In Deep Rock Galactic, there is one ideology that rises above all: Rock and Stone, until it is done. Working for DRG has its benefits, like drinking on the job and the ability, nay, requirement that all workers blast bugs to bits with big bazookas. Granted, there are seven different ways to work through rocks, stones, and other naturally-occurring elements in the game proper. Some are more straightforward than others.
As a procedurally generated title, all runs could be different in some subtle ways — and even more different now after update 33’s new biomes and enemies are thrown in the mix. The mission types and what is required of all the dwarves entering the inner chasms of Hoxxes IV typically stay the same, however. Here is a little primer on all seven mission types that can be encountered in Deep Rock Galactic, and what exactly they may ask of any given employee.
7 Mining Expedition
The mining expeditions are the most straightforward of all the missions. It’s the mission that lets the dwarves do what dwarves do best: mine! A lot! They also build fortresses, sometimes with better graphics.
All that is asked of the space-faring rock smashers is to loot Hoxxes IV of all its internal resources by brute force. Make sure the pickaxes are sharp since the ole bossman usually asks for 200 Morkite on the lowest difficulty. High-risk, high-level players need to track down 400 Morkite.
Once the dwarf’s accompanying M.U.L.E is full of that tasty Morkite, miners can call for evac. Once activated, players have five minutes to hustle to the landing zone and escape to live and work another day.
6 Egg Hunt
Don’t get excited, this isn’t Easter or anything. There’s no basket holding the eggs, no rabbit; just Glyphid bugs ready to tear dwarves limb from limb. Not exactly ham worthy now, is it? Where are Ripley and her flamethrower from the Alien movies when you need ’em?
The mission itself is rather simple: depending on length/difficulty, dwarves will need to collect 4-8 mysterious, alien eggs. The eggs are in fleshy, skin-like wall sacs that will need to be pickaxed into. They can be deposited into the M.U.L.E like any other big stone. Be warned, though, that when grabbing the egg, there’s a more-than-better chance of triggering a swarm.
Once all the eggs are collected, dwarves can signal for the drop pod and are given five minutes to escape. Make it back in one piece and maybe there will be a giant weird omelet waiting.
5 On-Site Refining
On-Site Refining has players transforming from pure and honest miners into big, hot-shot oil riggers. There are three liquid Morkite wells hidden some distance away from the central mobile refinery. It’s up to players to find the well, build the pipeline, funnel the Morkite into the central unit, and protect it all before escaping. At least players don’t have to navigate underwater rigging, an idea the devs had early in development.
Laying these pipes is harder than any of those Bioshock water tube puzzle things - which may be coming back soon, per some job postings. Nodes have to be placed, then the pipes must be built by the dwarves. Nodes can be started either from the well or the central refinery, but need to be relatively level, not too bendy, not too steep, and not too far away from each other.
Once the nodes are placed and pipes built to all three wells, the extraction process actually begins. All pipelines need to be defended from the swarms of bugs that will now be heading the refinery’s way. Luckily, dwarves can skate on the pipes to track down trouble areas and repair holes or leaks quickly.
This time, once all the Morkite has been refined, the drop pod comes immediately without being called for, making escape quick and easy for once.
4 Salvage Operation
Someone — most likely one of the 2 million people who have bought this game — left some poor, poor mini-M.U.L.Es behind a few expeditions back, and Deep Rock Galactic really, really needs them back. Thus begins another Salvage Operation to save 2-3 of the little buggers. Not a particularly hard mission, but a time-consuming one to be sure.
Players will need to navigate the caverns to find the broken mini-M.U.L.Es, which make their presence known with a green aura and loud beep. They’ll need three legs to be reattached, and players can usually find them within a short walking distance of the broken-down bot. Once all mini-M.U.L.Es have been fixed, players can activate the regular-sized M.U.L.E to merge with a broken drop pod somewhere on the map.
The hearty dwarves will, once following the M.U.L.E to the pod, have to repair a communications module near the pod. Once activated, players need to stay within the radius of the uplink and defend it from the oncoming swarms. Upon completion of the triangulation process, a fuel pod will drop down nearby, which players will also have to repair and defend. Once the fueling process is complete, dwarves can just hop into the pod and escape!
3 Point Extraction
Point Extractions are a lot of fun and tend to stand out from the other types due to the inclusion of the heavily armored Mine Head, a stationary platform armed with three heavy machine gun turrets. Players will need them, as the collection of 7-10 Aquarq rocks takes a while and makes those bugs real dang angry.
Players drop in with the Mine Head, which illuminates the gigantic cavern arena dwarves find themselves in. The Aquarq glows brightly hidden in the ice, which makes them very easy to find. Dwarves have to go snag them and bring them back to the Mine Head’s depositories (no M.U.L.E. this time). Some zip lines may come in handy! Be wary of the occasional swarm, too. And don’t forget to murder all of the adorable loot bugs in the area.
Once all the Aquarq has been collected, send the receptacle off to central. A two-minute waiting period will happen before a drop pod arrives, which will stay open for another three minutes. Feel free to leave whenever, though, as the swarms will just keep increasing until all dwarves have departed.
2 Escort Duty
In one of the newer mission-types, added post-launch with update 32, even the toughest dwarves will be put to the test. Escort Duty tasks DRG employees with protecting a massive Drilldozer as it burrows deep into the Hoxxes IV core towards a giant Ommoran Heartstone. Measly pickaxes can’t do anything against the Heartstone’s mighty exterior, which is why bringing in the big drill is necessary. The Drilldozer cannot defend itself from the hordes of bugs, though; that’s why DRG needs the escort crew.
The Drilldozer also runs out of fuel at least once (increasing on higher mission length) before reaching the Heartstone. Dwarves have to grab one of two of the Drilldozer’s fuel canisters and manually process nearby oil shale with the canister’s laser. Upon return of both full canisters, dwarves can hop back on and repair any damage the Drilldozer took — and it will take a lot, and can be easily destroyed if left unattended — as it restarts its descent.
Then, once the crew and Drilldozer are at the Heartstone and the drilling starts, bugs come in massive waves. On top of that, once the Heartstone’s health has depleted enough, this mini-boss battle adds new attacks. The first added attack are flying boulders that quick-acting sharpshooters will need to blast out of the sky before they damage the Drilldozer. The hardest part of the whole ordeal comes next with the crystal towers that spawn and shoot absolutely devastating lasers at the Drilldozer. Players will need to run and pickaxe these towers quickly or it’s game over.
Once the Ommoran Core is secured, players can call for evac and hoof it back to the drop pod.
1 Elimination
In another one of update 32’s new missions, dwarves are tasked with becoming giant slayers. Glyphid Dreadnoughts have been discovered deep in the bowels of Hoxxes IV, and they must be wiped out. This is the only purely combat-focused mission, with no mining required technically…but players are gonna need all the Nitra they can get.
Dwarves can find the Dreadnoughts sleeping inside ominous-looking cocoons that also sound like a heartbeat. Once disturbed, the cocoon opens and the fight begins. Luckily for players, swarms do not spawn during Elimination missions, although smaller groups may still attack at any point. The only way a Dreadnought can be damaged is by first destroying the abdominal shell, then shooting that juicy stomach meat with everything available.
Once the two or three Dreadnoughts have been defeated, dwarves can call the escape pod from the M.U.L.E. like normal, and escape. It is stuff like this that leads people to say that Deep Rock Galactic is the most metal game around.
NEXT: Chipping Away In The Dark - The Making Of Deep Rock Galactic
