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 walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Build | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Crystalline Caverns | Auto firing weapons and manual mining basics | Gunner | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Magma Core | Five stage dives and Supply Drops mastery | Gunner | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | Hollow Bough | Overclocks at weapon levels 6, 12 and 18 + gear | Scout or Gunner | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Salt Pits | Build optimization | Scout | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Azure Weald | Min-max | Scout or Demolisher | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (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.
Level/Difficulty: Hazard 1 to 5, default enemy difficulty Key Rewards: Biome Points, baseline Class Mod unlocks, safe hazard level practice
What to Do in Crystalline Caverns
- Learn 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. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Gunner as your starting build. See our builds guide for why.
- 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.
- Acquire your first equipment upgrade: "Lead Storm" Powered Minigun or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Auto firing weapons and manual mining fundamentals
- Gunner selected and functional
- Crystalline Caverns main content cleared
- Ready for Magma Core
Phase 2: Early Game (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.
Level/Difficulty: Hazard 1 to 5, enemies at 5 percent extra health and damage Key Rewards: Biome Points, Nitra focused goals, environmental damage practice
What to Do in Magma Core
- Work on Five stage dives and Supply Drops. A dive is five stages. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for "Lead Storm" Powered Minigun if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- 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.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to Hollow Bough.
- Consider whether Scout might suit your playstyle better than Gunner.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Five stage dives and Supply Drops integrated into gameplay
- "Lead Storm" Powered Minigun acquired
- Magma Core fully cleared
- Ready for Hollow Bough
Phase 3: Mid Game (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.
Level/Difficulty: Hazard 1 to 5, enemies at 10 percent extra health and damage Key Rewards: Biome Points, vine mining goals, the best test of whether your escape routes are planned
What to Do in Hollow Bough
- Master Overclocks at weapon levels 6, 12 and 18. Weapons gain levels during a dive from the upgrade cards you pick. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Deepcore GK2. It's the best equipment and becomes accessible around now.
- 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.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in Class Mods and weapon tags for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Overclocks at weapon levels 6, 12 and 18 mastered
- Deepcore GK2 acquired or in progress
- Hollow Bough fully cleared
- Ready for Salt Pits
Phase 4: Late Game (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.
Level/Difficulty: Hazard 1 to 5, enemies at 15 percent extra health and damage Key Rewards: Biome Points, fast mining terrain, stalactite triggered crowd damage
What to Do in Salt Pits
- Finalize your build. You should be running Scout or Gunner with optimized gear.
- Deepcore GK2 should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- 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.
- Meta Upgrades, Milestones and Gear optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Azure Weald.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Deepcore GK2 upgraded to max
- Salt Pits fully cleared
- Ready for Azure Weald
Phase 5: Endgame (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.
Level/Difficulty: Hazard 1 to 5, periodic spawn waves Key Rewards: Biome Points, healing crystals, jump pad terrain destruction
What to Do in Azure Weald
- Azure Weald tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- 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.
- The endgame loop: run Azure Weald, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Demolisher for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Meta Upgrades, Milestones and Gear mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Azure Weald fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- 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.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- 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.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Guides
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Overview
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Best Builds
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor Tier List
- 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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