Things I find help a bit:
- Screw Commando (at least until you've unlocked way more items), giving you huntress from the start was the best patch they gave it. She has a lot of tools that really help get your bearings while getting used to the concept of having to turn and aim and everything being able to shoot you. Glaiving wisps especially.
- In the original RoR, verticality is king. Here it's nice, but to the degree it matters, I highly recommend anything that boosts your speed/sprint speed early on, along with maybe some armored plating/personal shields, little healing, and of course soldier's syringe is still great. Getting some breathing room can really help.
- The new sprint thing and the movement skills everyone has really help get out of jams too. Particularly with Huntress there again, being able to shoot while sprinting (can you tell who I main?).
- The thing the first game did where you don't get unlocks on drizzle is not a thing in 2, so take advantage of it. Also note that the rain meter gets a sizable jump every time you move to a new level so there's less incentive to speedrun for a tamer endgame. You are going to hit HAHAs before you finish regardless, so take your time if you need more stuff.
- Audio cues are your friend. Train your ears to pick up all the different spawn sounds. Wisps especially have a very pronounced fwoompf and once you know what you're doing, you just kinda hear that and automatically spin around, scan the sky, and drop'em before they can act.
- With most bosses, breaking line of sight helps a lot. Even if it's with something flimsy like the horns on level exits.
- Don't check a guide for how to unlock artifacts. You'll know it when you see it, it's very intuitive, and clue hunting is like the most fun thing in the game. Do maybe check a guide for character unlocks. Or hell I'll save you a little trouble- If you're in Siren's Call, look for bird's nests and shoot them until an optional boss appears. Kill it, enjoy get the real easy more character. Also a free tier 3 item, which is basically always worth it it's not like it's a super hard or time consuming boss.
