Fighting games have always punished players who go it alone. 2XKO just changed that. The Climb — Riot’s new roguelite PvE mode — dropped with Patch 1.2.3 on June 9, and it’s the solo experience the 2XKO community has been waiting for since launch.
What Is The Climb?
The Climb is 2XKO’s first dedicated PvE mode, playable solo or with a co-op partner as a Duo. Instead of fighting real opponents, you battle through waves of increasingly tough AI on a branching map — picking augments along the way to customize your champions and playstyle.
Per Riot’s official breakdown, The Climb features over 100 augments, three difficulty tiers, and a classic roguelite rule: one loss ends your run. It’s high-stakes, highly replayable, and built for players who want to sharpen up without the social pressure of ranked.
How Runs Work: The Core Loop
Before entering, you lock in your champion pair, Fuses, and skins for the entire run — no swapping mid-climb. From there, you navigate a map of encounters across branching routes.
What makes every run feel different:
- Over 100 augments that modify your playstyle as you progress
- Branching map routes where you choose your path
- Campfire nodes to restore health between fights
- A final boss waiting at the Summit
Here’s the twist that separates The Climb from a generic arcade mode: your Champion Health, Super Meter, and Break Meter all carry over between fights. Took damage in round one? You’re walking into round two hurt — unless you detoured to a Campfire. Resource management becomes as important as your combos.
Difficulty Tiers: Which One Should You Pick?
The Climb launches with three difficulty levels:
- Beginner — ideal for learning the mode, experimenting with new team comps, or introducing a friend to 2XKO
- Intermediate — the starting point for most experienced players
- Advanced — the real challenge, designed for players who know their Fuse setups cold
Each difficulty comes with its own reward track. Running The Climb earns XP and exclusive in-game cosmetics, giving you a real reason to grind the mode even after you’ve cleared it.
Why The Climb Is a Big Deal for 2XKO
Fighting games have a retention problem. The gap between a new player and a mid-level ranked player is enormous, and getting stomped online over and over is a rough introduction. The Climb gives players a structured space to experiment — new team comps, off-meta Fuse setups, characters you’ve never touched — without any of that ranked pressure.
The co-op angle is just as significant. Duo mode turns The Climb into a fully co-operative experience. You and a partner fight through encounters together, building team chemistry that translates directly into ranked play. Riot officially describes it as “a premier PVE mode you can enjoy in single-player or as a co-op Duo.”
For FGC veterans, it’s a warm-up tool, a lab extension, and a way to stress-test builds before taking them online. It’s a mode built for every skill level — and that’s rare in fighting games.
Tips for Your First Climb Run
- Start on Intermediate, not Advanced. Advanced is unforgiving without augment knowledge — get your bearings first.
- Protect your resources. Your Super Meter and Break Meter carry over. Don’t blow everything in round one unless you have no choice.
- Read your augment options carefully. Some augments specifically buff certain Fuse types. Check the options before locking in your route.
- Campfires are priority stops below 60% HP. Health loss snowballs fast in later nodes — don’t skip the heal.
- Learn the Summit boss patterns in Beginner first. The final boss hits differently from regular encounters. Study the patterns before running Advanced.
The Climb is live now for all 2XKO players. Drop in solo, grab a co-op partner, and find out what’s waiting at the Summit.
Watch official The Climb gameplay on the 2XKO YouTube channel to see high-level runs before your first attempt: youtube.com/@Play2XKO
