The Right Combination of Perks Can Be Hard to Come By

In the co-op first-person shooter, Deep Rock Galactic, it doesn't matter how skilled or experienced you are, if you don't have the right perks, you're going to get yourself killed. For the uninitiated, a perk is a small buff or ability that you can add to your character build in order to help you during missions. In this guide, we will discuss the top 10 perks in Deep Rock Galactic, what they do, and how to get the most out of them. 

10. Deep Pockets

We're rich!

First up is “Deep Pockets”. “Deep Pockets” is a passive perk, meaning you don't have to do anything to utilize the benefits it provides. When fully upgraded, “Deep Pockets” allows you to hold 15 more of any mineral, treasure, or resource at a time. While the typical limit for how much of each resource you can hold is 40, with “Deep Pockets”, you can hold up to 55 of anything. Pair that with the “Bigger Mineral Bag” modification for your dwarf’s armor, and now you can hold 60. It’s always nice to be able to carry more and make fewer trips back to the mule. Sure, this perk is a little boring, but it’s a major quality of life improvement for every class.

Perk details: 

• Passive perk
• Tier 1: hold +5 resources 
• Tier 2: hold + 10 resources
• Tier 3: hold + 15 resources

9. Elemental Insulation

Cold shoulder for ya!

“Elemental Insulation” protects you from elemental damage. That means you’ll be resistant to fire, ice, electricity, radioactivity, and poison. At its most powerful, “Elemental Insulation” blocks 30% of that damage. This is useful in almost any biome, as they all have some level of elemental danger. Whether that's fire damage from the floor on Magma Core or radiation from the crystals in The Radioactive Exclusion Zone. This is also helpful against elemental enemy attacks like the Glyphid Praetorian’s spit. It does not, however, protect against ranged damage, melee damage, or explosive damage. “Elemental Insulation” is a solid choice if you’re trying to increase your dwarf’s overall sturdiness. 

Perk details: 

• Passive perk
• Tier 1: 20% resistance 
• Tier 2: 25% resistance 
• Tier 3: 30% resistance 

8. Sweet Tooth

Red Sugar over here!

“Sweet Tooth” is for all you candy lovers out there. This perk increases the amount of healing you get from mining Red Sugar, Deep Rock Galactic’s healing resource. Red Sugar can be hard to find on some maps, as every cave is randomly generated. That’s why it's so important to milk every little bit of health you can from the Red Sugar that you can find. At the third tier, “Sweet Tooth” gives you a sugar rush, granting you +20% movement speed for 10 seconds after you mine Red Sugar. In a pinch, “Sweet Tooth” can get you back in the fight when things seem dire.

Perk details: 

• Passive perk
• Tier 1: 10% more healing
• Tier 2: 20% more healing
• Tier 3: 30% more healing
• 20% speed boost at tier 3

7. Beast Master

You're a good bug, Steeve!

For the first active perk on this list, we have “Beast Master”.  “Beast Master” allows you to tame a Glyphid Grunt, Slasher, or Guard and turn them into a Steeve. Steeves are Glyphids who will betray their own kind and fight for you. It’s best to choose Slashers or Guards to be your Steeve, as Slashers will do more damage and Guards have more health. Although there are different types of Steeves you can make, you can only have one Steeve at a time

Because the only thing distinguishing your pet from your enemies is a faint blue glow, it is not uncommon for inexperienced players to think Steeve is some invincible superbug, trying as hard as they can to kill your new buddy. Luckily, Steeve only takes 2% of friendly fire damage. Do your best to show these greenbeards that Steeve is not a threat by walking up to him and giving him a little head scratch. He is a good boy, after all.

Perk details: 

• Active Perk
• 5 minute cool down
• One Steeve at a time
• Tier 2: Steeve does 100% more damage
• Tier 3: Steeve does 200% more damage
• Tier 4: Steeve does 300% more damage
• You can pet Steeve

6. Thorns

Ow,ow,ouch.

Back to our passive perks, “Thorns” is relatively simple. When a creature attacks you with a melee attack, they take damage in return. Dealing 24 damage at its highest level, “Thorns” quickly becomes strong enough to kill swarmers and take out a quarter of a regular Grunt’s health. This perk does have a 0.75-second cooldown, so if you get surrounded by bugs, it will only damage one bug every 0.75  seconds. Still, it's very common for one lone Glyphid to sneak up behind you while you’re mining and it's nice to not always be watching your back.

Perk details: 

• Passive Perk
• Tier 1: 6 damage
• Tier 2: 12 damage
• Tier 3: 18 damage
• Tier 4: 24 damage

5. Field medic

Leave No Dwarf Behind!

“Field Medic” is a perk that can truly be the difference between a successful mission and a failure. This perk allows you to revive your downed teammates faster. Inevitably, there will be a mission where you’re the last one standing. That’s where “Field Medic” comes in. On top of the faster healing, “Field Medic” also grants you one instant revive per game. When used with the Gunner’s shield, “Field Medic” can allow you to revive your entire team and shift the tides of battle back into your favor. 

Perk details: 

• Active Perk
• Tier 1: 15% faster revive
• Tier 2: 20% faster revive
• Tier 3: 25% faster revive
• Tier 4: 30% faster revive
• One instant revive per game
• The final tier causes enemies to flee when reviving

4. Born Ready

I was born ready.

Although “Born Ready” is classified as a passive perk, it does require some action on your part. “Born Ready” automatically reloads your unequipped weapons after a few seconds. In order for this to work, however, you must switch weapons for a short amount of time. This is incredibly useful during a swarm, allowing you to empty your magazine, switch weapons, keep fighting, and switch back, all without reloading. That said, there are certain weapons that this perk is not useful for, such as the Gunner’s Minigun or the Scout’s Plasma Rifle, which do not require reloading. It is especially helpful, however, for any weapon with a long reload animation like the Engineer’s Breach Cutter or the Gunner’s Thunderhead Autocannon. 

Perk details: 

• Semi-Passive Perk
• Tier 1 automatically reloads unequipped weapons after 15 seconds
• Tier 1 automatically reloads unequipped weapons after 10 seconds
• Tier 1 automatically reloads unequipped weapons after 5 seconds

3. Dash

Gotta go fast!

He who runs away lives to fight another day. That is exactly what “Dash” is for. This perk gives you a short burst of speed right when you need it. When fully upgraded, “Dash” only has a cooldown time of 25 seconds. Not only does this park more than double your speed, but it also completely negates any slowdown effects, allowing you to sprint across a goo-soaked battlefield, uninhibited. Additionally, “Dash” works while carrying eggs, Aquarqs, and other large gems making, Egg Hunt and Point Extraction missions a breeze. There's no slowing you down with this one. 

Perk details: 

• Active perk
• Speed increase 2.2x for 1.5 seconds
• Tier 1 40 second cooldown
• Tier 2 35 second cooldown
• Tier 3 30 second cooldown
• Tier 4 25 second cooldown
• 100% slow down reduction

2. Iron Will

We are unbreakable!

There's a strong argument to be made that “Iron Will” should be number one on this list. This perk is the equivalent of the Super Mario Star in Deep Rock Galactic.  Once per mission, you can revive yourself and become impervious to all damage for a short amount of time. During this “Last Stand”, all of your weapons are reloaded, you have boosted movement speed, your pickaxe does 2.5 times as much damage, you gain a slow down reduction of 30%, and your power attack cooldown is brought down to 10 seconds. All of these buffs at once turn you into a one-dwarf killing machine. 

Typically, “Iron Will” should only be used when everyone on your team has been killed. The goal is to use your invincibility to revive other members of your team, because once the time is up, back down you go. Unless you regain health from Red Sugar, a resupply, or the “Vampire” Perk, you will need to be revived again. “Iron Will” can truly be a game saver when used correctly.

Perk details: 

• Active Perk
• Tier 1 6 second last stand
• Tier 2 8 second last stand
• Tier 3 10 second last stand
• Tier 4 12 second last stand
• Won’t go back down if healed during Last Stand.

1. Heightened Senses

Stupid bug! Put me down!

This may be a controversial choice for the number one perk in Deep Rock Galactic, but “Heightened Senses” will save your ass over and over and over again. If there's one thing experienced players can agree on, it’s that Cave Leeches are the bane of their existence. Quietly snatching you up to the ceiling and draining your health, Cave Leeches are extremely dangerous.

“Heightened Senses” warns you if Cave Leeches, Mactera Grabbers, Nayaka Trollers, or the brand new enemy, The Nemesis, are nearby, giving you the chance to kill them before they kill you. In the instances where you're not fast enough to get away, “Heightened Senses” also lets you instantly kill your captor up to two times a mission. This is especially helpful if you're playing solo or if you've wandered off by yourself to an area of the map where your teammates won't be able to save you. “Heightened Senses” is the perk that will save you when nobody else can. That is why it is our pick for the number one perk in Deep Rock Galactic. 

Perk details: 

• Passive and Active Perk
• Tier 1 Instant kill captor once
• Tier 2 Instant kill captor twice with a 90-second cooldown
• Tier 3 Instant kill captor twice with a 5-second cooldown

Conclusion 

Those are the top 10 Deep Rock Galactic perks. As with all things, this list is somewhat subjective and with the right build, any perk can become S tier. The only way to know which perks are truly right for you is to play around and experiment for yourself. Hopefully, this list has given you a good place to start. Have fun and happy mining.

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