Rage 2’s open world is absurdly big, as you’d expect from the developers of Just Cause 2. The problem is that a lot of that world is large, empty spaces, and there is a severe lack of fast travel points to help make getting around easier.
To navigate the wasteland, you’re going to need a ride. Fortunately, Rage 2 has a lot of them ready to discover and unlock.
While you're at it, check out our list of Rage 2 Ark locations.
Story vehicles in Rage 2
There are five vehicles that you’ll unlock just by playing the game. You may have to complete some side-missions or events scattered around, but to make up for that they are four of the best vehicles you’ll get your hands on.
Phoenix
This is Walker’s main ride, unlocked once you’ve completed the introductory tutorial mission at Vineland. It’s got middling speed, a fantastic boost, a wide array of weaponry that makes it the most versatile and reliable car available.
It’s also the only vehicle that can be upgraded to have new weapons, extra armour, ejector seats, energy barriers and more, turning it into a Swiss Army Car that is good enough for virtually anything. The best way to earn auto parts to upgrade the Phoenix is by taking out convoys.
The ChazCar
This car’s fast, but it has no weaponry and has limited protection that makes using it outside of the ChazCar Derby a poor choice. It can be unlocked by completing a Derby race, and winning one of those is a compulsory part of Loosum Hagar’s campaign mission ‘Wasteland Celebrity’.
Raptor
The Raptor is ridiculously fast, one of the fastest vehicles in the game, although what it has in speed, it lacks in firepower. As with most motorbikes in the game, Walker relies on their Sidewinder Pistol as the only weapon. To unlock it, complete side-missions for Loosum Hagar (yellow on the mini-map, things like authority sentries and convoys) and increase your Capture & Control Project Score to 10.
Icarus
If getting from point A to point B is your only goal, the Icarus is the absolute best vehicle in the entire game. A personal aircraft, it’s quick, enemies tend not to fire on it, and it can avoid any and all territory below you. It has a maximum height, and you can fall off of the bottomless cliffs scattered around the maps as a result, but the Icarus is great for avoiding all the open-world nonsense if you need to get somewhere fast.
The Icarus is unlocked by increasing your Search & Recover Project score to 7. Complete side-missions for Dr. Kvasir, marked by blue on the mini-map. Collecting datapads, hitting meteorites, and finding deceased Rangers all help level up your ranking.
Xerxes III
The ultimate in protection and firepower, the Xerxes III is the central focus of much of the game’s story. It’s not at all fast, but its weaponry packs an almighty punch. It’s less versatile than the Phoenix, and it costs the most out of all the vehicles to summon at a whopping $500, but if you need a thick coat of armour in the wasteland, the Xerxes is the way to go. It’ll be unlocked by completing campaign missions for Loosum Hagar until she’s back on board with the Dagger Project.
Rage 2 car list: here's every vehicle and their location on the map
These vehicles are kind of like Pokemon. Some are useless, but you’ll still want to catch them all. First, unlock the Vehicle Extension project from Lily Prowly (this can be done practically straight away in the Basic project tech tree) to allow you to store more than just the Phoenix in the garage.
Then, go to where they’re most likely to be, hijack them, and then return them to the nearest trade town and add them into your garage. Once that is done, they can be spawned through the usual vehicle menu at any time.
There are a few important things to remember when collecting vehicles. Firstly, you generally can’t take one that already has a driver. Find an empty one that is parked, or, in the case of the motorbikes, carefully kill the driver without damaging the bike itself.
Secondly, some of these vehicles are worthless outside of completing the collection. The story vehicles are where the main firepower or protection are, so don’t go hopping into a dumper truck expecting it to be go toe-to-toe with a Shrouded Convoy.
Monster Truck
Thanks to its height and massive wheels, the Monster Truck is excellent for crossing water or debris-ridden areas where other vehicles may struggle. It lacks firepower and protection, but the coolness factor of squishing a mutant under a wheel three times bigger than it makes up for that.
If you pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition of the game, the Monster Truck will be unlocked straight away. Otherwise, Monster Trucks can mostly be found in the Sekreto Wetlands region. Hit up the larger River Hog encampments in the region and it won’t be long until you find one.
Pulverizer
As the middle child of the Shrouded vehicles, the Pulverizer is fast and has surprisingly decent offensive capabilities. The catch is the weapons require you to be in front of your target, dropping things in their path Mario Kart-style.
As with all Shrouded vehicles, the best place to find one will be in the Dune Sea in the south-west of the map. Shrouded bases or parked on the side of the road, Pulverizers are common and easy to come by.
Devastator
The Devastator is the Goldilocks of the Shrouded vehicles. It’s slower than the Pulverizer, but its defensive capabilities are on a whole other level thanks to the inclusion of an energy barrier that can stave off enemy fire before the vehicle itself takes damage. It’s also got decent offensive ability too, although it's still not a patch on the Xerxes.
Check the Dune Sea for the Devastator. Like the Pulverizer, it’s a fairly common vehicle so shouldn’t take much searching to find.
Wind Razor
A lightweight Shrouded Motorbike, the Wind Razor is one of the few open world vehicles that could give the Raptor a run for its money. It’s incredibly fast, but lacks offensive or defensive capabilities. Use it to pester the enemy or make a quick getaway, but don’t expect it to hold up in a sustained gunfight.
The Wind Razor can be found in Shrouded bases and on the side of the road in the Dune Sea.
Rolla
The Rolla is practically the Goon Squad version of the Shrouded’s Pulverizer. Fast, light, defenceless, but it can drop fire behind it that can cause decent mayhem if used properly.
The best place to find a Rolla, like all Goon Squad vehicles, is in the area surrounding Gunbarrel. Within a stone’s throw of the city you’ll be able to find plenty of Rollas parked on the side of the road or holed up in Goon encampments.
Booma
The Booma is a heavy tank—though not as beefy as the Xerxes—and it has the firepower to prove it. It’s not as fast as the Rolla, but it can deal heft damage with its Mini-Nukes and mounted gun. While the Phoenix outclasses it in most regards, it’s still a decent choice for taking on convoys.
The Booma can be more difficult to find than the Rolla or the Nippa. The only place I’ve seen one is in the Yeoman Growery bandit den due north of Gunbarrel.
Nippa
The Goon Squad motorbike, it is virtually identical to the Wind Razor: fast, agile, but no defensive or offensive capabilities of their own. You can use sidearms while driving it, but you may as well be throwing small rocks at the enemy for all the good it’ll do. This is purely a vehicle for getting around.
The Nippa is really, really common anywhere the Goon Squad is found. It took only a few seconds after leaving Gunbarrel before I found mine.
Loquacious Wanderer
Despite being seen tearing around the Wasteland blaring ads to check out their wares, finding your own Loquacious Wanderer can be hard, as I’ve only ever seen a drivable one spawn in a single location. To the east of the Broken Tract, there is a Ranger Echo at a location called the Forlorn Shack. Head there, and the Loquacious Wanderer should be parked within the empty compound.
It’s slow, has no weapons, poor protection, and it’s a long way from any of the trading towns, with the closest being Gunbarrel. Be very careful you don’t get ambushed while collecting it, as there won’t be a whole lot of options other than abandoning the vehicle.
Kola Kong Conquest
Much like the Loquacious Wanderer, the Kola Kong Conquest is a vehicle to get just to complete the collection, and not one to actually use. Middling speed, no weapons and no protection to speak of, the only time you should really be using it is when driving it back to a trade town to collect.
Kola Kong Conquests can be found just about anywhere, as they’re a civilian vehicle not attributed to a particular faction. I found mind near Gunbarrel, but have seen them around Wellspring in the Torn Plains and Lagooney in the Sekreto Wetlands as well.
Dumper Truck
No. Just no. Absolutely not, not under any circumstances. It’s the slowest vehicle in the whole game, is robust but not great in the defence department, and has no weaponry. Even collecting the Dumper Truck is an absolute pain, especially if you find it so far from a trade town like I did. Chances are you’d be quicker sprinting, dashing and rushing than you would driving the Dumper Truck.
Check the Broken Track region for a Dumper Truck. Roadblocks in particular seem to be the best place for them, which will also help with levelling up to get the vastly superior Raptor bike from Loomis Hagar.
BG Burger Storm Chaser
Honestly, this is just the Kola Kong Conquest with a different look. It’s a completely plain vehicle with no advantages of its own, and should be kept in the garage rather than seriously used.
BG Burger Storm Chasers are found mostly in the Torn Plains region, near the Strongbox Ark. Our handy guide to Rage 2’s Arks will help if you’ve not come across the Strongbox yet.
Hoverboat
Despite looking like a vehicle and popping up on your HUD as a vehicle would, the Hoverboats found in the Sekreto Wastelands can’t be driven nor collected. Just ignore them, it’s fine.
You only need three vehicles in Rage 2
Honestly, there are only three vehicles you really need to get around in Rage 2. The Phoenix is great for its versatility, the Icarus is the best bar none for getting around, and when the enemies ambush you, nothing is as good as the Xerxes III. There are some examples where the Shrouded and Goon Squad vehicles could work, but there’s nothing they can’t do that a story vehicle can’t do better.
And please, for all that is holy, stay away from the Dumper Truck.
