Best False Son Items In Risk Of Rain 2

The False Son is a unique Risk of Rain 2 character who makes frequent use of both melee and ranged attacks. He can be a little confusing to use at first, but once players get the groove of his playstyle down, he is one of the most fun survivors to use as of the Seekers of the Storm DLC.

You can get away with building False Son as you would ROR 2’s Void Fiend, but as always, you can get more mileage out of this character by specifically improving his strengths and weaknesses. The following is a list of all the best items for default False Son in ROR 2, including some notes on what makes key components of the build work so well.

Players who want to get the perfect items for their characters in
Risk of Rain 2
should enable the Command Artifact before starting their run. Otherwise, make sure to scrap unwanted items and look out for 3D printers and cauldrons.

Updated December 3, 2024 by Marc Santos: Laser Burst, False Son’s alternate special skill, is often overlooked due to it being significantly weaker than Laser of the Father. However, with the right items and playstyle in mind, even this seemingly mediocre ability can become powerful. We’ve updated this ROR2 False Son Build guide with an additional section covering the best items you should get if you want to use Laser Burst, as well as some tips on how to use the skill properly.

Best Items For False Son In ROR 2

Every survivor becomes ludicrously powerful when equipped with the best items in Risk of Rain 2, but if you want to get the most out of the False Son, these are the items you’ll want to get:

False Son’s Secondary and Special Skills gain bonuses based on how much health he has. While this is a good thing to have, it’s not necessarily worth building on.

ROR 2 False Son Early Game Items

When you’re just starting out, grab the following items ASAP:

• Tri-Tip Dagger
• Luminous Shot
• Crowbar
• Armor Piercing Rounds
• Hopoo Feather
• Gasoline

Tri-Tip Dagger is usually favored by characters like Commando for some truly insane Risk of Rain 2 builds, but this time, it’s mostly here to help you clear enemies quicker during the early game. False Son’s primary and secondary skills seem to have very good proc coefficients, which means he’s able to apply Tri-Tip Dagger’s bleeds more often. This item also feeds into Death Mark later on, which will give you a 50% damage buff whenever an enemy is afflicted with four or more debuffs.

Speaking of Death Mark, False Son’s secondary skill, Lunar Spikes, counts as a debuff. Combine this with Tri-Tip Dagger, Chronobauble, and Gasoline for easy Death Mark procs early on. Once you get Shattering Justice and Symbiotic Scorpion, you’ll be able to apply Death Mark with a single Lunar Spike.

Crowbar and Luminous Shot are great for one-shotting enemies. You can charge up an overhead smash by holding your Secondary Skill button while using your Primary Skill. The damage this attack deals is extremely high, especially when paired with these two items.

As with all other Risk of Rain 2 characters, don’t forget to grab some mobility items like Hopoo Feathers, Goat Hooves, and Energy Drinks. False Son’s mobility skill is decent, but it won’t be enough.

Risk Of Rain 2 False Son Key Damage Items

• Delicate Watch
• Armor Piercing Rounds
• Luminous Shot
• Gasoline + Ignition Tank

The Delicate Watch is a great item for characters like ROR 2’s Railgunner, though False Son can take advantage of it quite well himself. He has increased armor when his Lunar Spikes are fully stacked, and when he uses all of them, he gains bonus health regeneration instead. You won’t have to worry about losing your watches much when playing as False Son thanks to these innate survivability bonuses.

Armor Piercing Rounds amplifies the damage you deal against bosses, which is great considering how False Son’s single-target damage mostly relies on his Special skill, Laser of the Father. With enough damage items, you’ll be able to melt most bosses before your laser expires.

As mentioned above, Luminous Shot is great for one-shotting enemies. If you combine this with the old Gasoline and Ignition Tank combo, one big smash will often be enough to trigger a chain reaction that will literally burn down every enemy on (and off) the screen.

False Son Luxury Items

• Symbiotic Scorpion
• Shattering Justice
• Polylute
• Plasma Shrimp

These are the four items you need if you want to deal massive DPS with False Son. Symbiotic Scorpion is one of the best red items in ROR 2 simply due to the fact that it reduces enemy armor instantly and permanently. False Son’s laser can stack this debuff so quickly that enemies will often die before Death Mark can even proc.

You can get two guaranteed Legendary items by opening a Legendary Chest with a Sale Star.

Polylute and Plasma Shrimp can be hard to find, even if you have the Artifact of Command active. It’s often better to grab Polylute first, as it doesn’t require you to have a shield up like Plasma Shrimp does.

False Son Item Stacking Priorities

Ideally, you should have at least one of each item above for maximum efficiency. However, if you’re getting too many items in one category, you’ll want to stack certain items more so than others. The following aims to improve damage, mobility, and survivability:

Laser Burst False Son Build in ROR2

Admittedly, the Laser Burst alternate skill isn’t as good as Laser of the Father. It doesn’t do as much damage as the latter, but players can still make a build around it and see some degree of success. If you want to try using this skill, consider getting the following items:

• Stone Flux Pauldron – This item halves your movement speed, but grants 100% more health. Remember, Lunar Spike and Laser Burst charges increase based on False Son’s health.
• Paul’s Goat Hoof/Energy Drink – Movement items to help mitigate Stone Flux Pauldron’s penalty.
• Bison Steak/Transfusion – Use both to further increase Lunar Spike and Laser Burst charges.
• Crowbar – Laser Burst’s upfront damage is respectable, and even more so when buffed by a few Crowbars.
• Gasoline/Ignition Tank – Laser Burst is best used against low-health targets. These items will help take down large groups and tough enemies alike.
• Death Mark – Significantly increases damage against debuffed enemies. Use in conjunction with Chronobauble, Gasoline, Tri-Tip Dagger, and the debuff from Lunar Spikes.
• Lysate Cell – Adds an extra Laser Burst charge.

You’ll get a lot more mileage out of Laser Burst if you keep its synergy with Lunar Spike in mind. The latter increases the damage taken by enemies, while the former restores 30% of Lunar Spike charges if it hits at least one enemy. Use Laser Burst to stick as many spikes into an enemy as possible, then hit them with a charged slam attack to make them disappear.

Keep in mind that as you spend Lunar Spike charges, you’ll get increased health regeneration and movement speed. The latter is especially worth taking note off as it can offset Stone Flux Pauldron’s speed penalty.