Beginner Driller Guide | Deep Rock Galactic | How to Play Driller

The Driller is a very... interesting class. He digs, he shoots, and he booms. Do you think you can handle that?
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CHAPTERS
Intro: 00:06
Overview: 00:32
Weapons and Gear: 01:09
Mission Specialties: 09:41
Outro: 10:43
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ABOUT
Hi there, I'm Jay! I'm here to help you with all the latest video game tips and tricks.
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DISCLAIMER
This video is made for entertainment purposes only.
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ATTRIBUTION
Deep Rock Galactic:
Publishers: Coffee Stain Studios, Coffee Stain Publishing
Developer: Ghost Ship Games
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SONG
"Avocado Street" by: Wes Hutchinson
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#gaming #drghostgaming #deeprockgalactic

[@rigelseybert9406]

The one comment I have is that drills and axes are actually pretty insane because of one major trait: they count as melee damage, and therefor benefit from and can activate melee perks, including Vampirism. Combined with the upgrade that makes drills cool down on hitting enemies it honestly makes them very good at being a dwarf barbarian, just drilling through a hoard of grunts and healing off of it.

[@simplyyunak3189]

Bonus tip for drills and axe: they do kill ebonite enemies in the machine event

[@elrondxiloscient]

heheheh cryo cannon + vampire + barbed drills + axes horde of glyphids? nah, a crunchy pile of red sugar

[@bob178-fo8qn]

Bonus bonus tup: you can freeze ebonite glyphids to make them take more damage

[@Wineblood]

In a mission in a really complex cave, the drop pod to get out was way higher than us and looked like we might not make it. The driller just drilled up at 45 degrees and straight to the exit. Easy peasy finish.

[@biz117]

this is why i love driller

[@woaaliii8947]

I always dig straight to the droppot as Driller. my first class, I am afraid that I won't find the droppod once I pick up another class

[@Wineblood]

@@woaaliii8947 as a scout, I just grapple and follow molly. But I know what you mean.

[@spingotgoomer3224]

Wait, you're telling me your driller _doesn't_ just start drilling to the drop pod the instant it lands? The moment I see that icon of the drop pod on the screen, I'm already halfway through the wall to there lol

[@macdjord]

One thing you missed about the secondary weapons: _range._ The Driller's mains, being fluid-launchers, all have strictly limited range. The secondaries might not be spectacular, but because they can actually _hit_ a target on the other side of a cavern, they cover a critical gap in capabilities. (You made the same mistake on Gunner, actually; the minigun and autocannon, while not having _strict_ range limits, are not very precise; if you need to hit a particular target, such as a weakpoint, at anything beyond short range, that's what your sidearm is for.)

[@joaogomes9405]

Turning the subata into a sniper with hollow points, recoil compensator and improved alignment really makes it shine. Plus with all the damage upgrades it gets you can turn it from peashooter to hand cannon

[@seanhenry8243]

@@joaogomes9405 YES! I use it for my close-in weakpoint shooter. I can take down big bugs REALLY quickly if I'm positioned correctly!

[@844SteamFan]

Yeah, I took down a Prospector solo with my pistol once lol

[@CptDoopey]

Great guide, but I would like to add some stuff about weapon combos. Although they're not always the best at fighting big waves, there's some incredible synergies between those and the primaries. An easy example is cryo Canon and microwave, with the right mods you can almost instantly freeze enemies, and then cook them, applying thermal shock, witch deals big damage. Cryo also makes aliens easily drillable, pair that with the Vampire perk and Barbed Drills and you can get tons of health really quickly. Other good combo is EPC with burning nightmare and Sludge pump, you can make huge puddles of goo and ignite them with the epc, making a huge "firewall" (associate that with the slowdown mod and you're making gooey Glyphid barbecue). I think these combos are not hard to master, and they help you with ammo and crowd management, that are essential skills at higher hazards.

[@javarakgaming]

Those are all fantastic points and definitely worth noting. I simply wanted to keep the information more basic and suited to people that are fairly new to the game. However if you would like some more "Advanced" class guides including combos and builds, that is absolutely something I can do!

[@abderianagelast7868]

@@javarakgaming I would absolutely love to see more advanced strategies discussed in a future video! I've only played about 150 hours in total, but a lot of that has been with Driller, and there's STILL a ton of strategies I'm learning about! Having a video talking about good uses for bunkers or the vampire freeze build or other things like that would be great to see!

[@p_serdiuk]

Drill melee is very good when combined with the cryo cannon. Frozen bugs can't fight back and with the Vampire perk you get some health back with every kill. Also Driller is very useful on any mission where you need to get back to the drop pod as he can just make a direct tunnel to it, and on Salvage because he can clear terrain around the uplink and fuel cells.

[@madmanvarietyshow9605]

Oh shit that's dope! Brb gotta change my driller build lol

[@omg2manyusers]

Greybeard with over 400 hours on record here. I’m of the opinion that the Subata is useful precisely BECAUSE it's so plain. Yes, the EPC does more damage in a larger area, but the travel time of the projectiles makes it less useful against enemies you need to be precise for. The microwave cannon is a fine substitute, but I find it overheats very quickly (in fairness, I do prioritise focus mode for its accuracy). The pistol shoots with hitscan, is highly accurate, doesn’t need to worry about overheat and is quick to reload. It provides what all of the Driller's primary options lack; reliability at medium or long ranges. Bonus points for being the weapon least likely to accidentally hit a teammate!

[@javarakgaming]

That is a very good point that I had not considered. Sometimes its the most innocuous things that have the most elegance. Thank you for spreading your wise knowledge to this young fledgling.

[@omg2manyusers]

@@javarakgaming No problem! What’s the point of being a greybeard if you don’t help greenbeards lose the green?

[@squidd4319]

Came to say something like this - I've come to absolutely love the Subata, if you're a good shot and use clean overclocks you can use it to great effect for many different situations. Tap-firing long range targets like web spitters, bursting praetorians whether it's frozen so you're getting the damage buff, already corroding so you can't deal much more damage with sludge or just want to save some flamethrower ammo, or even just using it to take the spare grunt here and there in 2 or 3 clean shots to conserve your primary ammo. It's a perfect, consistent all around secondary.

[@alskdjf12]

4:47 ah yes one of the strongest acids 'floralanatomic acid'

[@ekarmel6917]

Deconstructing scouts with satchel charge is the best aspect of driller gameplay

[@videonmode8649]

9:37 Barbed drill tips. Couple it with the cryo cannon with a vampire perk and you can keep your health topped off easily. Also, drills can easily remove armor plating off most enemies and they have a high chance to cause fear, so its great in a pinch if you need to get bugs off you.

[@MattDakus]

You really buried the lead with the EPC. Thin containment field completely changes the way you play driller as a whole! It takes a little practice, but with a some skill, you can mine aquarks on the ceiling, mine gold veins in half a second, and shred pretorians and mactera alike! There's really nothing in DRG like it!

[@bob178-fo8qn]

Cyro cannon with Burning nightmare overcharger better 😒

[@Lavender_Fox]

this might be the best start to a channel I've seen, even more then Dankpods. Amazing content, subbed!

[@javarakgaming]

Thank you so much! There's gonna be much more coming so stayed tuned!

[@John.brown.the.baptist]

I legit just came from a dankpods vid and this was suggested on that vid 😂

[@Balila_balbal_loki]

More tips for driller. Enemies that are frozen will take extra damage when hit by fire because of the aftershock effect this also works for enemies on fire that get frozen, As driller your HE grenade does fire damage so you can freeze a boss and grenade it and watch it be chunked heavily. The plasma secondary can break terrain when charged it makes collecting aquarq easier since a few shots can break them out of a wall or ceiling. Your drills have a fear effect and will delete armor on enemies so you can rush a Praetorian with your drills and it will cower and start running away without any shields making for an easy kill. Your drills can also negate projectile damage you can basically drill the projectile and laugh. Turrets can be dug under and destroyed very easily with your drills. Also your drill, axe and pickaxe all work with vampire perk. The best overclock is the ice spear, it gives your a ranged projectile that does massive damage and against anything that flies it one shots it including elite brundles.

[@AndrewChumKaser]

Driller's drills are not very effective as weapons per-say, but they do fear, stun, and break armor extremely reliably making them a very good choice to use for enemies that are swarming you if you need to get them to STOP doing so immediately.

[@joaogomes9405]

With barbed tips and berzerker, they are some of the best trash cleaners. Especially if your build revolves around supporting the team more than dealing damage with the cryo cannon and the EPC for quick mining. Replace berzerker with iron will and add in vampirism and you become essentially unkillable as long as you have fuel

[@jared5811]

Not sure if this has been mentioned- The bots in the game die (nearly) instantly after being set on fire (full flame gauge). This is similar to how flying enemies die after being fully frozen. So the flame thrower can be very effective in missions where you encounter a lot of bot enemies such as the Industrial Sabotage mission. Also, the drills will chew up low health enemies like the bot Shredders(35hp), Glyphid Swarmers (12hp), Glyphid Spawn(5hp) and Naedocytes(5hp) (those small flying bugs that shock you) making them an effective defense. This is especially useful for the flying enemies that may be hard to track with gun type weapons.

[@Theokondak]

Cryo Cannon + Drills + Vampirism is really fun. Also the Microwave emmiter is great too because it does lots of damage to frozen targets. It's my fav combo so far

[@Raghetiel]

You forgot to mention, that pretty much all big bugs have high resistance to fire, making flamethrower inefficient, and sometimes detrimental to your team, especially on elimination missions. Driller struggles with direct damage, while exceeds at crowd control. Although, there are builds to compensate for that. In elimination, sludge pump and cryo weapons are perfect for slowing, dealing persistent damage and freezing, making life easier for your team

[@aadenkutzner4903]

i love my driller main friend, he makes missions go so much faster cause we dont have to mess around with convoluted cave systems and can just b-line for objectives

[@bashily2844]

Fun fact about the flamethrower. It is able to melt the ice in glacial strata and the platforms engineers can place

[@babelfish42ofstarcommand90]

My favorite part about being a driller is racing MULE and others to the extraction point.

[@Chanterla1kuyoma]

Good guide, and following the trend in the comments I'll add another tip, the flamethrower can ignite the gas pratorians leave behind as well as the poison gas from the poison spore mushrooms in the fungus bogs, great for getting rid of them.

[@Andre-wq4vs]

I thought you would be a older channel, cause the quality of the guide is good! :O i am curious about the next 2 characters, plz bring then 🙏 thank you

[@javarakgaming]

Don't worry. They are on the way with so much more!

[@bradshaw2421]

Hey, nice guide! I exclusively only play driller and thought that this guide covered the beginner steps very well. There was an example however where you said drills can't mine minerals, whilst this is true, you can dig around a lot of the minerals to mine them. For example, a vein of holomite needs the ground connecting to be disconnected to the mineral and it will mine instantly (some minerals wont though!). Most of the time these veins are only connected by just the ground underneath, so they can be mined in the same way an enemy robot Sentry Gun can be destroyed, instantly by digging under; which is again another oversight many driller players encounter and an important one due to the driller's struggles against the bots. Also to touch on perks for driller, his best combo imo is Iron Will & Vampire. They work super well with cryo cannon, drills & impact axes, I like to pair thorns/ resupplier/ dash with these, they complement the perks the best & most effectively. Thanks for the guide man, Rock and Stone!

[@javarakgaming]

Thank you so much for the feedback and assistance. Rock and Stone!

[@wokihehe7658]

Thank you for your guides!

[@abhimanyughoshal]

Excellent guide, thanks for this! I didn't even know there were different weapons for each character until I watched this 🙈 Watching the rest next. I started with the gunner, but I prefer the driller's mode of traversal - so I'm sticking with him for now.

[@Aoenias]

Subata Pistol ain't bad if you build it for damage. Something Driller's primaries don't really excel at is damage per second versus weak points because, well, weak points are not their specialty! If you find yourself behind say, a Praetorian or a Dreadnought, compare drenching it in your primary to just unloading a mag from the Subata into its butt as quickly as possible. Inflicting your primary's status on them can help in the long term in a protracted or difficult fight, but the raw and nearly instant damage of the Subata is not to be snubbed because the situations will call for it sometimes.

[@taka7369]

I am driller and I'm drilling a hole, drilly drilly hole, drilly drilly hole!

[@metalblizzard6024]

Just started playing and I love this class... subbed for a useful video!

[@javarakgaming]

Awesome, thank you!

[@FluxFreeman]

Nice guide bub, just picked this game up it’s gr8

[@Gransterman]

My favorite Driller build is full slow hydrogen ion additive sludge pump with full slow wavecooker on elimination missions. The dreads are practically rooted in place.

[@reaperactualgaming3075]

I just got the game and this is the only class i play as. I play mostly solo and the driller is perfect for that.

[@Lucasaurios]

Drillers on sabotage are S tier brother, the c4 is such a good tool against bosses.

[@bas_6983]

your videos are quite good! keep it up :D

[@javarakgaming]

Glad you like them!

[@Genashi1991]

I'm very new to DRG so my opinion may change in time, but I intend to have driller as my main focus and the engineer as my secondary. But to get a feel for all classes I will promote all classes at least once.

[@CanegmSemse]

for the EPC, try tier 5 thin containment field so you can blow up charged shots. This can mine resources and has a very high skill ceiling for use.

[@javarakgaming]

I will have to try that. Thank you for the tip!

[@basimaziz]

This class looks so fun... Burn/freeze things, dig holes, satchel charges, oh my word...

[@timothye.2902]

IMO the satchel is a lot more useful as a weapon than an excavator. The power drills can already terraform and mineral veins are easily mined with your pick. The satchel deals a lot of damage, especially with upgrades, and can take huge chunks out of tanky enemies like praetorians, oppressors, and dreadnaughts.

[@bulletsquier]

Springloaded ripper in a drilled cave vs horde of enemies, is a satisfying sight to see. Especially with the cryo cannon. :v

[@DuckDecoy13]

5:37 best to use with cryo gun along with certain mods that catch the bug on fire

[@tynce563]

Honestly I just got this game and was drawn to the driller from the start! The driller is the first class I tried and I had a blast! The drills are nice and the flame thrower is just too fun. He’s an ugly buck by default though lmao.

[@molluscus2311]

Something I would add is that the potential shenanigans with the drills are nigh unlimited. If you're new to Driller, don't just use the drills for refinery tunnels and loose dirt- you can do loads of stuff with them, it's easily the most versatile support tool in the game. I often find Drillers solving more problems than the Engineer does due to the creative possibilities of the drills. There's a reason the class is named after its support tools- they will be a huge part of your play if you use them right.

[@javarakgaming]

I could not agree more! The driller is like the hyper active friend you have that always has too much energy.

[@casengoostree695]

how’s your journey with the game

[@atropa4111]

I was surprised you don't like the Sabata! I main driller and it's my favourite pistol. It is basic and simple but it's damage is reliable and consistent as is one of the only ways to deal critical point damage with driller. I find the damage on the plasma pistol lack-luster, I was also surprised you didn't mention the combo effects of the wave cooker. It's final upgrade tier basically lets you combo it's poor damage with your primary weapon allowing for a large explosion of damage on enemies who are either covered in goo, frozen or on fire which saves ammo and means you often use your primary to hit your DOT on everyone and then wave cooker swipe across them to make them all explode.

[@javarakgaming]

Thank you for the feedback! honestly Driller is the class I need the most practice in so the combos are still something I'm figuring out. I'll be sure to talk about them in the future advanced guides.

[@QUEERVEEART]

i love playing egg hunt with driller cause it makes it so easy/fast to get to the eggs :D

[@heorohuy544]

C4 isnt a mining tool. Its a scout hunting tool. Dont forget.

[@z-manwuvsgirrafes3646]

Fun fact: the weapon upgrade on the sludge pump "fluoroantimonic acid" is named after the strongest acid ever produced, it's obscenely corrosive being over 1 billion times stronger than sulphuric acid (battery acid) and can only be stored in Teflon containers

[@D_Rogers]

Main thing to mention about the EPC is that it can be used to mine mineral deposits on high walls quickly, speeding up the Driller's game by some margin.... :)

[@BDrumev001]

Fun Fact - the Drills can chew through Praetorian's Armor and are affected by any and all mele bonuses! You will understand once you make it to Hazard 5.

[@arcturus64]

Very niche use but the drills deal massive damage to ebonite enemies (rock version of bugs). Very useful to clear the event without breaking a sweat.

[@seanorourke5025]

I usually play haz 6x2 but I still watch beginner tutorials for some reason 😂

[@thecaffinatedbeard]

Wow they added a useful version of the jet gun to this game…10/10

[@einkar4219]

barb drills + cryo cannon + axes + vapirism j+ iron will is fun combo

[@valkyriedd5849]

It's not 'very' or 'mostly' unique it's unique as in completely original, one of a kind. 😊

[@In_J3CtoR]

I just like funny moment thats drillers' only conventional weapons are HE grenades and C4

[@meepdhctdjsh]

I main driller, I played engineer a bit and gunner in tutorial but honestly I like driller the best. idk why, I guess I just really like the idea of it

[@Mr_Itchy]

The subota is my favorite sidearm for the driller it does decent damage with a braindead fire rate

[@FurtiveSkeptical]

Fluoro-anatomic??🤔 FluoroANTIMONIC ... (as in the element Antimony) Rock and/or Stone!!. Oh, and thanks for the complete guide.✌️

[@thatgoldenguy3272]

I don’t get it, won’t you usually just be drilling through the thin dirt layers? Besides on site refining, where else can I use the drills to be useful? Sorry if this sounds rude it’s jus5 interesting to em

[@m3ntal_c0re]

sunata doesnt seem like an ordinary pistol to me... more like a mix of pistol and a bolt gun tool

[@snakedragon9953]

best class 😤

[@wesleybartoszek425]

The problem for me isn’t hurting my team mates my main is gunner so I think I got it covered the problem is I don’t want to be a bad driller he’s so unorthodox that it’s difficult to use him because you want your drills to be efficient but you need the fuel for the very difficult but I really want to play as him

[@rohansarangdhar8023]

Subata is not great until you get explosive reload OC, then its the best secondary imo

[@jacccccccck1475]

When I started driller I was not a fan after playing dwarf. After prestiging my driller for the first time I LOVE playing as him

[@spankyjeffro5320]

I honestly like the Driller the most. Tons of damage, tons of fun. :)

[@844SteamFan]

I played driller first and will probably Main it after playing with the other classes for a bit (2 promotions). I still use the flamethrower and pistol because I kinda find the other 2 a bit too gimmicky, they’re just not for me.

[@joaogomes9405]

Man, you undersold the subata to a ridiculous extent. All of driller's primaries have a limited and relatively short range. Meanwhile the subata is very accurate, can hit targets from an extreme distance and has enough upgrades to make it deal respectable amounts of damage. You can go full damage improvements with it and make it deal a very nice 19 damage per shot, or go for more of a sniper build with improved alignment, recoil compensator and hollow-point bullets to accurately delete enemies from a range your primaries can't ever reach. Incredibly good on large open biomes like dense biozone and hollow boughs. Also the satchel charge can deal ridiculous damage if you upgrade its damage, making it useful on elimination missions besides the other uses it has in bunkie making and mining

[@javarakgaming]

I definitely agree with that. I could definitely have done a bit more for it.

[@einkar4219]

what I am thinking about driller I like tase of crushed rocks

[@Terrayko]

Я граю соло. І вважаю, що бурильник це найкращий вибір для соло гри. Він найбільш універсальний і в нього є все щоб вирішити будь яку задачу. У інших класів є кращі інструменти для певних задач, але тільки у бурильника є всі, хоча б у задовільному виконанні. Найважче - це зняти зі стелі ресурс додаткового завдання, який не може принести Боско. Але і це можна зробити пробуривши складний тунель. На другому місці за універсальністю я бачу інженера. Ним можна успішно грати соло, хоча і важче. А от стрілець та розвідник, мені здається, створені виключно для кооперативного проходження. Звісно, це виключно моя думка і мій досвід. Я як раз і підписався на канал, щоб побачити що я упускаю. Дякую за це!

[@Helldiver2180]

Did someone call the exterminator? Because it is burning time!

[@MrBlitzpunk]

Driller is weird, if this were an RPG you'd think he's a tank class, but he's actually a mage... that can also dig holes... and throw axes

[@javarakgaming]

He's a mage tank.....a mank..or tage.

[@dickencider104]

OSHA and the ethics board can't reach us all the way out here

[@engineergaming9878]

The goverment trying to make me not to shoot my team

[@samuelschultz599]

Did you seriously talk about the driller class and not mention Thin Containment Field on the EPC???

[@javarakgaming]

I understand the cruelty of my transgressions. The driller is honestly the class I probably have the least experience with so there are a lot of things I'm still picking up

[@samuelschultz599]

@@javarakgaming Keep Rockin' n Stonin' brother! Just know I'll have to report to corporate if this happens again.

[@tomt55]

Great point. The EPC's main use (IMO) is mining, via removing terrain. The easiest/most effective build for this is choosing the 2nd gear mod all the way down. Then it's a matter of practice. There are some great videos out there on this, try the one from Axis Cronos.

[@TerebraRobusta]

EPC mining is top tier

[@I_break_games]

How to play driller: atomize everything team included

[@nemtudom5074]

Subata > The other two clunky wacky weapons

[@theears995]

ROCK AND STONE

[@javarakgaming]

ROCK AND STONE!

[@SocknessMonster]

Rock and stone?

[@RylanMobley]

Is this guide outdated at all?

[@javarakgaming]

It is one of my first videos so I could possibly update them later at some point.

[@RylanMobley]

Driller is my favorite and I would love to see more of him!

[@sirtheopolis5085]

Friendly fire is never a problem, it’s a feature