requirements step up to an Intel Core i5-4670K or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X class processor, a GTX 680 or AMD HD 7970 class graphics card, and the same 4 GB of RAM and 4 GB of storage.
By today's standards, the minimum CPU roughly corresponds to an older entry-level part like the Intel Core i3-4130, and the minimum GPU sits near integrated graphics such as Intel Iris Xe. The recommended CPU is closer to a Core i5-4670K, an older mid-range chip, and the recommended GPU is near a GTX 750 Ti, an older entry-level card. The gap between the two tiers is mostly about processor and graphics generation rather than memory or storage, which are listed as identical.
For the player, reaching the minimum means the game should launch and run with conservative settings. Reaching the recommended tier means the publisher considers the game comfortable at normal settings, especially when enemy counts and effects get heavy. The publisher does not list a higher tier, so anything above the recommended specs has to be judged from general experience rather than official figures.
The RAM and storage numbers are far below what most current PCs have. Sixteen gigabytes of RAM is now a common baseline, so memory is unlikely to be the bottleneck for most readers.
Recommended builds for three budgets
The entry build pairs a GeForce GTX 1650 4GB or GTX 1660 with a Ryzen 5 3500X or Core i5-10400F and 16 GB of RAM. This combination is well beyond the recommended tier in terms of hardware generation, and it suits players on a tight budget who mainly play at 1080p.
The mainstream build moves up to a GTX 1660 Super or RTX 3050 8GB with a Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i5-10400, again with 16 GB of RAM. It gives more headroom and a larger VRAM pool, which helps if you want higher settings or play other recent games on the same machine.
The high-end build uses an RTX 4060, Radeon RX 7600 or Intel Arc B580 with a Ryzen 5 5600, Core i5-12400 or Ryzen 7 8700G, plus 32 GB of RAM. Its purpose is to keep the game comfortably above the recommended tier at higher settings, and the extra memory suits players who also stream, record or multitask. These are starting points, since the game itself is not demanding, so choose according to your budget.
Graphics settings with the biggest impact
In a fast shooter full of enemies and explosions like this one, the settings that usually cost the most are shadow quality, volumetric lighting and fog, depth of field and reflections, and the density of objects and effects. Shadows and volumetrics scale with the number of lights and objects on screen, so they tend to hurt most during the busiest fights. These are the first options to lower if you need more performance.
Texture detail, resolution scaling and anti-aliasing usually cost less while having a noticeable effect on clarity, so it is worth keeping them higher. If the game offers view distance or scene complexity options, medium values often strike a reasonable balance between visual quality and smoothness.
If your graphics card supports DLSS, FSR or XeSS, you can enable it in the graphics menu. These upscaling techniques render the scene at a lower internal resolution and reconstruct it to your target resolution, which reduces the load on the GPU while preserving much of the image quality. Results depend on your card and chosen mode, so compare modes yourself. Ray tracing is a heavy option and is generally not recommended on entry or mainstream builds.
Laptops and handheld PCs
A laptop graphics chip often shares a name with a desktop card, but the specifications can differ a lot. Laptop versions usually run at lower power limits and have less room for cooling, so the real performance can trail the desktop part of the same name. When evaluating a laptop, check its specific GPU power setting and cooling design rather than relying on the model name alone, and watch for thermal throttling during longer sessions.
Handheld PCs such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally run full PC software on portable hardware, and their performance generally sits between a budget laptop and a low-end discrete card. Many PC games run on them, but results vary by title and settings. We have no Steam Deck verification data for this game, so we cannot give a specific rating for that platform. A sensible approach is to start with lower settings and a reduced resolution, and keep an eye on battery and temperatures.
If you plan to play on a laptop or handheld, confirm the game runs with stable settings on that device, and set the power mode to favour performance when playing plugged in.
Storage and memory
The official memory requirement is 4 GB, but 16 GB is a more practical target so the operating system and background programs have room and the game is less likely to stutter from memory pressure. If your machine has 8 GB, upgrading to 16 GB is usually good value. Dual-channel mode gives better memory bandwidth, so use two matching sticks rather than a single module.
The official storage figure of 4 GB covers the game itself. Leave extra room for updates and temporary files. An SSD is not required, but it noticeably shortens loading times, especially if you restart often or move between levels frequently. If your budget allows, it is one of the most worthwhile upgrades.
A hard drive can run the game, just with longer loads. Installing on the system drive or another fast SSD is preferable, and keeping free space available avoids problems when the drive is nearly full during updates.