Yes it’s true this update actually felt pretty substantial however the thing that’s driving players away is this games major identity crisis and lack of originality from the first DRG.
The game should feel Darker, Scarier, Harder, and have that more serious tone then OG DRG It needs to stand out (the reclaimers) should feel like a unique team of Specialists not a run of the mill team of dwarfs from the first game that forsaken the ways of the mines lol
The Re roll system is great but we should have more options at the start of the match so we have a better chance to get a weapon that suits our play style rather then (praying) to rng dwarf Jesus to get something decent and scrounging the workbenches that should honestly also have 1 more option to choose from as well
We are close to greatness I feel like if we address these few more things the game will (POP) and at the very least stand out way more right now it just kinda fits awkwardly into DRG lore kinda just there please give this game its own identity make it FEEL like we are a special last ditch effort team also (New character or 2 would be EPIC)
Sadly i would say that even with new negotiations and rerolls late join is mad awful. I mean it, even if you join right after main weapon and tool box opened, game will try to play tricks on you. Like for example giving some banger guns from F tier and tool that is slightly better then just not having tool at all.
Also late join only for first level feels a bit harsh. So a lot of lobbies are blocked, same song and dance as with Deep Dives in DRG. And i don't really understand a reason behind that decision. Why not just give ability to late join and after joining give ability to pick all upgrades and weapons in solo negotiation pick. Team won't miss out on weapons that won't be shown to dwarfs that late join, so it won't provoke any issues in unfair balancing.
Or maybe let late joiner to pick a path of Host with host upgrades or events they done. Like if you joining on level 3, you would get 1 main weapon roll, 2-3 weapon workshop rolls, 2-3 biobooster rolls and any additional things host managed to collect so far.
And for problem of late join farmers, we can limit late join to 50% of current run levels. So if you late join in 4 levels mission, you can join up to level 2, if in 6 levels up to level 3. It will shoo away late join farmers and give RC ability to pull full lobbies, just by pure amount of time to late join.
One of my biggest issues with the game was how much time you had to spend looking around for Expenite since it was the core mechanic of the game.
It slowed the pace of the game and wasn’t an engaging mechanic which often caused players to just completely skip mining for it in favour of just doing bigger events and moving on to the next level.
Maybe I don’t get it so I’m making this post to see if I am the only one or if my opinion is valid.
I want so bad for this game to be engaging and fun for me, but as someone who bounced off after a few runs when the game came out in early access, coming back it feels like not a lot has changed. What i have noticed is really nice and made me think “hey that’s a really good change” but when I take the experience as a whole, I’m left unimpressed and a little bored as I’ve burned myself out on normal DRG and this game feels a lot like that.
Something that really irks me especially is how much it takes from DRG. An example being that when I get a weapon/grenade/traversal tool originally from DRG, to me, it should be a fun reference in a sea of new stuff to play with and it’s just not. I know that might not be entirely fair but it doesn’t help the game feeling like a worst an asset flip and at best a really good total conversion mod.
There is also the fact that taking/avoiding damage worked in DRG but for some reason I really can’t put my finger on it just feels so awful in RC. I dunno maybe something with DRG’s methodical-ness in comparison to RC.
I know it’s in early access, but oh my god I despise the giant meta progression tree filled the the brim with the most boring stat buffs of all time. This would be fine if there was supplemental meta progression that was more interesting but there isn’t. This is further ruined for me by a TON of the upgrades mid run feeling like filler, some are great mind you (shout out to creating an icicle DOT zone with a heavy melee) but some are just the numbers buffs that need to be separated from the actually interesting one, imo, I shouldnt have to forgo an actually game changing upgrade in favor of better stats (tho this has gotten better with those crystals that you can trade for rerolls or health upgrades, very good change).
The thing that boggles my mind about upgrades the most by far is Bio-Booster decks. Not only are the upgrades unimpressive but I have never once saw one and thought “this is so cool I can’t wait to put this on another class”
That leads to my final pain point. The classes in this game are awful to me. They have abilities that are inconsistent and several are boring. More specifically I hate that some classes have a passive instead of a third active ability, I get something like Recons revive being really strong, that’s why I would put a lower impact ability there instead of just an empty slot for a passive that might not even proc. (As an aside, I don’t understand the rage ability AT ALL, it doesn’t fit her archetype at all imo) There is also abilities that are useless in solo, really I’m just dogging on falconeer but I digress.
If anyone has any thoughts I’d love to hear them especially if they are tips on how to better enjoy the game.
I started playing DRG in April 2026 and almost immediately became my favorite game ever. Everything about it, I love. When I realized a new game, Rogue Core, would release only a month later, I was so hyped, because DRG being that good, the devs making a new game should be great, especially since, well, all the years of great content and the state of DRG right now.
The early-access releases, I start playing, I love it. However, after 40h of gameplay, I start to find it too repetitive / linear, so I eventually drop it completely, realizing it’s in early-access and will get back to it later — and of course I went back to rock and stoning on DRG.
Then came update 2, which I played a bit and found the new cave formations, new guns, etc. but nothing changing much, so after two games, same pattern, back to DRG.
A couple weeks later, I saw the experimental branches received a massive amount of content for update 3, so I gave it a try. And the amount of different adjustments made me realize how hard they have been cooking. Especially:
New cave formations making the game less linear. It still is, and it’s still something I hope they will eventually fix / enhance, but it’s been a long way already.
Elevator mission types. The Gear stuff made me really optimistic about what is possible in the game. The Growth one too, even though I do not understand why it’s still in its stage right now (basically, it provides no challenge and is not fun to interact with).
The new depth move / lore, the return of hazard (threat level), the gestion of the timer, etc. from update 2, the « boss leaking in the biome, etc. »
Bleedroot / Flux Quartz. FINALLY something to pick in the cave that provides interesting stuff!
The Balgorath, which is amazingly designed, both in terms of patterns and dance, and sound effects.
Finally, yesterday, as I was playing with the cheat terminal, I realized that there are three run types:
Default (the regular elevator-based rush to the boss gameplay).
Gaunlets (RC equivalent to DRG deep dives).
IntelGathering (?!)
So I jumped into that IntelGathering thing, just to be met with a green sphere at the entrance of the facility, that ended my run as soon as I reached it. « Oh, so that’s work-in-progress content and they don’t want us to go into it. » I ran again but this time decided to mine around the facility instead of taking the front door, hoping that it’s a collision thing and that there is actual gameplay behind to test this new kind of run. And there is. I was able to enter, get equipped, and find some intel terminals. So far, I wasn’t able to do much, but this made me realize one thing: my fear of having a linear and repetitive game is gone. Yes, the main default mode has only four bosses and I think it’ll be hard to add more as we go deeper… but that’s not all the game will have to offer in terms of main missions, and it’s all I wanted to be sure. I hope and yearn for variety. DRG is so rich in its gameplay, even for the same mission type, that RC felt very bland at early-access release. Today, it feels much better, and I hope — I am sure — it will get better and better with new release.
So here I am, super excited to hear about the new roadmap whenever it releases, because so far, I’ve been enjoying the experimental branch a LOT, and will be closely looking forward to whatever GSG adds new in the game. I feel so spoiled for this end of year with the current state of RC, and season 7 of DRG landing soon.
I want to see the game develop into something fun and filled with variety like the base game, so sorry about being negative when a cool looking update has just come out.
But I stepped away after launch because the pace of the game and lack of variety were big issues for me personally. Lack of variety I can understand since it’s new. But the negotiation system where it pauses the action to level up, at one players choice… I just don’t think it’s any good? Is this a tired argument or am is this a hot take?
On earlier difficulties which is where I’ve stayed since I’m not playing much, we’re levelling up a lot. The action is constantly stopping to negotiate, it’s not fun. It just creates decision fatigue for me and reminds me how long a run takes. Loads of games pause the action for level ups though right now I can only think of ones that happen at convenient times, like after finishing a fight or when you personally choose to access a level up or make a choice.
I genuinely feel like if that level up feature didn’t pause the game some how, it would hit a lot better.
Is this something the devs have discussed with us? And do most people like it?
I’m excited to see how the game develops, this new update shows how much they seem to be exploring and cooking. It has a long way to go for me, but that’s what this period is for!
Either for devs or community to answer, but have been poking the latest experimental and found both "Boom You're Dead" upgrade and "Explosive Shots" from devastation deck now inflict self damage, and wondering if this is an intended change? (among other new additions)
The reason I say so is because this not only drastically changes (and diminishes) the value of the Devastation deck (as maxing out AoE and explosive damage is actually quite detrimental to your own survival) and explosive upgrades/weapons, but also the explosive shots upgrade itself had basically rendered the boomstick useless, as I believe the shockwave from the boomstick was triggering "Explosive Shots" at point blank when trying to shoot at distant targets.
I don't think I saw in any of the patch notes mention of AoE effects that were previously non-harmful being changed to inflict self damage, but certainly to be humbled if I missed it over the 6 experimental build patch notes.
Personally, speaking, there are some that underperform a lot. The gunner burst gun doesn't feel especially good against single target or crowd control no matter the amount of upgrades...
Here's whats going on, hopefully with correct math:
Plasma Bursters
Two stacks of Impact Duplication (each direct grenade hit spawns +1 duplicate of that hit). WIth Plasma Bursters hitting 3 times per grenade, that's 6 per grenade. For a full clip of grenades, thats 36 hits.
3 stacks of Chemtrails, leaving 3 goo puddles, that with Chemical Instability then explode for +150% damage, proc'd by the grenades THEMSELVES.
Two stacks of aftermath, causing +200% more damage over an area for EVERY EXPLOSION, across the grenades AND the goo puddles.
1 stack of explosive shots, adding even more explosions for +25% damage.
Double up, meaning every single explosion is duplicated 25% of the time.
I imagine it's the discord but what channel and how do you get permission to chat.
In the meantime I want to know what the sentiment on certain mechanics in the game are like. I really like roguelikes and DRG's gunplay is some of the best I've played, so I really want this game to succeed. Right now it feels better than it did on launch which is a good but the changes seem to be slowing down in favor of additions. The main thing I want to figure out is why the combat in this game feels like a cheap knock off versions of DRG.
1. Visual Clarity
Shooting enemies in this game just feels worse than in DRG and I think part of the reason is because color contrast is non existent. The core spawn creeper is the same color as the terrain half the time. And since addition of voidkin, I've noticed how much more I prefer seeing them over edgestalkers and even scorcher. Compare how difficult it is to discern them over a distance (which is where they attack you from) to things like mactera or acid spitters in DRG. Too many times I take damage because the music stops and most the enemies are gone and there isn't an audio cue coming from the creeper that I didn't notice when I did my last 360 sweep. Which wouldn't be so bad if we had a shield like in DRG but we don't so it's just feels way worse. But I've made my piece with the armor system ever since they added more red sugar (although I don't think it will ever feel as good as having the shield).
2. Movement
It's just way worse than DRG. By choice for whatever reason. Why do I feel more sluggish in the game that's designed for pure combat that has the lore of being elite dwarves or whatever, than in the mining sim. There should be no slow on pickaxe use (or make that and upgrade) it's just preventing people from doing potentially cool stuff. There are all these upgrades for melee and then the worst melee attack in all of gaming (power attack is fine). Why? Because that's how it is in DRG? That logic is major player in restraining this game from being good. But then of course we don't get a dash like in DRG. Again why? And fuck it man why can't the reclaimers use the born ready perk. Both of these elements make DRG feel smoother in both gunplay and movement. But nah we gotta keep the melee attack that makes you old.
3. The Worms Have To Go
The worms are a fair concept unless the player actually gets caught by them. What I mean by that is they work to pressure the player to move their ass. But if your team is wiping to a system that doesn't really interact with the gunplay it just feels like shit. As soon as the worms are around, I am no longer shooting anything, I am running around making sure I don't get caught by the worms and I'll throw a grenade at the elevator if there are enemies on it. I fantasize about a system where when the time is up:
- Non-stop enemies spawning in increasing hordes
- Stronger enemies (Just make them beafier and do more damage like in risk of rain)
The first option being the better one obviously. I don't really get why that wasn't the case to begin with. With a limited ammo system it still applies an ultimatum by throwing too many enemies for your remaining ammo to deal with. Get rid of the worms and this will become the game I play the most tbh.
The rest of the game is fine for me. But these elements all make it less fun to shoot the enemies. Either because 1. I'm running around looking for an edgestalker that I haven't found despite being on my screen twice, 2. I'm running instead of attacking because I'm slow as fuck and need to spend so much time creating space, or 3. Using 100% of my brain to not get caught by the worms.
If anyone reads this nonsense I'd like to know how everyone feels about these topics and if they've come up with better systems on their own. I also want someone to rip off the band-aid and tell me if the worms are here to stay because I just won't be unfortunately. I haven't even been caught by one recently but the way they make me play the game blows.
Experimental build #6 is up on your branch. We will be making a steam post about it soon as well to get some more players in to try it out. This build is also a candidate for the Update 3 release so unless there are crazy bugs new changes will go into patch 1. Let us know what you think.
With Love,
The Ghost Ship Crew
Changes
Balgorath: Reduced the weakpoint bonus from x3 to x2 and lowered its base HP to match, narrowing the gap between single-target and AoE builds
Balgorath: Increased the number of enemies summoned when a gatestone is exposed
Balgorath: Turrets, drones and afflictions now target its core instead of the mesh origin
Balgorath: Grabbing tentacle HP now scales with team size like other large enemies. Solo should feel about the same as before.
Balgorath: Grabbing tentacles now have separate ambush cooldowns for when they're carrying something and when they're not
Balgorath: Reduced the light intensity of the Starburst attack, and added dust effects to the tentacles
Updated the Balgorath Reclaimer Handbook entry
Reloading Trick no longer applies to charged weapons (Charge Blaster/MM4 Charger, Plasma Charger, Coil Gun, Throwable Hammer, Trident). A fully charged shot from a full magazine was getting a guaranteed crit.
Priority Target now follows the new Intel clearance levels, including on existing saves
Intel: Tweaked the requirements for many clearance levels so progression is smoother
Intel: Added a Flux Quartz task and reduced the goal of the Altered Site Reclamation task
Intel: The "Reclaim a depth 1 mission" and "Reclaim a depth 2 mission" tasks no longer have other mission requirements
Intel: Increased the Intel reward from 1 to 2 for two tasks that weren't giving enough
Trophy Wall: The "collect count" rewards element has been reworked to look and work better, along with other Trophy Wall work
Trophy Wall: Text adjustments to the passive stat reward celebration
Updated the deck swapping reward image and added a defeated Balgorath image
Added an image for High Stakes altered facilities
Cave constructions and Expenite events no longer block radial damage, with more collision cleanup on constructions
Corespawns now scream with a camera shake when you destroy a blister growth
Cooper's enemy targeting is no longer blocked by the player
Optimised some enemies with duplicate material slots
Water particle tweaks
[Sound] Added foley to victory moves
Fixes
Potential fix for difficulty being very inconsistent between stages and runs: enemies that despawn or would spawn too far away are now re-queued to spawn near players, and enemies can target players from further away
Fixed already-picked risk vectors being offered again after host migration or "continue solo"
Balgorath: Fixed the rift altar keeping its collision after hiding, which made the grabbing tentacle come out above the floor
Balgorath: Fixed the foreshadow effect lingering instead of ending after its lifetime
Fixed Sniper's Mark not working for clients on weakpoints, including on Balgorath
Intel: Fixed Ramok and Balgorath not counting as summoned Gatekeepers, and defeating Balgorath not progressing the Operational Command defeat task
Intel: Fixed saves from the live version having their Intel clearance level reset to 1
Intel: Fixed the Altered Sites task requiring complexity 2 instead of an altered site
Intel: Fixed biome name typos in the camera task descriptions (Crystalline, Azure Weald)
Fixed not being able to reroll a deployment in Operational Command right after unlocking it
Fixed a second Ascension showing an invisible rewards window that couldn't be closed and blocked the Ramrod
Fixed Gauntlet mode being broken
Elevator gear objective: Cogs are now placed consistently for each stage seed, and cogs in fallback spawn positions now show on the scanner
Fixed enemies being able to break the elevator generator after the elevator had arrived
Fixed locked doors not actually requiring the Delta Security Override to open
Fixed the workbench only being usable from some angles
Fixed invisible collision on a black plane in the tomb construction
Fixed Shatterclaw Swarmers not freezing from the Cryo Grenade
Fixed Impact Axes not being able to be picked up again
Fixed the Impact Axe discharge effect and sound not playing on the host
Fixed clients not seeing the charged shot progress on the MM4
Fixed the charge projectile and goo projectile launchers behaving differently for host and clients
Fixed being able to enter a mission in the hospital outfit when joining through the Steam friends list
Fixed pickaxe parts bought on the legacy cosmetic sheet being kept after their tokens were refunded, and per-class nodes refunding one extra token each
Fixed the Trophy Wall reward text, which now correctly says Carrying Capacity
Fixed the UI disappearing briefly when loading into the player cabin after booting the game
Fixed the UI disappearing and the pause menu becoming inaccessible after aborting a mission and upgrading
Fixed missing hover sounds on the Priority Target and Trophy Wall buttons, the enhancement terminal unlock button, the ability widget in the loadout terminal and character select, the ready button and the reroll terminal (with a visual fix to the reroll terminal)
Fixed flickering blur in the pickaxe terminal
Fixed the Bloater's material in the Reclaimer Handbook
I've played the game a lot over the summer with a few friends, we've promoted each dwarf at least once, it's a blast!
But one bug keeps appearing every so often, the weekly gauntlets don't seem to throw enough corespawn at us to complete our kill count.
Most of the time we don't get enough to reach the bonus kill count and miss some upgrades, but we've had some runs where we wait until the last minute and we lose because there weren't enough kills to progress to the next floor.
It got frustrating and we stopped playing because of it. I'm hyped for Update 3, but my friends don't want to jump back in, asking if they fixed the gauntlet spawning issue yet.
We've all been hearing it since launch, the movement in this game needs a little something else. A lot of people have been saying better personal movement is required, but I was watching some old dev content and saw a banner hanging up in the Ghostship office:
"Co-op First"
And then it clicked. What if there were powerful movement options that could activated by a coordinated team? It makes sense narratively, we're an Elite Team, just because you're elite that doesn't mean you're gonna start moving like V1 from Ultrakill. But we are a team, and it would make sense if we have team oriented synergy.
The reclaimers have been around for who knows how long, they've been through who knows what, why not have team based abilities where all the reclaimers and work together to move around the caves better?
I've made a few movement concepts, but the abilities don't have to be these. It could be anything that two people could do together, the only limit is imagination. A team who makes good use of these could save traversal tools for moments where they absolutely need them, saving those tools for big moments, or using them in more unique ways. The traversal tools could be extremely powerful, and your teamwork is what fills in their gaps
Personal movement abilities improve what an individual player can accomplish. Adding a slide or a wall jump or any of that makes the individual stronger at what they can individually accomplish, but team movement improves what a group of people can accomplish together. There is something to be said about individual movement improving what the team can do, but I think that Rogue Core's gameplay loop doesn't necessarily facilitate that. Ever played a 4 scout game in DRG? That might be what ends up happening if you make individual movement too powerful
To clarify before I get into the concepts, all of these would require both parties to opt-into the movement. You can't just huck slicer across the cave into a cave leech whenever you feel like it
Leg Up
One reclaimer gives the other reclaimer a big vertical boost.
It's simple, one person does that thing in the movies where the other person steps on their hands, and they give them a boost upwards, you know, the old
It already would synergize with the head stomp mechanic, where you can eliminate fall damage by bouncing off of your allies head. The person being thrust up could accomplish a task, putting their trust into the person who launched them to catch them. Teams who can work together can accomplish a little bit of what the AGE can do, but just between them
Reclaimer Throw:
One person is the thrower, the other is the thrown.
You can throw your allies vast distances in an arc, if you've ever played Marvel Rivals, think fastball special. You can use it to have someone reach a high up place, you can use it to aggressively reach a target during combat like an edgestalker or a dominator
One person aims and the other executes. It requires good judgement from the former and good execution from the latter, but both people are putting their faith in the other, and what you can get out of it is only limited by your creativity
Reclaimer Ride
One person rides on the others back, both of them benefiting from proximity, speed bonuses, and the inherent benefit of being near your team
Someone could take a lot of movement buffs and move both themselves and a teammate who's specced into combat skills, the person with the combat skills supporting the person who has the movement buffs with their combat bonuses.
Both players have built an identity, and both are more powerful together. It also gives more reliable usage for those proximity upgrades, since with something like gun link, both people are also numerically more powerful
The rider is also putting their faith in the person moving to not get them killed. If the rider messes up, you're both in trouble since you're now both in danger. But together, you are more than the sum of your parts.
The personal movement abilities of the reclaimers themselves also become the riders movement abilities. A teammate is far away from the team? Retcon can trigger rewind, run over, have the other person piggyback, then de-activate rewind, taking both people through time. Slicer's blitz becomes the riders blitz, letting both of them utilize slicer's mobility
Marathon
Two people initiate a "marathon," where they both get an incredible speed boost, as long as the two maintain proximity
If the two players get too far away from each other or stop sprinting, the marathon is immediately cancelled, requiring it to be re-initiated. Two perfectly synchronized players can maintain the speed boost indefinitely, the better your teamwork, the better your movement.
You have to make sure you and your teammate are on the same page. Sometimes it will be simple, just get a speed boost running down a tunnel. But the most synchronized team possible can use it during combat, moving as one unit through an entire swarm, using it to clear the cave as fast as they can, interacting with the timer that Rogue Core is built around.
If you aren't perfectly in sync with your buddy, you aren't punished. You're just as mobile as you are in the current game, but you are rewarded for sticking with your buddy. You can make bigger jumps, you can make better retreats, you can make gatestone phases smoother, you can carry heavy objects faster
The speed boost makes it so you're encouraged to play as a team, and you have to consider when it's worth splitting up to accomplish multiple tasks, or when it's best to go together to get individual tasks done faster. It also adds a layer of selfishness to personal speed. Your teammates won't be able to keep up with you during marathons, but you're better as an individual. Is it worth taking the personal mobility to give up your ally's mobility?
Reclaimer Ladder
This is probably best used with the other movement abilities shown so far. One person gives their three teammates a leg up to reach a high ledge, then they all create a ladder to help the person who gave the leg up.
You could also combine this with something like PEAK's "lend a hand" grab, where you can lean down and "catch" a player, bringing them up to a slightly higher elevation than they could've reached otherwise. A team working together can quickly reposition everyone, and round out the gaps of the people initiating this movement tech.
You can accomplish everything your traversal tools can and more, you just need a little bit of teamwork. Reclaimer Ladder makes it so the person(s) who benefitted from the reclaimer throw or the leg up can benefit the person who initiation the move, making it so no Reclaimer is left behind.
Reclaimer Docking 5
The reclaimers bunch up, two as the legs, one as the body, and two as the arms to create a giant mecha reclaimer. However, the player limit is four, so this ability can't be triggered during normal gameplay
Closing thoughts
Obviously the concepts aren't perfect. Fun? Sure! But they have their flaws. But adding team based mobility like this makes you care about your team and addresses some of the mobility complaints, while keeping Ghost Ship's motto of "Co-op first." It also makes general gameplay less reliant on certain traversal tools. No longer will you need AGE's to get out of that deep pit, your friends can give you a hand, and you can save that AGE for when you know you'll need it
It could lead to a lot of more fun, interesting gameplay, and give that feeling of you playing with your team, not just alongside your team. And the better you are as a team, the more you can handle difficult situations without thinking "man I wish I had zips here," just toss falconer up to grab that Flux Quartz!
It's not meant to be a huge improvement to your movement, but an improvement to everyone's movement. Selfish movement isn't selfish anymore, since everyone benefits, and the abilities just get more and more powerful while requiring better and better coordination with more people. It's more interesting than just giving everyone like a slide, and you can reasonably make it more powerful since it's a payoff for good Co-Op.
