Acrid is one of the most unique survivors in Risk of Rain 2, blending melee and ranged attacks with potent damage-over-time abilities. As a poison-based hybrid character, Acrid thrives in hit-and-run tactics, sustained damage, and crowd control. Choosing the best yellow item for Acrid can drastically enhance his combat effectiveness. Yellow items, or boss-tier items, are especially powerful and often influence a run’s outcome. While many of these items offer general advantages, certain yellow items complement Acrid’s playstyle more directly by enhancing his poison effects, survivability, or burst potential.
Understanding Acrid’s Strengths
Before diving into the best yellow items, it’s important to understand what makes Acrid effective. His kit revolves around inflicting status effects, primarily poison and blight. Poison deals a flat percentage of enemy health over time, unaffected by other damage modifiers, making it powerful against elites and bosses. Acrid’s playstyle rewards mobility, sustainability, and area control rather than raw burst damage.
Key Attributes of Acrid
- High survivability through healing from Vicious Wounds
- Damage-over-time focus, particularly with poison and blight
- Strong melee combo and useful ranged utility
- Excels in dealing with groups of enemies via AOE poison
These factors influence which boss-tier items synergize best with Acrid, emphasizing items that either amplify his poison potential, increase his healing and survivability, or offer crowd control advantages.
Best Yellow Items for Acrid
Shatterspleen
One of the top-tier choices for Acrid,Shatterspleentransforms critical strikes into bleeding explosions. Acrid can apply poison or blight to multiple enemies simultaneously, and when combined with a decent critical hit chance, Shatterspleen results in devastating area-of-effect damage. Bleed damage stacks with poison and blight, allowing Acrid to layer multiple damaging effects on targets at once.
- Synergizes perfectly with critical hit builds
- Explosions deal bonus damage based on enemy max HP
- Enhances Acrid’s ability to clear groups of enemies
If you’re building toward crit chance with items like Lens-Maker’s Glasses or Predatory Instincts, Shatterspleen becomes a game-changer. It transforms Acrid into a mobile, toxic bomb.
Molten Perforator
TheMolten Perforatorspawns magma balls upon hitting enemies with critical strikes. This is another crit-scaling item that synergizes with Acrid’s rapid multi-hit attacks. The magma balls can hit multiple enemies and add an extra layer of area damage to your already deadly poison cloud.
- Scales with critical chance and multi-hit attacks
- Boosts AoE effectiveness during large mob waves
- Stacks well with other crit-focused items
Though it’s not exclusive to Acrid, Molten Perforator complements his aggressive, group-focused playstyle, especially in dense environments or late-game stages.
Defense Nucleus
Defense Nucleusgrants a void ally upon killing an elite enemy. For Acrid, who is naturally good at finishing off tough targets with poison and blight, this yellow item adds a significant layer of support. The spawned allies can tank damage and deal their own, making boss fights and chaotic late-stage encounters more manageable.
- Creates allied Void Infestors upon elite kills
- Enhances survivability by distracting enemies
- Works well in solo runs or with limited team support
Although the Void allies don’t scale indefinitely, they offer critical support when Acrid is otherwise isolated or surrounded. If you’re playing solo or with minimal crowd control, this item can be a strategic asset.
Empathy Cores
Empathy Coressummon Solus Probes that attack enemies. While not directly synergistic with poison or blight, the added drones can target multiple enemies and help apply consistent damage. For an Acrid build lacking direct DPS enhancements, Empathy Cores provide helpful sustained damage across the battlefield.
- Provides passive drone damage over time
- Solus Probes scale with attack speed
- Can apply on-hit effects with specific items
Though it may not be the first choice, Empathy Cores are a strong addition when other top-tier yellow items are unavailable, giving Acrid more battlefield presence without extra effort.
Halcyon Seed
When used alongside a Lunar item like the Effigy of Grief or Helfire Tincture,Halcyon Seedsummons Aurelionite during teleporter events. Acrid benefits from this because his role can shift to support and damage-over-time while the Aurelionite soaks up damage and distracts bosses or elites.
- Summons a powerful ally during teleporter fights
- Gives breathing room for Acrid’s poison to tick down
- Best used in combination with a Lunar Equipment
This yellow item isn’t specifically tailored for Acrid, but in longer runs or higher difficulties, summoning Aurelionite can ease the pressure off Acrid during intense moments.
Yellow Items to Avoid on Acrid
Not all boss-tier items fit Acrid’s strengths. Some yellow items are designed with other survivors in mind and may not align well with his damage-over-time focus.
- Queen’s Gland While the beetle guard provides tankiness, it’s not ideal compared to Void Infestors or Aurelionite.
- Item Scrap (Yellow) Only useful when printing other boss-tier items, but doesn’t contribute directly to a run unless paired with a printer.
- Little Disciple Works better on survivors with fast sprint attacks; Acrid benefits more from direct damage boosts.
Focusing on items that align with Acrid’s poison damage and survivability is far more valuable than using items meant for fast-attacking, ranged survivors.
Combining Yellow Items with Other Gear
The full potential of yellow items for Acrid is realized when paired with complementary gear. For example:
- Shatterspleen + Lens-Maker’s Glasses: Bleeding explosions everywhere.
- Molten Perforator + Predatory Instincts: Burn and burst down mobs quickly.
- Defense Nucleus + Focus Crystal: Dominate close-range elite fights with extra allies and damage.
Stacking gear to amplify poison damage indirectly by increasing uptime, critical chance, or area control makes Acrid’s yellow items feel even more impactful. Coordinating builds with yellow items enhances overall synergy and power scaling throughout a run.
The best yellow item for Acrid in Risk of Rain 2 largely depends on your overall build and the stage of your run.Shatterspleenstands out as the top choice due to its synergy with poison and crits, followed closely byMolten PerforatorandDefense Nucleusfor their burst and utility. Prioritizing these items, especially in mid to late-game stages, can transform Acrid into a powerhouse that melts through mobs and bosses alike. With smart gear stacking and careful positioning, Acrid becomes not just a survivor, but a predator.