Tips, Tricks, and Strategies
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This article may need cleanup to meet quality standards.
Please help improve this if you can. The Discussion page may contain suggestions.
Please help improve this if you can. The Discussion page may contain suggestions.
This is a community-written page for anyone with a game tip to share. Write them here to help other users on the Deep Rock Galactic Wiki.
This page regroups every prescriptive and subjective information (i.e. suggesting how to play the game). Its main purpose is to unclog the accumulated information from the actual wiki pages, where the descriptive content is and must stay on.
Class Tips
This section details Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for each of Deep Rock Galactic's playable classes and their equipment. Although most player have a favorite class, experience with all four is recommended to master the caves.
Each class is equipped with their own unique set of equipment, consisting of 3 primaries, 3 secondaries, 4 grenades, a traversal tool, and a support item. A classes available equipment is what defines its unique strengths and weaknesses.
Driller equipment
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The Driller using their Reinforced Power Drills can shape the environment to their will, such as in Salvage Operation missions where they can be used to break out extra space around the Uplink or Fuel Cells, or in a Deep Scan mission where they can be used to connect the winding tunnels to simplify traversal. During extraction phases, the Driller can also create long tunnels to the Drop Pod, which can be safer and quicker than following the M.U.L.E. through winding cave tunnels.
The Driller primarily posses weaponry specialized for clearing out the bulk of a swarm, usually having excellent Crowd Control, and applying powerful Status Effects. As a Driller you should try to make use of this strength by dealing with the majority of the grounded enemies in a swarm, specifically Grunts, Slashers, and Swarmers.
While Drillers weaponry is often less effective at killing targets with larger heath pools, they can still support the team by slowing down the target and/or weakening it.
Weapons
- The CRSPR has incredibly low direct damage. As such it's best to make use of its Ignition, Sticky Flames, and Direct damage at the same time to maximize effectiveness.
- Even at maximum effectiveness the CRSPR is extremely ineffective against enemies with fire resistance or large health pools.
- By igniting enemies the CRSPR can enable other weapons:
- Igniting enemies allows the Subata 120 with Volatile Bullets equipped to deal increased damage.
- Igniting enemies allows the Colette Wave Cooker with Exothermic Reactor equipped to apply Temperature Shock.
- The CRSPR's Limited range make the user vulnerable to long range projectile-using enemies.
- This can be mitigated by equipping range increasing modifications and/or Overclocks.
- This can be mitigated by pairing the CRSPR with a long range secondary, or by relying on your teammates for such enemies.
- Sticky flames are an incredible tool for increasing the CRSPR's damage and ignition:
- Equipping the Sticky Flame Slowdown modification keeps enemies in the flames for longer, increasing their lethality. It also help to keep enemies at bay.
- Equipping modifications to increase their duration decreases their attention cost, and allows you to do other things while they keep killing enemies.
- Sticky flames are applied at a set rate, meaning decreasing Flow Rate also decreases their ammo cost. The inverse is also true, with higher Flow Rates increasing their ammo cost.
- Heat Radiance is incredibly powerful, dealing 80 damage and applying 80 Heat per second to all enemies within 4 meters of you.
- 80 Heat is enough to instantly ignite most creatures.
- Heat Radiance is unaffected by Flow Rate. As such it will always activate once per second, regardless of modifications or Overclocks.
- Due to it requiring you to fire uninterrupted for multiple seconds to be effective, it is not recommended for builds that exclusively focus on Sticky Flames.
- All Mactera (aside from the Mactera Grabber) are vulnrable to fire damage, making the CRSPR especially effective agains them.
- The Cryo Cannon has incredibly low direct damage, but applies an extremely potent status effect, Frozen.
- The Frozen status freezes enemies in place and makes them take x3 direct damage, this makes the Cryo Cannon an increadible support tool.
- Due to the Cryo Cannon's low damage but potent effect, its best to make use of your secondary, Reinforced Power Drills, and/or teammates to kill frozen bugs.
- Flying bugs are instantly killed upon being frozen, this makes the Cryo Cannon extremely good at dealing with Mactera.
- Glyphid Swarmers and other tiny enemies are instantly killed upon being frozen.
- The Cryo Cannon's Limited range make the user vulnerable to long range projectile-using enemies.
- This can be mitigated by equipping range increasing modifications.
- This can be mitigated by pairing the Cryo Cannon with a long range secondary, or by relying on your teammates for such enemies.
- Cold Radiance is incredibly powerful, applying 60 Cold per second to all enemies within 4 meters of you.
- 60 Cold is enough to instantly freeze most creatures.
- Cold Radiance is unaffected by Flow Rate. As such it will always activate once per second, regardless of modifications or Overclocks.
- Freezing power is the amount of Cold applied to a target per tick. As such modifications that increase it by small amounts are basically worthless, as the difference between 8 and 9, 8 and 10, or 8 and 11 freezing power is extremely minuscule, especially compared to the other modification options.
- This does not apply the the Crystal Nucleation Overclock, as it has unique effects when Freezing power is increased.
- Sludge Puddles and direct hits apply separate corrosion DoT's that stack, make use of both to maximize the Sludge Pumps effectiveness.
- Applying corrosion to enemies can enable other weapons:
- Applying corrosion enables the Neuro-Corrosive Toxic Catalyst modification on the Subata 120.
- Applying corrosion enables the Colette Wave Cooker with the Contagion Transmitter modification equipped to deal increased damage and poision enemies.
- The Corrosive Sludge Pump deals area damage, this means it ignores armor, and doesn't benefit from weakpoints.
- This allows the Sludge Pump to damage Opressors and Dreadnaughts from any angle.
- Sludge Puddles can be Ignited. Burning puddles ignite other nearby puddles, deal increased damage, and heat up bugs.
- This does Not decrease their duration. Ignited puddles is entirely positive with no inherent downsides.
- The Experimental Plasma Charger with Burning Nightmare equipped can ignite puddles. This is the only way for driller to ignite their own puddles.
- Sludge Puddles have a long duration, so it's recommended to preemptively coat the ground in sludge when enemies approach.
- You can shoot low ceilings with a charged shot to disperse the puddles, covering larger area.
- If enemies are close, you can fire a charged shot into the front most enemy, to cover both the front of the swarm, and the ground right in front of them with sludge.
- Magazine size is considered when starting a mission and resupplying, this means the High Capacity Tanks modification effectively increases the Sludge Pumps total ammo by 20, which is a significantly increase.
- All Mactera (aside from the Mactera Grabber) are vulnerable to corrosive damage, making the Sludge Pump especially effective against them.
- Due to its long range, the Subata can deal with threats Drillers primaries can't reach.
- While its range is longer than Driller's primaries, it still cannot take down targets at extreme ranges without controlled fire.
- The Subata is very good against Macteras.
- The EPC's dual firing mode gives it a wide variety of applications.
- The EPC has a learning curve, due to it's projectile attacks.
- Thin Containment Field is extremely powerful, and does not scale with the EPC's base stats.
- It can be used to mine hard to acces minerals, though be warned, it will scatter them about the cave.
- A powerful synergy tool, designed to pair with Driller's primaries.
- Possesses infinite range, but relatively trivial damage without its synergies.
- Exothermic Reactor is useful for applying Temperature Shock to more tanky enemies, given that lines of sticky flames will continue to reignite the enemy.
- Boiler Ray is better used with Cryo Cannon due to the nature of the Frozen status effect.
Traversal Tool & Support Item
- When using the Powerdrills for extended periods, try to let the drills get to 99% Heat and letting them naturally cool off. This is always faster than letting them overheat and waiting for them to un-jam.
- Can be used to make tunnels or clear out terrain and make room in defensible positions.
- Synergize with the Cryo Cannon by dealing triple damages and with the Vampire perk, restoring a small amount of HP when killing enemies easily, especially with the Barbed Drills mod.
- Dwarves can climb very steep inclines when doing ledge climbing (80° limit). However, be aware that pipelines in On-Site Refining cannot go that steep.
- You can extract embedded gemstones such as Aquarqs out of walls which cannot be easily reached with the Reinforced Power Drills.
- The large crater forces grounded enemies to run through it, which leaves them vulnerable to luring devices and explosives when thrown inside the existing crater.
- Best used with luring tools, such as the Scout's Pheromone Canister or the Engineer's L.U.R.E., to wrangle as many enemies together for the ultimate destructive payoff.
- Take care when using the Charge on narrow walkways or suspended platforms; if it blows up the sections connecting to other parts of the cave it could potentially cause the whole platform to crumble, causing you to fall to your doom.
- Take care when using the Satchel Charge in the Magma Core, as the crater will reveal a huge amount of molten slurry which can damage you and your teammates.
- Despite friendly fire damage reduction, charges can deal extreme damage to teammates, employ due care when using.
- Although this device is notorious for friendly fire incidents, it can be used to great effect to clear out enemies surrounding a downed ally. Drop the explosive onto one from a safe distance, blow up any surrounding enemies, and revive them.
- By throwing the charge forward while jumping and then walking backwards, you can achieve a much farther throw range than normal
Grenades
- When calling a Resupply Pod, if you have more than four Impact Axes currently carried, throw any spare axes into the ground before taking one of the resupplies. When taken, you will be resupplied back up to eight Axes but those which you threw into the ground will still remain. You can then retrieve those Axes after using your new ones, essentially allowing you to use more than eight Axes at once.
- Pally the CRSPS and Cryo Cannon lack of single-target damages.
- Throwing an Axe in a Praetorian's mouth will stop its acid spray attack, thanks to the stun.
- Use the axes to destroy environmental hazard for free.
- Best used for finishing off injured tanks and specials.
- As long as the Impact Axes are not dealing the 2nd part of direct damage (e.g. simply thrown at the floor or walls), they can be retrieved by the Driller, adding the axe back in to the carried total.
- Best used for clearing out groups of enemies, but it can also deal decent damage to bigger foes such as Glyphid Praetorians due to its Armor Break Bonus and Fear Factor.
- For close ranged fights, it's best to "roll" this grenade by tossing it at the floor at an angle. This reduces the time spent waiting and can potentially increase accuracy.
- Thanks to neurotoxin being a slowing and Damage over Time (DoT) effect, Cryo Cannon and Corrosive Sludge Pump can utilize the slowdown for hitting groups of enemies with cold or corrosion for greater group freezing and DoT stacking respectively.
- Best used in areas that are similar to the long connector caves in mining missions to cover a choke point for strategies that involve holding positions. Engineer's Repellent Platforms can be used in a pinch to make a choke point or get rid of the chokepoints' blind spot for this technique.
- It is best to watch out for any hint of heat in teammates' builds as the Neurotoxin Grenade gas' ignition is, although effective at igniting groups of enemies, mediocre.
Engineer equipment
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The Engineer performs excellently during Swarms and gamemodes which don't require much movement, thanks to his area control tools like the LMG Gun Platform or Proximity Mine. During Salvage Operation missions, the Engineer is a very viable class as his sentries provide extra firepower during the holdout phases, and his Platform Gun can expand the defender's area when terrain is uneven or dangerous.
The Engineer's kit is devastating for enemies, but it suffers from running out of ammo quicker. The weapons also have long range issues.
Always be aware of what your teammates are doing and pay attention to their callouts; they may need you to place a platform somewhere.
You can team up with the Scout to access resources that are out of reach, or work with the Driller to shape the battlefield in your favor.
Weapons
- Best used for self-defense as the Warthog can suffer from low ammo.
- The Warthog is best used up-close where all the pellets fired in one shot are most likely to hit, dealing the most damage possible.
- This SMG fires very quickly, but its spread also increases very quickly and recovers slowly. As a result, tap-firing is the best option to target foes at long range.
- For the Turret EM Discharge overclock, it is better to take the Upgraded Capacitors mod to maximizing the electrocution chance and thus increase the chances of triggering an explosion.
- The Smart Rifle is a precise weapon that can put a lot of damage into a tightly condensed area. Get used to locking a set of shots, then moving and turning your aim to curve bullets into weak spots. Setting up a full set of locks and strafing to get them all into a praetorian's abdomen is an ideal way to kill these tougher enemies.
- Tapping the fire button can dumb-fire single shots; useful for finishing off damaged enemies or quickly contributing to an enemy already under fire.
- The SMЯT Targeting Software modification can save ammo, but it can also quickly diagnose the toughness of an unfamiliar enemy or distribute damage through a swarm. Bear in mind that it will not account for weakpoint damage, and will lock far more shots than necessary for targets with easy-to-hit weaknesses.
- The Smart Rifle might be the single best anti-air weapon in the game, killing Macteras and especially Fester Fleas effortlessly. Conversely, this weapon is pretty bad at dealing with fast melee enemies; make sure you have allies or sentries to help out.
- Find a tightly clustered group of enemies and pull the trigger to maximize this weapon's effectiveness.
- You can use the grenade launcher to keep dangerous enemies away from downed allies or objectives.
- Grenades fired have an arc to them, so you will need to adjust your angle depending on the distance. If you aren't careful, you may fire over your target, missing them completely.
- The PGL is good at breaking enemies' armor thanks to its natural armor break bonus.
- The Breach Cutter goes through multiple targets, including allies; be careful in which direction you fire.
- It is a bit easier to handle than the Deepcore 40mm PGL, due to not having to take projectile arc into account.
- The Breach Cutter is best targeted against "lines" of enemies who are tightly packed together, getting the most out of the blades' two meters length.
- This weapon deals damage for every moment that enemies are making contact with the beam. To inflict the most damage against bigger foes such as Praetorians, line up your shot so that it will make as much contact as possible. This is generally easiest to do while facing them from their front or back.
- Thanks to its ability to pass through walls, you can clear out packs of enemies stacked behind unopened dirt walls and, in some scenarios, kill cave leeches from a safe place.
- The Shard Diffractor's nature makes it ideal for single-target damage. It is best utilized against larger, tankier enemies such as Glyphid Praetorians.
- When facing swarms of smaller enemies, the Shard Diffractor can often be much less reliable than the Engineer's other secondary weapons, as it can only deal continuous damage to a singular small area. However, certain modifications like Impact Splash, as well as mastering the use of Overclocks such as Plastcrete Catalyst, could potentially mitigate this weakness, even if slightly.
Traversal Tool & Support Item
- When scaling a wall with the Platform Gun, take advantage of ledge grab to conserve ammo.
- Shoot a platform directly below you when falling to prevent a gruesome death, thanks to the Plastcrete MKII modification.
- The Repellant Additive modification can be used to funnel swarms into tighter and more predictable killzones, or discourage enemies from flanking or approaching through blind spots.
- In open spaces, placing a line of repellant platforms together is useful for kiting enemies, as they will constantly re-path around the platforms as long as you maintain a distance.
- The M.U.L.E. will also path around repellant platforms just like an enemy would; you can use her to test your platform setup to see how enemies would path around it.
- You can "patch" the holes caused by Resupply Pods with to prevent enemies from coming from them.
- With careful shots in a tight corridor, it is possible to completely seal a tunnel shut using platforms. This may be useful during Swarms in order to block off an angle of attack, and they can be easily dug through when needed.
- You can seal up hazardous terrain, such as molten slag in the Magma Core or fissures in the Glacial Strata.
- You can use animation cancelling to fire the Platform Gun faster, rendering the Supercharged Feed Mechanism modification less useful to avid users of this trick. This can be performed in a variety of ways but it comes down to starting an animation such as using your pickaxe in-between shots at specific intervals to fire the Platform Gun quicker.
- Try to be proactive with your sentry placements. Keep moving them in accordance to the shifting battlefield and remember to recall them once a fight is finished to have them immediately available for redeployment once a fight is over. You will get much more use out of your sentries keeping them by your side, rather than leaving them inactive by an objective.
- Placing it on high ground will let it see down upon enemies and fire on them easily.
- You can use your Platform Gun to provide advantageous positions for your Sentry.
- You can move your sentry gun on-top of itself after it's been fully built for a slight height advantage, as it will be floating on the air above where it used to be.
- On higher hazard levels, their help becomes near obsolete apart from the occasional stun on certain targets, or activating certain effects from overclocks or a mod.
Grenades
- For best results, throw this grenade at enemies who don't already have a target; they will swarm the lure first, allowing you to round them up for easy killing.
- Pairs well with the Deepcore 40mm PGL or the Breach Cutter, as it attracts groups of enemies to a small area.
- The LURE is particularly useful on the Salvage Operation gamemode, where throwing LUREs outside of the triangulation zones will keep you and your team safe.
- When throwing the L.U.R.E., aim in such a way that ensures enemies will be allured to it but not so far that it becomes too distant to have any effect.
- Much like the Breach Cutter, this grenade is best used when enemies are arranged in a certain way. It's best used for targeting "strips" of enemies which are running towards the player in a long line.
- This is an excellent grenade to bring to Point Extraction and Salvage Operation where it can be used guard the team from oncoming threats.
- Set up the Engineer's Sentry Gun in conjunction with the Proximity Mines to take out smaller enemies who can slip by the mines, or to finish off weakened foes.
- You can also throw them around the Minehead in Point Extraction, where the automated guns on the Minehead will finish off small foes.
- If you can hear monsters from behind a Compressed Dirt wall, try placing a couple of these mines around the dirt for an ambush attack - though try to place them in a way so that your teammates don't get damaged.
- When a Swarm is announced, throw these mines down chokepoints where enemies are likely to cluster together.
- You can create those chokepoints by manipulating enemy movement thanks to the Repellant Additive modification for the Platform Gun.
- You can have more than four mines in existence at once if you collect more mines at a Resupply Pod and throw them out.
- When calling a Resupply Pod, if you have more than two Proximity Mines currently carried, throw any spare mines before taking one of the resupplies. When taken, you will be resupplied back up to four Mines but those which you threw will still remain. You can then retrieve those Mines if they didn't detonate after using your new ones, essentially allowing you to use more than four Mines at once.
- You can throw all of your mines at once on a sleeping BET-C to deal extreme damages to it.
- Due to their damage being split between direct damage and a DoT, they deal the most damage when each shredder attacks a different target, having dimishing returns if multiple shredders attack the same target.
- The S.S.G is good against swarms of weak enemies. However, its low damage makes it unsuitable for fighting larger creatures like Glyphid Praetorians or Glyphid Dreadnoughts despite the Shredders' impressive armor breaking capabilities. The S.S.G is therefore best used as a support weapon rather than a damage dealer as it is able to cover and simultaneously attack multiple creatures in a confined space.
Gunner equipment
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Out of the four classes, the Gunner has the biggest guns. His "Lead Storm" Powered Minigun spits bullets at an astonishing thirty-five hundred rounds per minute, more than capable of shredding any poor Glyphid within range.
Weapons
- Being without the Minigun's damage output can be a deadly mistake, especially on high hazard levels, so Gunners must control the Minigun's exceptional firepower carefully to ensure it does not jam (though overheating a non-aggressive venting Minigun is an impressive feat of a skill issue thanks to the excellent heat management, with a need of 9.5 seconds of nonstop shooting to overheat and about 6.333 seconds to cooldown from near full heat).
- Thankfully the Gunner has two very capable sidearms, allowing him to continue to put out damage (albeit at a reduced rate).
- Blowthrough Rounds make the gun excel at controlling swarms due to firing through multiple targets, while Staggering Rounds make the gun better at handling better enemies such as Glyphid Praetorians.
- Tap-firing with the "Lead Storm" Powered Minigun fully revved up helps to conserve ammo while maintaining a high spin, but is not very heat efficient due to the meter rising slightly sharper on the initial click.
"Thunderhead" Heavy Autocannon
- It is possible to shave some time off of the Autocannon's laborious reload by interrupting its reload animation. By quickly tapping the melee key once the ammo drum has been slotted into the weapon, a player can shorten the reload by a little over a second.
- It is excellent for dealing with huge crowds of enemies and doesn't deal any friendly fire damage.
- The Autocannons wide cone of fire makes the gun hard to use at range, but up close it can spray a battlefield and damage many enemies at once.
"Hurricane" Guided Rocket System
- Stun mod on Tier 5 of the modding tree is the best choice on most builds since the heat mod turns 33% of the missile's damage into Heat, a status that doesn't deal damage and only builds up into Ignite status, and Nitroglycerin Compound's extra damage is not worth the conditional of flight time, even with an Overclock like Plasma Burster Missiles which gets a lower bonus from this mod (as of editing).
- Unlike the other Gunner primary weapons that allow for bhopping and shooting, the projectile nature and crosshair guidance makes Hurricane more tricky to run and gun with and requires fast flicks to make sure the missiles hit the intended target/s.
- It's excellent for damaging distant stationary enemies such as Spawners, Spitball Infectors and Leeches who are helpless against its high damage and accuracy.
- If you need Red Sugar for health but can't reach it, shooting it will cause chunks of it to fall from the primary vein, allowing you to collect it.
- Firing too quickly causes a sharp increase in recoil, which is exacerbated with mods like Longer Burst. Only spam fire at close to point-blank range.
- Burst Stun effectively disables priority targets vulnerable to stun, such as Glyphid Menaces, winning time to finish them quickly without resistance.
- The damage resistance mod can be used as a universal armor damage resist mod while the Coilgun is charging to prevent big damage spikes from fall damage, Dreadnaught Arbalest's shotgun attacks, and the like.
Traversal Tool & Support Item
- The Zipline Launcher is an invaluable tool to carry on Point Extraction and Salvage Operation missions.
- Depending on the angle, if you're hit off of a Zipline you can grab back on by pressing and holding [USE] the moment before you begin to fall.
- Initial inertia gained while quickly sliding on a downwards slope will remain while dismounting. This creates the potential of making good leaping distance at the peak of the cable.
- Consider how much use you will get out of a Zipline before firing it as they cannot be recovered once deployed and the Gunner carries very few of them. Don't spend your Ziplines frivolously, such as for crossing short gaps or collecting resources; jobs like these are better suited for the Engineer's Platform Gun.
- However, if you are playing Solo Mode and need to collect a hard-to-reach resource that Bosco cannot collect, and you have Ziplines to spare, you can shoot a Zipline near the resource. When you reach the opposite end, dig into the cave wall a bit to give yourself a place to stand when you disconnect. Then you'll be able to dig your way to the resource.
- Rapidly pressing the mount/dismount button allows for you to grab resources directly near the zipline without falling. However this must be extremely rapidly, or else there is a risk you will fall from the line.
- Mactera Spawn with their spit attack which can instantly knock a Dwarf off the zipline. Make sure the area is clear to ride before attaching oneself to the zipline, or else be ready for any hostiles.
- The Shield Generator is useful in the event of a Minigun overheat.
- The device only activates when it hits the ground. For this reason, one can deploy it instantly by looking straight down and throwing it at the floor.
- Shield generators are an invaluable tool during Salvage Operations. Remember to use them if enemies are overwhelming the Uplink/Fuel Cell zones.
- Be mindful of how you use Shield Generators. Not only is your supply limited but there is a cooldown between deploying them.
- You can use a Shield on a Resupply Pod when you are in a tough situation, in order to give you the time to resupply safely.
- You can also use a Shield on a downed teammate to revive it safely.
Grenades
- This grenade can be used as a "fear button" by throwing them at Glyphid Praetorians coming a little too close to the Gunner.
- This grenade can be used to shut down chokepoints and hold valuable angles, often forcing Glyphids to crawl through the fire and take a lot of damage in the process.
- It works great with other classes' grenades which can lure enemies together into a tight group, such as the Scout's Pheromone Canister or the Engineer's L.U.R.E.
- You can throw this grenade into one of the holes in a set of Swarmer Tunnels, instantly incinerating any Swarmers that may attempt to crawl out.
- The Cluster's immense range and unpredictable bomblet spread means that special care must be taken to ensure no teammates are present when throwing it, as it can easily deal lots of damage to your allies.
- Do not use this grenade at close range; you can very easily catch yourself in the Cluster's bomblet spread and take massive damage in the process.
- Great at weakening the light armor on enemies like Glyphid Grunts, and the high Stun chance means they can easily be finished off.
- This grenade is less effective against bigger targets such as Praetorians, who can stand up to individual bomblet damage easily with their armor.
- When placed very close to a Bulk Detonator or Dreadnaught, it can deal large amounts of damage due to a majority of the shots hitting the single target.
Scout equipment
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The Scout is the perfect class for navigating larger cave systems with a lot of wide-open space. Scouts should be first in line while running through cave systems, placing flares and marking hazards and ores wherever they may be.
He has excellent synergy with the Engineer, as the latter can place platforms which the Scout can use to access materials easily.
The Scout suffers against large groups of enemies, as his weapons aren't suited for multiple targets and none of his grenades deal direct damage. Because of this he struggles to operate during Swarms, where large numbers of Glyphid can outpace his damage output. As a result, picking key targets such as ceiling enemies (Acid/Web spitters), Menaces, Wardens, or macteras, is typically the Scout's best gameplan.
Weapons
- Tap firing ensures accuracy at long ranges. Only spray-and-pray up close, unless you are using the overclock AI stability engine where recoil is not a problem.
- Excellent weapon for taking down Special and Tank enemies, especially when aiming for weak spots
- You can use a focus shot when you have 1 ammo left in your magazine
- The overclock Hoverclock will let you in the air enough time to let your Grappling Hook recharge and thus negate fall damages. You can either grapple to another wall or ceiling to stay airborne longer, or simply activate the hover close to the ground to prevent fall damage and safely land.
- To cancel focus mode, use the pickaxe or bring out another item such as the Grappling Hook. This is useful for taking advantage of the overclock Hoverclock without having to use ammo.
- The weapon pairs excellently with the Zhukov NUK17 dual SMGs, which perform much better against smaller enemies and have plenty of ammo to take out what few foes the M1000 can't handle.
- The Killing Machine Mod is best suited to hipfiring builds by allowing the M1000 to continue firing immediately after expending its clip. Be aware that, after killing an enemy, the window to activate Killing Machine only lasts roughly 0.5 seconds.
- The M1000 can reload quickly even without Killing Machine by reload cancel. Look for the new magazine being inserted into the top to then tap the pickaxe and cancel the animation. The reload time can be chopped in half if timed right.
- Can be used effectively against big foes as well as small enemies thanks Front AoE Shock Wave Damage.
- You can use the overclock Special Powder to negate fall damage. Alternatively, fire immediately after jumping for a boost, then fire the Grappling Hook toward your desired landing zone and hold it to avoid fall damage. Using the Double Trigger mod and firing both shots in quick succession will allow for greater boosts.
- The Phosphorus Shells upgrade can be used to detonate the Praetorian's death cloud
- Works great with the M1000 Classic to cover that gun's ineffectiveness against hordes
- Due to its bullet spread, it's not great at long ranges. The Better Weight Balance mod can help mitigate this.
- This weapon synergizes well with Scout's default grenade, the IFG. The player will have an easier time hitting weakpoints on enemies caught in the field, and it gives an Electric status that activates the Conductive Bullets mod for even greater damage. Can be used to more quickly down large targets, or help against swarms, especially if the IFG is deployed at a chokepoint.
Traversal Tool & Support Item
- Scouts with good reflexes can use it to avoid fall damage after slipping off of a cliff or being knocked into the air by an enemy.
- Enables the Scout to get to vantage points and collect distant resources - especially when supported with the Platform Gun
- With the right timing, you can Power Attack a wall after releasing your grapple to make a hole and stand on it, making you independent from the Engineer's Platforms
- This process can be done more consistently in multiple times with the help of Hoverclock or Special Powder
- Momentum is preserved when releasing the Grappling Hook while mid flight. One can exploit this by releasing the hook at the apex of their height, though flying this way can be extremely dangerous if one does not have a designated landing spot.
- In missions with the "Low Gravity" mutator, this can cause the scout to fly considerable distances and with much less threat from fall damage.
- This momentum can be detrimental when playing on laggy servers, as releasing the hook too early can cause the Scout to slip off ledges and platforms before the server can catch up. To prevent this from happening, hold the trigger for a second longer than you need when grappling to a spot to ensure you will stop safely.
- Try not to go too far with the Hook. It may be fun, but getting too far ahead of your teammates may result in you ending up in a troublesome situation and not having allied help to bail you out. Cave Leeches are especially good at stopping grapple-happy Scouts in their tracks.
- The Momentum mod can allow for consistent mobility boosts independent of actual grappling. This is particularly useful in narrow tunnels, and/or carrying heavy objects ("fire" the Grappling Hook then immediately pick up the heavy object to benefit from the boost. This stacks with the Unstoppable perk).
- It is better to use your flares when you explore a new room or when you fight a swarm
- Useful for lighting up large caves where dwarves will be spending prolonged amounts of time, due to mining and/or combat
- While it can also deal damage to enemies, using it as a weapon is not advised due to the low damage and waste of valuable flares
Grenades
- Great for using in tight chokepoints where enemies are forced to move through it
- Specials or Tanks with large weak spots are much easier to kill when trapped in an IFG field
- Foes are vulnerable to the Zhukov NUK17's Conductive Bullets modification inside an Inhibitor-Field.
- Different enemies are more or less resistant to the freezing effects - bigger enemies will often thaw out faster
- Leaves behind a cloud of white smoke upon detonation, which can potentially obscure vision
- While hitting aerial foes with grenades is difficult, this can be a useful strategy in the Mactera Plague modifier as Mactera die instantly upon being frozen
- Not recommended for use in the Glacial Strata biome, as enemies there are (unsurprisingly) highly resistant to freeze effects
- The Cryo Grenade pairs well with any large AoE explosive, such as the Driller's Satchel Charge or the Gunner's cluster grenade, as they will almost instantly destroy any frozen bugs in it's AOE
- Use the Cryo Grenade to take our large swaths of Glyphid Swarmers and Naedocyte Shockers
- The Pheromone Canister serves as an excellent decoy-type grenade. The enemies will be too busy tearing each other apart to attack Dwarves and being so closely bunched up makes them wide open to other
- You can paint big targets like Glyphid Praetorians and Glyphid Oppressors with the canister, causing all nearby foes to swarm them and whittle away their health
- Don't bother targeting distant enemies with the canister; you want every enemy in sight to group together, making them easy to kill
- You can use it in tense situations to get a resupply or revive an ally with little to no damage taken if there is a group of bugs to target
- This grenade is useful against packs of Shockers or Rival Shredders thanks to its high range and accuracy. Toss one when you see a sizable number spawn in to help thin the herd.
- This grenade can also be useful in missions with the Duck and Cover mutator, having just enough damage to take down packs of scattered Glyphid Web Spitters.
- In a pinch, this grenade's long stun can also give some breathing room to a Scout not running the Field Medic active perk and trying to revive a downed teammate.
- Be aware that this grenade generally doesn't scale well into higher hazard levels.
General Tips
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Carrying Objects
Instead of walking slowly when carrying objects such as Aquarqs and M.U.L.E Legs, you can throw them, run to grab them, and so on. Heavy objects are moved much quicker this way.
Perks
This section details Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for the available perks in Deep Rock Galactic. Perks can be acquired through the Perk Terminal in your Cabin.
Active Perks
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- Taming either Slashers or Guards is preferable to taming standard Grunts. The former provides dramatically increased damage whereas the latter will survive for much longer than most tamed bugs. Grunts offer neither of these benefits.
- Thanks to its movements, Steeve can alert the player that enemies spawned nearby.
- Steeve will kill creatures around a downed dwarf, making it easier for allies to revive it.
- Be sure to pet Steeve to let him know he's doing a good job.
- Highly effective against enemies with natural weaknesses to Melee damage, such as Glyphid Oppressors or Mactera Spawn.
- Remember that you are highly vulnerable to damage when engaging enemies at point blank range. Aggressive use of the perk is not recommended unless you have a clear advantage.
- If you want to Power Attack, always look at its cooldown, or it may activate Berzerker by mistake.
- When playing at high hazard levels, always keep it ready in case you get surrounded or are in a bad situation. The speed bonus is high enough that you can dodge most attacks even after the start of their animation (including AOE attack like the Glyphid Dreadnought stomp).
- This perk can be used to quickly evade slowdown effect such as Sticky Goo.
- Be wary of ledges, you can use the speed bonus to jump across a rift, but don’t be overconfident.
- This is a fantastic all-rounder perk which is handy to have in virtually every scenario; there is never a time you wouldn't want to revive a teammate faster.
- This perk is very useful on high hazard level missions, where teammates go down more often due to increased enemy damage.
- Once per mission, you can instantly revive a teammate with this perk. Only save this for critical situations such as during Swarms, where it will be needed most.
- Useful to bring along on Cave Leech Clusters and Mactera Plague mutators.
- Because this perk warns you right before you are grabbed, you could potentially use it to avoid being grabbed by reacting quickly and running away, making the perk easier to conserve
- Hover Boots can prevent any fall damage that could've been fatal. Classes with low mobility such as the Gunner and Driller will find this Perk useful as they have no means of lowering fall damage otherwise.
- By deploying Hover Boots after grappling to a high location, Scouts can much more easily dig out footholds and minerals without the assistance of an Engineer's platforms, Hoverclock or Special Powder overclocks. If the fall afterward is high enough to be dangerous, the grappling hook will be recharged before the Scout hits the ground if the perk is at the max tier.
- If you are downed next to Red Sugar or the Resupply Pod, or if you have Vampire, you can acquire health to prevent yourself from going back down when your last stand is over.
- Iron Will can get you out of bad situations by letting you revive a downed teammate or giving you a few more seconds inside a defense zone.
- Be careful when using iron will. It should only be used in dire circumstances, not inconvenient ones. It's better to wait for a slow team to catch up and revive, then suffer a loss after a TPKO
- The neuro-pulse explosion does very high damage, it will kill anything smaller than a Glyphid Praetorian.
- Don’t underestimate the melee damage bonus, with how melee damage works it’ll almost triple your melee damage. Grunts in particular will be a one hit kill if you hit their weakspot.
- While the Neuro-electric field doesn't do much damage, it'll slow enemies a lot, making it easy to revive a fallen dwarf or to back up from a bad position.
- The neuro-pulse will not damage any teammates
- This perk is invaluable for the defense zones in Salvage Operation.
- On an organized team you can have this perk ready to use for each swarm, allowing you to reduce the amount of health lost.
- Remember to equip another perk when going in a mission with a Shield Disruption Warning, as this perk will grant no benefits when used there.
Passive Perks
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- It is advised to aim for this upgrade as soon as possible, as it allows you to equip additional passive perks.
- This perk is particularly useful if you use weapon with long reload time like the "Thunderhead" Heavy Autocannon, the Deepcore 40mm PGL or the Breach Cutter.
- Born ready works as long as the weapon you want to reload isn’t directly in your hand even if you just swing your pickaxe or keep a grenade in your hand for the duration.
- If you play with Embedded Detonators Overclock, Born Ready will permit you to stack more and more bullets inside an enemy without reloading manually and thus deal more damages at once.
- Avoid using the Auto Reload modification for the Scout's Jury-Rigged Boomstick and Flare Gun, as they will conflict with this Perk and be rendered useless.
- Many mineral veins often hold more than 40 minerals, potentially resulting in multiple trips; this perk allows the player to save a whole trip.
- For a mobile class, such as Scout, they are able utilize this perk to full effectiveness; they often travel between mining and depositing. It also drastically reduces the travel time for the Scout.
- Drillers can also consider this perk if they expect to mine in hard to reach and potentially dangerous places.
- This perk is more useful to decrease environmental damage than enemy damage in general.
- On Engineer it allows to reach 80% poison resistance making you take negligible damage from Glyphid Praetorian poison spray and toxic gas.
- Weapons which deal large amounts of damage in a single shot, such as the Engineer's Grenade Launcher or the Driller's Satchel Charge, are most damaging to teammates. Friendly helps to cushion damage from any potential misfires.
- Certain weapon Overclocks such as the Grenade Launcher's "Fat Boy" can deal immense team damage, so consider taking this perk if you wish to use such Overclocks.
- This perk is more useful on higher hazard levels, where friendly fire damage becomes higher as the modifier to weaken it is reduced.
- Mainly used for fun; this perk provides no real benefit to the player, other than saving time and bullets while killing a Loot Bug.
- Resupplier allows the player to resupply at a %20 faster rate; useful for when players want to reduce the downtime between killing and obtaining ammunition.
- Allows more room to the player to resupply themselves after being revived or Iron Will.
- This is a useful perk for Mining Expeditions, which prominently feature long corridors a team has to run through.
- It is almost always faster to repeatedly throw heavy objects instead of continually carrying them (see Carrying Objects), and Strong Arm can boost this technique even further. This perk is especially helpful for missions that involve heavy objects, such as Point Extraction or Salvage Operation.
- Strong Arm allows the player to throw flares at a considerable further distance. This is useful when dealing with large caves or gaps, when there is no Scout.
- Consider this a trade-off with Unstoppable; it's better at moving heavy objects, but with a Scout on the team, the flare throwing distance is much less helpful than resisting slowing effects.
- This perk assists all classes by allowing them to require less deposits of Red Sugar to put them back into optimal fighting capacities.
- It can be helpful against a few Glyphid Swarmer or Naedocyte Shocker as it kills them directly, but it won’t save you if you are being swarmed.
- Unstoppable is useful in Point Extraction missions, since the primary objective involves carrying Aquarq to the Mine Head.
- Vampire synergizes extremely well with Iron Will and, to a lesser extent, Berzerker; it allows the player to kill monsters more easily with their melee attacks, which also regains HP for the player. Regaining HP during Iron Will prevents the player from going down at the end of its effect.
- This perk is most useful on Driller as both its Reinforced Power Drills and Impact Axes can trigger it.
- During Low Oxygen warning missions, players using this perk can potentially have the damage reduction bonus at all times because of the oxygen mechanic.
Creatures
This section details the Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for fighting, and defeating with the Horrors of Hoxxes. [Expand/Collapse category]
Glyphids
- Weapons that can output large amounts of AoE quickly such as Driller's Corrosive Sludge Pump or Gunner's "Thunderhead" Heavy Autocannon are effective at taking out Swarmers
- Glyphid Swarmers will be instantly killed if they are frozen, meaning that Driller's Cryo Cannon, and Scout's Cryo Grenade and Boltshark with Cryo Bolts can be effective
- To preserve ammunition, Glyphid Swarmers can be disposed of with Pickaxe attacks. Landing an attack has the capability of eliminating multiple Swarmers at once if they are close enough together. However, the effectiveness of this declines as the number of Swarmers increases with Hazard.
- Thorns when upgraded enough does more than enough damage to immediately kill any attacking Swarmers, though its cooldown does hinder its ability to kill multiple quickly.
- Swarmers become significantly more dangerous if their damage or attack rate is increased, meaning they are more of a threat in the Lethal Enemies warning, as well as the Player Vulnerability and Aggressive Enemies Hazard 5+ modifiers.
- All strategies effective against the Glyphid Swarmers should be more effective against the Glyphid Spawns.
- The presence of Spawns indicates a Brood Nexus nearby
- The Glyphid Grunt is a medium-sized creature, so it will trigger the Vampire perk if killed via a melee attack.
- The AoE damage weapons like the CRSPR Flamethrower, Heavy Autocannon or Breach Cutter are excellent for clearing swarms of Grunts at once.
- Weapons which act as sources of mass fear, stun, or slowdown, such as Armskore Coil Gun with tier-4 mods Concussive Shockwave or Fear Trajectory, or the aforementioned CRSPR Flamethrower, are excellent at hindering hordes of Grunts.
- Grunts can be easily killed by a normal shot to the head with the Scout's M1000 Classic, assuming an upgrade which reduces the weapon's damage has not been equipped
- Grunts may be tamed with the Beast Master perk, though it is much preferable for a dwarf to instead charm a Guard or a Slasher, instead.
- They should be considered a high priority target due to their ability to slow down Dwarves.
- Maintaining a healthy distance from Slashers is even more critical survival than with regular Grunts, especially during a Swarm, as their Crippling Slash attack leaves dwarves vulnerable to attacks from other enemies.
- Slashers become particularly deadly on missions with the Lethal Enemies modifier, greatly reaping the benefits of increased melee damage. Not only will they deal very high damage by themselves, but they also leave dwarves vulnerable to the hordes of Grunts which deal boosted damage as well.
- Weapons with explosive projectiles are effective at shutting them down:
- The "Thunderhead" Heavy Autocannon and "Hurricane" Guided Rocket System are strong counters to Slashers, as their rounds which deal explosive area damage will deal considerable damage to them at a fast pace.
- A great variety of Throwables such as the Sticky Grenade, the Cluster Grenade and the HE Grenade all deal great damage to Slashers.
- Weapons with high base damage do well against Slashers when aiming for their mouth weakpoints. The M1000 Classic and the Heavy Revolver are both great choices; with certain modifications, they can usually kill a Slasher with one blow to their weakspot.
- Using a Power Attack with a Pickaxe with the tier-2 Serrated Edge mod will kill a Slasher in one hit.
- As a Grunt, the Slasher can be charmed with the Beast Master perk, and become a very dangerous ally, though they tend to die quickly on higher hazards.
- You may time your shots to hit the creature in the mouth while it attacks, as it stops protecting its mouth.
- Their defensive stance can be circumvented by attacking their flanks or using armor breaking weapon mods to quickly rend their frontal shields.
- Although the legs will still prevent weakpoint shots from the front even if the armor is broken, stunning the guard will also drop their stance.
- Shooting their weakpoint (mouth / head), is much more important than for a regular Grunt, to more efficiently kill them and not waste ammunition.
- The Grunt Guard can be charmed with the Beast Master perk like a normal Grunt, making a powerful ally.
- Stalkers can be incredibly deadly due to their high damage, shield-disabling effect and slowdown. Taking them down is a priority.
- When searching for a Stalker, be sure to check walls and ceilings. The Stalker's pathfinding causes it to prefer traversing those areas, similarly to an Acid Spitter.
- Dealing 80 damage to a Stalker or inflicting the Fear status effect will cause it to reveal itself and flee before burrowing.
- While pinging a Stalker will make it reveal itself, it will also cause it to rush the nearest dwarf and attack. As a result, it is almost always better to simply damage or inflict Fear on it.
- Self-aiming weapons such as LOK-1 Smart Rifle, Sentries, S.S.Gs and Voltaic Stun Sweeper, will not aim at cloaked Stalkers. However, self-aiming bullets from the likes of Bullet Hell Lead Storm and Magic Bullets Bulldog will target cloaked Stalkers. In addition, it will not activate Proximity Mines, but will activate mines laid by Minelayer System Hurricane.
- A Power Attack can be used if the Stalker gets close to the player or has already managed to hit them. This can kill the Stalker if it has already taken damage, or can severely chunk its health from full thanks to the Stalker's weakness to Melee damage.
- The shield regeneration effect from Gunner's Shield Generator will override the Stalker's shield-disabling debuff. This can be used to regain shield much faster than normal, which is helpful in particularly dire situations.
- Web Spitters are usually fairly easy to spot due to their bright purple color. They should also be dealt with fairly quickly, as their web projectiles may be detrimental if they hit the player in a bad position.
- Web Spitters have a distinctive noise that can alert players to their presence.
- The Web Spitter projectiles are somewhat slow and can be seen coming the moment they are fired. They are fairly easy to dodge as a result, but can catch some players off guard if they are not looking.
- It is best to deal with Web Spitters the moment they burrow in, as they will always try to find a safe spot to fire webs from once they spawn.
- The Scout's M1000 Classic is a good choice for dealing with Web Spitters. It is highly accurate at long range and can deal enough damage to kill a Web Spitter in one normal shot with nearly any build at nearly any Hazard level. However, the vast majority of builds which can deal damage at long range will kill them with ease.
- Since they fight from relatively far away, high accuracy weapons are recommended to take them out, such as Gunner's "Bulldog" Heavy Revolver or Scout's M1000 Classic.
- Acid Spitters take 10% more Electric damage, meaning that weapons that inflict the Electrocution status effect such as M1000 Classic with the Electrocuting Focus Shots Overclock will kill them a bit faster.
- Prioritize Acid Spitters as much as possible, as their long range and high damage output will take down a dwarf in a matter of seconds.
- Despite their orange coloration, Acid Spitters may be deceptively stealthy, and can catch a dwarf off-guard.
- Scouts are generally the best-equipped to take out Septic Spreaders with high-accurate long-range weapons such as the M1000 Classic, and the ability to grapple to their location when the Septic Spreader attacks from out of the team's line of sight.
- The projectiles of the Septic Spreader can be shot mid-air, which will cause them to burst into puddles at that location.
- Dodging Septic Spreader projectiles can be deceptively tricky, as the projectiles they lob have a slight homing property.
- Hitting the weakpoint of the Septic Spreader to immediately kill them while they are targeting you can also be tricky, as they strafe quickly, and have a bit of armor protecting their weakpoint at the front. Using a weapon with armor breaking capabilities can help remedy this.
- Septic Spreaders should be taken out with prejudice during the Uplink and Fuel Cells segments of Salvage Operation, as their projectiles will leave goo that reduces the amount of area to walk in an already tight space.
- Their projectiles are fairly easy to dodge when moving, so strafing left or right while firing back is the best way to deal with them.
- When a Menace first appears, be sure to mark it as soon as possible with the Laser Pointer. Menaces will remain marked while burrowing and the ping will update based on their new burrowing location.
- However, keep in mind that if a Menace is on low enough health and you have the tools needed to take it down, it's best to just kill the thing outright.
- Long-ranged weapons such as the M1000 Classic, the Heavy Revolver and the Powered Minigun are all great choices to kill a Menace.
- The weapons above are also capable of inflicting Stun. The Menace cannot fire back or burrow while stunned, making it an easy target.
- The Shield Generator can completely block all of a Menace's projectiles, while providing any Dwarves inside with ample cover to fire back.
- The Menace should be taken out with extreme prejudice when a Regenerative Bugs warning is active, as it will appear occasionally to fire at the Dwarves only to burrow back underground and regenerate.
- If it comes into range, the Menace is very easy to freeze and remains frozen for a long time, making it much easier to kill. A frozen Menace cannot burrow, but a Menace that has already begun burrowing will finish even if frozen.
- Praetorians are immobile while spitting, meaning a dwarf can bait out the attack, and move to the flank in order to access the weakpoint of the enemy.
- A Praetorian's Acid Spray attack can be cancelled by Stunning them anywhere on their body. High damage weapons with the ability to Stun such as the Powered Minigun, the Jury-Rigged Boomstick and the Impact Axe are all great choices to cancel their spray.
- Weapons with a Fear Factor such as Armskore Coil Gun with the tier-4 Fear Trajectory mod are great at getting Praetorians to turn around and expose their abdomens to the player, making them easy targets. This will also cancel their spray attack.
- The Praetorian's Death Cloud can be ignited or flash frozen and weaponized against other enemies by any weapon that can inflict Heat (such as CRSPR Flamethrower and Nishanka Boltshark X-80 with the Fire Bolts overclock) or Cold (such as Cryo Cannon or Nishanka Boltshark with the Cryo Bolts overclock). However, one must be wary of accidentally triggering these explosions, as they will deal a large amount of damage to dwarves.
- The creation of a Death Cloud can be prevented by either killing the Praetorian while it is frozen (through aforementioned sources of Cold) or killing the Praetorian using a weapon which deals Disintegrate damage, such as Deepcore 40mm PGL with the Hyper Propellent overclock.
- The spit of Frost Praetorians deals significantly less damage than that of their regular counterparts, but will lower dwarves' Temperature rather quickly. This can pose some danger, as dwarves will not passively warm up in the Frost Praetorian's home of Glacial Strata.
- The Death Cloud left behind by Frost Praetorians is unable to be ignited or flash frozen.
- The strategies for taking out Frost Praetorians is largely the same as regular Praetorians, but Frost damage will be less effective and Fire damage will be more effective.
Glyphid Radioactive Praetorian
- The main special attack of the Radioactive Praetorian acts much differently from other Praetorians, with it creating a field of damage surrounding it rather than spraying in front of it.
- Due to its attack surrounding its entire body, as well as its higher speed compared to other Praetorians, Radioactive Praetorians are much harder to kite in order to access their weakpoint. This makes canceling their attack through the use of Stun or Fear much more important.
- Radioactive Praetorians are completely immune to Radiation damage, making Colette Wave Cooker and Deepcore 40mm PGL with the Fat Boy overclock extremely ineffective.
- Similarly to Praetorians being immobile during their Acid Spray attack, Oppressors will be unable to move during their Rage Quake attack.
- Due to its weakness to Melee damage, using a Pickaxe's Power Attack is very effective for knocking a large portion of its HP off, especially if using the "Serrated Edge" modification, which doubles your Power Attack damage to 240.
- Oppressors have resistance to Fire, Frost, Corrosive, Electric, and Explosive damage types, meaning a dwarf should try to stick to weapons which deal standard Kinetic damage when shooting them.
- In addition to these resistances, Oppressors, will also thaw nearly instantly. This heavily reduces the effectiveness of freeze and its synergies against Oppressors, and require a coordinated effort in order to make use of it.
- The Glyphid Warden should be considered a top priority to eliminate in combat.
- The damage resistance can turn even the average Glyphid Grunt into a tank, allowing them to take far more punishment than normal. Already tanky enemies such as the Praetorian and Oppressor become nigh impossible to take down naturally without heavy sustained firepower or debuffing.
- High damage single-shot weapons are best suited to take down the Warden as quickly as possible.
- Wardens are best taken down from afar, as they can summon a group of Glyphids if they are threatened at close range
- The person chased by the Dreadnought should continuously run away while the other dwarves are focusing their fire on the boss.
- Be aware of the Dreadnought changing its target. An unexpected fireball will do a large amount of damage.
- Pickaxe's Power Attacks can be used to deal a chunk of damage to the Dreadnought if Serrated Edge is being used. Berzerker can be used to chain lots of attacks in a short period of time, though often it will be more efficient to simply use your dedicated weapons.
- The Shield Generator is capable of forcing Dreadnoughts out of its radius, which is useful when trying to revive teammates or resupply. However, keep in mind that the Dreadnought can use its Trembling Stomp attack to damage Dwarves through the barrier.
- As a Scout, IFGs are the most useful grenade to bring, since Dreadnoughts are immune to the effects of Pheromone Canisters and thaw from Cryo Grenades quickly.
- As Engineer, Dreadnought are not affected by L.U.R.E.s, and boast high resistance to the Explosive damage dealt by Plasma Bursters and Proximity Mines. As a result, Shredder Swarm Grenades should be the preferred choice as a source of free chip damage during encounters with Dreadnoughts.
- Keep it in open areas, as the weakspot can be hidden in the wall sometimes.
- Explosives and weapons with a large area of effect such as Driller's Satchel Charge can be used to deal damage to all three protrusions that are revealed after killing the Glyphid Sentinels. However, these weapons will deal less damage than normal due to the protrusions having resistance to Radial type Area Damage.
- Pickaxe Power Attacks can be used as a burst of damage with the tier-2 Serrated Edge modification.
- When the Hiveguard is about to enter its Rock Burst phase after you break the protrustions, there is a slight 3 second period where you can get some free attacks in. After this, care must be taken to damage the Hiveguard while avoiding its Rock Burst attack.
- You can prepare a Resupply Pod before the fight to use it safely during the Twins's regeneration, with a bit of anticipation. Forcing them to regenerate health by dealing a large amount of damage to one can be used if a resupply is desperately needed.
- A Scout with the Zhukov NUK17, the Born Ready perk, and the Embedded Detonators overclock, can focus fire a single Twin without reloading manually, in order to eventually "one-shot" it thanks to the amount of embedded bullets on it.
- A Gunner with Tactical Leadbursters can throw one directly beneath one of the Twins (usually the Lacerator) in order to deal massive damage. However, if this does not kill, then the health will most likely be immediately healed.
- There are several ways to kill Exploders in a way that will not result in them exploding. This can most prominently be done by shooting them in their weakpoint (the mouth), but the Exploder will not explode while frozen, making the Cryo Cannon or the Cryo Grenade safe against them. In addition, the Colette Wave Cooker will also kill them safely.
- Since the Glyphid Exploder tends to come in groups, it is usually best to focus on the closest. This can cause a chain reaction that kills all of them, as well as any bugs within their range.
- The Bulk is incredibly vulnerable to being slowed down by Electrocution. The IFG and the Voltaic SMG can slow a Bulk down to a crawl when used to electrocute it, which makes taking them out much easier as you will have more time to focus down the tumors.
- On solo mission, ordering Bosco with Overcharged Rounds to focus fire the Bulk will make it almost immobile until it's killed.
- Gunner's Tactical Leadbursters will deal a massive amount of damage to Bulks if thrown beneath them, often only requiring two or three to secure a kill.
- Bulk Detonators are more dangerous the smaller the space they are in, due to them being much more difficult to avoid. If you find one inside a narrow space, lure it to a more open place so you have more space to avoid its attacks.
- This makes Bulks especially more difficult in Complexity 1 caves, as its few caverns are quite small, often not providing enough room to maneuver around a Bulk.
- Be careful where you detonate a Bulk. For example, if it explodes close to the Drop Pod during a Salvage Operation, the Fuel Cells may land in the resulting crater, which makes completing the refueling far more difficult due to having the low ground. The same applies to the Uplink, so avoid detonating a Bulk on top of it.
- Bulk craters in the Magma Core are hazardous, due to slag being able to damage dwarves that walk on it in that biome. You may want to use a zipline or platforms to bridge across it.
- Keep as much distance as possible from a Bulk Detonator. Be ready to turn and run when it is critically injured, as you won't have much time to clear the blast radius if up close.
- During the Escort Duty mission, take extreme caution and lure it away from the Drilldozer, as its explosion will instantly deplete one of the health bars.
- Bulk Detonators are extremely dangerous foes to face during a Salvage Operation, as the Dwarves are mostly forced to stay inside the uplink zones to progress the mission. When a Bulk is spotted while an uplink is active, it is imperative that it must be killed ASAP.
- It may be necessary to leave the uplink zone and grab the Bulk's aggro to lead it away from the uplink so the rest of the team can kill the Bulk in relative safety and continue the uplink. This should generally be performed by the Scout.
- If a Bulk is frozen directly before it is killed, it's explosion will be greatly reduced, making the Cryo Cannon a valuable asset when fighting this monstrosity
- Any strategies that work for the Bulk can also tame a Crassus quite effectively.
- Targeting the tumorous bulbs more crucial, as the Crassus is covered in armor that reduces damage from incoming attacks.
- If maximum gain of gold is desired, then lure the Crassus into a tight area to ensure more terrain is converted into gold. In addition, avoid killing it while it is frozen, as this will pretty any gold from being created.
- You can use Bosco to mine the Crassus' gold deposit, which can allow you to focus on the mission objective. However, he will often need to be told to mine the gold repeatedly, since he may stop mining the gold.
Other land creatures
- Due to the Larva's low HP and tendency to spawn in groups, weapons with a large AoE radius are very effective at taking down multiple Larvae without wasting ammo. If you don't have a weapon with an AoE effect, using your Pickaxe's power attack will be an effective way of eradicating them. Standard Pickaxe attacks have a very small AoE, so it is also capable of killing multiple Larvae in one hit.
- Larvae have a difficult time attacking dwarves ontop of the Drilldozer, making it an excellent way to avoid them as they don't aggro on the Drilldozer
- The Trawler a deadly enemy which should be exterminated on sight.
- Due to the Trawler's extreme speed, grenades are not an effective strategy against them.
- Their eye stalks count as a weakspot, but it's a very tricky weakspot to hit while they're rolling. Luckily, due to their soft armor and low health, targeting the weakspot isn't really necessary.
- Despite appearing to be able to be frozen, the Youngling cannot be frozen at all, but it does take 3x damage if you can fill the freeze meter
- A well timed power attack can destroy most of its armor.
- It seems that Impact axes pierce straight through its armor, even if it is unlikely to break it.
- Despite appearing to be able to be frozen, the Shellback cannot be frozen at all, but it does take 3x damage if you can fill the freeze meter
- Focusing on dodging while the BET-C is focused on you during its Precision Burst phase is recommended, as dodging this attack is fairly easy, but getting hit by the attack, especially on higher hazard levels, can easily be lethal.
- Be aware that a friendly BET-C is capable of accidentally dealing friendly fire to Dwarves, so it is advised players stand clear of it during combat.
- Be aware that if a charge-sucker is in the range of a Sentry gun it will automatically fire on it, so don't set up sentries in the range of a sleeping BET-C or you could potentially start the fight unprepared
- Keeping a good amount of distance between you and a Korlok Sprout will give you ample time to dodge its projectiles, as it tends to travel fairly slowly. Alternatively, you may wish to seek cover in between firing upon the Sprout to avoid being in its line of sight.
- As soon as enough Sprouts are destroyed, the central Heart-Clam will be exposed which is when you will want to coordinate with your team to do as much damage to it as possible within the short window of its exposure.
- Prioritizing the Healing Pods whenever they are spawned by the Tyrant-Weed is vital, as they can potentially undo all the damage done by your team.
- As the Tyrant-Weed is an immobile enemy, certain unconventional strategies may be used such as careful timing in calling a resupply or luring/killing a detonator near the Heart-Clam while open, which will cause a significant damage to it, potentially ending the fight almost immediately.
- Using a resupply pod to attempt to kill a Tyrant-Weed will most likely be fruitless, so either avoid it or stick to conventional methods
Macteras
- Fighting a Spawn is especially dangerous while riding a Zipline, as their spit attack can instantly knock one off the line, potentially plummeting to their doom.
- Trying to fire upon a dodging Mactera will often result in wasting ammo - it is better to wait for them to finish dodging and start charging their Spit attack.
- Mactera Spawn are easily defeated by weapons which deal high damage in a single shot. Both the Scout's M1000 Classic and the Gunner's Heavy Revolver can kill Mactera Spawn with a single shot to the abdomen with the right modifications.
- The Gunner's Shield Generator offers excellent protection from Mactera, as the projected barrier can completely block their spit attacks while providing a safe space to fire back in.
- The Subata pistol is an effective tool to deal with them, especially with its Mactera Toxin-coating mod.
- The Cryo Cannon is an especially effective tool against any type of Macteras - when they freeze, they fall to the ground and shatter instantly.
- The Scout can use his Cryo Grenade to instantly shatter a pack of Macteras.
- Any kind of damage-over-time (DoT) effect will usually be enough to instantly release a Dwarf, such as Burning or Neurotoxin.
- Sentry Guns can fire upon a Mactera Grabber and automatically free a captured Dwarf.
- Players are able to grab a Gunner's zipline to get free from a Grabber.
- Grabbers emit a high pitched shriek that can be heard from very far away, allowing players to prepare for an inevitable encounter
- The M1000 Classic can destroy each slime sac on a Goo Bomber with a single focus shot on most Hazard Levels.
- Goo bombers pose a deadly threat to tunneling drillers, as they ignore slow effects and can come in packs. Consider repeatedly stunning them with power attacks, Impact axes, Power Drills, and even Satchel Charges. While you may be unable to run sideways in the goo, you can always dig straight down to escape the coming hoard.
- Tri-Jaws should be considered priority targets.
- Running forwards diagonally seems to be the most reliable way to dodge its 3 incoming attacks.
- If you have an unsuited gear against armors and armored enemies, shot the Brundle in its mouth to kill it normally.
- You can break and expose its armored parts with a pickaxe Power Attack.
Naedocytes
- To preserve ammunition, Naedocyte Shockers can be disposed of with Pickaxe attacks.
- Thorns when upgraded enough does more than enough damage to immediately kill any attacking Swarmers.
- All strategies effective against the Naedocyte Shockers should be effective against the Naedocyte Hatchling.
- If one sees Hatchlings emerging from an unknown location, there's a good chance that a Breeder is nearby.
- If hatchlings are spotted, taking out any Breeders in a level should become a priority.
- Because it can be instantly killed through Freezing, the Cryo Grenade and Cryo Cannon are excellent weapons to deal with Breeders. Since it also has a low minimum temperature, it doesn't take very long to freeze compared to other creatures.
- On top of trying to kill the Breeder, the Dwarves also have to deal with any Roe sacks it drops as soon as possible.
- If you eliminate a Roe sack before it hatches, it will not spawn any Hatchlings
Stationary Threats
- Players should take the good habit to always look up on the new rooms to spot potential Leeches.
- The Heightened Senses perk is the most useful against Cave Leeches, as they can only be heard when they are close to the player, and can only be properly seen if you’re looking up at the incoming claw, and players can be easily distracted by fighting other creatures.
- Use extreme caution around Cave Leeches if you are the last dwarf standing, as if one successfully attacks you, it is impossible to escape alone (unless you have remaining uses on the Heightened Senses perk).
- Look above downed dwarves, as they could've been downed by a cave leech, you don't want to end up the same.
- This does not apply to the same degree on Solo missions, because Bosco is able to kill Cave Leeches. Remember to get his attention by pressing the [Shout] key ("X" by default) as soon as you are grabbed so that he comes to your aid as fast as possible.
- The Scout's Flare Gun is an extremely useful tool for spotting Cave Leeches, as light from regular Flares generally cannot reach the high ceilings of some caverns.
- The globs of acid travel quickly and do heavy damage, especially on higher Hazard levels, hence, getting close to a Spitballer is ill-advised as this will make it harder to both dodge or destroy the projectiles before impact.
- Despite their concealed nature, a sleeping Spitballer is fairly easy to spot in the darkness as its weakspots glow in the dark. The bulb on the back of its neck in particular is very easy to spot while it is sleeping.
- Try not to wake up a Spitballer until you are ready to engage it. Don't chip away at it with a weapon that's not meant for long-range combat, as this will do very little to damage it and only wake it up. Given their unlimited range and lack of damage fall-off, they can be particularly deadly to a team which does not have the capacity to fight back.
- Unlike other high-health enemies with weakspots, the bulbs on the Spitballer cannot break, so there's no reason not to be targeting them at all times.
- If Glyphid spawns are spotted, taking out any Nexus in a level should become a priority.
- Freezing a Nexus before destroying it is particularly useful as no Spawn will be released.
- The Nexus freezes fast then most other enemies, making the Cryo Cannon and Cryo Grenade a must-use
- Keeping a distance from the Stabber Vine will allow you to completely avoid getting hit by it.
- When entering a new cave in Hollow Bough, search the cave for any Stabber Vines, and remove them immediately, as they can pose much more a threat when trying to navigate a room while fighting off a swarm.
Passive Creatures
- Use a Power Attack to kill a Loot Bug fast and without wasting ammo.
- The Nitra they contain can be valuable in accruing enough of said resource to summon a Resupply Pod.
- When killing a lootbug you can stand on top or in front of the creature (or as close to it as possible), so when it does perish, the loot it drops is immediately picked up. This prevents having to run around trying to find the resources.
- Loot Bugs are vulnerable to environmental hazards and will make no attempt to avoid them. Random piles of Gold and Nitra may be explained by the presence of Electrocystals, Volatile Uranium, Lava Geysers, or Trapatactus.
- Pet the Lootbug by pressing the [USE] Key to potentially be able to get a gold nugget without killing it. Plus, it's adorable :)
- The Huuli Hoarder is best engaged on flat ground with no spiraling caverns and a wide angle of attack, as it can only be frozen for a short period and cannot be affected by Pheromone Canisters.
- The Minigun is very effective at staggering the Huuli Hoarder and dealing significant damage over time.
- It gives off plenty of light and moves around quite a bit even in its passive state, meaning they can be easily located without scaring it away.
- The Hoarder emits a very distinct whistle, allowing you to locate it from other rooms
- Maggots in Magma Core missions can be used as makeshift explosives when dealing with crowds of enemy creatures, dealing light amounts of area damage and assisting with the application of on fire.
- Detonating a Maggot in the Magma Core will damage friendly dwarves, use AoEs with caution when you are around them.
- Players can stand on top of the Cruiser and use it as a floating platform, making them avoid some enemies. Caution should be taken that the Cave Cruiser isn't accidentally killed and that no ranged enemies are targeting the player.
- Can be ridden on top of, but isn't tall enough to prevent the player from getting hit by melee attacks.
- Due to their size, they can sometimes be detrimental to the player by getting in their way and restricting how much area the player has to move.
- The achievement Carpool can be earned if you ride the Silicate Harvester with three other dwarves and kill five enemies each without leaving.
- Dwarves can use the Cave Angels to get to high places easily.
- When getting across large caverns from high up places as the Scout, a good strategy would be to time a grapple to a nearby surface so that you can grab on to a Cave Angel, wait for the Hook to recharge, and then let go to grapple to the now-closer objective location.
- The M1000 Classic is an excellent flyswatter, as its focus shots can instantly kill a Flea in a single shot.
- The Heavy Revolver is another decent choice, but it requires modifications to be able to one-shot a Flea.
- When playing solo, Bosco can be directed with the Laser Pointer to attack Fester Fleas, upon marking one Bosco will hunt it down until it is killed.
- The Flea can be instantly killed by freezing it
Missions
The ways to get a paycheck as a Miner. Get to it. [Expand/Collapse category]
Mission Prep
- If you are the host, double-check whether the selected mission is set to Public or Private (according to your party's needs).
- Consider your equipment loadout and assigned perks. Every player tends to have a favorite "setup', but bear in mind that your usual weapon settings and perk assignments may not be the best selections for the current mission.
- The Abyss Bar: make sure to check what beer is currently offered under "Today's Special"; these beers will give each player a helpful buff (such as a health increase or pickaxe boost). Note that these buffs are temporary, lasting only the duration of the next mission. Additionally, each player who wants a buff must consume a beer.
- Buff Beers can be rerolled by pressing the Disband Team button in the pause menu. Do this to get the buff beers you want before inviting players.
Mission Types
- It is recommended to have a Driller on the team, as during extraction, drilling shortcuts from cave to cave might be quicker than following the M.U.L.E.
- Having a Scout rush ahead to the Drop Pod to await the doors opening is also an effective strategy, as if the rest of the team goes down, the Scout can leave and secure the mission completion.
- Extracting more than one Egg at a time is not recommended, as it can stack waves of bugs, and even stack Swarms.
- Staying together after extracting an Egg is highly recommended, as it will increase your chances of surviving the resulting wave or Swarm.
- At the end of the mission, press the launch button as soon as possible, as the swarm will not stop and become worse over time.
- Grinding along pipelines provides a significant mobility boost, which is useful not just for getting around but also in combat. You are significantly harder to hit while grinding at high speeds, though aiming while grinding can be difficult.
- Grinding along pipelines is also a great way to get to broken nodes much faster.
- Similarly to ziplines, holding [USE] will snap you onto a pipeline as soon as it comes within range, allowing you to easily avoid fall damage when falling onto one.
- High latency (high ping) will make it difficult or impossible to do this without taking damage, depending on how high your latency is (measured by your ping).
- As pipelines are immune to friendly fire, you can make liberal use of explosives to clear out any bugs.
- High value support tools such as the Driller's Satchel Charges are extremely potent at clearing the bugs off a Pipeline node, but be mindful of their very limited ammo.
- When the Pipelines break, enemies are attracted to "attack" them and will prioritize them over attacking the Dwarves. A cunning player can slip in to fix a node while the bugs are distracted and then immediately back off, though this is a risky strategy as the bugs will immediately be drawn to attack you when the Pipeline is fixed.
- The Platform Gun and the Reinforced Power Drills are incredibly important utilities to have while building Pipelines. The former can be used to set up spaces to erect Pipeline nodes on where no suitable terrain exists, while the latter can easily clear out obstacles or make tunnels through walls to easily build a Pipeline through.
- While the rules for placing a node are restrictive, they only require a single pixel's worth of space to stand on to be constructed (provided they meet all the length and angle checks). With careful aim and a little practice, you can place pipelines on extremely thin stone outcrops or spires, and even rarely on the edges of walls.
- In Solo Mode, Bosco can be directed to assemble and repair Pipeline nodes. This can save time as Bosco works on constructing the Pipelines while you work on placing the nodes.
- Bosco can be commanded to build pipe segments consecutively if Bosco finishes the construction, but the build command will be cancelled if you finish the build.
- Having at least one player choose Gunner is highly recommended, as his Shield Generator is invaluable for protecting the team while inside the triangulation and Refueling zones. Also, his primary weapons are very effective at dealing with the large groups of enemies that spawn during these phases, especially the Heavy Autocannon.
- It is recommended that you call in a Resupply Pod in close proximity to the Uplink for easy access to ammo and health.
- It is NOT necessary to activate the leg scan from the Mini MULEs since the legs are visible to trained eyes.
- Swarms and waves get larger in size as more time is spent in the mission, so it is very important to work as quickly as possible, especially on higher Hazard Levels. It is recommended to launch the Mine Head as soon as possible after hitting the 20 minute mark, since swarms can quickly burn through your team's limited supply of Nitra as they spawn more and more often.
- For this reason, obtaining Nitra as quickly as possible is also very important in Point Extraction missions.
- Completing the secondary objective may be very difficult in Solo missions, since Bosco will often be busy collecting Aquarq and unable to cover you, and that completing it simply takes more time. The more players you have, the faster you will be able to complete both objectives by working simultaneously, so the secondary objective becomes easier to complete.
- It is recommend that at least one player on the team picks Gunner and deploys multiple ziplines around the cavern using his Zipline Gun, as Dwarves holding Aquarq can ride on ziplines with no movement penalty.
- Bosco can dig out and carry Aquarq when directed to with the Laser Pointer, so make use of him in Solo missions.
- When a swarm is announced, find a flat, open spot near the Minehead to take advantage of the Sentry Turrets on the Mine Head, but don't fight on the Minehead. Bugs can attack through the platform grating and the Mine Head will decrease your visibility of incoming enemies.
- Because it is necessary to guard Doretta at all times, it is not suggested to try completing tertiary objectives such as Cargo Crates or Machine Events while she is in transit. Wait until the Heartstone has been extracted, then return to their location and complete them.
- "EPC Mining" or using the Driller's Satchel Charge on an Oil Shale deposit and collecting the chunks with the Fuel Canister is the fastest way to refuel. Picking up the chunks still has a 0.45s delay similar to mining.
- In the final room, mine or drill out the features jutting out of the rock to make for a flatter fighting area.
- When cracking the shell of the Ommoran Heartstone, have at least one Dwarf stay by the Drilldozer to repair it while the rest of the team deals with the Swarms and the Heartstone's defenses.
- Using a weapon that destroys terrain, such as the "Lead Storm" Powered Minigun, you can quickly disarm the Ommoran Beamers by shooting the tip of the Beamer.
- Mining out an Ommoran Beamer from its base will cause the entire structure to collapse, as such the Driller Reinforced Power Drills make quick work of them.
- Placing platforms around the Drilldozers base will allow better contrast between the bugs and the color of the Ommoran Bedrock that is below the Drilldozer during the drilling process, allowing you to more easily spot what type and how many bugs are attacking the Drilldozer.
- Keep in mind that after the Drilldozer breaks through each section of the Ommoran Heartstone, the platforms will be destroyed.
- If playing Driller, it is possible to use the Reinforced Power Drills to drill the flying rocks in Phase 2 as they drop down onto the Drilldozer. This will destroy them instantly.
- The Drilldozer is vulnerable to friendly fire. Avoid accidentally shooting it while trying to deal with any bugs attacking it.
- In particular, practice extreme caution with weapons which have a high base damage such as the Satchel Charge, the Deepcore 40mm PGL (especially with the Fat Boy overclock) or any type of grenade (excluding non-lethal varieties such as the IFG).
- When Doretta is carving a tunnel, use the limited movement space to your team's advantage. Use throwables such as the IFG, Neurotoxin Grenade, or L.U.R.E. to damage or slow many enemies at once.
- It is not possible to mount Sentry Guns on top of the Dozer, but they do still serve as an excellent defensive utility, especially during refueling.
- Similarly, the Shield Generator will just fall right through the Dozer and land on the floor. However with modifications to increase its maximum radius, it can still cover the Dozer effectively or at least repel any bugs which may be attacking it.
- Doretta is capable of carrying all four Dwarves at once, which can be used as a tactical advantage (though be mindful though that server latency may result in a glitchy ride).
- As expected, the Dozer's massive drill will instantly cut down any alien unlucky or stupid enough to get in the way while it is in transit.
- This may cause bosses like the Korlok Tyrant-Weed, BET-C, or stationary enemies such as the Brood Nexus to instantly die if they come in contact with the drill, giving their rewards with little to no player struggle.
- Enemies with projectile attacks, such as the Mactera Spawn or Glyphid Acid Spitter, pose significant threats to the Dozer. Their attacks deal high damage and they can maintain relatively safe distances while attacking, the latter alien especially.
- Large, tanky enemies with powerful melee attacks such as Glyphid Oppressors or Bulk Detonators are extreme threats to the Dozer's safety. Keep them away from Doretta at all costs, or make use of status effects such as Electrocution or Neurotoxin to slow them down.
- Enemies can break the eggs too. Be cautious with enemies like Glyphid Exploder that can explode next to an egg.
- BET-C can accidentally break the egg too, making her a risky investment for Elimination missions
- Prepare your arena before starting for as much advantage as possible.
- Scouts should illuminate the area with their flare guns.
- Engineers can set up sentries and place platforms on uneven terrain.
- Gunners should fire Ziplines in useful locations to fire down on the Dreadnaught.
Deep Scan
It is possible skip most of primary objectives by manually digging to a Morkite Geode, skipping both the Deep Scans, and Drillevator sections of the mission. [1]
This method will not work if the Morkite Geode and the rest of the cave are not connected. Even after depositing the required Morkite Seeds into the M.U.L.E., the mission will not progress. The hole created by a Resupply Pod landing is treated by the game as "filled" for M.U.L.E. pathfinding purposes. As a result, the Morkite Geode and the cave cannot be connected solely through this hole.
If you fill the M.U.L.E. with the required number of Morkite Seeds before connecting the caves and then establish the connection afterward, you can still complete the mission. However, to update the mission state, you will need to deposit one additional Morkite Seed into the M.U.L.E. (if all of the Morkite Seeds will be deposit before making the connection, the mission will softlock unable to progress further).
Swarms
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- Try to dig in into an area which has minimal entry points to force the creatures to funnel in through chokepoints, which are easier to defend. Hiding in a tunnel is much easier than being out in the open.
- However, you will need some amount of room to move around, since standing in place trying to fend off a swarm is extremely difficult on Hazard 3 and above due to the sheer amount of creatures, and can be a death sentence during Solo missions. The cave generation does not grant many ideal spots to defend, so you will likely have to make do with what you have.
- Open areas may be a better strategy for Solo missions in particular, due to having lots of space to kite creatures around in order to avoid getting surrounded.
- Do not dig out any blockages of Compressed Dirt; you will only open another pathway for enemies to crawl through.
- Take time to ensure all your weapons are fully loaded before the Swarm commences.
- If you're fast enough, it's possible to call a Resupply Drop and refill from it before the Swarm can commence properly, but this requires a quick response when Mission Control announces a Swarm.
- Exploit your surroundings depending on the mission's biome - drop stalactites onto enemies in the Salt Pits, stand near a heating Oasis in the Glacial Strata, or lure foes through Electrocrystals in the Crystalline Caverns.
- As a Driller, Clear out extra space for your allies with your Reinforced Power Drills, or create an artificial chokepoint by digging a dead-end tunnel and then a room for all the team. In this case, make sure that you can easily make a way out if a Glyphid Bulk Detonator or Glyphid Oppressor shows up.
- As an Engineer, set up your Sentry Guns and your Proximity Mines immediately upon Mission Control's announcement of a Swarm.
- During Egg Hunts, you may want to set up your Sentries before mining out an Egg, in case it triggers a Swarm. If you want to conserve ammo, you can set them up partially beforehand, then if a Swarm is announced, fully deploy the Sentries (otherwise, they can be recalled).
- Platform Guns with the Repellant Additive modification can be used to force grounded enemies through certain pathways. Place some down on the floor and leave a small gap as the only means of entry through a narrow hallway.
- Even if one doesn't have Repellant Additive, the Platform Gun can still be used to seal up small holes by firing many platforms into the same spot, which gives the enemies fewer points to approach from.
- As a Gunner, if you have time and the space, set up a zipline to hang from and shoot down on enemies with. With good positioning, you can hang from the zipline and never be targeted by enemies.
- As a Scout, when a Swarm is announced, make sure to fire a couple flares from your Flare Gun into the walls to ensure clear vision during the event. Keep firing flares as needed, as fighting in the dark puts you and your team at a major disadvantage.
- As a Scout, you can focus down key targets with your precision weapons, to soften up the rest of the Swarm for your allies.
Resources
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- It typically spawns up on the walls and sometimes on ceilings of larger caves, making it difficult to reach. Use your Reinforced Power Drills, Zipline Launcher, Grappling Hook, or Platform Gun to reach these Nitra deposits.
- Particularly thick veins of Nitra are wide enough to be used as a shelf, allowing the Scout to easily access it with his Grappling Hook.
- Even at full health, the Scout can use his Grapple Gun to reach high Red Sugar, mine it then grapple back down to safety, in order to make the other dwarves able to pick it easily.
- In Solo Mode, when playing with Bosco, it can be prudent to order Bosco to mine Red Sugar from out-of-reach locations such as the cave ceiling.
- Some weapons such as the Heavy Revolver can use their powerful bullets to blast chunks off the tip of a Red Sugar vein, though one should be mindful of the ammo costs.
- It is recommended to use your Laser Pointer to assist in finding and extracting Dystrum while on a mission in the Glacial Strata and Azure Weald.
- The Driller's Impact Axes will destroy the shell upon impact and can also be recovered afterwards.
- The Reinforced Power Drills can quickly break the shell, so consider using it if you have fuel to spare and want to save a power attack.
- Free the Seeds you see even if you can't deposit them at the moment. They will appear on your 3d terrain scanner which is useful to retrieve them.
- If a cave has a large amount of gunk seeds, gather and throw them into a low lying area for faster collection. Note that this is only useful in missions where the MULE is available.
Mutators
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Warnings
Cave Leech Cluster
- Watch ceilings closely and use the Scout's Flare Gun to light large open spaces. The Engineer's LMG Gun Platform in combination with the Hawkeye mod can do a decent job at finding and eliminating Cave Leeches from a distance.
Exploder Infestation!
- Engineers can deploy their Sentry Guns to provide cover, while solo players can generally rely on Bosco to alert them to the presence of encroaching Exploders.
Lethal Enemies
- Keep a healthy distance from enemies such as Praetorians and Grunt Slashers.
Low Oxygen
- Don't stray too far from the M.U.L.E. in low oxygen conditions, especially for escapes.
At the end of all missions (except Salvage Operation) the way back to the Drop Pod can be extremely challenging if dwarves are incapable of keeping up with the M.U.L.E. or have to traverse long distances from the mine head or refinery to the extraction point, due to the danger of suffocation. It is advisable to plan accordingly, especially in high complexity caves. The Veteran Depositor perk synergize well with this mutator.
Mactera Plague
- Each Dwarf should have a weapon or a grenade in its gear capable of dealing well with macteras. For the Gunner, the Shield Generator is usually enough. Engineers can bring a Breach Cutter with the Triple Line mod, or directly aim at the macteras with the PGL. A Scout's Cryo Grenade well thrown will take care of an entire group of Macteras spawning together.
Bring along highly accurate and damaging weapons such as the Powered Minigun or the M1000 Classic to quickly deal with these pests.
Regenerative Bugs
- Bring along weapons which can keep up pressure such as the Flamethrower or the Autocannon to prevent enemies from regenerating.
Good synergy with the Beastmaster perk, Glyphids captured with it will still regenerate health, giving the tamed bug much more longevity.
Swarmageddon
- Weapons that cause area-of-effect damage like the CRSPR Flamethrower, Cryo Cannon, Deepcore 40mm PGL, and grenades are great at dispatching them.
Haunted Cave
- Knowing the location of the horror and to bring a Scout to map out the cave for dead ends where the horror can trap you.
Anomalies
Critical Weakness
- Most enemies will die to a single shot against their weakspots, especially with Hollowpoint rounds modifications. Highly effective against foes with giant obvious weak spots such as Praetorians.
Gold Rush
- When coupled with the Pots O' Gold beer buff, your amount of gold collected can easily reach into four-digit numbers -- but keep in mind this only applies to gold mined directly with the Pickaxe. Gold mined by Bosco or by destroying terrain with Satchel Charges, the Experimental Plasma Charger (among other methods) will not be increased by Pots O' Gold.
- Note that gathering credits with this method is far more time consuming and inefficient compared to Mineral Mania.
Golden Bugs
- Killing large groups of weak enemies with area-of-effect attacks can quickly add up. Coupled with the Swarmageddon mutator, the players can "farm" gold easily.
Low Gravity
- Because fall damage in low gravity conditions is negligible, it's generally not worth getting the Tunnel Rat beer buff for these missions.
Dreadnought Elimination missions and Haunted Cave Warnings tend to be less difficult when low gravity is active, as it is much easier for Dwarves to stay out of these large creatures' attack range.
Volatile Guts
- Be careful when using Power Attacks on enemies, as they will explode and deal damages on you.
- Exploding Guts often does more harm than good, Make sure to not explode your teammates while thinning a horde of bugs
Mineral Mania
- Because crafting minerals have a sell price of 50 credits per unit, outvaluing gold by a factor of 25 times (why) this is a superior alternative to mining gold for credits since minerals are not only needed for crafting, but excess minerals can be sold in a pinch for a far more potent source of credits.
Other
Beers
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- It might be worth checking the Abyss Bar to see what special is on offer before heading to the Mission Terminal; some Specials provide niche effects which benefit certain missions more than others.
- For example Backbreaker Stout is only really effective on Point Extraction and Egg Hunt missions, whereas Dark Morkite is obviously meant for Mining Expedition levels.
- If Pots O' Gold is available, consider checking to see if any missions have the Gold Rush mutator; the combination of these two events can result in over a thousand Gold being extracted in one mission, resulting in a huge payout.
- Rocky Mountain is helpful to drink when doing Missions in Biomes where the common rock takes three pickaxe hits to destroy, such as the Crystalline Caverns, Magma Core or the Radioactive Exclusion Zone. It isn't very useful in the Sandblasted Corridors, where terrain already takes just one hit to destroy.
- Rocky Mountain will not reduce the amount of hits needed to destroy unique terrain such as the Granite Towers in the Sandblasted Corridors. This is likely a bug.
- Drinks such as Red Rock Blaster and Slayer Stout are excellent Specials to drink in preparation for a Deep Dive, as their generalist effects will remain useful in all stages and potential Mutators.
- If you have a surplus of Barley Bulbs, consider being the gentledwarf of the team and buy a round of Specials for you and your team before a mission begins.
- The "Disband Team" button can be used to reroll beers, effectively enabling fishing for any buff beer needed before inviting your squad.
Omen Modular Exterminator
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This event is often claimed to be the hardest of the 4 Machine events, especially due to the large amount of dangerous attacks deployed by each module. Prediction and awareness is the key to succeed. Each dwarf will perform more or less against this particular event:
- The Driller will struggle the most when it comes to dealing damages to the cooling tanks, since the Omen Modular Exterminator has a 70% resistance to explosion, fire and frost damage, all three akin to the Driller's CRSPR Flamethrower, Cryo Cannon and Satchel Charge, the latter however is still powerful enough to deal a considerate amount of damage to the Radial Pulse-Gun. On the other hand, his Reinforced Power Drills can allow him to dig trenches, giving cover to the team.
- The Engineer is relatively efficient, with good damage overall and the potential to use elevated platforms to help the team avoid the Radial Pulse-Gun's beams while holding their position on the maintenance platforms. Molly can also be used to measure Engineer's platforms, as placing them right above her (with the bottom of platforms not clipping into her), and connected to a wall, will allow them to remain in the air relatively damage free from the pulse-gun and still allow the dwarf on top to safely access the maintenance platform. His turrets are also efficient against flying drones and to add additional fire power against the cooling tanks.
- The Gunner, with the help of his Shield Generator, can allow him to hold position on one of the maintenance platforms with little trouble and revive downed teammates safely. His high damage weapons, be they primary or secondary, can also dispatch the cooling tanks quickly.
- The Scout, thanks to the accuracy of his primary weapons, can take out the cooling tanks just as efficiently as the Gunner can. His lack of defensive capabilities however, forces him to rely on hit and run tactics.
- The M.U.L.E can be parked on top of the maintenance platforms and be stood upon to avoid the waves from the pulse-gun. The dwarf standing on Molly can still access the maintenance platform. A Resupply Pod can be called to the same effect, assuming sufficient terrain exists 'within' the platform to place the targeting beacon. Engineer platforms can be placed to substitute a lack of terrain.
- Focus on activating the platform located at the opposite direction of the Core Infuser, as it is linked to the bottom layer of the tower : the Radial Pulse-Gun.
- Analyze the middle and top layer of the tower before the fight to know and be prepared about how to handle the machine event.
- If there is a Drone Replicator, always take a look at the drones.
- If there is a Heavy Burster, run away from the direction it's facing or going to face, and always verify the light doesn't come close to you.