How To Unlock The False Son In Risk Of Rain 2

Risk of Rain 2: Seekers of the Storm added a couple of new survivors to the game, bringing the roster up to a total of 17 playable characters (including the hidden Heretic class). One of these new survivors is the False Son, a burly, bruiser-type fighter with heavy-hitting melee swingss and devastating laser attacks.

Unlike Chef in Risk of Rain 2, the False Son is slower but ironically more versatile when it comes to fighting things from far away. While unlocking this survivor is simple on paper, it’s a lot harder to get right than some players might have anticipated.

How to Unlock False Son in ROR2

To get False Son in ROR2, players will need to beat the False Son himself while carrying a Halcyon Seed. This is easier said than done — you’ll need a certain degree of luck to reach the boss arena with a Halcyon Seed in hand, as well as the skill necessary to beat the fairly difficult boss fight waiting for you.

To fight the False Son in the Seekers of the Storm DLC, you’ll need to go through green portals instead of the usual teleporter. You can summon one by activating a Halcyon Shrine, a new kind of interactable object that will siphon away your money as you stand in its radius. These appear as pillars surrounded by emerald crystals, and they’re pretty hard to miss. Pass through enough green portals and you’ll find yourself in Prime Meridian, where the False Son awaits.

The more money a Halcyon Shrine drains from you, the better the rewards you’ll get once the pillar is filled up. You can cancel the siphoning early to get meager rewards and make the green portal appear earlier.

As for the Halcyon Seed, you’ll either need to activate an Altar of Gold to get a gold portal to spawn after a teleporter event, or you need to get lucky and find the right dream portal in the Newt Bazaar. Either way, you’ll end up on the Gilded Coast, where you need to fight Aurelionite. Activate all seven pillars in the area to strip the boss’ shield, and hit it with everything you’ve got.

How to Beat The False Son in ROR2

The False Son is a tricky boss to beat, even more so than Risk of Rain 2’s Mithrix at times. His melee attacks and splinter shot attacks are easy to dodge, but he has a laser beam move similar to the Stone Titan’s that can perfectly track your movements, potentially melting your entire healthbar within seconds. To make things worse, the False Son’s third phase removes all of your abilities, making it impossible to fight back.

You’ll notice that there are several interactable Geode pillars in the False Son’s arena. Activating these will cause them to crumble and form a field that grants you and nearby allies a very thick shield. These are often enough for you to survive against the boss’ harshest attacks. More importantly, standing in these fields will restore your lost abilities.

General Tips

• Bring some drones prior to entering Prime Meridian. They’ll distract the boss for you as you scramble for cover.
• You can use the spikes on the ground as cover against the boss’ laser.
• Always stand near gold Geode pillar when the boss is about to enter the third phase.
• Do not activate Geode pillars before your abilities disappear.
• Geode pillars respawn during the fight.
• Bring Power Elixirs.
• Do not hug cover. The boss’ melee attacks can still hit you if you’re standing too close behind an object.

Easiest Way to Unlock False Son in Risk of Rain 2

If you’re having trouble beating the boss through regular means, there are some ways to make the fight significantly easier (apart from just lowering the difficulty). The absolute easiest way to unlock False Son in ROR 2 is to get the Artifact of Command and use the Railgunner on Drizzle difficulty.

While making your way to Prime Meridian, grab as many Crowbars, Armor-Piercing Rounds, and AtG Missiles as you can. If you get any legendary drops, get Laser Scope. Also, try to get some basic quality of life and survivability items like Power Elixirs, Hopoo Feathers, and Runald/Kjaro Bands to make the prior levels easier. This build should let you one-shot False Son in each of his phases, trivializing the entire fight. Grab a few drones or use the Goobo Jr equipment item to serve as distractions during the boss fight so you can line up your shots.

If you don’t have Railgunner, you can use any class with the Spare Drone Parts legendary item, then buy as many drones as you can. This method is slower than using Railgunner, but it’s just as easy.

If you’re having a hard time getting items, use Artifact of Swarms to double enemy spawns while halving their health, and Artifact of Sacrifice to make enemies occasionally drop items at the expense of disabling chest spawns.