Summary
Currently in the early access version ofDeep Rock Galactic: Survivorthere are 3 different biomes, the Crystalline Caverns, the Magma Core, and the Hollow Bough. Each of these BIomes comes with their own share of colorful ‘quirks’ that may or may not make things easier for a Dwarf just trying to get through the work day while fighting off hordes of vicious Glyphids.
While the Glyphids themselves are pretty dangerous, if the arena was empty players could effectively kite them around forever. But, it’s the Biomes themselves that make these creatures so lethal, as running away from a horde but having a wall full of minerals in the way of your escape is what makes this game so difficult. So, let’s go over all three of the Biomes inDeep Rock Galactic: Survivorand talk about which one is the most dangerous and which one is theeasiest for beginners to get through.
Crystalline Caverns
Clusters of Crystals
Thankfully, becauseDRG: Sis a spinoff gamefrom theDeep Rock Galacticfranchise, we actually have plenty of info and ‘lore’ about the Crystalline Caverns from the get go. This is the first Biome players will ecounter inDeep Rock Galactic: Survivorand it serves as the ‘tutorial’ location. As far as dangers go in the Crystalline Caverns, there’s not much extra that this Biome adds. The most pronounced feature are the crystals, of course, but those only need about 2 hits at mostof a Dwarf’s pickaxein order to break, which means they’re not much of a hazard at all.
In general, this is clearly the safest Biome in the game by a longshot, but that absolutely doesn’t mean that all Hazard Levels of this Biome will be easy, as even just Biome 3 can feel almost impossible if players haven’t invested enough in their permenant upgrades yet.
Magma Core
Hot Rock & Explosive Plants
By now readers can probably tell that these rankings follow the natural progression order ofDRG: S, with Crystalline Caversn being the safest, Magma Core being a bit dangerous, and Hollow Boughs being the most dangerous. While it might seem like this only makes sense, there are a good number of games out there with areas or biomes found earlier that are much harder than ones found later. In any case, the Magma Core is essentially the volcanic Biome ofDeep Rock Galactic: Survivor, and the perils that come with doing a run in the Biome are heat and fire related. First off, let’s talk about Hot Rock.
In the mainDeep Rock Galacticgame, Hot Rock simply means terrain with glowing heat pulsing through its crevices that’ll damage a player whenever they stand on it. This also exists inDRG: S, but it doesn’t only apply to the ground. Players can also dig through walls made of Hot Rock, which lets them know ahead of time that the terrain below the wall is also Hot Rock, essentially warning them they’ll be taking a bit of passive damage (2-3 damage per tick) walking through here.
The only other real ‘hazard’ of this Biome outside of the Hot Rock are the Explosive Plants, volatile bulbous red plants that, when approached, glow and grow before exploding violently. If a player gets caught in this explosion, they’ll be taking even more damage then they would getting caught in a Glypid Exploder explosion, so players will want to walk just close enough to set them off and quickly back away before they explode otherwise they’ll almost assuredly die (unless they got luckyand have a great Artifact).
Hollow Bough
Mactera Spawns, Dried Grass, & Thorny Vines
Last up is the third and final Biome inDRG: Sfor now, Hollow Bough. Though, it’s worth mentioning that the game is in early access and it’s likely there’ll be more Biomesadded from the main gamelater on such as the dense Biozone, Fungus Bogs, Salt Pits, and more. For now, however, the Hollow Boughs are the most dangerous to survive in. However, compared to the Magma Core, it’s not like the Hollow Boughs have more terrain that can hurt the player, but rather due to all the terrain it has that forces the player into a corner. In the Hollow Boughs players will find two types of terrain especially interesting, the patches of Dried Grass and the walls of Thorny Vines. In the standardDeep Rock Galacticplayers could dig through Thorny Vines with their pickaxe while at most taking a bit of extra damage, but inDRG: Sthat’s not possible.
So, these Thorny Vine act as an unpassable barrier that players (and enemies) need to dig around to reach different parts of the map. Because of this and the fact that those Dried Grass patches come back after a few seconds, players will quickly find themselves cornered when in this Biome if they’re not careful. And, to make matters worse, it does seem like Mactera enemies seem to spawn more in this Biome than the other two Biomes, and they’ll punish players even more if they’re caught digging through walls at a ‘less than optimal’ pace.
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivorwas released on February 14th, 2024, and is available on PC.
