Bandit is a long-range Survivor in Risk of Rain Returns that can pick off enemies from afar, resetting his cooldowns with skillful uses of Lights Out. Equipped with a stick of dynamite and a smoke bomb, the Bandit is especially good at taking down single targets.
The Bandit is a tricky Survivor to get the hang of. While he is strong in the early game, late into a run you might have trouble keeping up. However, with enough practice, the Bandit is a formidable Survivor that can weather any challenge. Below, we’ll take a look at everything you need to know about playing as the Bandit, including the best skills and items to use.
Bandit Skills
Bandit has the following skills unlocked by default.
|
Skill |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Blast |
Fires a powerful slug for 150% damage. |
|
Dynamite Toss |
Toss an explosive in an arc for 300% damage. |
|
Smokebomb |
Turn invisible. After 3 seconds or after using another ability, surprise and stun enemies for 140% damage. |
|
Lights Out |
Take aim for a headshot, dealing 500% damage. If this ability kills an enemy, the Bandit’s cooldowns are all reset to 0. |
Unlockable Skills
You can also unlock the following three skills to replace the Bandit’s Blast, Smokebomb, or Lights Out.
|
Skill |
Description |
How To Unlock |
|---|---|---|
|
Whip (replaces Blast) |
Crack a whip forward for 200% damage, knocking enemies back. |
Complete the Providence Trial “Castle of Memories”. Defeat 3000 enemies as Bandit. |
|
Flashbang (replaces Smokebomb) |
Toss a flash grenade, stunning and blinding all enemies. Blinded enemies cannot attack, are slowed and take 25% extra damage. |
Complete the Providence Trial “Highway Robbery”. Collect 300 items as Bandit. |
|
Standoff (replaces Lights Out) |
Take aim for a headshot, dealing 500% damage. If this ability kills an enemy, gain 1 temporary stack of Standoff. Standoff stacks increase damage by 50% each and last 15 seconds. |
Complete the Providence Trial “Endless Stand-Off”. Complete 25 stages as Bandit. |
Best Items For Bandit
Bandit has a decent base attack speed, and good mobility through Smokebomb. His Primary attack and Dynamite Toss deal good damage, with Lights Out and Standoff both hitting for 500 percent damage. Because of this, you’ll want items that emphasize these strengths while shoring up his weaknesses, mainly in the survivability and cooldown categories.
|
Item |
Description |
Why It’s Good |
|---|---|---|
|
Soldier’s Syringe |
Increases attack speed by 12%. |
Increases overall damage and chance to proc on-hit effects. |
|
Crowbar |
Deal +50% damage to enemies above 80% health. |
Increases damage to full-health enemies with Dynamite Toss, Lights Out, and Standoff. |
|
Backup Magazine |
Add +1 charge of your Secondary skill. |
Increases the number of times you can use Dynamite Toss, increasing overall area damage. |
|
Lens Maker’s Glasses |
Your attacks have a 10% chance to Critically Strike, dealing double damage. |
Increases overall damage. |
|
Predatory Instincts |
Gain 5% Critical Chance. Critical Strikes increase attack speed by 10%, up to 30%. |
Increases overall damage and chance to proc on-hit effects. |
|
Boxing Gloves |
6% chance on hitting enemies to knock them back for 100% total damage. |
Keeps enemies at range, increasing survivability. |
|
AtG Missile Mk. 1 |
10% chance on hit to fire a missile that deals 300% total damage. |
Increases overall area damage. |
|
Harvester’s Scythe |
Gain 5% Critical Chance. Critical Strikes heal for 8 health. |
Increases health sustain. |
|
Concussion Grenade |
6% chance on hitting enemies to stun them for 2 seconds. |
Increases survivability. |
|
Prison Shackles |
Slow enemies on hit for -50% speed for 1.5 seconds. |
Keeps enemies from approaching quickly. |
|
Hardlight Afterburner |
Add +2 charges of your Utility skill. Reduces Utility skill cooldown by 33%. |
Increases the number of times you can use Smokebomb or Flashbang, drastically increasing survivability. |
|
Alien Head |
Decrease your skill cooldowns by 30%. |
Increases damage, survivability, and mobility through more frequent Skill use. |
As with any character, mobility items like Paul’s Goat Hoof, Red Whip, or Rusty Jetpack are great survival tools that will help avoid enemy attacks and get around each stage quicker.
How To Play As Bandit
When playing the Bandit, you’ll want to keep as much distance between you and the enemy as possible. The Bandit is pretty fragile, and outside of Smokebomb or Flashbang, you can only rely on killing the enemy before they kill you.
Whip is a decent replacement for Blast that deals a bit more damage and slightly knocks the enemy back, but has slower attack speed, making it harder to proc on-hit effects. However, it does hit multiple enemies at once, so the chance to activate items like Concussion Grenade or AtG Missile Mk. 1 is roughly the same.
Smokebomb and Flashbang are your main tools to survive enemy attacks as the Bandit.
Smokebomb is used to escape or reposition when enemies get too close, while Flashbang can be used to finish off a group of enemies. Both Utility skills are good choices, but Smokebomb works better with Lights Out or other cooldown resetting or reduction items like Alien Head due to its longer initial cooldown.
Lights Out is a great ability on paper, allowing you to constantly reset the cooldown of Dynamite Toss and Smokebomb. However, in practice, it can be difficult to consistently activate. Because you can’t single out one enemy with low health, you’ll often find Lights Out not hitting the target you want it to, leading to a “wasted” use.
This is especially true later on, when you are swarmed by larger groups of enemies.
On the other hand, Standoff faces a similar downside, but the negative effects aren’t felt as much. Stacking just one or two Standoff stacks will greatly increase your damage, allowing you to deal with enemies before they become a threat.