The first major update for Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is out on March 20, 2024, and right away we get something meaty to chew on, in the form of a new biome and its accompanying new enemies. Aside from an abundance of artifacts and achievements, the patch also does some balance adjustments to keep things in line with the new content. Numerous bugs have also been fixed, though a save wipe caused by the game crashing has been mitigated with all new Save Data Backup System instead.
Finally, the addition of 7 new languages for localization rounds out update 01. The complete patch notes are below.
Update 01 – Salt Pits March 20
Hello Survivors,
Welcome to the first content update of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. We’ve got a brand new biome for you to try, as well as new enemies and artifacts. At the end of this week we are taking a week off for Easter holiday, but when we're back we’ll update the living road map and let you in on some of our plans for the next update.
Features
New Biome: Salt Pits
The pod is ready to take you to a brand new biome of Hoxxes IV - the Salt Pits. Fans of Deep Rock Galactic will recognize some of this biome’s features such as the unstable crystals. In DRG:S, the unstable crystals are dislodged when you knock down a Stalagmite Cluster that sends resonating soundwaves out and dislodges them from the ceiling.
Salt Pits are also characterized by being much more densely packed with rock and stone, but don’t worry - it is more brittle than in other biomes. This makes tunneling and choke point strategies a lot more doable, and changes the dynamic and usefulness of many weapons and overclocks. We are aware of the issue with enemies being “hidden” behind rocks (which will be particularly prevalent in a dense biome like Salt Pits) and plan on addressing this in a later update.
New Enemy: Q’ronar Youngling
New Enemy: Q’ronar Youngling “Mini Elite”
Falling rocks and dense terrain are not the only challenges in the Salt Pits. We’re introducing the Q’ronar Youngling - a pesky little creep that rolls after you and bounces when hitting terrain. The larger “mini elite” version that spawns intermittently in stages can even roll through the rocks and stones of the Salt Pits and carve out tunnels.
New Artifact: The MoCap - Increases your damage by 1% for every % of missing HP
New Artifact: Salty Pretzel - Increases your armor by 1 for every 2% of missing HP
New Artifact: Diver’s Manual - +10% damage, +10% reload speed, +5% crit chance, +20% crit damage
New Steam Achievements:
Close Call - Kill the Dreadnought with less than 30 HP left
Hoxxes Manual - Die 3 times
Why So Salty? - Reach 50 armor
Balance
Biomes
To make room for Salt Pits in the biome and hazard level progression, we have changed the requirements to unlock different hazard levels. Some players may find that they no longer have access to some of the higher hazard levels. On the flip side, they will have access to new hazard levels in Salt Pits, and many more biome goals to earn. The biome goal for Magma Core hazard 4 has had its requirement reduced from “Mine 300 Nitra” to “Mine 275 Nitra” The biome goal for Hollow Bough hazard 4 has had its requirement reduced from “Mine 600 Gold” to “Mine 550 Gold”
Weapons
The following weapons have all had their overclocks unlocked from the start:
Deepcore GK2 as Classic Scout
“Lead Storm” Powered Minigun as Weapons Specialist Gunner
Subata 120 as Foreman Driller
LMG Gun Platform as Maintenance Worker Engineer
Hi-Volt Thunderbird:
Damage increased from 12 to 16
Status effect stack increased from 1 to 3
Targets zapped increased from 2 to 3
LOK-1 Smart Rifle:
Increased damage from 35 to 44
Reduced lock-on time from 0.2 to 0.15
CRSPR Flamethrower:
Increased initial damage from 20 to 28
Voltaic Stun Sweeper:
Reduced reload time from 3 to 2 seconds
Colette Wave Cooker:
Increased initial damage from 80 to 94
Increased status effect stacks from 6 to 8
Incendiary Grenade:
Increased impact damage from 75 to 85
Breach Cutter:
Increased damage from 25 to 32
Increased status effect stacks from 2 to 4
High Explosive Grenade:
Reduced fuse time from 2 to 1.5 seconds
M1000 Classic:
Reduced damage from 145 to 140
Reduced fire rate from 0.5/s to 0.45/s
"Thunderhead" Heavy Autocannon:
Reduced damage from 100 to 92
Reduced fire rate from 2.86/s to 2.5/s
Seismic Repulsor:
Reduced damage from 20 to 18
Reduced turret triggering speed from 1.33/s to 0.83/s
Artifacts
Pay2Win Console:
Increased gold cost and duration from 10 to 50
Clipboard of Grudges:
Increased experience gained by 50%
FRZ Shield Belt:
Increased damage from 80 to 100
Increased status effect stacks from 50 to 65
BRN Shield Belt:
Increased damage from 120 to 140
Increased status effect stacks from 50 to 65
Popup Tripod:
Increased max stacks from 10 to 15
Increased duration from 2 to 3 seconds
Improvements & Fixes
Save Data Backup System
Since launch we’ve been trying to fix a rare bug where save data could get wiped after a game crash. While many players have reported it and been helpful enough to give us logfiles, system settings etc., we have never been able to replicate it internally. This makes a bug near impossible to fix, so we have opted to create a save data backup system instead. The system kicks in if your save file has been corrupted, and reverts to a previous save file. In the rare instance this happens, you might lose a tiny bit of progress.
Fixed the Coilgun getting offered the same Mining Damage overclock twice
Fixed the Seismic Repulsor getting offered the same Cryo overclock twice
Fixed error in Coilgun damage tracking (it was over-reporting its damage)
Fixed endscreen hazard stripes being overlaid on top of the header text
Partial fix for the Dreadnought charging out of the map resulting in a run you can’t complete. He still does it, but should now die from it so you can complete the run.
Fixed an issue where the drop pod could land on top of the supply pod and block the entrance so you could not finish the run
A whole bunch of weapons should now correctly pause their audio during times where the game is paused (level ups, shop screens etc)
Fixed an issue where minimap edges would not have the correct color when mining the block above it
Fixed an issue that would make the UI stuck when leveling up and looting the supply pod at the same time
Fixed an issue where the Hi-Volt Thunderbird drones where considered a Scout weapon instead of an Engineer weapon
Fixed an issue where the Drippin Balls overlock would show up as Balanced instead of Unstable
Fixed an issue where loot bugs would get more HP if the aliens grew stronger in the previous stage
Fixed a bug where the damage decrease from Squint-EE5 did not apply correctly
Fixed an issue where Cluster grenades would detonate in air (they are now slower to detonate)
Fixed an issue where enemy health bars would be briefly visible near the player
Fixed an issue where the Seismic Repulsor was showing 0 damage in details screen
Fixed an interaction between Armor Grease and Barley Bulb Juice that could lead to unintended increase or decrease in movement speed
Localization
Fixed issues where text strings were displayed with multiple different fonts
Improved several languages performance in hopes to remove stutters caused when loading text
Added 7 new Languages
Polish
Bulgarian
Dutch
Czech
Romanian
Turkish
Spanish (Latin-American)
Those are the patch notes for Update 01 on March 20 for Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.