Remnant 2 is a class-based third-person shooter that takes all the right lessons from Soulsborne games — including bizarre secret weapons. And like the titles that inspired it, Remnant 2 has a load of different playstyles to choose from, this time in the form of classes called “archetypes.”
Archetypes work a bit differently than your typical RPG class. While you do pick one at the start of the game, think of this more as a “free class” and not your class forever. As you progress, you’ll be able to equip a secondary class — which comes with all the same benefits minus the “Prime Perk,” which is reserved for your main class — and even change your original class out for a better one.
You’re only able to choose from four (five if you pre-ordered the game) of the 11 Remnant 2 classes at the beginning. But in this Remnant 2 guide, we’ll teach you how to find six of the game’s classes and tell you a bit about them.
Because of the random nature of Remnant 2, we’re still looking for the other five archetypes, but we’ll update this guide as soon as we’ve found them.
Medic
If you didn’t pick the Medic class to start Remnant 2, you can unlock it by picking up the Medic Pin in Ward 13. Go up and talk to Dr. Norah, who is in the makeshift medical tent in the Ward. Look at her wares and buy the Medic Pin for 1,500 Scrap. Take the Medic Pin to Wallace and pay to upgrade it into the Caduceus Idol Engram. This item will allow you to equip the Medic class to either your prime or secondary archetype slots.
As you might’ve guessed, being a Medic is all about healing yourself and your allies. Your Prime Perk is Regenerator, which causes you to generate additional Relic (your healing item) charges when healing someone — yourself included.
Hunter
If you didn’t pick Hunter as your starter class, you can unlock it by visiting Brabus in Ward 13, over by the shooting range. Talk to him and he’ll eventually show you his wares — which consists of mostly guns. Buy the Rusty Medal off of him for 1,500 Scrap and take it to Wallace. Pay Wallace and he’ll upgrade the Rusty Medal into the Sniper War Medal Engram, which will allow you to equip the Hunter class in your prime or secondary archetype slot.
Hunters are all about dealing damage from a distance. As a Hunter, your Prime Perk is Dead to Rights, which causes you to extend duration-based abilities by dealing Ranged Weakspot damage (aka getting headshots). This is particularly good for abilities like Hunter’s Mark, which marks targets and gives you bonus damage against them for a period of time.
Challenger
If you didn’t pick Challenger as your starter class, you can grab it by visiting Reggie in Ward 13, who sits next to Mudtooth. Talk to Reggie and he’ll eventually show you some wares he’d like to sell. Grab the Old Metal Tool off of him for 1,500 Scrap. Then take the Old Metal Tool to Wallace and pay to have him transform it into the Steel Enswell Engram. Now you can equip it to either your prime or secondary archetype slot.
Challenger is the tank class, built for up-close-and-personal combat. If the Challenger is your prime class, you’ll be able to take advantage of the Die Hard Prime Perk. When you take fatal damage as a Challenger, your character doesn’t die and instead punches the ground, dealing damage to enemies around you and healing you to about half health. This can only happen every 10 minutes and some enemies are able to kill you through it, but it’s a very powerful effect for this rather punishing game.
Handler
Handler is easy to miss if you don’t select it as one of your starter classes. The item you need to unlock this pet-class is locked behind old Mudtooth’s dialogue. This guy is a storyteller, and boy does he love to tell stories. The first several times you talk to him in Ward 13, he’ll tell you some purposefully long-winded lore. But if you keep asking him for stories and keep talking to him, he’ll eventually open up a shop.
With the shop unlocked, you can purchase the Old Whistle from Mudtooth, but it’ll cost you 1,500 Scrap. Once you have it, take the whistle to Wallace and pay to upgrade it to the Silver Whistle Engram. You can now equip the Handler class in your prime or secondary slot.
The Handler’s main gimmick is that you have a pet dog to do your bidding and help you out in combat. The Handler’s Prime Perk is Bonded, which allows the dog to revive you if you go down, just like a fellow player can in co-op. This makes Handler a very powerful choice for single-player runs of Remnant 2.
Gunslinger
The Gunslinger’s unlock requirements are a bit odd. For players who pre-ordered Remnant 2, you can simply select the Gunslinger when making a new character. For those who missed out on the pre-order — or if you picked a class other than Gunslinger for your starter — you’ll need to play a fair bit of the game.
Continue with the main story until you obtain the Root Earth. Then go talk to Mudtooth in town (the old dude in the rocking chair). If you haven’t already spoken to him to unlock the Handler, you’ll need to exhaust his stories to even open his shop. He talks forever, but if manage to hear everything he has to say (you need to specifically ask him to tell you a story), he’ll hand over the Worn Cylinder. Take it up to Wallace and he’ll upgrade it to the Iron Cylinder Engram, which you’ll be able to equip The Gunslinger in your archetype slot.
The Gunslinger is all about slinging guns and dealing big damage with weapons. Its Prime Perk is Loaded, which causes your character to instantly reload both of your weapons when activating a Gunslinger skill. Loaded also grants you infinite ammo for a short period of time after activating it.
Alchemist
The Alchemist is one of Remnant 2’s secret archetypes, and you can unlock it in Losomn, the Victorian-esque horror world. If you haven’t unlocked Losomn yet, just continue playing through the campaign and you’ll get there eventually, as the order of the worlds differ playthrough to playthrough.
Like many of the secret classes, getting the object you need for the Alchemist is a random event. However, instead of needing a particular area to spawn, you instead just need to approach one of the many sewer grates along the street.
The sewer grates in Losomn have a chance to spawn a Manticora — the giant, ugly bat-bears that attack you and the villagers of the town. Normally Manticora pop out of these grates, attack, retreat, and pop out elsewhere to surprise you. But if you’re standing next to one of the grates, a Manticora can grab you and pull you into the sewer. This is a random chance, so simply approach each grate you see and push up against it. Eventually, a Manticora will grab you.
Once in its lair, kill the Manticore (it’s not a boss, just an obnoxious elite in a small arena) and it will drop the Mysterious Stone. Take the stone to Wallace and pay the usual fee of 10 Lumenite Crystals and some Scrap. This will enable you to equip the secret Alchemist archetype in your prime or secondary slots.
The Alchemist is all about buffing yourself and your nearby allies with tonics that you can chuck at the ground or at someone else. Its Prime Perk is Spirited, which lets you have an extra Concoction buff active.