How to Unlock Robomando in Risk of Rain Returns

Did you find a Strange Battery in the Temple of the Elders and are wondering what it’s used for? Get ready for a journey as we show you how to unlock Robomando in Risk of Rain Returns, the game’s secret 16th character.

This mysterious equipment item is actually one of the biggest secrets in the game as it unlocks Robomando, the hidden 16th survivor. Using it will require patience and a few runs as its effects carry over across multiple playthroughs. Just one forewarning: the Prophet’s Cape item seems to be bugged at the moment and can crash your game, so I recommend avoiding it through this run. Without further ado, let’s unravel the mystery and guide you through this process of finding the secret survivor.

Risk of Rain Returns Secret 16th Character: How to Unlock Robomando

How to Get the Strange Battery

The Strange Battery needed to unlock Robomando in RoRR appears exclusively on the Drizzle difficulty in the Temple of the Elders. It’s found by dropping from either the far-left or far-right side of the area, depending on the variation, onto a small platform and opening a container.

This begins your journey of unlocking the secret 16th survivor in Risk of Rain Returns. Be sure to keep the battery.

What to Do After You Get the Strange Battery

Our next step is finishing the Temple and progressing to the final level on the Contact Light ship. Here we’ll have to reach the keycard-locked Cabin area. It’s located just before the Bridge where the final boss is. Descend down the ladder in front of the Bridge and go right to the Cabin.

You’ll need a keycard so I recommend exploring either your spawning area, other Cargo areas, or some random blast doors to find a golden container that drops one. Of course, you might also get lucky and one will drop from enemies.

Open up the Cabin with a keycard and go to the far right of the room where there’s a sudden drop. You’ll need to jump off and stick to the left, as you fall where you’ll find a ledge to climb into. I had great success reaching it with the Pilot but survivors like the Huntress with her teleport or the Loader with his grappling hook for example also work great.

Once inside this secret area, you’ll first find some Golem buddies vibing to some catchy toons. Feel free to vibe along for a moment before progressing further to the left.

Continue navigating and platforming until you reach a strange chest. Interacting with it will teleport it and you’ll be able to reach it again in your next run. For now, you can end your run prematurely or by beating Providence.

The Next Step to Robomando: Starting a New Run

With the secret chest on Contact Light teleported, we’ll have to reach it again in a new run. For this one, you’ll have to play on either Rainstorm or Monsoon. It just has to be higher than Drizzle.

Our goal is to reach the second stage first, so beat the boss and progress to Sky Meadow or Fungal Haven. I spawned in Fungal Haven for example. Explore the second level until you find the secret chest you teleported from Contact Light in your previous run. I had to pay a certain sum to unlock it. It’ll contain the Secret Battery which we need to keep.

From here, all we have to do is reach the fourth level, but the catch is that it needs to be after the 22-minute mark. So, with the Strange Battery in tow, beat the bosses for the second and third stage. However, and this is highly important, wait until after the 22-minute mark to teleport to stage four. Once you do, you’ll spawn in either the Magma Barracks or the Hive Cluster. I spawned in the latter and did some exploring.

Navigate around the level until you find a green arrow pointing to a deactivated robot. While the green arrow can be seen, reaching it usually requires going through a secret wall or descending/ascending a secret vine as in the picture.

Once you reach the green arrow, interact with the robot and viola! The Robomando survivor will awaken and, unexpectedly, take all your items and try to kill you. Worry not, you can die here and ending the run will unlock the secret 16th survivor in Risk of Rain Returns called Robomando.

Related: How to Unlock All Survivors in RoRR

Who is Robomando in Risk of Rain Returns?

Robomando is the secret 16th character in Risk of Rain Returns. Once you find him as we’ve shown you, Robomando will unlock for you and become available in character selection for your next run. Once you visit the character selection, you’ll be greeted with a cute robotic mini-version of the Commando.

His first three abilities will be similar to the Commando, but the meme value is cranked up to eleven. He’ll stumble as he walks, fumble on his combat rolls, and generally deal subpar damage.

That said, he has a highly interesting special ability. Robomando can open any chest without paying for it by hacking it. The best part is that this skill is on a low cooldown, so you can pretty much open every chest in a level for free. Who needs a Skeleton Key when you’ve got an adorable stumbling robot Commando? Overall, Robomando is clearly a meme character, but his unique ability can make for some interesting runs and he’s maybe a great support character in online and local co-op.

I hope this guide on how to unlock Robomando in Risk of Rain Returns has been useful for you. Unlocking him with the Strange Battery is a process, but this guide for the secret 16th character should help you on your journey. For more interesting articles on the game like beginner tips, check out our RoR Returns guides hub.