Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor: Complete Guide
A guide to Funday Games' top-down survivor-like set on Hoxxes IV: how a dive works, the four base classes plus the Heavy Duty Expansion's Demolisher, how to build a run, what to spend progression on, and how to push through Hazard 5.
Researched September 2026 — current as of version 1.1 Patch 2 (June 2026) with the Heavy Duty Expansion (April 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.
Heads-up: Funday Games has said it will make "a couple of exciting announcements" about DRG: Survivor during Coffee Stain's Big Break showcase on 29 September 2026. Expect news after this guide was written.
Quick Start
- You only steer. Weapons fire automatically. Your job is movement, positioning and mining. Walk into rock to dig through it.
- Mine constantly between fights. Minerals in the walls fund your permanent upgrades, and digging makes escape routes through the swarm.
- Watch the stage timer and the drop pod. Each stage ends with extraction. Get back to the pod in time or the run is over.
- Pick one or two weapons and invest. Spreading level-ups across every gun usually leaves you underpowered by the late stages.
- Read the weapon tags. Upgrades and overclocks key off tags, so weapons that share tags build into each other.
- Kill Lootbugs and chase Huuli Hoarders. Both are free resources. A Golden Lootbug is a jackpot.
- Red sugar heals. Mine it when low instead of fighting through damaged.
- Clear Hazard 1-3 in every biome before worrying about Hazard 5. Account upgrades and unlocks make the later hazards far more manageable.
- Try every class early. Each class and subclass changes your starting weapon and upgrade pool.
What the Game Is
DRG: Survivor is a single-player "reverse bullet hell" spin-off of Deep Rock Galactic. One dwarf drops into procedurally generated caves, completes objectives, fights waves of Glyphids and other Hoxxes fauna, and extracts. A run (a dive) is several stages in a row, getting harder as you go, with a boss at the end.
- Early Access: 14 February 2024
- 1.0 release: 17 September 2025 (Windows and Xbox Series X/S)
- Heavy Duty Expansion (paid DLC): 30 April 2026
- Other DLC: After Hours Pack and Supporter Pack (cosmetic/supporter content)
Classes and Subclasses
There are four base classes, each with three subclasses (roles). Your subclass sets your starting weapon and shifts which upgrades appear.
| Class |
Identity |
Subclasses |
| Driller |
Best miner; thrown weapons, flamethrower and beam weapons |
Strong Armed, Foreman, Interrogator |
| Engineer |
Drones, turrets and explosives |
Demolitionist, Tinkerer, Maintenance Worker |
| Gunner |
Heavy weapons, high armour |
Heavy Gunner, Juggernaut, Weapons Specialist |
| Scout |
Fastest class; dodge-oriented, light weapons |
Recon, Sharpshooter, Classic |
Demolisher (Heavy Duty Expansion): a fifth class that drives a weaponized industrial vehicle called the Rockdozer and brings 11 new weapons. Through the tag system, those weapons can also appear for other classes. Patch 1.1 Hotfix 2 (6 May 2026) tightened Demolisher controls in both standard and simplified modes and stopped it getting stuck on detonators and pods; 1.1 Patch 1 (27 May 2026) then gave every Demolisher subclass the same improved turn radius.
Weapons you will recognise
The arsenal is lifted from the main game. Examples by class:
- Driller: CRSPR Flamethrower, Cryo Cannon, Subata 120
- Engineer: Warthog Auto 210, Deepcore PGL, Breach Cutter, LOK-1 Smart Rifle
- Gunner: Lead Storm Powered Minigun, Thunderhead Heavy Autocannon, Hurricane Guided Rocket System, Bulldog Heavy Revolver, BRT7 Burst Fire Gun
- Scout: Deepcore GK2, M1000, Zhukov NUK17, Jury-Rigged Boomstick, DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine
Grenade-type weapons (High Explosive, Cryo, Incendiary, Neurotoxin and Shredder Swarm grenades) and drones (Firefly Hunter Drone, K1-P Viper Drone) fill out the pool.
How a Run Works
- Pick a mission and hazard. Mission types include Vanguard Contracts, Lethal Operations, Anomaly Dives and Weapon Mastery Dives, plus the Heavy Duty Expansion's Egg Hunt.
- Drop in. You start with your subclass weapon. Kill enemies to collect XP cubes, level up, and choose upgrades.
- Do the objective, dig for minerals, survive the waves. Enemy pressure rises through each stage.
- Extract. The drop pod arrives; reach it before it leaves.
- Repeat through the stages and beat the final boss (the Dreadnought and variants such as the Dreadnought Twins) to finish the dive.
Level-ups, upgrades and overclocks
- Each level offers a choice of upgrades: new weapons, weapon upgrades, or stat boosts.
- Weapons unlock overclocks as they level. These are big modifications that can change how a weapon plays. You can mark overclocks as favourites, and some milestones count them.
- Tags (for example AKIMBO, drone, projectile and status-effect tags) link weapons and upgrades. A status-effect damage card only appears if you have a weapon with the matching tag.
- Gear items (such as the Elite Targeter) and class mods (like the Gunner Weapon Specialist class mod) add passive effects.
- Minerals mined in a run carry over and pay for permanent account upgrades: health, damage, ammo and more.
- Milestones and weapon masteries (tracked in the Path of Mastery) unlock new stat upgrades and rewards.
- Hazard levels 1 to 5 exist for each biome. Clearing lower hazards unlocks the next.
Biomes
| Biome |
Notes |
| Crystalline Caverns |
The starting biome; good place to learn |
| Salt Pits |
Open cave layouts |
| Azure Weald |
Dense, bioluminescent caves |
| Magma Core |
Harder biome with environmental hazards |
| Hollow Bough |
Late biome with tougher pressure |
| Glacial Strata (Heavy Duty) |
Ice you can slide across for bursts of speed; cryo-infused enemies |
The Heavy Duty Expansion also widened biome choice per mission without raising progression requirements.
Egg Hunt (Heavy Duty Expansion)
- Collect alien eggs and have Bosco carry them to a central cargo pod.
- Once you meet the quota, a Brood Nexus erupts on top of the pod and starts a multi-phase boss fight with enemy waves and destructible Nexus Sprouts.
- Kill sprouts quickly and do not body-block them: 1.1 Patch 1 and Patch 2 both fixed bugs that had stopped Brood Nexus Sprouts from damaging the player, so they now hurt.
- 1.1 Patch 1 also made the Egg Hunt "Collect Gold" biome goal easier to achieve.
- Patch 1.1 Patch 2 fixed a bug where Bosco could refuse to pick up eggs, and fixed the "Collect 4 eggs before alien threat level 2" milestone.
Building a Run
A simple, reliable plan
- Early (first stage): take your starting weapon's damage and fire-rate upgrades and one second weapon that shares its tags.
- Mid: add a crowd-control or area-denial tool (cryo, fire, fences like the Voltaic Shock Fence, or drones) so you are not relying on raw DPS.
- Late: stack the stats your core weapons scale with, and pick overclocks that fix your weak spot, whether that is single-target damage for bosses or clear for swarms.
- Always: take a movement or survivability option when it appears if you are struggling to kite.
Status effects
Fire, cryo, electric and corrosive/toxic effects stack well with weapons that carry the matching tag. A status build with two or three weapons sharing one effect ramps much faster than mixed damage types.
Recent balance notes (patch 1.1 cycle, May-June 2026)
| Change |
Effect |
| Cloth Armor mutator nerfed |
Now -50% armour instead of -100% |
| Combined Reload mutator nerfed |
Reload speed bonus now +20% |
| Springloaded Ripper reworked, then buffed |
Hotfix 2 changed its fire rate (1/sec to 0.67/sec) and made it count as a projectile weapon for synergies; Patch 2 raised base potency 24 to 36 |
| Chimera Fragcannon buffed |
Now targets the highest-HP enemy |
| Carrier Drone buffed twice |
Potency 6 to 7, then sub-drone range +30% and potency 7 to 9 |
| Slither Drones buffed |
Base damage 60 to 75, then larger collider |
| Voltaic Stun Sweeper buffed |
Base damage 55 to 60 |
| Toxic Sludge Spreader buffed |
Base damage 10 to 12, status damage 6 to 7 |
| E1M1 Caustic Scattergun buffed |
Base damage and potency 18 to 20 |
| Elite Targeter gear changed |
Max HP bonus now triggers when an elite is killed |
The drone weapons in particular got several buffs in a row, so drone-tag builds are in a stronger spot than at the expansion's launch.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Standing still to fight. Movement is your defence. Keep circling and use mined tunnels to funnel enemies.
- Ignoring the timer to finish mining a vein and missing the drop pod.
- Taking every new weapon offered. Weapon slots are limited, and a spread-out build falls off.
- Forgetting red sugar when low on health.
- Skipping Lootbugs and Huuli Hoarders. Hoarders run off with loot if you let them.
- Grinding one biome at one hazard forever. Unlocks and milestones come from variety.
- Neglecting account upgrades. Spend minerals between runs; permanent health and damage add up.
Advanced Tips
- Mine to create chokepoints. A narrow tunnel turns a surround into a single-file line for piercing and beam weapons.
- Plan tags on purpose. Before you take a second weapon, check what tags it shares with your first; that decides which upgrade cards you will see.
- Bosses need single-target damage. Clearing swarms is easy to overbuild. Make sure something in your kit deletes one big target.
- Use Weapon Mastery Dives to work through mastery goals for specific guns.
- Glacial Strata ice is a mobility tool. Slide to reposition, but plan the stop.
- Simplified controls exist for the Demolisher; try both modes and keep whichever you steer better with.
FAQ
Is DRG: Survivor multiplayer?
No. It is a single-player game.
Do I need to have played Deep Rock Galactic?
No. Veterans will recognise weapons and enemies, but the game stands alone.
Is the Heavy Duty Expansion worth it?
It adds the Demolisher class with 11 weapons, the Glacial Strata biome and the Egg Hunt mission. It is the only paid gameplay expansion so far; the other DLC is supporter and cosmetic content.
How do I unlock higher hazards?
Clear the lower hazard in a biome to unlock the next one, up to Hazard 5.
How many achievements are there?
The store lists 300 Steam achievements.
Is more content coming?
Funday Games teased announcements for the Big Break showcase on 29 September 2026. Check the Steam news page afterwards.
Sources