The December 2024 update completely transformed War Bonds from an overlooked relic into a legendary powerhouse. This sought-after red item is now a cornerstone of high-damage builds, capable of turning your accumulated gold into a devastating boss-melting tool. If you're ready to unleash one of the highest potential DPS utilities in the game, this comprehensive guide will show you how.
How to Unlock and Find War Bonds
War Bonds is classified as a legendary red-tier item, placing it among the most powerful equipment in Risk of Rain 2. However, acquiring it requires the
Seekers of the Storm DLC; it is not available in the base game.Once you have the DLC, you can find War Bonds through several high-level sources:
- Red Chests: The primary source, which become more common in later stages.
- Legendary Printers: Use these to sacrifice items for a chance at War Bonds.
- Rare Elite Enemy Drops: A less reliable but possible method.
You typically won't see red items until Stage 3 or beyond. Securing a War Bonds early in your run is crucial, as it gives you more stages to accumulate gold and scale its incredible damage potential.
Understanding the War Bonds Rework and New Mechanics
The December 2024 overhaul was a game-changer. Previously, War Bonds offered a minor gold bonus and was largely ignored. The rework reinvented it as an active damage engine that triggers during every boss event.Here’s how the new system works:
- Gold-to-Missile Conversion: Throughout a stage, the game tracks the gold you earn. During a bossfight, War Bonds converts this gold into a barrage of homing missiles.
- Base Missile Damage: Each missile deals damage equal to 2.5% of the boss's maximum health. This makes it exceptionally powerful against high-health targets like the Solus Wing and Solus Heart.
- The 50-Gold Rule & Caps: For every 50 gold you earn in a stage, War Bonds generates 1 missile. There is a base cap of 20 missiles per barrage.
Advanced Strategy: Stacking and Synergy
The true power of War Bonds is unlocked through stacking and smart itemization.
The Power of Stacking War Bonds
Each additional War Bonds stack you acquire significantly boosts its performance in two key ways:
Increased Damage per Missile: Every stack adds another 2.5% boss health to the missile damage. With 3 stacks, each missile would deal 10% of a boss's health.Increased Missile Cap: Each stack raises the missile cap by 5. With 3 stacks, your new cap is 35 missiles, allowing you to utilize gold hauls more efficiently.Example: If you earn 1,750 gold in a stage, that translates to 35 missiles. With the base item, 15 of those missiles would be wasted due to the cap.With 3 stacks, you fire all 35, dealing catastrophic damage.
Best Item Synergies for a War Bonds Build
To fuel your War Bonds engine, you need a steady and abundant gold income. Pair it with these items for maximum effect:
- Gore-Stone: Generates gold on kill, creating a perfect feedback loop as you clear waves of enemies.
- Roll of Pennies: Provides a steady trickle of gold when you take damage, rewarding survivability.
- Bustling Fungus: Offers crucial healing and sustainability, keeping you alive longer to farm gold.
- Crowdfunder: This equipment item spends gold to fire a rapid barrage. Theearly-stage gold boost from War Bonds helps fund its expensive butpowerful attacks.
Which Survivors Work Best with War Bonds?
War Bonds is a universally powerful item because its scaling is based ongold and boss health, not specific survivor skills. However, survivorswho can maintain distance and control the battlefield excel with it. Top picks include:
- Railgunner: Can safely snipe from afar while War Bonds handles close-range threats.
- Artificer: Benefits from the additional burst damage to complement her high-damage kit.
- Captain: His defensive and utility-focused playstyle allows him to survive long enough to build massive gold reserves.
Ultimately, any survivor can build around War Bonds and become a boss-demolishingforce. Master its mechanics, prioritize gold-generating items, and watch as the toughest enemies in Petrichor V crumble before your missilebarrages.
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