Top 15 Deep Rock Galactic Tips for Beginners

Image: Ghost Ship Games, Coffee Stain Publishing via HGG

Human Made

My name is Gibson Vasela. I am a freelance writer who has been playing video games for almost 20 years now. I play all kinds of games, but I especially love immersive sims and RPGs.

Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

Deep Rock Galactic is one of the best first-person shooters on the market. Its gunplay is crunchy and satisfying. Its gameplay loop is incredibly engaging. And it’s one of the very few live service games without an overly aggressive monetization system, which is a breath of fresh air in today’s world. That said, if you want to survive and thrive in Deep Rock Galactic, you’ll need to know some tips.

Chances are, if you picked up the game because of one or several of its long list of qualities, you need some help getting started. What class should you pick? How do you stay safe in the caves of Hoxxes IV? How do you avoid annoying your teammates? We will answer all of these questions and more in today’s article!

Top 15 Tips For Beginners, Ranked in no Particular Order

So without further ado, let’s hop right into this guide for the top 15 best tips for beginners in Deep Rock Galactic!

1) Aim For Weak Spots on Enemies

Out of all the tips I can offer for in Deep Rock Galactic, the most important one is to always aim for enemies’ weak points. On most heavily armored enemies, you will see a glowing, fleshy part of their body that is a distinctly different color than the rest of them. For example, Glyphid Praetorians have dark green armor covering most of their body, but a big part of their backside is lime green. There are also flying enemies with two parts of their body that distinctly stand out.

If you shoot these weak spots on enemies, you will deal vastly more damage than if you aim for their more armored parts! You can unlock armor-piercing rounds that let you effectively shoot through their armor, but if you don’t have this upgrade yet, it’s best to just shoot their fleshy bits. You can also get hollow point rounds to upgrade for most weapons, letting you deal even more damage to their weak points.

2) Be Careful of Friendly Fire

Unlike a lot of shooters, friendly fire is enabled in Deep Rock Galactic. On one hand, this is bad because it enables other players to grief you. On the other hand, griefing is incredibly rare, and friendly fire encourages you to aim more carefully. Though we do get some hilarious voice quips when you damage another teammate — “You’re supposed to be shooting the ones without beards.”

Just keep this fact in mind when you are firing away. Don’t throw grenades or any projectiles close to your teammates. And don’t just blast away with your guns if you know you might damage someone on the other side of your target. Deep Rock Galactic is a team game, and it’s not very fun to play when your squadmates are actively working against you!

3) Keep Moving at All Times

Deep Rock Galactic is meant to be a fast-paced, action-oriented game where there is never a dull moment. Bugs are constantly swarming you on all sides, and it can be very difficult to stay alive when you’re stationed in one place. You need to really run and gun it in DRG if you want to survive. If you don’t, you’ll very quickly be overwhelmed by enemies on all sides and you’ll find yourself getting downed by projectiles that could be easily dodged just by moving around.

There are plenty of ways that you can maximize your mobility in this game. The Scout class comes with a grappling hook that allows you to easily move around the caves. There is a perk that lets you double-tap the sprint button, giving you a very quick boost of speed. And there are plenty of advanced weapon mods that allow you to quickly relocate to other positions!

If you are just starting out, take a look at the perk tree from your KPI Terminal and look for some movement-based perks that could help you out. Even if you can’t afford any of them at the moment, you can still greatly increase your survivability just by moving around at all times!

4) Learn the Basics of a Class before Moving on to Another

The four different classes and their respective playstyles are one of the best things about Deep Rock Galactic. You can be a speedy Scout, zipping around the caves as quickly as a breeze. Or perhaps you favor the intrepid Engineer, intelligently setting up the perfect defenses to kill enemy bugs. There’s also the heavy Gunner, a damage-dealing support class. Last but not least is the destructive Driller, a class with weapons geared around areas of effect and a big drill great for tunneling to objectives.

If you’re just learning the ropes of the game, it’s best to pick one of these classes and get the hang of their kit before trying something new. This will help you remember their abilities, and it will allow you to get some good upgrades for them to make playing them easier. I recommend getting to at least Level 5 before moving on to another class that looks fun to play. But by all means, play them for as long as you’d like! I’m not your dad.

5) Scouts, Don’t Forget to Light up Caves

Next on our list of the top 15 best tips for beginners in Deep Rock Galactic, we have one geared especially for Scout players. Don’t forget to light up caves! All Scouts are equipped with a flare gun that allows them to rapidly light up caves with a special type of flare that lasts much longer than the regular ones. This ability is very important for quickly finding and securing resources.

But oftentimes, many players (even veterans) will forget to light up a cave when they first enter a new area. This is bad, as it means your teammates will struggle to find the ore veins needed to progress the mission and complete the objectives. They could also fail to spot a dangerous enemy lurking in the shadows, such as Cave Leeches or Spitballers! If your flares go out and there are still resources left, be sure to put up new ones ASAP.

6) Gunners, Use Your Shields When Reviving

Now for a tip just for the Gunner mains. Probably the most important item in his tool kit is the Shield Generator. This is a device that, when thrown down, will rapidly generate an energy shield! The shield will prevent bugs and projectiles from entering the area. At the same time, all dwarves inside the shield will be able to fire onto the enemies that surround them!

This shield is useful in many, many different scenarios. If you’re going to revive a downed squadmate, for example, you can throw it down and safely get them back into the fight. Be sure to do this if you need to. It’s especially useful during swarms, when enemies surround you on all sides and you’re constantly getting shot at. It’s basically a get-out-of-jail-free card that almost always guarantees you a revive of a downed squadmate.

7) Engineers, Set up Defenses During Swarms & Important Mission Points

Probably my favorite class in Deep Rock Galactic is the Engineer. Engineers are incredibly fun to play, as they allow you to set up defensive turrets that target and damage enemy bugs. They also have a variety of unique grenades that can deal massive damage to enemies! The Engineer’s default primary weapon — an automatic shotgun — used to be the worst in the game, but now it’s incredibly powerful and fun to use.

So if you do decide to pick this class, make sure you use his defensive gizmos during swarms. If you hear Mission Control radio in an incoming swarm, be sure to immediately find a good place to defend so you can start setting up turrets. If you have the Proximity Mine for the Engineer, be sure to put those down too. This will maximize your squad’s chance of survival.

It’s also a good idea to use these same defenses when doing certain mission types. One great example would be Salvage Operations, at the part where you need to defend the drop pod while it is re-fueling.

8) Drillers, Drill Your Team to the Drop Pod

If you’re a Driller, then you have one of the most important roles for late-game. When the button as been pressed and the drop pod is set to arrive, you and the team need to haul ass out of there. But that can be tricky when there are so many obstacles in your way (enemies, natural hazards, ravines, etc). Thankfully, you can skip all of that by just drilling directly to the drop pod instead!

This is where the Driller comes in. When the drop pod’s spawn location is revealed, get as close to it as you can without having to drill. Once you find a spot at the end of a cave that is a straight shot to the pod, start drilling! Just make sure not to overheat your drills. Keep an eye on your drill to make sure it stays under 90%, as it will overheat once it hits 100%. You shouldn’t have to worry about bugs attacking you from behind, as your team will be with you to hold them off.

9) Do Weekly Core Hunts

This is probably the most important tip in Deep Rock Galactic for unlocking endgame upgrades. Inside of the space rig, you can find a terminal right next to the mission terminal. This terminal dishes out assignments that give you a series of missions to complete for a big reward. There are weekly assignments that focus just on giving you credits and minerals. And there are assignments that can give you rare cosmetic rewards! But the best ones to do are the weekly core hunts.

Weekly core hunts can only be completed once per week. They reward you with credits and minerals, but also blank matrix cores. These are items that can be used in missions when you complete special events. After you complete an event, use the blank matrix core on a nearby machine and you’ll be rewarded with your choice of either a cosmetic item or an advanced weapon mod! This is a great way to unlock some great weapon upgrades for your gear, which is especially needed early game.

10) Always Stock Up on Nitra

The most important resource in the game isn’t what completes your objective. It’s not gold either, as great as that is to find. The most important resource is nitra — without it, you’ll be helpless against the hordes of bugs crawling your way. Nitra is a currency that can only be used in missions. It allows you to order resupply pods, which are caches of ammo and health. Unless you’re really good at the game, you’ll be calling down these things multiple times each and every game.

Nitra is characterized by its bright red color. It grows as a vein alongside the cave walls just like gold and morkite. Once you find a vein of the stuff, mine all of it ASAP. You’ll need at least 80 nitra to call in a resupply bin, so make sure you have plenty of the stuff. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself between a rock and a hard place as you run around with big guns but no ammo to use them with.

11) Don’t Take More than You Need from Resupply Pods

This next one feels more like a public service announcement than a tip, but it’s one of the most essential tips for surviving harder missions in Deep Rock Galactic. If a resupply pod lands, only take something from it if you have around half your ammo left or you and the team are going to leave the area for good. You don’t want to use up all of the ammo if your teammates need it more than you do. If you do take one, please don’t take another unless you clear it up with your squad first.

You can also press ‘Control’ on PC to see how much ammo you and your team have. This is represented by gray bars underneath your health. If you’ve already taken one but are now the lowest on ammo, it should generally be okay for you to take an additional one. Remember, if your teammates run out of ammo, they won’t be able to help you out.

12) Complete Milestones for Perk Points

In Deep Rock Galactic, players can unlock special upgrades for themselves called Perks. Perks provide unique bonuses and abilities. They can be simple things like letting you run faster, or they can give you a special ability like being able to melee enemies for health! Perks are a core part of the progression system, and you should get into them as soon as you possibly can.

But how do you unlock Perks, exactly? With Perk Points, of course! Perk Points are a currency that you unlock by completing milestones. Milestones are achievements that you can unlock in-game, more or less. For example, there is one that requires you to play a certain amount of missions in the Dense Biozone biome. Check out the KPI Terminal inside your dorm room to see what milestones you have available, and to spend your perk points on valuable upgrades!

13) Mine a Different Vein than Your Teammates

This next one is very annoying to me, personally. Oftentimes when I’m playing this game, other players will come up to me and start mining the same vein that I am. They mine something I’m about to mine, causing me to hit the useless rock behind the vein. This is also very time inefficient, and it makes much more sense for them to mine another vein nearby instead.

Next time you see one of your teammates mining some ores, while it may be tempting to help out, just mine the next one instead. You can help them dig up carryable items (such as Jadiz), but not ore veins. And if helping them mine a vein is really the only way you can contribute to the team at that point in time, at the very least mine from the opposite side of the vein they’re mining.

14) Pull Out Your Terrain Scanner Often

If you press and hold TAB on PC, you’ll activate the terrain scanner. This is an important device that all dwarves are equipped with on their mining missions. It is essentially a 3D map of the caves surrounding you. It can be used to navigate your way around the confusing mess of twists and turns in Hoxxes IV. Also, it can help you see where you’ve been before and how to get to the next cave, as there will be little tunnels traveling away from the area you’re at.

Additionally, the terrain scanner is great for showing you where mission objectives are. It can show you where parts of the mini MULEs are on the map as long as you download the data from a mini MULE first. The device also shows where the drop pod is, as well as where nearby resupply pods are (ones that still have ammo in them, that is).

15) Ask Everyone If They’re Ready before Starting the Mission

Last but not least on this article for the top 15 best tips for beginners in Deep Rock Galactic, we have this. Don’t press the button on Molly or start a mission without asking if everyone is ready first. Doing this is a first cardinal sin in the Deep Rock Galactic community. If you are the host and start a mission early, a person modding their weapon or trying to get a buff at the bar could be interrupted, preventing them from using it in the mission.

If you’ve completed all of the objectives in a mission and press the button without making sure everyone is ready, they might not have time to mine the minerals left in the cave. Or they might not be able to order a resupply pod before the swarm that spawns when you press the button, as they may be low on nitra and need to look around for some. Just type in the chat and ask if everyone is ready. When they say “Ready!” or “R,” you can safely press the button or start the mission.

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Rock and stone — happy gaming!

Top 15 Deep Rock Galactic Tips for Beginners