If you like to use Huntress in Risk of Rain 2, you’ll eventually want to complete the Piercing Wind challenge. This requires you to start and finish the third stage without falling below full health, which is exactly as difficult as it sounds. Fortunately, there a few tricks you can use to finish this challenge without too much effort.
How to complete the Piercing Wind challenge
To complete the Piercing Wind challenge in Risk of Rain 2, you need to finish the third stage as Huntress without losing any health. Shields count as health, so you can’t lose shields either. Your best bet to complete Piercing Wind is to not take any damage whatsoever, but that’s easier said than done.
The challenge’s description is a bit misleading. It says you need to start and finish either Rallypoint Delta or Scorched Acres without falling below 100% health. These are the game’s third stages, and they’re typically where enemies start ramping up. What the description doesn’t say is that shields also count as health. Using Transcendence or stacking Personal Shield Generator won’t help. Plus, since fall damage can lower your health or reduce your shields, you can’t jump or fall off of any high ledges.
Fortunately, Barrier doesn’t count as health. That means Topaz Brooch is one of the best items you can use to complete the challenge. Aegis is also a good choice, but good luck finding one in the first two stages.
The Normal Way: Stack Topaz Brooch
Since you’re still allowed to take damage in the first two stages, you should use that time to stack Topaz Brooch. Using the Artifact of Command will be a big help, as it allows you to choose which items you receive from chests. You should also be playing on Drizzle, the game’s lowest difficulty.
As long as you keep killing enemies, Topaz Brooch will continually provide small amount of Barrier to protect you from damage. Still, you should do your best not to get hit at all. You may also consider picking up three Tougher Times, which would give you a roughly 30% chance to block incoming damage. You won’t need more than that, though; any other items you find would be better spent helping you avoid enemies altogether.
Pick up as many items as you can in the first two stages, but move quickly. The longer you play, the harder enemies get, and the more Topaz Brooches you’ll need to absorb any potential hits.
Once you reach stage three, head straight for the teleporter. Don’t bother picking up any more items; you won’t have any gold to spend on chests since you won’t be fighting enemies unless absolutely necessary.
After the teleporter event begins, keep your distance. Considering that the Huntress’ primary attacks have limited range, you’ll want to use Arrow Rain as much as possible. This attack has practically infinite range, plus the added bonus of teleporting you up into the sky and away from enemies. Just be sure not to take any fall damage on the way down.
Don’t let any enemies close, spam Arrow Rain, and complete the teleporter event as quickly as possible. As long as you play carefully, you’ll complete Piercing Wind without too much undue stress.
The Easy Way: Join Multiplayer
If you don’t mind cheesing it, you can complete the Piercing Wind challenge easily by joining multiplayer. Load into a match, then let your teammates do all the dirty work. Pick up a few items when you can, particularly the ones that focus on mobility. Since you won’t be engaging any enemies, your priority will be to simply run away from them.
By the time your team reaches and beats the third teleporter event, the challenge will be completed. In return for your smartly planned cowardice, you will unlock the Huntress’ Ballista ability, which fires three energy bolts dealing 3×900% damage total.
