How to Complete the Trials in Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts

Quick Answer

Activate a Trial Gong and enter the Winnowing before its countdown expires. Complete the objective shown on screen, collect your rewards and an available N’Tormat Page, then take the return portal. You can enter another Trial from the reward area, but chained Trials share a timer, making each additional attempt riskier.

The Trials in Risk of Rain 2: Hallowed Concepts are short, timed encounters with objectives that differ from ordinary Teleporter fights. Some require killing particular enemies, others involve finding objects or earning money, and some are primarily movement challenges.

Completing them gives you opportunities to obtain the N’Tormat, collect its Pages, and keep selected rewards from the encounter. These items are particularly useful when preparing to enter Soulbound Threshold.

The main difference from a normal stage is that a powerful build does not solve every Trial. Your equipment can change temporarily inside the arena, and an objective that requires reaching an exit or destroying specific objects will not advance simply because you deal more damage.

Where to Find a Trial Gong

A Trial Gong is the interactable that opens a Winnowing. Gongs can appear in Hallowed Concepts environments, including places above the usual route through a stage.

One accessible location is the Bazaar Between Time.

If you want to reach the Bazaar deliberately, activate a Newt Altar before completing a Teleporter event. It costs 1 Lunar Coin and opens a Blue Portal after the event. You can also enter through a Blue Portal that appears without using an altar.

Inside the Bazaar, descend into the lower area and look for the Trial Gong.

To enter:

1. Approach the Gong and activate it.
2. Watch for the countdown and the entrance to the Winnowing.
3. Enter before the countdown expires.
4. Read the objective immediately after arriving in the arena.

The active countdown determines how much time remains. Do not assume that entering another Trial will restore the time available during the first one.

A Gong may also be positioned above your current location. If you cannot reach it with an ordinary jump, check the surrounding terrain for an alternate approach before repeatedly attempting the same climb.

The Three Winnowing Types

Trials fall into three categories, but the individual objective tells you what counts as success.

• Winnowing of Predation: Complete a specific task such as destroying lanterns, opening containers, or earning money.
• Winnowing of Survival: Complete a combat objective involving designated enemies, positioning, or damage.
• Winnowing of Mortality: Reach the required destination through a timed movement course.

The category helps you recognize the kind of encounter ahead. The on-screen objective gives the actual condition.

For example, eliminating ordinary enemies will not complete Broken Glass if the task is to destroy lanterns. Likewise, defeating enemies during a Mortality encounter does not replace reaching its exit.

Identify what advances the objective counter before spending the opening seconds fighting or collecting equipment.

Winnowing of Predation: Lanterns, Containers, and Money

Predation encounters revolve around completing a specific task quickly. Finding the right targets usually matters more than defeating the strongest enemies nearby.

Trial of Broken Glass — Destroy the Lanterns

Objective: Break enough lanterns before time runs out.

The targets are small, greenish glowing lanterns positioned around the arena. They can be easy to overlook among larger structures and other bright objects.

A lantern can be destroyed with a single successful hit, so high damage is not the priority. You need to locate enough targets and move between them efficiently.

Begin by identifying the reachable lanterns in your immediate area. Destroy those first, then move toward sections you have not checked.

When the counter stops advancing, avoid searching the same cleared section repeatedly. Look across the arena for remaining glowing targets, including those positioned at different elevations.

Movement equipment found inside the Trial can help you reach higher areas or cross larger gaps. A temporary mobility item may be more useful here than an additional damage item.

In multiplayer, searching separate sections allows the group to cover more ground without repeatedly checking lanterns that have already been destroyed.

Open Chests or Lockboxes

Some Predation encounters require opening a particular number of chests or lockboxes.

The objective advances through the required interactions, so killing nearby enemies does not replace finding the containers.

Move through the arena while checking the counter after each interaction. If opening an object does not advance the requirement, continue looking for the correct targets rather than spending time fighting around it.

Mimics make these encounters less straightforward. A container that appears safe may become a hostile enemy when approached.

Keep enough distance to react after an interaction, but avoid prolonged fights that do not contribute to the objective. The timer continues while you deal with a mimic.

Trial of Infernal Greed — Earn the Required Money

Objective: Earn the amount of money shown on screen before time runs out.

Unlike Broken Glass, Infernal Greed measures the money you earn rather than the number of environmental objects destroyed.

Read the required amount at the beginning of the encounter and focus on activities that increase the objective’s progress.

Defeating enemies can be useful when it provides money, but clearing the arena without reaching the required total will not complete the Trial.

Once the money target has been reached, proceed to the reward instead of continuing to fight enemies that are no longer necessary for the objective.

Winnowing of Survival: Umbras, Abyss, and Damage

Survival encounters involve combat, although their completion conditions are not always ordinary enemy elimination.

Some enemies must be defeated directly. Others need to be moved into a particular part of the arena, while damage-focused encounters require enough offensive output within the allotted time.

Trial of the Lesser Echoes — Eliminate the Umbras

Objective: Eliminate the required Umbras before time runs out.

Umbras are shadowy enemies that resemble familiar Survivors. They can be distributed across different parts of the arena rather than approaching from one direction.

Watch the objective counter as you defeat them. If the nearby area is empty but the counter is incomplete, continue looking for the remaining targets.

Movement becomes important when the last few enemies are far apart. A strong damage build still loses time if you must travel across the entire arena for each remaining Umbra.

In multiplayer, have teammates search different sections and identify where targets remain instead of having everyone chase the same enemy.

The required number is shown in the active encounter. Complete that count before returning to the reward area.

Trial of the Abyss — Feed the Fog

Objective: Send enemies into the surrounding abyss.

The important distinction is that ordinary enemy kills are not the intended action. You need enemies to reach the abyss rather than simply reducing their health to zero.

Look at the edges of the arena and position yourself so enemies can be drawn or knocked toward the required area.

Knockback and careful positioning can be more valuable here than raw damage. If your attacks kill enemies before they reach the edge, you may be preventing the interaction that the objective requires.

Control your own movement as well. Approaching the abyss to influence an enemy’s position creates a risk of falling, particularly when several enemies are attacking at once.

Focus on directing the required targets toward the fog and watch the objective counter for confirmation.

Trial of Annihilation — Deal Enough Damage

Objective: Reach the required damage target before the timer expires.

Annihilation is more directly dependent on offensive power than the other Survival examples.

Check the damage requirement, then use the equipment available inside the Trial to reach it. Depending on what the arena provides, you may need to replace some of the damage your normal build supplied outside the encounter.

Collecting a useful offensive item can make the difference, but spending too long gathering every available pickup reduces the time left to deal damage.

Once you have enough equipment to attack effectively, concentrate on the required target and monitor the objective’s progress.

Winnowing of Mortality: Reach the Exit Before Time Runs Out

Mortality encounters are movement challenges. The objective is to navigate the arena and reach the destination, often through raised platforms, gaps, or branching routes.

Before leaving the starting area, look toward the exit and identify how much vertical movement the route requires. A platform below your current position can appear to be a shortcut, but dropping down may leave you unable to return without additional mobility.

Temporary movement items can change which route is practical:

• Hopoo Feather: Useful when a higher platform requires an additional jump.
• Energy Drink: Helps cover longer stretches quickly when sprinting.
• Red Whip: Provides movement speed outside combat, making traversal more efficient when you are not taking damage.

Choose items according to the obstacle ahead. An extra jump can be essential for a vertical climb, while movement speed is more valuable when the route is already reachable but long.

Avoid optional branches once the remaining time becomes short. Losing the intended route can be especially costly if returning to the correct platform requires retracing several jumps.

Combat is secondary here. Unless an enemy directly prevents movement, reaching the exit should remain your priority.

Why Your Normal Items Change Inside a Trial

A Winnowing can temporarily remove or replace parts of your usual inventory. The arena provides Ethereal items intended for its current challenge.

This can make the same Survivor feel very different from the build you were using outside the Trial. Movement speed, damage, or other abilities that supported your normal run may no longer be available in the same form.

The practical decision is which temporary items are worth collecting before pursuing the objective.

For example, if a movement course contains a jump you cannot reach, collecting an extra-jump item changes the route available to you. In a damage-focused encounter, an offensive pickup may help complete the objective more quickly.

The items used during the Trial are not necessarily the equipment you keep afterward. Your reward selection determines what carries back into the normal run.

Check the available items when you enter, take what solves the immediate problem, and leave enough time to finish the objective.

Collect N’Tormat Pages and Other Rewards

Completing a Trial opens a reward opportunity. You can acquire N’Tormat Pages and may have an opportunity to keep an item from the temporary Trial equipment.

Inspect the available choices before selecting a Page. The N’Tormat gains abilities through its Pages, but those abilities serve different purposes.

For example, Reincarnation has a special interaction associated with the hidden encounter in Soulbound Threshold. If you are pursuing the Memento Mori skin challenges, obtaining that Page is more useful than choosing an unrelated ability simply because it is available.

The Hallowed Concepts skin unlock conditions explain when Reincarnation is needed.

If you entered a Trial primarily to acquire the N’Tormat and your first Page, collecting those rewards and returning to the normal run already accomplishes that objective.

Before leaving the reward area, confirm that you have accepted the rewards you want. Completing the encounter without collecting them will not provide the same preparation for subsequent stages.

Should You Chain Another Trial?

The reward area can contain another Gong that starts an additional Winnowing.

Chained Trials share the available timer. Completing the first objective does not give you unlimited fresh time for every encounter that follows.

That makes the decision after each reward important. A second Trial might offer another useful Page, but its objective may be less favorable for your Survivor than the one you just completed.

Consider three things before activating the next Gong:

• Remaining time: Is there enough time to locate the objective targets or complete a movement course?
• Available equipment: Can your Survivor handle a different objective if the next Trial changes your items?
• Value of another reward: Do you still need another Page or item for the run you are preparing?

Mortality encounters are particularly dangerous with little time left. You may need to collect movement equipment before attempting the route, and a missed platform can consume much of the remaining countdown.

A slow Survivor with limited movement has less room for error in that situation than one already capable of reaching distant or elevated platforms.

Continuing is more reasonable when the timer still provides enough freedom to adapt to another objective. If you already have the N’Tormat, a useful Page, and an item worth keeping, returning safely can be more valuable than risking them for an additional reward.

In multiplayer, agree on whether to continue before activating another Gong. The remaining time affects the group, even if one teammate is more comfortable with the next challenge.

Return to the Mortal Plane

When you are finished collecting rewards, locate the portal leading out of the Trial sequence.

The objective can display “Return to the Mortal Plane” when the exit is available.

Enter the white portal to return to your normal run.

After leaving, check the N’Tormat, collected Pages, and retained reward items. Temporary Ethereal equipment used inside a Winnowing should not be mistaken for items automatically transferred into your normal inventory.

If you now have the N’Tormat Curio and at least one Page, you can prepare for the Shrine of Descent and the Soulbinding Teleporter encounter.

The Acolyte unlock steps explain how to use those prerequisites to enter Soulbound Threshold, defeat the Anima Harvester, and revive the fallen Survivor.