False Son might just be the strongest survivor in Risk of Rain 2 right now, and his alternate abilities take him from “terrifying” to “unstoppable.” One of his best is Lunar Stakes, an upgrade to his Lunar Spikes that fires massive projectiles and calls down lightning on impact. The catch? You need to generate 40 Lunar Spikes through Growth, which sounds daunting, unless you do it the easy way. I’ll show you how I unlocked it AFK by stacking a few key items and letting the game do the work. If you want to unlock Lunar Stakes fast (and with zero stress), this guide is for you.
How to Unlock Lunar Stakes Fast
False Son is one of Risk of Rain 2’s newest and most powerful, survivors. As a former boss turned playable character, everything about his kit hits hard, scales aggressively, and rewards smart scaling. His abilities grow stronger as his maximum health increases, thanks to his Growth passive, which encourages tanky builds and strategic item stacking.
Lunar Stakes is his unlockable secondary ability, and it’s a massive upgrade from the default Lunar Spikes. It launches larger projectiles that call down lightning strikes on impact, dealing huge damage in an area. But to get it, you’ll need to accumulate 40 Lunar Spikes through Growth, which means pushing your max HP higher and higher.
That might sound like a grind, but my guide breaks it down into simple steps. First, I’ll show you how to unlock Lunar Stakes AFK by Stage 2 using a clever item combo. Then, I’ll walk you through the standard unlock method if you prefer playing the long game.
Step-by-Step: AFK Method to Unlock Lunar Stakes
- Use the Artifact of Command: This lets you choose your items, absolutely essential for this setup.
- Stage One Setup:
- Grab Rolls of Pennies (at least 3)
- Stack Repulsion Armor Plates
- Open the Blue Portal before leaving the stage
- For equipment, take the Trophy Hunter’s Tricorn
- Use the Tricorn to kill the teleporter boss, and select Pluripotent Larva (Plula) as your boss item.
- Visit the Blue Portal: Inside the Bazaar Between Time, spend your lunar coins to buy:
- Stone Flux Pauldron
- Longstanding Solitude (I bought two Stone Flux Pauldrons just to make things go even faster.)
- Let the Build Do Its Work: With these items, here’s what’s happening:
- Longstanding Solitude turns all gold gains into XP.
- Roll of Pennies gives you gold every time you take a hit.
- The combo = you level up just by getting hit.
- Stone Flux Pauldrons double your base HP, increasing your Growth.
- Repulsion Armor Plates and Plula keep you alive.
Now just… stand there. Walk away. Stretch. Make a sandwich. You’ll be AFK farming XP through Growth. Eventually, you’ll level up enough to trigger 44 Lunar Spikes, which unlocks Lunar Stakes. Boom. Done.
I personally stacked 5 Stone Flux Pauldrons because I like being tanky to a ridiculous degree.
Alternate Route: Manual Growth Grind
If AFK methods aren’t your style, here’s the standard approach to hit 40 Growth-based Lunar Spikes:
Required Items:
- 10 Bison Steaks
- 9 fully charged Transfusions
- 2 Titanic Knurls
- 4 Stone Flux Pauldrons
You’ll probably need to loop once to gather these. By level 21 or so, you’ll usually have enough health to unlock the skill.
Use the Newt Altar to enter the Bazaar and kill bosses with Trophy Hunter’s Tricorn to grab your Knurls and Pauldrons. After unlocking the skill, feel free to quit out, or keep going with your now 10,000 HP unit of destruction.
Wrap-Up
Lunar Stakes isn’t just flashy, it’s powerful. Larger projectiles, AoE lightning, and it synergizes perfectly with False Son’s Growth passive. Once you have it, you’ll notice your entire playstyle becomes more aggressive and rewarding.
Unlocking Lunar Stakes in Risk of Rain 2 doesn’t have to be a grind. With the right setup, you can do it on Stage 2 without lifting a finger. Whether you want to speedrun False Son’s abilities or just get a kick out of clever builds, this method gets the job done, no backup mags needed.
