This is not the co-op shooter. Funday Games built Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor as a top down single player auto shooter under Ghost Ship Publishing, entering Early Access on 14 February 2024 and reaching 1.0 on 17 September 2025. You still play a dwarf on Hoxxes, still mine Nitra and Gold and still get pulled out by a Drop Pod, but nobody aims: your weapons fire on their own while you drive the dwarf around the cave and dig through terrain. A dive is five stages, each with a Supply Drop and an Elite, and stage five ends with a Dreadnought. The Heavy Duty Expansion of 30 April 2026 added the Demolisher, a fifth class riding a weaponised bulldozer.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Auto firing weapons and manual mining
Every weapon fires by itself, so the only inputs that matter are where you move and what you dig. Mining is the real skill: carving tunnels shapes how the swarm reaches you, opens escape routes and exposes the Gold and Nitra that pay for upgrades. Weapons also have a facing, so some fire forward, some backward and some in four directions at once, which turns movement direction into an aiming decision.
Five stage dives and Supply Drops
A dive is five stages. Stages one to four follow the same shape: survive, collect the Supply Drop, kill the Elite, then take the Drop Pod down. Stage five is different, holding only a Supply Drop, three Eggs that hatch into Elites, and the Dreadnought. On that final stage the Supply Drop only drains half the Dreadnought's health instead of killing an Elite outright, so taking it early is usually correct.
Overclocks at weapon levels 6, 12 and 18
Weapons gain levels during a dive from the upgrade cards you pick. Balanced overclocks become selectable at weapon level 6 and again at level 12, and a single Unstable overclock unlocks at level 18. Balanced ones are modest trades such as Bigger Mags, which gives 100 percent clip size for 10 percent reload speed. Unstable ones are extreme: The Favourite doubles one weapon's damage and fire rate while cutting 30 percent from every other weapon you carry.
Class Mods and weapon tags
Each class has several Class Mods that decide your starting weapon and specialisation, so the Scout's Sharp Shooter starts with the M1000 Classic and builds around critical hits, while the Engineer's Tinkerer starts with the Warthog Auto 210, gains experience faster and reaches overclocks sooner. Weapons carry four tag categories, damage type, family, type and firing style, and Class Mods key off those tags rather than off weapon names.
Meta Upgrades, Milestones and Gear
Gold, Nitra and Red Sugar are spent inside a dive and do not carry over. Meta resources and Credits do, and they buy Meta Upgrades from the main menu, semi permanent stat buffs that apply to every class. Milestones unlock new weapons for each class, biome goals award Biome Points that open more hazardous biomes, and Gear, added in 1.0, is a meta layer of items that customise Class Mods.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scout | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Gunner | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Engineer | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Driller | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Demolisher | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Deepcore GK2 | The Scout's Classic starting weapon, a straightforward burst fire assault rifle with balanced numbers and no awkward firing pattern to work around. | First dives, learning what the upgrade cards actually do, and any build that wants reliable forward damage without positioning tricks. |
| "Lead Storm" Powered Minigun | The Gunner's Weapons Specialist starting weapon, firing a hail of bullets in whichever direction you are facing. | Corridor fights, directional builds paired with a rear firing secondary, and The Favourite overclock, which doubles its damage and fire rate. |
| LOK-1 Smart Rifle | An Engineer weapon that locks onto targets and fires homing bullets, which removes positioning from the equation almost entirely. | Stage four and five swarms, players who would rather concentrate on mining than on facing, and Elite hunting in open caverns. |
| CRSPR Flamethrower | A Driller weapon that projects a rotating beam of fire, burning everything it sweeps across. | Being surrounded, clearing dense swarms in tight tunnels, and any build leaning on burning damage over time. |
| Breach Cutter | An Engineer weapon that fires bouncing projectiles linked by a plasma beam, so the damage is in the line between the projectiles rather than in the projectiles themselves. | Packed swarms, enclosed spaces where projectiles ricochet, and the Hot Plasma overclock that adds damage plus a burn. |
Deepcore GK2: The Scout's Classic starting weapon, a straightforward burst fire assault rifle with balanced numbers and no awkward firing pattern to work around. It is the weapon most new players learn the upgrade card system on because nothing about it is conditional.
"Lead Storm" Powered Minigun: The Gunner's Weapons Specialist starting weapon, firing a hail of bullets in whichever direction you are facing. Damage output is high and entirely directional, so it punishes players who let the swarm wrap around behind them.
LOK-1 Smart Rifle: An Engineer weapon that locks onto targets and fires homing bullets, which removes positioning from the equation almost entirely. That makes it forgiving in the chaotic later stages where the swarm arrives from several directions at once.
CRSPR Flamethrower: A Driller weapon that projects a rotating beam of fire, burning everything it sweeps across. It pairs naturally with the Interrogator Class Mod's amplified status effects, and Spliced Emitter, its Unstable overclock, adds 75 percent to range, damage and potency together.
Breach Cutter: An Engineer weapon that fires bouncing projectiles linked by a plasma beam, so the damage is in the line between the projectiles rather than in the projectiles themselves. It cuts through packed groups and interacts well with terrain that bounces the shots back through the same crowd twice.
Full breakdowns in our Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Crystalline Caverns | Hazard 1 to 5, default enemy difficulty | Biome Points, baseline Class Mod unlocks, safe hazard level practice |
| Magma Core | Hazard 1 to 5, enemies at 5 percent extra health and damage | Biome Points, Nitra focused goals, environmental damage practice |
| Hollow Bough | Hazard 1 to 5, enemies at 10 percent extra health and damage | Biome Points, vine mining goals, the best test of whether your escape routes are planned |
| Salt Pits | Hazard 1 to 5, enemies at 15 percent extra health and damage | Biome Points, fast mining terrain, stalactite triggered crowd damage |
| Azure Weald | Hazard 1 to 5, periodic spawn waves | Biome Points, healing crystals, jump pad terrain destruction |
Crystalline Caverns: The Jewel of Hoxxes and the standard biome, purple terrain studded with crystal formations and no enemy stat penalty at all. It carries five hazard levels with goals covering weapon upgrades and resource collection, which makes it the place to learn a new class before taking it anywhere harder.
Magma Core: Dark rock and lava, with angry glyphids, lava vents and exploding plants as hazards. Enemies here carry 5 percent extra health and damage, and the hazard goals push you to trigger the explosive plants deliberately and to collect Nitra rather than avoiding the terrain.
Hollow Bough: A maze of regrowing vines and thorns where the terrain fights back. Brown vines regrow after you mine them and red vines damage you on contact, so routes you dug a minute ago close behind you. Enemies carry 10 percent extra health and damage.
Salt Pits: White rock that mines easily except along the dark grey strips, plus unstable stalactites and Q'ronar enemies. Mining the crystal clusters triggers falling stalactites, which is a hazard you control the timing of. Enemies carry 15 percent extra health and damage.
Azure Weald: A bioluminescent wet biome with trees, jump pads that destroy terrain and healing crystals in place of the usual Red Sugar. Enemies arrive in periodic spawn patterns rather than as a steady trickle, which changes the rhythm of a dive more than any stat modifier would.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- This is a separate game from Deep Rock Galactic. That one is a first person four player co-op shooter from Ghost Ship Games; this is a top down single player auto shooter by Funday Games where weapons fire on their own and you never aim.
- Mining is the actual skill. Gold and Nitra buy weapon upgrades in the shop between stages, and the tunnels you carve decide from which direction the swarm can reach you, so digging is both economy and defence.
- Gold, Nitra and Red Sugar are spent inside a dive and never carry over. Only meta resources and Credits persist, and those buy Meta Upgrades from the main menu that apply to every class.
- Overclocks come at weapon levels 6, 12 and 18. Balanced ones at 6 and 12 are trades like Bigger Mags, which gives 100 percent clip size for 10 percent reload speed, and the level 18 Unstable slot is where a run's identity is decided.
- The Favourite is the clearest example of an Unstable overclock. It gives one weapon 100 percent extra damage and fire rate while cutting 30 percent from everything else you carry, which only works if you have already committed to a single weapon.
- Stage five is structured differently from stages one to four. It contains only a Supply Drop, three Eggs and the Dreadnought, so clear the Eggs before the Elites hatch into a fight you have to run at the same time as the boss.
- On stage five the Supply Drop drains half the Dreadnought's health rather than killing an Elite. Taking it early rather than saving it for an emergency is usually the right call.
- The Dreadnought telegraphs its lunge by stopping and spreading its arms. The moment that happens, run 90 degrees to the side rather than backward, because backward keeps you inside the lunge path.
- Weapons are tagged by damage type, family, type and firing style, and Class Mods key off those tags. Gridrunner wants electrical weapons and Operator wants drones, so pick pickups by tag rather than by which name you recognise.
- Red Sugar heals immediately when picked up and can also affect specific artifact bonuses, while Morkite exists mainly for secondary objectives rather than for combat power.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Expecting the co-op shooter. There is no aiming, no four player team and no first person view here, and the class names are the only thing the two games share directly.
- Standing in open caverns rather than digging. Open ground lets the swarm surround you from every direction, while a tunnel forces it into a line your weapons can actually clear.
- Spreading weapon levels evenly across four weapons, so none reaches level 18 and the run finishes without a single Unstable overclock.
- Saving the stage five Supply Drop for later, when it only halves the Dreadnought's health and taking it early gives you the whole fight to work with.
- Ignoring Nitra and Gold while surviving comfortably, then reaching the shop between stages with nothing to spend and falling behind the difficulty curve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same as Deep Rock Galactic?
No. Deep Rock Galactic is a four player first person co-op shooter from Ghost Ship Games. Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is a single player top down auto shooter built by Funday Games and published by Ghost Ship Publishing, where weapons fire automatically and you control movement and mining only. They share the setting, the classes and the weapon names.
What classes are in Deep Rock Galactic Survivor?
Scout, Gunner, Engineer and Driller are the four base classes, each with three Class Mods that set your starting weapon and specialisation. The Demolisher is a fifth class added by the paid Heavy Duty Expansion on 30 April 2026, riding the Rockdozer and bringing 11 new weapons that other classes can also reach through the tag system.
What biomes are there?
Crystalline Caverns, Magma Core, Hollow Bough, Salt Pits and Azure Weald in the base game, with Glacial Strata added by the Heavy Duty Expansion. Enemy difficulty rises with the biome, from no modifier in Crystalline Caverns to 15 percent extra health and damage in Salt Pits, and Biome Points from biome goals open the more hazardous ones.
How do overclocks work?
Weapons level up during a dive from the upgrade cards you pick. A balanced overclock can be chosen at weapon level 6 and again at 12, and a single Unstable overclock at level 18. Balanced options are modest trades, while Unstable ones are extreme, which is why pushing one weapon to 18 usually beats levelling several to 12.
How long is a dive?
Five stages. Stages one to four each involve surviving, collecting the Supply Drop and killing the Elite before taking the Drop Pod deeper. Stage five contains a Supply Drop, three Eggs that hatch into Elites, and the Dreadnought, which hits considerably harder than anything before it.
More Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Guides
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Best Builds
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Tier List
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Walkthrough
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Beginner's Guide
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Tips & Tricks
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Weapons Guide
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Combat Guide
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Boss Guide
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Maps & Locations
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Crafting Guide
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Classes & Characters
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