@@SpidzWT low o2 is indeed fun, theres many strategy where you spawn those supply pods and when to go back to refill o2, how to defend with constant o2, etc but if you play drg long enough, that become annoying, lol theres another type of gameplay you probably didnt knew, its an objective speedrun, not only your adaptive strategy is tested heavily, you also need to do adventure and the mission progression fast, and agro + fighting the enemy fast axis kronos, benicopter, and spurrrg is good example how to be fast for any class note, dont start something or click buttons on random lobby, speedrunner enjoyer love that, but the host might just want to enjoy his game slower and adventure the whole cave
Fun Fact about the dreadnoughts. For a very long time durring the games development history there was only 1 type dreadnought. The twins and the hive guard were added just before the game started doing seasons and it added some much needed variety to elimination missions. I do agree though that it might be time to add another 1 or 2 types though. Also at one point in the early days of early access the dreadnought's armor did not regenerate and it had way less attacks than it does now.
i think the darkness is handled in a really interesting way. lighting up areas to reveal stuff feels satisfying, and you have just enough light resources to stop the dark from feeling oppressive if you manage them correctly
I think one aspect of the classes and the strategy you talk about is how differently they make you **see** the caves. As an engineer you think of how and where to place your platforms, the driller thinks of ways of carving the terrain, the scout of where to grapple to. This, to me, is very interesting as it makes each cave feel completely different depending on which class you play as (and what classes are with you in the dive).
Don't forget Gunner. Lot of people clown on the Zipline but players who're smarter than a mango salad need to make a spiderweb. Love setting up intersecting lines above a space we'll spend a lot of time in. There have been times I'd never touch the ground near the core stone, raining ordinance straight down
At the time of making the video, I'd only something like 8 levels in Gunner -- had barely played him, as his ordnance doesn't really interest me. I recently checked out spiderwebbing (especially since I only recently learnt you could jump and grab different lines mid-air) and it's definitely an incredibly rewarding strategy. Really feels like a Gunner-only method of viewing things: You can create mid-air battlements with some engineer platforms, but you can't really look down and shoot below with them in the same way interlocked ziplines can. "players who're smarter than a mango salad" is a great line too lol
10:01 One thing is on specific biomes with those trees that have 5 purple orbs at the end of their branches. If you hit all 5 with your pickaxe or shoot them, they will stay lit up forever, and produce about the same amount of light as a scout's flare. The light is purple colored. Of course this light is super situational, based on where the trees are, but that it another strong light source outside of what you mentioned.
Gonna be honest I had to look this up (cheers to the wiki's 'biome features' page) and I never knew this! This is fantastic, really appreciate you bringin this to my attention. Cheers!
13:35 I highly recommend the GDC talk "Making Games That Stand Out and Survive". It talks about the concept of "home" in games and how it allows players to be *in* the game but not make any commitments.
Alright minor update - was unsatisfied with this response so I checked it out at ye olde 1.5x speed. Interesting talk, esp the third section about homes as per your specific mention. I do think that ‘homes’ as a method of reducing friction is interesting, and I can kind of see DRG’s caves kind of following that description inasmuch as saying that by setting up safe locations creates frictionless environments to fall back in, but I don’t think it’s all that similar to the experience I have. That being said, homeness definitely applies with respect to the space rig as well as season missions and the progression systems, similar to his connection to Fortnite. Interesting talk. Deffo work staying up til 1am to satisfy my curiosity.
got recommended yer vid on my yt homepage. vid rocks. i almost exclsuively play pubs, as i dont have any friends, really, to play with). 600 hrs in and we're still gamin. glad 2 have another cool player on the rig
+1 on everything you said, especially felt seen at the mention about why on-site refining stands above all other modes. Main thing I feel you didn't mention was about the scout, where I think one of the main things that make it special is how the unlimited vertical movement makes you view the whole cave in completely different perspective than the more vertically limited classes do. You end up having your own nooks where you stalk the cave life from, where you flee when things get too chaotic, and own shortcuts that no other dwarf has visited and due to random generation never will. edit: obviously I don't know you at all and have only watched this single video, but just wanted to add that based on the things you appreciate about DRG I feel like you might enjoy Hardspace: Shipbreaker. It's a game about breaking spaceships into parts, and being in debt.
Yeah, I tried to slyly mention that for the scout when talking about ‘generalised grappling hook dodging patterns’, but I completely agree. All classes interact with the cave on a unique axis and feels pretty rewarding. Thanks for the rec, I’ll give it a looksie.
Some things to add on the simple +1 from above now that I've had some sleep: - I like the format you're doing here, it's some sort of analytical but heavily opinionated review, at times even moving towards video essay structure :) - As you mentioned early in the video you're covering a viewpoint that's often missing from available reviews, that instantly comes with value. If not from the majority audience but at least from people who value similar things in games. This is again where video essays come to mind as there are multiple good analytical gaming related creators in that space, less so in opinionated review space. And couple DRG related things that personally like that don't get mentioned that often: - Decision that overclocks are random and it's a slow grind. It creates a second layer of progress, but also makes it less about everyone playing identical meta builds. I really value both of those things, but I do also know a bunch of people who disagree. - Speaking of builds, there's just enough of options in weapon configurations and overclocks that theorycrafting, optimizing and testing builds is fun. Its no path of exile, but unlike PoE in DRG you can fully play without thinking about build at all but for the ones who enjoy it the layer is there. - Stupid gunner movement, no way around it. The main thing that makes it more tolerable for me is using coil gun with long duration electric field, or especially coil gun with Mole overclock. While it doesn't help with movement itself, it at least creates a gameplay where you are constantly interacting with the environment, looking for opportunities to multiply your damage by chaining obstacles between you and the target. tl;dr: subscribed and will check out future content when new videos happen to drop!
I'm surprised that industrial sabotage is that high on your list. I think most long time players, generally, don't like it. Not because it's a bad mission inherently, but because of how much they needed to play it during the season when it was introduced and it now is a more sour experience because of it. The gap between the 'real' mission enjoyability and players bad memories of it is very interesting to see from videos that don't have that bias baked in from their past negative experiences
Interesting. I know a couple of people despise the lithophage form/vac event due to Season 4, althought I don't really mind it. I can totally see that annoying me though -- If there was a world where On Site Refining was done way more due to the season event I'd probably rate it low too.
Interesting how you think about DRG in a more strategic sense, as I didn't really think about DRG like that when I played, just going through the motions and "adjusting" when the situation arose, like I just place my turrets down or go "Oh a new room with enemies at the end of this tunnel, might as well place my turrets" or "Oh a swarm is incoming I should place my turrets" I was only really concerned about my turrets being placed, if they had ammo, or which way I should face them, 95% of my 1100+ hour playtime was with randoms in public lobbies, I don't think I would've played for that long without the multiplayer CO-OP as it's nearly half of the fun for me, though I don't have full on friends so that's maybe why :P, Some of the things you like about DRG aren't even things I consider thinking about when I think of things I like about DRG, like how you think the caves are a thing to become familiar with so they start to feel like a home a place you have now mastered, Also YOU LIKE THE LOW OXYGEN MODIFIER!? WHAT!?
I like the idea behind and the stress that low oxygen creates haha, although again I have only done it in duos with VC. The noise it makes when you're low though definitely grates on me haha.
Loved the vid! The environmental-strategy discourse is something I can relate strongly to, as a Driller main, but to say the truth, I've never really thought about it that way. This video helped me remember fondly some pretty cozy caves I've been to in my 200+ hours with DRG and now I appreciate this game even more ;D Also, your speed of talking is actually perfect!
Love your voice so much *w* Also it's first time I'm hearing that somebody enjoy low oxygen missions. May be this modifier not that bad and shouldn't be deleted from the game as I thought from the very first time I experienced it :D Really good video overall! Rock and Stone!
I look forward to a future drg video. There’s so much to learn and see and do. My player level is above 200 and even then I’ve seen people with player levels of 2000 (or something crazy like that)! Oh, and once you unlock all upgrades and overclocks to where you can experiment freely with builds; that’s something special I don’t get from any other game. Rock and stone miner! Well done.
I think the cilture and the thematic elements of DRG that you are talking about are not so loved on their own, but because the gameplay and the strategy are so great that people find is that much more pleasing to associate with those themes and roleplay and the V button So don't be confused by the majority of people liking those elements more than you, it's more likely that people just find that way of expressing love for the game, for the same points you are mentioning before, much easier Tl;dr: You don't need to love DRG for Rock and Stone, you need to Rock and Stone to show how much you love DRG
The ability for each individual class to modify their kit to be as generalist or as specialist as possible is beautiful to me. A successful team could consist of four of one class or one of each! (Maybe not 4 gunners though lol) Just depending on how each character builds their kit for wave clear and single target damage. And the different mission types and biomes meaningfully factor into which class and loadout you feel most confident with. PLUS ghost ship games runs the most ethical/consumer friendly live service “battlepass” system on the entire market. I Cant get over how much i love the game.
This is such a fun video to watch! :D The ideas are well presented and it's very enjoyable! Personally, Industrial Sabotage is starting to get repetitive for me since it's mostly the same. Hacked the same 2 stations, and fought the same upside-down pinhead 160 times? I feel like what you said with the Dread's could also apply here. I love Sabotage, I just think it needs a bit more variance, like maybe different caretakers(?) like maybe instead of vents to open the eye, you hack nodes. Like something crazy like that idk. Maybe it's just me, but due to its predicable nature, all my builds just converge. Especially as a mostly solo player, Cryo Driller on Caretaker Haz 5 is... I mean, any build is possible but it ends up being too much work, not fun, and not worth that I just end up picking the Sludge every time I go Sabo
DRG Engineer is the grease between the gears of his team. His job is to support the actions of the other classes, whether that be helping Scout get minerals, filling the holes in a Driller bunker with platforms, or setting up defense with Gunner. He can do any of the team’s jobs well enough on his own, just not as well as the rest, which is what makes him perfect for helping them all out.
Mate, I thought *I* was a fast talker, but you have me beat 😅 I also have adhd so subtitles were a must! Also pro tip for anyone reading this, play at 0.75 speed if you have trouble following. Apart from that, good vid 😊 Rock and Stone!
I feel like some of your thoughts on this game apply really well to Don't Starve aswell. The terrain generation in ds is varied similar to drg, and you spend a lot of time in a world, so at some point, you'll develop routes from point to point and areas you frequent. Every unique world starts to feel like home at some point, and remember the layout of most of my long term worlds. Light is also very interesting, as darkness kills you and light sources are temporary, so ds turns darkness into a really strong resource management game. Ds is really good in turning things that are solved pretty easily in other games, like light in minecraft, into involved systems with lots of variables and solutions, making them incredibly interesting.
2 tips. Remember to switch between classes. Since they all play differently, keeping them on rotation keeps the games fresh. Gunner shine when you play with others. This is not something intuitive, because most people think you play gunner for the big gun. But gunner shines when he get to save teammates with shield and put up zip lines before boss fight to give the whole team gun platforms. He really is more the healer than the gunner,,, in my experience. But big gun is also fun.
Well said...I'm looking for Teamwork and DRG is the best Co-op game I've ever played in this regard. The ROCK and Stone is morale boosting..a strategy of Bards and communication. It's strategic for a good time! ;)
Personally I actually really like the darkness. I think its at a perfect level where it means something but isn't insanely annoying, which for a lot of games is something they struggle with. There is a certain dopamine hit when I throw a flare and light up walls of glistening gold and nitra, or to my horror, reveal a tide of grunts. Scout's flare gun really compounds this by allowing you to beautifully light up entire caverns revealing all their little secrets. I think I would genuinely like the game less if the darkness mechanic wasn't where it is now. Anything more, and it would be annoying, anything less and it wouldn't allow those real "dwarfy" moments. Just my piece.
I think I fell in love with DRG for more or less the same reasons as you, developing strategy on the fly is neat (repellent platforms are king in that regard). However, DRG is a roguelite that eventually turns into a roguelike if you play it for long enough. After 1000 hours I recognise cave tilesets and I don't so much make up strategies anymore, but rather pull an ol' reliable out of my deck when needed. I have a suspicion that is why a lot of the DRG videos you watched didn't really mention that aspect of the game, as the novelty of that aspect eventually, mostly, wears off. I also agree with you on the cave becoming a home thing, the drop pod run is always a nice epilogue montage in which you get to run through all the devastation you implemented over the course of the mission.
After almost 1k hours in the game my main seems to be the gunner, but I play other classes a lot and the engineer is my 2nd most played. And I really like the rework on the stubby combined with plascrete catalyst diffractor. Setting up platform "mine fields" in key points to detonate them later is very fun and satisfying, but I'm ngl this build is not very ammo efficient and overall I die with it more often than say with warthog and an inferno breach cutter
A bug playing drg? can't be good for your health to be slaughtering your bretheren. Also plenty of people take into the strategy of the game, my favorite thing in the game has to be the engineers platform gun with how versatile it is. It can be used to climb and break a fall, patch up holes your teammates might fall into and even creating extra floor onto an uplink that's on the edge of a cliff. But the biggest reason I like it has to be the repellant additive, when used to its full potential it can be used to min max bug pathing to be funneled tightly and out of the ceiling in a tunnel or on uplink make a roof that makes the bugs come from the sides instead of from above. It has its limits though so you cant make an U shape on flat ground to make the bugs come from only 1 direction, how i like to set up uplinks is block off the back so they dont come from behind, then set up the platforms so they come from 2 of the sides and use turret arc (now called micro conductor addons) to shoot turrets to make a line that covers both entrances. Now that you can shoot the platforms itll work as well.
One of the biggest personal issues i have with DRG is the fact that all the classes have some free form movement ability... except for the Gunner, Engineer has platforms, Scout has a Hook, Driller can shape the damn walls to his liking and all Gunner gets is a measly zipline that is slow, leaves you very vulnurable and only has niche usages like with Dotty oil refuel or extremely large open caves, for example. I get that Gunner has his upsides built into his heavy firepower and spirit's refuge (shield generator) but in a game where every environment is randomly generated and you can play solo you'd except every class to have independent strong mobility tools. If you ask me i'd just straight up give Gunner a rocket launcher so that i can perform rocket jumps in DRG and be a happy dwarf man.
A rocket launcher is a pretty funny idea lmoa I do find this aspect interesting -- each class has 1-2 aspects that they obviously struggle w/ a fair bit (my general understanding is that it's aoe for scout, 'defense' for engi, single target for driller, and movement for gunner), but I think with gunner it uniquely feels super slow and punishing. I think the same is kind of true for light for every-non-scout class too, it feels quite punishing to not have vision. The zipline is one of a few reasons why I've barely played the gunner -- most of my experiences feel pretty unsatisfying, esp again compared to the other 3 classes.
ziplines ain't the best mobility tool, but they can be very useful for survival. It grants immunity to physical attacks, although it makes you vulnerable to ranged attacks. This is pretty useful for core stone events, in fact a single gunner can do a core stone event without taking damage using only a zipline and two shields.
I've come to appreciate the zipline as a foil to the grappling hook. Engi and Driller are allowed to shape the terrain to their liking, while Scout and Gunner can simply ignore it. Yes, you don't have many ziplines to work with, but in the situations when you do need them (getting Dotty's head up a steep cliff, crossing a bulk crater in magma core, setting up a 20 Meter Radius Emerald Splash on Point Extraction) they are incredibly useful.
honestly, i kinda dont like elimination missions either. there are only 3 bosses and only 1 of them plays in a way i consider even remotely fun (the regular dreadnought) i could write a full 10 minute script on how much i hate both the twins and hiveguard, they just have so many elements that i consider annoying for the sake of being annoying
Unrelated but i noticed that the color scheme of your characters robes/clothes is very reminiscing of the trans flag and wondering if it's intentional or not Also great video :)
Kek yeah, I’ve heard this a lot in my life, but even I noticed it when editing this haha. Maybe I should set up a slow by 90% or something lmoa. Hope it wasn’t tooooo much of a problem
High ground is actually not that good for sentries in DRG. Sentries target center mass. If you put them up high, they will only get bodyshots because they're shooting down on enemies. Whereas if you put them around level with bug's heads, they get headshots.
Holy hell, I had no idea sentries could hit weakpoints - in fact my experience with sentries not hitting the special-points in some dreadnoughts semi-solidified that thought to me. I think high ground still has a decent amount of value when it comes to aiming and creating defensive zones, and making the turret take less time to recalibrate targets, but minmaxing damage and ammo by having them hit weakpoints is huge. I also think I run Armor shredding, so maybe I’ve noticed it less due to that. Nonetheless, this is new info and very cool to learn. Thanks!
@@SpidzWTyea, generally I still put them in high places because they cover more ground and can hit more targets. But then again that's from the perspective of someone that uses Engineer the least. I generally use the turret more as an optional means of attacking (unless it's defending type situations) which... I can tell would annoy Engineer mains when they see my gameplay
The only way when putting sentry on the high ground is preferable is when you are using a turret whip mod for warthog and the hawkeye system mod for the turret. Since well, you want more range for your sentry when using the turret whip mod
Your dislike on darkness might be cause you play mostly Solo, the flares are just not balanced right around it. With 4 dwarves throwing flares and a bigger chance someone will be scout, along the fact you can see each other and scan the cave much faster, darkness doesn't become such a problem. I would describe it in one way for most games that don't have an infinite flashlight, darkness is an enviromental hazard you need to navigate through, It cripples your vision, forces you to do resource management with the things that make you see, and adds to the atmopshere as a creepier theme. In DRG, it encourages the team to stay together along other mechanics, gives scout a job, and makes certain enemies better because you don't see everything.If the caves of Hoxxes we're always well lighted, it would lose a lot of it's atmosphere and charm. But in Solo, it just causes a lot more backtracking and makes exploring for minerals and other things a pain.
It’s not too far from my natural talking speed at times (talking speed fluctuates depending on topic / people obviously) - I’ve had people mention this to me IRL for years, as well as often as a reaction to this video. I’ll likely have to slow myself down in future - it’s not something I think about often so I didn’t realise it’d be such a problem in this. Hopefully despite that this was somewhat enjoyable, apologies if it was a hassle haha.
One of the most infuriating, and constant, experiences I have in pubs is when people build roofs over or walls around objectives. It's tactically inane! Built out of some instinct to create cover, not understanding that WE have the ranged weapons, the BUGS do not!
@@sergeantsainsburys9181 if there are too many platforms in one place that mechanic just straight up stops working (intentionally). There's a good video somewhere out there that breaks it down
@@MrSaturn012UA-cam channel "Gaming Existence", video name "Platform Repellent Guide - Deep Rock Galactic". I personally think that you've either had a bad experience or you actually don't understand how it actually works. (Psst, don't stand on, or too close to the bug repellent platforms). If you actually have a skilled Engineer and Driller that are proactive and effective at setting up defensive structures, it is good. Unfortunately there's no official guide (in-game) to teach players how to do it. As for building roofs over the uplink and fuel pump on salvage missions, that is very helpful for defenses against mactera and spitters. "We have ranged weapons, the BUGS do not!" - the bugs don't "have guns" but about half the bugs have ranged attacks. I have to ask, what's your typical hazard level? Because on low hazard levels, I can understand your thoughts; on high hazard levels (hazard 4, 5, 5+, and EDDs), those defensive structures make holdouts way more consistent in holding ground and preventing wipes. Lastly, if you don't like it, perhaps you should host the game and have a detailed server introduction message stating it isn't allowed? Or play solo, or play with friends, build a discord server of people that you like to play with. There's so many options.
@@MrSaturn012 best bug repellent platform guides UA-cam Channel: "waste" UA-cam Video Title: "DRG: Deep Rock's Most Underutilized Tool - A Repellant Crash Course" UA-cam Channel: "Gaming Existence" UA-cam Video Title: "Platform Repellent Guide - Deep Rock Galactic"
@@MrSaturn012I wrote a pretty in-depth reply to start with and UA-cam did not like it, for some reason. I often get my comments shadow banned for saying controversial things, lol. But the summary of it, was asking you what hazard levels that you typically play at? Because at higher hazard levels 4, 5, 5+, 6x2, and Elite Deep Dives, defensive structures are basically required for holding ground, and preventing team wipes.
Rock and Stone!
Rock me like a Stone!
Technically speaking, rocking, is more legal, than stoning. Ehh? Ehh?
rock and stone or you ain't going home!
That's it lads, Rock and Stone!
Rock and stone - to the heart!
Calling low oxygen fun really highlights that you don’t play in public lobbies 😂
that's actually an incredible point haha, didn't even think of that, i haven't had the awful experience i've read so many others having
Throw a IFG at this guy lmao
@@SpidzWT low o2 is indeed fun, theres many strategy where you spawn those supply pods and when to go back to refill o2, how to defend with constant o2, etc
but if you play drg long enough, that become annoying, lol
theres another type of gameplay you probably didnt knew, its an objective speedrun, not only your adaptive strategy is tested heavily, you also need to do adventure and the mission progression fast, and agro + fighting the enemy fast
axis kronos, benicopter, and spurrrg is good example how to be fast for any class
note, dont start something or click buttons on random lobby, speedrunner enjoyer love that, but the host might just want to enjoy his game slower and adventure the whole cave
Imagine Low Oxygen and Blood Sugar 😵💫
12:03
Me watching hundreds of DRG analysis/review videos to get an idea of whether or not I should purchase this game I already have thousands of hours in
Same
It's good to know wether I should buy the game a 6th time for a friend
a drg "review" that gives focus to the parts that i love about it AND is fully captioned? truly amazing work here!
Fun Fact about the dreadnoughts. For a very long time durring the games development history there was only 1 type dreadnought. The twins and the hive guard were added just before the game started doing seasons and it added some much needed variety to elimination missions. I do agree though that it might be time to add another 1 or 2 types though.
Also at one point in the early days of early access the dreadnought's armor did not regenerate and it had way less attacks than it does now.
"low oxygen is a fun modifier"
said nobody ever
As someone playing MP only I find it very interesting and fun. Just different
i think the darkness is handled in a really interesting way. lighting up areas to reveal stuff feels satisfying, and you have just enough light resources to stop the dark from feeling oppressive if you manage them correctly
Plus THE SCOUT
HELL YEAH I LOVE SCOUT CLASS
I think one aspect of the classes and the strategy you talk about is how differently they make you **see** the caves. As an engineer you think of how and where to place your platforms, the driller thinks of ways of carving the terrain, the scout of where to grapple to. This, to me, is very interesting as it makes each cave feel completely different depending on which class you play as (and what classes are with you in the dive).
Don't forget Gunner. Lot of people clown on the Zipline but players who're smarter than a mango salad need to make a spiderweb. Love setting up intersecting lines above a space we'll spend a lot of time in. There have been times I'd never touch the ground near the core stone, raining ordinance straight down
@@kingsadvisor18 exactly my point
At the time of making the video, I'd only something like 8 levels in Gunner -- had barely played him, as his ordnance doesn't really interest me. I recently checked out spiderwebbing (especially since I only recently learnt you could jump and grab different lines mid-air) and it's definitely an incredibly rewarding strategy. Really feels like a Gunner-only method of viewing things: You can create mid-air battlements with some engineer platforms, but you can't really look down and shoot below with them in the same way interlocked ziplines can.
"players who're smarter than a mango salad" is a great line too lol
10:01 One thing is on specific biomes with those trees that have 5 purple orbs at the end of their branches. If you hit all 5 with your pickaxe or shoot them, they will stay lit up forever, and produce about the same amount of light as a scout's flare. The light is purple colored.
Of course this light is super situational, based on where the trees are, but that it another strong light source outside of what you mentioned.
Gonna be honest I had to look this up (cheers to the wiki's 'biome features' page) and I never knew this! This is fantastic, really appreciate you bringin this to my attention. Cheers!
13:35 I highly recommend the GDC talk "Making Games That Stand Out and Survive". It talks about the concept of "home" in games and how it allows players to be *in* the game but not make any commitments.
Thanks for the Rec -- I'll add it to the playlist of doccos that I should watch and inevitably forget to haha.
Alright minor update - was unsatisfied with this response so I checked it out at ye olde 1.5x speed.
Interesting talk, esp the third section about homes as per your specific mention. I do think that ‘homes’ as a method of reducing friction is interesting, and I can kind of see DRG’s caves kind of following that description inasmuch as saying that by setting up safe locations creates frictionless environments to fall back in, but I don’t think it’s all that similar to the experience I have.
That being said, homeness definitely applies with respect to the space rig as well as season missions and the progression systems, similar to his connection to Fortnite.
Interesting talk. Deffo work staying up til 1am to satisfy my curiosity.
got recommended yer vid on my yt homepage. vid rocks. i almost exclsuively play pubs, as i dont have any friends, really, to play with). 600 hrs in and we're still gamin. glad 2 have another cool player on the rig
+1 on everything you said, especially felt seen at the mention about why on-site refining stands above all other modes.
Main thing I feel you didn't mention was about the scout, where I think one of the main things that make it special is how the unlimited vertical movement makes you view the whole cave in completely different perspective than the more vertically limited classes do. You end up having your own nooks where you stalk the cave life from, where you flee when things get too chaotic, and own shortcuts that no other dwarf has visited and due to random generation never will.
edit: obviously I don't know you at all and have only watched this single video, but just wanted to add that based on the things you appreciate about DRG I feel like you might enjoy Hardspace: Shipbreaker. It's a game about breaking spaceships into parts, and being in debt.
Yeah, I tried to slyly mention that for the scout when talking about ‘generalised grappling hook dodging patterns’, but I completely agree. All classes interact with the cave on a unique axis and feels pretty rewarding.
Thanks for the rec, I’ll give it a looksie.
Some things to add on the simple +1 from above now that I've had some sleep:
- I like the format you're doing here, it's some sort of analytical but heavily opinionated review, at times even moving towards video essay structure :)
- As you mentioned early in the video you're covering a viewpoint that's often missing from available reviews, that instantly comes with value. If not from the majority audience but at least from people who value similar things in games. This is again where video essays come to mind as there are multiple good analytical gaming related creators in that space, less so in opinionated review space.
And couple DRG related things that personally like that don't get mentioned that often:
- Decision that overclocks are random and it's a slow grind. It creates a second layer of progress, but also makes it less about everyone playing identical meta builds. I really value both of those things, but I do also know a bunch of people who disagree.
- Speaking of builds, there's just enough of options in weapon configurations and overclocks that theorycrafting, optimizing and testing builds is fun. Its no path of exile, but unlike PoE in DRG you can fully play without thinking about build at all but for the ones who enjoy it the layer is there.
- Stupid gunner movement, no way around it. The main thing that makes it more tolerable for me is using coil gun with long duration electric field, or especially coil gun with Mole overclock. While it doesn't help with movement itself, it at least creates a gameplay where you are constantly interacting with the environment, looking for opportunities to multiply your damage by chaining obstacles between you and the target.
tl;dr: subscribed and will check out future content when new videos happen to drop!
"The flare gun is where he really shines."
but also clearly the shotgun is the goat and don't you forget it
Chill man he probably hasn't gotten special powder yet, but PGL is dope even without overclocks
Which Shotgun? There's two, and many subclass OC Shotguns?
@@bast4rdlyreaper i think he was referring to scout's boomstick i think
I'm surprised that industrial sabotage is that high on your list. I think most long time players, generally, don't like it. Not because it's a bad mission inherently, but because of how much they needed to play it during the season when it was introduced and it now is a more sour experience because of it. The gap between the 'real' mission enjoyability and players bad memories of it is very interesting to see from videos that don't have that bias baked in from their past negative experiences
Interesting. I know a couple of people despise the lithophage form/vac event due to Season 4, althought I don't really mind it.
I can totally see that annoying me though -- If there was a world where On Site Refining was done way more due to the season event I'd probably rate it low too.
Interesting how you think about DRG in a more strategic sense, as I didn't really think about DRG like that when I played, just going through the motions and "adjusting" when the situation arose, like I just place my turrets down or go "Oh a new room with enemies at the end of this tunnel, might as well place my turrets" or "Oh a swarm is incoming I should place my turrets" I was only really concerned about my turrets being placed, if they had ammo, or which way I should face them,
95% of my 1100+ hour playtime was with randoms in public lobbies, I don't think I would've played for that long without the multiplayer CO-OP as it's nearly half of the fun for me, though I don't have full on friends so that's maybe why :P,
Some of the things you like about DRG aren't even things I consider thinking about when I think of things I like about DRG, like how you think the caves are a thing to become familiar with so they start to feel like a home a place you have now mastered,
Also YOU LIKE THE LOW OXYGEN MODIFIER!? WHAT!?
I like the idea behind and the stress that low oxygen creates haha, although again I have only done it in duos with VC. The noise it makes when you're low though definitely grates on me haha.
I like the darkness.
Light becomes a resource to manage, also, even when you find the next cave, you can never be sure what awaits.
ROCK AND STONE!
Loved the vid! The environmental-strategy discourse is something I can relate strongly to, as a Driller main, but to say the truth, I've never really thought about it that way. This video helped me remember fondly some pretty cozy caves I've been to in my 200+ hours with DRG and now I appreciate this game even more ;D Also, your speed of talking is actually perfect!
Love your voice so much *w*
Also it's first time I'm hearing that somebody enjoy low oxygen missions. May be this modifier not that bad and shouldn't be deleted from the game as I thought from the very first time I experienced it :D
Really good video overall! Rock and Stone!
I look forward to a future drg video. There’s so much to learn and see and do. My player level is above 200 and even then I’ve seen people with player levels of 2000 (or something crazy like that)!
Oh, and once you unlock all upgrades and overclocks to where you can experiment freely with builds; that’s something special I don’t get from any other game.
Rock and stone miner! Well done.
I think the cilture and the thematic elements of DRG that you are talking about are not so loved on their own, but because the gameplay and the strategy are so great that people find is that much more pleasing to associate with those themes and roleplay and the V button
So don't be confused by the majority of people liking those elements more than you, it's more likely that people just find that way of expressing love for the game, for the same points you are mentioning before, much easier
Tl;dr: You don't need to love DRG for Rock and Stone, you need to Rock and Stone to show how much you love DRG
Me on my way to watch every DRG review i see even though i have spent MANY hours playing this masterpiece.
Amazing video
ROCK AND STONE FOREVAH!
heard of DRG before but didn't think it was my kind of game. 👍this broke boy will be taking advantage of the summer sale, thanks!
Hope you have a good time with it :)
We love greenbeards. Rock and stone and have fun!
DRG lights:
Medium intensity flares (everyone)
High intensity players (scout)
Turrets (engineer)
Flamethrower (driller)
Zipline pole (Gunner)
Muzzle flare and projectiles (most weapons)
I love the creative and innovative game design in drg.
Love the style of discussion and fast talk, brain engagement maximum
The ability for each individual class to modify their kit to be as generalist or as specialist as possible is beautiful to me. A successful team could consist of four of one class or one of each! (Maybe not 4 gunners though lol) Just depending on how each character builds their kit for wave clear and single target damage. And the different mission types and biomes meaningfully factor into which class and loadout you feel most confident with. PLUS ghost ship games runs the most ethical/consumer friendly live service “battlepass” system on the entire market. I Cant get over how much i love the game.
This is such a fun video to watch! :D
The ideas are well presented and it's very enjoyable!
Personally, Industrial Sabotage is starting to get repetitive for me since it's mostly the same. Hacked the same 2 stations, and fought the same upside-down pinhead 160 times? I feel like what you said with the Dread's could also apply here. I love Sabotage, I just think it needs a bit more variance, like maybe different caretakers(?) like maybe instead of vents to open the eye, you hack nodes. Like something crazy like that idk.
Maybe it's just me, but due to its predicable nature, all my builds just converge. Especially as a mostly solo player, Cryo Driller on Caretaker Haz 5 is... I mean, any build is possible but it ends up being too much work, not fun, and not worth that I just end up picking the Sludge every time I go Sabo
DRG Engineer is the grease between the gears of his team. His job is to support the actions of the other classes, whether that be helping Scout get minerals, filling the holes in a Driller bunker with platforms, or setting up defense with Gunner. He can do any of the team’s jobs well enough on his own, just not as well as the rest, which is what makes him perfect for helping them all out.
Mate, I thought *I* was a fast talker, but you have me beat 😅 I also have adhd so subtitles were a must! Also pro tip for anyone reading this, play at 0.75 speed if you have trouble following.
Apart from that, good vid 😊 Rock and Stone!
I really enjoyed this video. Captured a lot of what i love about the game !
I feel like some of your thoughts on this game apply really well to Don't Starve aswell. The terrain generation in ds is varied similar to drg, and you spend a lot of time in a world, so at some point, you'll develop routes from point to point and areas you frequent. Every unique world starts to feel like home at some point, and remember the layout of most of my long term worlds. Light is also very interesting, as darkness kills you and light sources are temporary, so ds turns darkness into a really strong resource management game. Ds is really good in turning things that are solved pretty easily in other games, like light in minecraft, into involved systems with lots of variables and solutions, making them incredibly interesting.
I love gush pieces, gives me the feels like "yes, YES, I knew this game was good keep talking"😂
2 tips.
Remember to switch between classes. Since they all play differently, keeping them on rotation keeps the games fresh.
Gunner shine when you play with others. This is not something intuitive, because most people think you play gunner for the big gun. But gunner shines when he get to save teammates with shield and put up zip lines before boss fight to give the whole team gun platforms. He really is more the healer than the gunner,,, in my experience. But big gun is also fun.
Well said...I'm looking for Teamwork and DRG is the best Co-op game I've ever played in this regard. The ROCK and Stone is morale boosting..a strategy of Bards and communication. It's strategic for a good time! ;)
Personally I actually really like the darkness. I think its at a perfect level where it means something but isn't insanely annoying, which for a lot of games is something they struggle with. There is a certain dopamine hit when I throw a flare and light up walls of glistening gold and nitra, or to my horror, reveal a tide of grunts. Scout's flare gun really compounds this by allowing you to beautifully light up entire caverns revealing all their little secrets. I think I would genuinely like the game less if the darkness mechanic wasn't where it is now. Anything more, and it would be annoying, anything less and it wouldn't allow those real "dwarfy" moments. Just my piece.
I think I fell in love with DRG for more or less the same reasons as you, developing strategy on the fly is neat (repellent platforms are king in that regard). However, DRG is a roguelite that eventually turns into a roguelike if you play it for long enough. After 1000 hours I recognise cave tilesets and I don't so much make up strategies anymore, but rather pull an ol' reliable out of my deck when needed. I have a suspicion that is why a lot of the DRG videos you watched didn't really mention that aspect of the game, as the novelty of that aspect eventually, mostly, wears off.
I also agree with you on the cave becoming a home thing, the drop pod run is always a nice epilogue montage in which you get to run through all the devastation you implemented over the course of the mission.
After almost 1k hours in the game my main seems to be the gunner, but I play other classes a lot and the engineer is my 2nd most played. And I really like the rework on the stubby combined with plascrete catalyst diffractor. Setting up platform "mine fields" in key points to detonate them later is very fun and satisfying, but I'm ngl this build is not very ammo efficient and overall I die with it more often than say with warthog and an inferno breach cutter
_"Darkness?! Ain't nothing!"_ 😹
I saw a video that briefly mentioned how you change the terrain throughout the mission, with the drills and platforms, and also with bullet impacts.
darkest dungeon 1 has a very similar relationship with torches like flares
Rock and Stone, Spidz!
A bug playing drg? can't be good for your health to be slaughtering your bretheren.
Also plenty of people take into the strategy of the game, my favorite thing in the game has to be the engineers platform gun with how versatile it is. It can be used to climb and break a fall, patch up holes your teammates might fall into and even creating extra floor onto an uplink that's on the edge of a cliff. But the biggest reason I like it has to be the repellant additive, when used to its full potential it can be used to min max bug pathing to be funneled tightly and out of the ceiling in a tunnel or on uplink make a roof that makes the bugs come from the sides instead of from above. It has its limits though so you cant make an U shape on flat ground to make the bugs come from only 1 direction, how i like to set up uplinks is block off the back so they dont come from behind, then set up the platforms so they come from 2 of the sides and use turret arc (now called micro conductor addons) to shoot turrets to make a line that covers both entrances. Now that you can shoot the platforms itll work as well.
Rock and Stone forever!
This was an amazing review!
Nice video!
Same.
All do i love everything else as well :)
Bludawg is reading his essay in front of class or something. Brother chill. Rock and stone btw
Pancake spirals are clutch
Rock and Stone!
For Karl!
... and the algo
Rone and Stock!
One of the biggest personal issues i have with DRG is the fact that all the classes have some free form movement ability... except for the Gunner, Engineer has platforms, Scout has a Hook, Driller can shape the damn walls to his liking and all Gunner gets is a measly zipline that is slow, leaves you very vulnurable and only has niche usages like with Dotty oil refuel or extremely large open caves, for example.
I get that Gunner has his upsides built into his heavy firepower and spirit's refuge (shield generator) but in a game where every environment is randomly generated and you can play solo you'd except every class to have independent strong mobility tools.
If you ask me i'd just straight up give Gunner a rocket launcher so that i can perform rocket jumps in DRG and be a happy dwarf man.
A rocket launcher is a pretty funny idea lmoa
I do find this aspect interesting -- each class has 1-2 aspects that they obviously struggle w/ a fair bit (my general understanding is that it's aoe for scout, 'defense' for engi, single target for driller, and movement for gunner), but I think with gunner it uniquely feels super slow and punishing. I think the same is kind of true for light for every-non-scout class too, it feels quite punishing to not have vision.
The zipline is one of a few reasons why I've barely played the gunner -- most of my experiences feel pretty unsatisfying, esp again compared to the other 3 classes.
Dash my beloved
Also just to make sure, you can rocket jump as engineer if you have the RJ250 over clock for the pgl
ziplines ain't the best mobility tool, but they can be very useful for survival. It grants immunity to physical attacks, although it makes you vulnerable to ranged attacks. This is pretty useful for core stone events, in fact a single gunner can do a core stone event without taking damage using only a zipline and two shields.
I've come to appreciate the zipline as a foil to the grappling hook. Engi and Driller are allowed to shape the terrain to their liking, while Scout and Gunner can simply ignore it. Yes, you don't have many ziplines to work with, but in the situations when you do need them (getting Dotty's head up a steep cliff, crossing a bulk crater in magma core, setting up a 20 Meter Radius Emerald Splash on Point Extraction) they are incredibly useful.
skill issue
but also shout out to ziplines on extermination that shit good as hell.
honestly, i kinda dont like elimination missions either. there are only 3 bosses and only 1 of them plays in a way i consider even remotely fun (the regular dreadnought) i could write a full 10 minute script on how much i hate both the twins and hiveguard, they just have so many elements that i consider annoying for the sake of being annoying
If you like roguelikes and drg you should try noita it's really hard and really fun
I love drg and I love totk
Unrelated but i noticed that the color scheme of your characters robes/clothes is very reminiscing of the trans flag and wondering if it's intentional or not
Also great video :)
STONE!
Wait! What is the difference between a rock and a stone?
I have never heard someone talk that fast 😅
Kek yeah, I’ve heard this a lot in my life, but even I noticed it when editing this haha. Maybe I should set up a slow by 90% or something lmoa. Hope it wasn’t tooooo much of a problem
High ground is actually not that good for sentries in DRG. Sentries target center mass. If you put them up high, they will only get bodyshots because they're shooting down on enemies.
Whereas if you put them around level with bug's heads, they get headshots.
Holy hell, I had no idea sentries could hit weakpoints - in fact my experience with sentries not hitting the special-points in some dreadnoughts semi-solidified that thought to me.
I think high ground still has a decent amount of value when it comes to aiming and creating defensive zones, and making the turret take less time to recalibrate targets, but minmaxing damage and ammo by having them hit weakpoints is huge. I also think I run Armor shredding, so maybe I’ve noticed it less due to that.
Nonetheless, this is new info and very cool to learn. Thanks!
@@SpidzWTyea, generally I still put them in high places because they cover more ground and can hit more targets.
But then again that's from the perspective of someone that uses Engineer the least. I generally use the turret more as an optional means of attacking (unless it's defending type situations) which... I can tell would annoy Engineer mains when they see my gameplay
The only way when putting sentry on the high ground is preferable is when you are using a turret whip mod for warthog and the hawkeye system mod for the turret. Since well, you want more range for your sentry when using the turret whip mod
you didnt speak about going drunk to work haha which is a free handicap you can choose haha
Your dislike on darkness might be cause you play mostly Solo, the flares are just not balanced right around it. With 4 dwarves throwing flares and a bigger chance someone will be scout, along the fact you can see each other and scan the cave much faster, darkness doesn't become such a problem. I would describe it in one way for most games that don't have an infinite flashlight, darkness is an enviromental hazard you need to navigate through, It cripples your vision, forces you to do resource management with the things that make you see, and adds to the atmopshere as a creepier theme. In DRG, it encourages the team to stay together along other mechanics, gives scout a job, and makes certain enemies better because you don't see everything.If the caves of Hoxxes we're always well lighted, it would lose a lot of it's atmosphere and charm. But in Solo, it just causes a lot more backtracking and makes exploring for minerals and other things a pain.
sorry i must ask, is my youtube acting weird or that's your natural talking speed? i had to use the 0.75 setting to understand
It’s not too far from my natural talking speed at times (talking speed fluctuates depending on topic / people obviously) - I’ve had people mention this to me IRL for years, as well as often as a reaction to this video.
I’ll likely have to slow myself down in future - it’s not something I think about often so I didn’t realise it’d be such a problem in this. Hopefully despite that this was somewhat enjoyable, apologies if it was a hassle haha.
One of the most infuriating, and constant, experiences I have in pubs is when people build roofs over or walls around objectives. It's tactically inane! Built out of some instinct to create cover, not understanding that WE have the ranged weapons, the BUGS do not!
The right placement can be great since bugs try not to walk on the platforms
@@sergeantsainsburys9181 if there are too many platforms in one place that mechanic just straight up stops working (intentionally). There's a good video somewhere out there that breaks it down
@@MrSaturn012UA-cam channel "Gaming Existence", video name "Platform Repellent Guide - Deep Rock Galactic". I personally think that you've either had a bad experience or you actually don't understand how it actually works. (Psst, don't stand on, or too close to the bug repellent platforms).
If you actually have a skilled Engineer and Driller that are proactive and effective at setting up defensive structures, it is good. Unfortunately there's no official guide (in-game) to teach players how to do it.
As for building roofs over the uplink and fuel pump on salvage missions, that is very helpful for defenses against mactera and spitters.
"We have ranged weapons, the BUGS do not!" - the bugs don't "have guns" but about half the bugs have ranged attacks. I have to ask, what's your typical hazard level? Because on low hazard levels, I can understand your thoughts; on high hazard levels (hazard 4, 5, 5+, and EDDs), those defensive structures make holdouts way more consistent in holding ground and preventing wipes.
Lastly, if you don't like it, perhaps you should host the game and have a detailed server introduction message stating it isn't allowed? Or play solo, or play with friends, build a discord server of people that you like to play with. There's so many options.
@@MrSaturn012 best bug repellent platform guides
UA-cam Channel: "waste"
UA-cam Video Title: "DRG: Deep Rock's Most Underutilized Tool - A Repellant Crash Course"
UA-cam Channel: "Gaming Existence"
UA-cam Video Title: "Platform Repellent Guide - Deep Rock Galactic"
@@MrSaturn012I wrote a pretty in-depth reply to start with and UA-cam did not like it, for some reason. I often get my comments shadow banned for saying controversial things, lol.
But the summary of it, was asking you what hazard levels that you typically play at? Because at higher hazard levels 4, 5, 5+, 6x2, and Elite Deep Dives, defensive structures are basically required for holding ground, and preventing team wipes.
I think you should talk a bit slower
I think the pace is great, have you tried .75x speed to makeup for your skill issue?
@@ThevenimXlisten to the first 10 sec and tell me the flavor of the wrong sandwich you just had for lunch
@@ThevenimXactually try at 75% afterwards it is better
finally a drg video with some alternative points!
The fuck is wrong woth the speed of this video audio?? FFS