Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core throws you into a hostile underground facility and expects you to figure most things out the hard way. The main goal is straightforward: fight through levels, find the elevator to go deeper, and eventually defeat the Gatekeeper final boss at the bottom. What the game does not tell you clearly enough is that speed, resource management, and knowing when to cut your losses matter far more than raw firepower. This guide breaks down every system you need to understand before your first serious run.
Elevator between cave levels
What is the core objective in Rogue Core?
Every run tasks you with reclaiming a facility by descending through multiple cave levels and reaching the Gatekeeper at the deepest point. Each level contains an elevator that takes you to the next floor, but rushing straight to it every time is a fast path to failure. The caves are packed with upgrade opportunities: Expenite for weapon and gear upgrades, Bio-Boosters, and Workbenches appear on every level. Certain levels also offer Equipment Crates, Heavy Weapon Crates, and Artifacts, depending on active Risk Factors. Expenite Events give you a large Expenite payout in exchange for surviving a challenge wave.
The tension in every level comes from balancing how much you explore and upgrade against how quickly you move. Staying too long has severe consequences.
How does the timer work, and why does it matter?
The timer is the single most important mechanic to internalize. Every level has a countdown, and once it hits zero, an infinite enemy wave begins spawning with no end. That alone is punishing enough, but the real threat arrives alongside it: Reaperworms.
Reaperworms emerge from the ground, extend toward your team, and attempt to grab a dwarf in their quad-pronged jaws. Once grabbed, the worm drags that player toward the hole it came from. If teammates cannot free them in time, the grabbed dwarf gets pulled underground and removed from the current level entirely. They reappear on the next level encased in a cocoon made of hardened connective tissue, requiring teammates to break them free and then revive them from a downed state before they can fight again. Multiple Reaperworms can spawn simultaneously, and combined with the endless enemy wave, they will overwhelm even experienced teams quickly.
Reaperworm grab in action
Any dwarf who is downed when the team boards the elevator also ends up cocooned on the next level, so always check your team's status before departing.
How do waves stack, and why should you care?
Waves do not replace each other. They stack. If an Expenite Event triggers a wave at the same moment the timer spawns one, you are fighting double the enemies simultaneously. Starting the elevator also triggers a wave that continues until your team boards.
This stacking mechanic is where most new players get wiped. The practical rule is: never start an Expenite Event when the timer is close to triggering the next wave. Check the timer before committing to any optional challenge.
Ammo is limited per run, not infinite. Moving through levels faster means spending less ammo on the endless stream of enemies that builds up over time. Shooting enemy weakpoints lets you kill targets in fewer shots, which compounds into meaningful ammo savings across a full run. Resupply Pods spawn throughout caves and appear in much higher quantities on the final level.
How does progression work between runs?
Merits are the backbone of long-term progression. You earn them by completing Directives through the Operations Command Terminal, finishing Deployments (unlockable bonus missions in that same terminal), and clearing Gauntlet levels. Merits unlock higher Enhancement tiers, additional Enhancement slots per Reclaimer, Ascensions, and Deployments themselves.
Win or lose, every run earns Reclaimer Points, which convert into Chips at a rate of 1 Chip per 1,000 Reclaimer Points. You can boost your Reclaimer Point earnings by interacting with two specific objects in the caves:
The full formula is: points × (2 + DataTerminalMult + CameraMult). As a concrete example, earning 2,000 base points while activating 5 Data Terminals and 8 Cameras gives you 2,000 × (2 + 0.5 + 0.4) = 5,800 Reclaimer Points. Hunting these objects in every run dramatically accelerates your chip income, especially early on when you need to unlock Enhancement slots.
Operations Command Terminal UI
What are Enhancements and how do you unlock them?
Enhancements are Rogue Core's perk system. Chips unlock them, and they range from passive stat boosts like increased max health and max ammo to weakpoint damage multipliers and entirely new abilities. Enhancements come in multiple tiers, and unlocking higher tiers costs Merits rather than Chips.
You start each Reclaimer with only one Enhancement slot. Unlocking additional slots costs Merits and must be done separately for each Reclaimer. Expanding those slots is one of the best early Merit investments you can make, since more active Enhancements per run directly translates to stronger builds. For a full breakdown of every upgrade option, the Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core all Expenite upgrades guide covers each one by rarity with prioritization tips.
What are Ascensions and when should you pursue them?
Ascensions are Rogue Core's promotion system, equivalent to Promotions in the original Deep Rock Galactic. Once a Reclaimer reaches level 15, they become eligible for an Ascension. The first Ascension costs 1,000 Merits, and each subsequent one increases that cost by 1,000 Merits, with the cost tracked individually per Reclaimer.
Ascending resets the Reclaimer to level 1, but the benefits are significant. The first Ascension unlocks access to Gauntlets for that Reclaimer, and it also lets you equip Bio-Booster decks from other Reclaimers you have already ascended. Each new Rank requires more levels to reach the next Ascension, with each additional Rank demanding 3 more levels than the previous (Bronze requires 15, Silver requires 18, and so on).
One thing worth noting: a Reclaimer cannot gain experience past level 15 before ascending. Any XP earned beyond that cap is wasted. If a Reclaimer is sitting at max level, Ascending immediately is the right call. To understand how Bio-Boosters fit into your build strategy, the guide on how to hack a Bio-Booster explains the exact steps and what class modifiers you can unlock.
Ascensions also grant a cosmetic pickaxe head that visually updates with each new Ascension tier, so your gear reflects your experience level.
How do cosmetics work in Rogue Core?
Cosmetics come from two sources: Scrip and Cosmetic Crates. Scrip is earned primarily by completing a set number of Directives, with two additional Scrip available from Gauntlets. Spend Scrip at the Cosmetic Sheet in the Operations Command Terminal or the Wardrobe to buy displayed cosmetics for a specific Reclaimer. Each cosmetic costs one Scrip per Reclaimer you want to equip it on, except for pickaxe parts and pickaxe paintjobs, which unlock for all Reclaimers with a single purchase.
Cosmetic Crates appear in caves during runs. They open quickly and reward a random cosmetic that cannot be obtained anywhere else, so always grab them when you spot one.
Cosmetic Crate in the caves
Key tips before your first serious run
- Prioritize Data Terminals and Cameras every run to multiply your Reclaimer Point earnings.
- Never start an Expenite Event when the timer is close to its next wave trigger.
- Shoot weakpoints consistently. Ammo conservation across a full run makes a real difference.
- Unlock additional Enhancement slots early. One slot per Reclaimer is not enough to build effectively.
- Ascend Reclaimers as soon as they hit level 15. Sitting on capped XP wastes every run.
- If a teammate gets grabbed by a Reaperworm, freeing them is the immediate priority before anything else.
For everything else you need, the full Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core guides collection covers team composition, graphics settings, co-op setup, and more in dedicated guides.