DRG Survivor Classes: Twelve Base-Game MODs, Starting Weapons and Build Decisions

The base-game Scout, Gunner, Engineer and Driller each have three Class MODs. A MOD changes the starting weapon, stats and access to tagged weapons. This guide does not present an experimentally measured tier ranking.

A MOD starts with one weapon. The class’s default pool is not a list of weapons all granted at the beginning. In a normal dive, choose additional weapons from unlocked candidates at dwarf levels 5, 15 and 25.

Gunslinger, Field Engineer, Mole, Sapper and a Driller MOD called Demolisher are not used in this base-game table of twelve MODs. The DLC Demolisher is a separate class.

Early: use Classic’s Deepcore GK2 as a main weapon and work toward weapon level 6. Pull enemies away before returning to ore; Sharp Shooter is not assumed to be unlocked initially.

Mid-run: additional offers depend on unlocks and MOD. M1000 enters the default pool at Scout Class Rank 3, while Sharp Shooter itself needs Class Rank 18. These are separate unlocks.

Later: identify whether damage per shot, firing rate or reload is lacking. Do not assume freezing always guarantees critical hits. Create enough time to finish digging a narrow route.

Gear decision: use Armor to address durability and Gadgets for mining or collection. Checked versions of Hunters Harness have different pickup or healing conditions; do not merge every variant into one effect.

Early: Weapons Specialist’s Lead Storm fires forward. Route enemies through that lane and use weapon-specific cards toward the next overclock. An inherent shield or invulnerability is not assumed.

Mid-run: Bulldog, BRT7 at Gunner Class Rank 3 and GK2 at Scout Class Rank 1 form an example from the unlocked Projectile pool. BRT7 fires in four fixed directions, unlike Bulldog’s targeting.

Later: compare investment toward Lead Storm levels 12 and 18 with survival and shared-tag cards. The Favourite penalizes other weapons, so it is not an unconditional upgrade to the entire four-weapon loadout.

Gear decision: compare Company Breastplate’s health conditions, weapon stats from a Weapon Mod and Reload from a Tool. Heavy Gunner unlocks separately at Class Rank 18; practise Thunderhead’s firing direction.

Early: use LMG Gun Platform with Maintenance Worker. Create a gap before stopping to deploy, then move again when threatened. A turret does not make standing at the centre automatically safe.

Mid-run: compare unlocked Construct offers by tag. Tinkerer starts with Warthog and Demolitionist with PGL. In Engineer’s default pool, PGL unlocks at Class Rank 12.

Later: examine Construct charges, Lifetime, Reload and the main weapon’s next level. Do not classify Hi-Volt Thunderbird as a Beam by assumption or assume a Chip converts every carried weapon’s damage type.

Gear decision: read Chips as Bosco equipment and carried Constructs as weapon tags. Support movement or mining to create more safe deployment openings. No universal weakness against single bosses is asserted for every loadout.

Early: Foreman’s Subata 120 fires backward. Keep a firing lane toward pursuers while digging, rather than drawing enemies into the route ahead. Mining speed does not make a deep dead end safe.

Mid-run: Interrogator uses CRSPR and Fire/Acid offers. Its regular Damage penalty and status-effect bonus are different calculations. Strong Armed instead starts with Impact Axe and accesses Throwable candidates.

Later: Corrosive Sludge Pump, Colette Wave Cooker and Cryo Cannon are examples from the unlocked default pool. Dragonstorm, Twincoil, Chimera and Proximity Mines originate with the DLC Demolisher and are not mandatory base-game Driller unlocks.

Gear decision: for status effects, compare Canister Potency and Strange Mixture’s trigger; look at Gadgets for mining and escape routes. Using fire does not inherently grant resistance to environmental damage.

This table gives editorial checks based on terrain and attack direction, rather than measured matchup ratings. A biome name alone does not establish one best class.

This is not a promise that four clears unlock every MOD. Player Rank opens a class, then individual Class Rank requirements unlock later MODs. The route below changes the skill being practised.