Purity is one of the most debated Lunar items in Risk of Rain 2. It cuts your skill cooldowns hard, but it also gives you negative Luck, which wrecks most of your chance-based items. Is the trade worth it? Sometimes. Purity is a base-game item, not part of the October 8 Hallowed Concepts DLC, so no purchase is needed. Here’s how to unlock it and when it’s actually worth the cost.
What You’ll Read:
How to Unlock Purity (The Calm)
Purity unlocks through The Calm challenge. You need to beat the game on Monsoon difficulty, and that means two things: kill Mithrix, then escape Commencement on the ship.
Both parts matter. If you die during the escape, it doesn’t count. Obliterating at the Obelisk or taking the Voidling route doesn’t count either. You don’t need Hallowed Concepts or any other DLC. The unlock is permanent, so you only do this once. After that, Purity can show up in the Lunar item pool.
Where to Get Purity
Once you’ve unlocked it, Purity comes from Lunar sources. Lunar Pods on regular stages cost 1 Lunar Coin and drop a random Lunar item. The Bazaar Between Time is the better bet. It shows five Lunar offerings for 2 coins each, so if Purity is on display, you can buy it.
It’s all RNG, though. Unlocking Purity doesn’t mean the next Pod will hand it over, and you may open a few before it shows up.
Running Artifact of Sacrifice? It suppresses most Lunar Pods, with a few exceptions like Commencement, so don’t count on them.
What Does Purity Do
You can use Purity for two things: cooldown reduction and/or negative Luck.
Cooldown Reduction
Purity cuts your skill cooldowns by a flat amount. The first copy reduces 2 seconds, and each extra copy reduces 1 more. Two Purities remove 3 seconds total, and three remove 4. Nothing goes below the 0.5-second floor, so you never get instant casts.
Percentage reductions like Alien Head apply first, then Purity subtracts its flat seconds. Take a 4-second skill. One Purity makes it 2 seconds. Alien Head plus one Purity makes it 1 second.
Purity doesn’t touch equipment cooldowns.
Negative Luck
Each Purity also gives you -1 Luck. With negative Luck, a favorable roll has to succeed more than once. One Purity means you roll twice and need both to hit. The formula is p^(n+1), where p is the base chance and n is your negative Luck. That’s why a 10% chance drops to 1%, not 5%. That’s a rough deal for any item that lives on a low proc chance.
| Base chance | 1 Purity | 2 Purities |
|---|---|---|
| 10% (AtG Missile) | 1% | 0.1% |
| 25% (Ukulele) | 6.25% | 1.56% |
| 50% | 25% | 12.5% |
| 100% | 100% | 100% |
Note: Luck also works in reverse on bad outcomes. Spinel Tonic’s 20% Affliction chance jumps to 36% with one Purity.
What Purity’s Luck Penalty Doesn’t Touch
Negative Luck doesn’t wreck everything random in the game. Tougher Times blocks ignore it completely. Chest contents, Shrine of Chance results, and Artifact of Sacrifice drops don’t care either. Artifact Keys are fine too.
Chances that are truly capped at 100% can’t fail. Crit and Bleed are the big ones. Tri-Tip Dagger gives 10% Bleed per stack now, not the old 15%, so you need 10 copies at a 1.0 proc coefficient.
Don’t read that as “capped crit fixes Purity.” It only protects the crit roll. AtG, Ukulele and Spinel Tonic still eat the full penalty.
How to Cancel the Luck Penalty
The classic fix is 57 Leaf Clover. Each one gives +1 Luck, so one Clover cancels one Purity. You still keep the cooldown cut, which is the whole point. You unlock the Clover by completing 20 stages in a single run.
Ultimate Meal is the newer option, and you need the Alloyed Collective DLC for it. You cook it with the Wandering CHEF, and it gives +2 Luck per Meal. The catch is that it only works at full health. One Meal can cancel two Purities, but the moment you take a hit, the bonus is gone. In a hard fight, that’s a lot to ask.
Note: Watch out for Benthic Bloom. It corrupts every Clover you hold, which breaks the whole plan.
When Is Purity Worth Taking
This all comes down to the build you have. Some builds work well with it and others not so much.
Builds That Like It
Purity shines when your damage comes from skills instead of procs. If you’re spamming a secondary, every second shaved off matters more than a missile that only fired 10% of the time anyway.
Capped crit and Bleed builds handle it well, since those rolls can’t fail. Deterministic damage is the other safe bet. Kjaro’s and Runald’s Bands trigger off a strong hit, not a chance roll. Plasma Shrimp fires missiles whenever your shield is up, so it can replace AtG. It needs the Survivors of the Void DLC and a shield you can keep active.
Most players say one Purity is plenty. Add a second once you have Clovers to cover it. Some also pair it with Visions of Heresy to cut that skill’s downtime.
Builds That Hate It
Anything built on AtG Missile, Ukulele and similar proc chains. These items trigger each other, so killing the first link starves everything after it. You can lose far more damage than the cooldown ever gives back.
Timing matters too. Early in a run, Purity is a fine pickup. Later, once your damage leans on proc items, Steam players say it hurts badly without Clovers. That’s old player opinion, not a measured test, so treat it as a rule of thumb.
My take is that if your build already runs on procs, skip it.
Which Survivors Benefit from Purity
Here are the most common picks:
| Survivor | Why you should take it | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Acrid | One Purity drops Neurotoxin to the 0.5s floor | Melee Ravenous Bite kept getting him killed in testing |
| Loader | Thunder Gauntlet needs no charge, so it repeats fast | Spiked Fist doesn’t recharge while it’s out |
| Mercenary | His 2.5s secondary hits the floor with one Purity | Players split on procs versus cooldowns |
| Commando | Two Purities drop Phase Blast to 0.5s | It guts his AtG and Tri-Tip builds |
| Artificer | One Purity once gave near-constant primary fire | Players say attack speed now lowers that cooldown too |
Acrid looks like the safest bet on paper. Artificer is the most contested, so test him yourself.
That’s everything you need to know about RoR2 Purity. Do you take it every run or skip it on principle? Tell me which survivor you pair it with in the comments.
FAQ
Is Purity worth spending a Clover on?
Only if your damage comes from skills. A Clover spent on Purity gives you neutral Luck instead of +1, so proc builds should keep it. Skill-focused builds can justify it.
How do I get rid of Purity?
Use a Cleansing Pool. It takes a random Lunar item or Lunar equipment and pays out a Pearl (80%) or Irradiant Pearl (20%). If you hold other Lunars, it may take those instead. It doesn’t spawn under Artifact of Command.
Did the October 2026 patch change Purity?
No. The official October 8 notes list no Purity change. The new skills for six survivors could still change how it plays, so test it on those characters.
Risk of Rain 2
