Expert Tips Deep Rock Galactic Doesn't Tell You

One of the most unique, creative co-op shooters of 2020, Deep Rock Galactic casts you and your friends in the role of space dwarves — eager to tank some drinks, dig some mines, and kill many, many evil aliens. (Or are they evil? You are digging up their home.)

But while Deep Rock Galactic does have a fairly lengthy, informative introductory mission, there are some things that it just doesn't tell you that you might need to know.

Deep Rock Galactic isn't just any shooter game. Through the course of each mission, you'll need to alter the terrain around you, grapple around obstacles, discover hidden collectibles, and (of course) mine for the resources that you need. All this and you'll still have wave after wave of enemies to contend with.

Since the game is constantly upping the ante, you can find yourself overwhelmed quite fast. But with a few expert tips, you'll be blasting through that space rock in no time.

It's very easy to get lost if you just start drilling everywhere. Especially if you're the Driller, who just chews up terrain. Surprisingly, although Deep Rock Galactic does give you the option of going anywhere you want, the routes are usually quite linear. Most of what you need is going to be behind a dirt patch, which serves as an indicator of where you need to dig.

This is outlined in the very first, introductory mission — but, like most introductions, you can skip or ignore a lot of it. While the temptation is certainly to just start digging in a random direction toward something on the map, you actually should try to follow the terrain as much as possible to avoid too much confusion.

And if you do get lost, remember that your own flares are a separate, distinct color from anyone else's; you can usually use them like bread crumbs.

You have a limited amount of ammo in Deep Rock Galactic. One of the easiest ways to die in the game is to just spray ammo everywhere and run out. While you can get ammo drops, those also require that you be constantly acquiring a resource.

And while you can vacuum all the ammo out of each drop, it's better to make sure that every player has enough ammo to survive; otherwise, you'll just spend your time saving them.

In addition to not spraying your ammo everywhere, you also need to be very conscientious about where your party members are. Not only is friendly-fire active, but it can be brutal, and not everyone will notice that they're being pelted by their own teammates during a high-pitched battle.

Practice restraint. It's better to not hit an enemy than to put multiple bullets in a friend.

Caving is dark. And that makes sense. But proper light management is important; that's the Scout's role.

A Scout has a limited amount of lights that they can set up strategically. It's easy for Scout players to ignore the lights entirely (because they are so limited) or spam them at the beginning (because they are so useful). Neither option really takes advantage of the sheer utility of having a bright light.

Instead, Scouts should be determining when light is needed, just like any other resource. A good time to start putting out the large, high-powered lights is when entering a new, large cavern (where the resources may not be immediately visible) or when triggering a boss battle (when being able to see could mean the difference between life and death).

Meanwhile, the other team members can juggle the smaller, dimmer flares to get through most situations.

When you have a dark map, friendly-fire, and waves of enemies that can trigger almost anywhere, it's especially important to coordinate. Voice chat for Deep Rock Galactic is non-optional.

Foremost, players should stick together. It's easy to get separated in the dark, especially if you're mining (or drilling) up or down. But if you get separated, it's much harder for anyone to revive you if you get taken down. Voice chat makes it possible to tell players not only where you are, but whether you're about to trigger a major boss battle that's probably going to kill them. It also makes it easier to discuss things like perks and upgrades, so everyone can specialize into a specific role. 

There's a lot to do in Deep Rock Galactic and a team of only four — it's critical to be able to rely on your teammates to fill the gaps.