Welcome to SEASON 05 - DRILLING DEEPER!

Management’s got their sights set on mineral riches deeper down toward Hoxxes’ core, which means we’re increasing your depth of operations. You’re venturing down deeper than ever before, claiming unprecedented treasures for the company, and confronting all the lethal horrors that stand in your way.

In other words, it’s another great day at work.

With love,
-The Ghost Ship Crew

---

Management has identified a new mineral priority: Morkite Seeds. Rumor has it that these could optimize the Morkite refining process tenfold. The problem is, they’re located much deeper down in Hoxxes than we’re used to, hidden away in dazzling Morkite Geodes.

You’re going to have to locate several Resonance Crystals in the cave system using your Telemetric Rangefinder. Use the Crystals to perform Deep Scans and pinpoint the location of the Morkite Geode. Once you’ve got that, a Drillevator will be sent down to bring you to the Geode where you can collect the precious Morkite Seeds.

Management advises that you familiarize yourself with the mission details in the Miner's Manual prior to your first descent. Good luck!

---

Reports are coming in of a peculiar new mineral formation in the caves. R&D’s best guess is it’s something from deeper down near the core of Hoxxes. What we know for certain is that these formations contain a Core Stone – and Management wants to get their hands on them.

But beware: Once you disturb the Core Stone, you’re in for a fight. It’ll open up rifts in the cave walls, and summon a hideous new enemy, unlike anything we’ve seen in Hoxxes so far. They’re called Corespawn Crawlers, and they’re not to be underestimated. Fight them off as you neutralize the Core Stone, then deposit the Stone in a specialized extraction pod to complete the event.

---

A cunning new Glyphid variant. This enemy is capable of cloaking to near-invisibility, burrowing for rapid repositioning, and launching ambush attacks that temporarily disable your shields.

An invasive, semi-sentient plant consisting of an impenetrable, acid-spitting core, and an array of sensory feeler nodules. Take out the nodules to open up the core.

A new variant of the Infector species -- this one’s bigger, tougher, and shoots a salvo of explosive bile. Aim for the sac, and watch out for splash damage.

Unlike any creature previously spotted in the caves of Hoxxes, these mysterious fiends should not be underestimated. You’ll need to dispatch them without hesitation if you want to make it home alive.

---

We've added Hazard 5+ to offer experienced players an extra level of challenge.
With Hazard 5+, you can adjust four variables to add to the baseline Hazard 5 difficulty:

• Aggressive Enemies
  
• Player Vulnerability
  
• More Enemies
  
• Tough Enemies

Each of the four options can be adjusted to your tastes, and each offers two levels of increased intensity. This feature will only be available at the Hazard 5 difficulty.

All Haz 5+ games will be categorized together in the server list, and you’ll be able to see which specific modifier switches they have activated. This difficulty level must be unlocked via the “Beyond Lethal” assignment.

Just remember: "It’s like Haz 5 – but Plus!™"

---

Added 12 new Overclocks (one for each primary weapon), plus one rework of an existing Overclock.

• Rotary Overdrive (“Lead Storm” Minigun)
  
• Mortar Rounds (“Thunderhead” Autocannon)
  
• Cluster Charges (“Hurricane” Rocket System)
  
• Burst Fire (Deepcore GK2)
  
• Marked for Death (M1000 Classic)
  
• Conductive Thermals (DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine)
  
• Pump Action (“Warthog” Auto 210)
  
• Hyperalloy Assembly (“Stubby” Voltaic SMG)
  
• [Rework] Micro-Conductor Add-On (“Stubby” Voltaic SMG)
  
• SmЯt Trigger OS™ (LOK-1 Smart Rifle)
  
• Scorching Tide (CRSPR Flamethrower)
  
• Crystal Nucleation (Cryo Cannon)
  
• Combustive Goo Mix (Corrosive Sludge Pump)

---

This pernicious and rather gross invasive species has taken up residence in some caves. They like to burrow in the ceilings. Look up, and shoot them out wherever you see them.

We’ve noticed new clutches of Glyphid eggs popping up. Like most eggs, they are completely defenseless. Track them down and smash them with any tools at your disposal.

---

In addition to the Deep Scan primary mission type going into the Deep Dive mission pool, we're adding two new secondary objectives.

Use the Telemetric Rangefinder to locate Resonance Crystals, and unearth them so you can call down a Resonance Scanner and get it hooked up to the crystal to perform a Deep Scan. (As a secondary objective, this is the crystal-finding segment only, without the Drillevator sequence)

Find a single well of liquid Morkite, call down a pumpjack, and build a pipeline to a Morkite Extraction Pod. The Morkite must flow!

---

Macteras, Infectors and Spitters, oh my! Jump into a cave packed with an extra helping of projectile-shooting enemies. This time, the bugs shoot back.

The caves have an unusual concentration of stony-armored Ebonite Glyphids. Their only vulnerability is melee damage. Better keep those pickaxes close at hand.

---

Management has tacked on another side objective for you. A second secondary, if you will. It's a secret. You’ll find out what it is once you’re down in the dig site.

Bad news: The caves are filled with airborne toxins that constantly drain your health. Good news: These toxins also make Glyphid blood crystallize into healing Red Sugar. You’ll need to kill to survive.

---

We’ve added the ability to reactivate any season any time you want, and play through them at your own pace. There’s also an option to play DRG in a season-neutral (or 'unseasoned') mode. You can access all this in a new tab in the Season Terminal.

You can read more about how this feature works in our Q&A explainer.

---

This is something we've wanted to do for a long time. The Ommoran Heartstone now has a third attack phase in its repertoire, adding some unpredictability to each encounter. For this new attack the Ommoran targets a random player, attempting to trap the unfortunate dwarf in crystal growths bursting out of the ground. Stay mobile and be extra vigilant when in the vicinity of the Drilldozer, as the crystals bursting out of the ground will deal devastating damage to dear Doretta. Don't let the rock lay the smackdown on you!

---

We were able to teach the dwarves three new dance moves:

1. Bully Maguire
   
2. Spongebob Shuffle
   
3. Twerking

Please use them responsibly.

---

We’ve implemented a few handy options to keep track of your growing wardrobes. You’ll now be able to filter your cosmetics by subtype, style and season, making it quicker to put the perfect look together. We’ve also introduced a ‘Novelty’ and ‘Company Approved’ toggle for the Randomize option, to give you a bit more control over your randomized outfits.

---

Added and reworked 20+ visual overlays for status effects, like getting webbed, set on fire, or breaking your shield. The ones that already existed look better now, and we've implemented new visuals for status effects that didn't used to have any POV overlay.

---

As many seasonal cosmetics are being migrated over to the Performance Passes and Cosmetic Trees where they originally appeared, we're adding some fresh stuff into various loot pools:

• Weapon framework: 'Danger Dice'
  
• Pickaxe set: 'Diamond Cutter'
  
• Pickaxe set: 'Spring Loaded'
  
• Armor paint job: 'Harbinger'
  
• Armor paint job: 'Ikari'
  
• Armor paint job: 'Retro Galaxy'
  
• Weapon paint job: 'Flaming Hot'
  
• Weapon paint job: 'Buff'
  
• Weapon paint job: 'Bubblegum'

---

Added an expanded promotion tracker to show the number of promotions past Legendary III (better known as Red III). Now you can really show off your work experience.

---

We’re building out the Weapon Maintenance reward system with three new paint jobs to earn:

• WM 5.1 ‘LIBERTY’
  
• WM 5.2 ‘HEAVY METAL’
  
• WM 5.3 ‘DRAGON SCALE’

---

Automatically added to default inventory:

• Almond
  
• Cool Brown
  
• Deep Brown
  
• Olive
  
• Porcelain

Skin tones added to The Shop:

• Orcish
  
• Cerulean Blue
  
• Rager

---

Enabled integration of this neat tech that boosts your framerate (requires a GeForce RTX 40xx series GPU). You’ll find the toggle for this in the Graphics menu under ‘Frame Generation’.

---

Added a bunch of small optimizations to things like enemies, UI and loading of objects. Mmm more frames yum

---

• Added voiceline kill cries for Mactera Grabber, Glyphyd Acid Spitter and Web Spitter
  
• Added a ‘select random mission’ option in the Mission Terminal (only available for hosts)
  
• Glyphid Acid Spitter: Changed the Acid Spitter's projectile DoT damage type from Generic to Poison (the projectile impact damage remains Kinetic)
  
• Q'ronar Shellback: Changed the Shellback projectile damage type from Explosive to a mix of Explosive and Poison
  
• Infectors: Converted the Infector projectile area damage type from Explosive to a mix of Explosive and Poison (the direct impact damage remains Kinetic)
  
• Glyphid Dreadnoughts: Converted various Dreadnought fireball projectile area damage type from Explosive to a mix of Explosive and Fire
  
• Naedocyte Shocker: Changed the damage and STE to actually be Electric type damage and thereby get affected by the Elemental Insulation perk

---

Probably added more than we fixed lol

---

• Added new 'Rock and Stone' animation for dual wield weapons that doesn't move the left hand up
  
• Added option to rejoin (only after crash) on Deep Dives up until the Drop Pod has been called
  
• Significantly reduced the time Impact Axes embedded in a creature take to disappear after the target dies, to not confuse them for retrievable ones
  
• Changed the Satchel Charge's blinking light to a less-blinding softer one (very soothing)
  
• Increased the explosion damage of the Special Explosive Chemical Bolts on the Boltshark Crossbow and changed the damage type to Explosive, so now it hits Glyphid Slasher and Mactera Spawn breakpoints
  
• Fixed Boltshark bolts sometimes triggering Fear without the T5 upgrade
  
• Polished up the Driller's Scale Brigade and Scout's MK1 armor suits
  
• Did some visual tweaks and fixes on MK1 + MK2 armor undersuits
  
• Changed the placement of the ”Ragdoll Lifetime” option to distinguish it from other graphics options
  
• Made the Overclock UI scale the Overclock's description text to better fit longer translations
  
• Updated Space Rig dressing for Seasons 01 and 02
  
• Added props from each season to Hidden Dwarf prop hunt beer (reflecting whichever season's Space Rig you have active)
  
• Re-added Frameworks to Cargo Crates that were missing since the Maintenance Update: Neon Band, Glyphid Hunter, Scale Brigade, Mechanize, Custom Engineered & Fourth Relic
  
• This one isn't part of the patch notes. Confuse my boss by leaving a comment with whatever you had for breakfast
  
• Tweaked Stingtail's collision around its nose horn to make it better match the visuals
  
• Fixed some of the Stingtail armor plates not breaking properly
  
• Added a reaction to Data Cell being hooped
  
• Added Milestones for the new Mission and new Warnings to the KPI Terminal
  
• Added rich presence status descriptions on Steam and Discord for Prop Hunt
  
• Fixed Jet Boots' first-person particles being offset
  
• Fixed network stats getting clipped on players' HUD when set to the 'Detailed' option
  
• Fixed late join/rejoin Pod beacon lingering too long after it lands
  
• Fixed issue where holding left click to throw a carriable object can make you start pickaxing, even without you holding right click
  
• Fixed the power attack activating when not intended, such as when performing a pickaxe cancel
  
• Fixed Q'ronar not working correctly with the Volatile Guts Anomaly
  
• Fixed the Rival Tech Router Nodes sometimes encroaching on other important objects and locations
  
• Fixed a bug that allowed you to use some weapon abilities that were triggered by holding reload while grabbed, and thereby not supposed to be able to shoot
  
• Fixed a crash triggered by picking up the glowing ball in the Space Rig (orb pondering is so back)
  
• Fixed instances where weapon stat upgrade values got rounded to whole numbers when they should not
  
• Added a 'Ragdoll Lifetime' option
  
• Fixed issue where Scout's grappling hook would sometimes not respond if activated while starting to sprint

---

It’s almost time. Barely two weeks remain before Season 05: Drilling Deeper goes live in Deep Rock Galactic. We just premiered the brand-new Season 05 Narrated Trailer – were you there for the premiere?

You can watch the whole trailer right here:


It'll hit consoles up to two weeks after.

Down below, we'll take a closer look at some of the highlight features coming with the new season.
Let’s make like a dwarf and dig into it.

---

Management has identified a new mineral priority: Morkite Seeds. Rumor has it that these could optimize the Morkite refining process tenfold. The problem is, they’re located much deeper down in Hoxxes than we’re used to.


To start, you’re going to have to locate several Resonance Crystals in the cave system – you’ll hook these up to a Resonance Scanner, and use that information to pinpoint the location of the Morkite Geode. Once you’ve got that, we’ll send in the Drillevator to bring you down there.


It’s on you to protect and maintain the Drillevator as it takes you down to the Geode. Once you’re there, snag the Morkite Seeds, deposit ‘em, strap on a pair of turbocharged Jet Boots, and blast back up for extraction. Then, go to the Abyss Bar, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over.


Should be no problem for a dwarf like you.




We’re noticing a peculiar new mineral formation in the caves. R&D’s best guess is it’s something from deeper down near the core of Hoxxes. What we know for certain is that these formations contain a Core Stone – and Management wants to get their hands on them.


But beware: Once you disturb the Core Stone, you’re in for a fight. It’ll open up rifts in the cave walls, and summon a hideous new enemy, unlike anything we’ve seen in Hoxxes so far. They’re called Corespawn Crawlers, and they’re not to be underestimated. Fight them off as you neutralize the Core Stone, then deposit in a specialized extraction pod to complete the event.


The Crawler isn’t the only new threat lurking in the darkness.
With the arrival of Season 05, you’ll also need to contend with three other new foes:

A cunning new Glyphid variant. This enemy is capable of cloaking to near-invisibility, burrowing for rapid repositioning, and launching ambush attacks that temporarily disable your shields.


An invasive, semi-sentient plant consisting of an impenetrable acid-spitting core, and an array of sensory feeler nodules. Take out the nodules to open up the core.


A new variant of the Infector species – this one’s bigger, tougher, and shoots a salvo of explosive bile. Aim for the sac, and watch out for splash damage.




In light of these new threats, we’re expanding your arsenal. 12 new Overclocks are on the way, one for each primary weapon. Plus, we’re reworking one existing Overclock.

Here are the Overclock descriptions we got from R&D’s Munitions Division:

• Cluster Munitions (“Hurricane” Rocket System) - Supplies the weapon with innovative new munitions capable of bursting into a rain of explosive bomblets, triggered by holding reload while in the missiles are in flight. The weight of the bomblets reduces the missiles' flight speed, as well as magazine size and carrying capacity. On the bright side, these missiles hit like a truck if you choose not to release their bomblets before impact.
  
• Rotary Overdrive (“Lead Storm” Minigun) - Supertunes the electric drive to push the fire rate to its limit! However, the increase in heat buildup makes it necessary to add a mechanism allowing injections of Quik-Chill coolant fluid by pushing reload. This coolant reduces built-up heat and can rapidly take the weapon out of an overheated state. Only a limited amount of coolant can be carried, however, and must be replenished via resupplies.
  
• Mortar Rounds (“Thunderhead” Autocannon) - The weapon has been reworked to fire heavy mortar projectiles. These modifications slow down the rate of fire significantly -- but even if you can't carry as many, the high-explosive rounds more than make up for it in damage. Just remember to account for drop.

• Burst Fire (Deepcore GK2) - R&D has fitted a cam mechanism into the GK2's fire control group, putting the rifle into a fixed 3-round burst fire mode. Additional modifications include a small increase to magazine size and reduced recoil.
  
• Marked for Death (M1000 Classic) - Focus Shot now fires a dart loaded with an inflammatory catalyst which causes enemies to temporarily take more damage from all sources. While faster to focus, the direct impact of these darts does negligible damage, and requires an increased Focus Shot ammo cost as well as a smaller magazine.
  
• Conductive Thermals (DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine) - ElectroCryoThermic™ technology makes the plasma projectiles increase enemies' sensitivity to temperature changes and shock. However, the volatile plasma reaction does less direct damage, and generates more heat per shot.

• Pump Action (“Warthog” Auto 210) - Converts the weapon into a whopping 6-gauge pump action capable of dealing massive damage and punching through multiple enemies. The intrusive old-school pump mechanism requires a smaller magazine, and you can't fit as many of these big ol' shells in your pockets.
  
• Hyperalloy Assembly (“Stubby” Voltaic SMG) - Precision-tooled hyperalloy components drastically reduce bullet spread. However, the weapon frame no longer absorbs recoil, transferring all force directly to the user's wrist. This means increased recoil, as well as elevated risk of carpal tunnel syndrome.
  
• SmЯt Trigger OS™ (LOK-1 Smart Rifle) - A sleek new operating system from the SmЯt Corporation gives the weapon near-instantaneous lock-on, and automatically fires shots at locked-on targets. This system is quite CPU-intensive, however, lowering the maximum number of lock-ons.
  
• [REWORK] Conductor Bullets (“Stubby” Voltaic SMG) - A conductor has been added to your bullets, enabling them to add electrify to platforms and sentries on impact. Additionally, electrified Sentries work as nodes, creating an electric arc between them. Conductor Bullets are bigger and require a modified firing mechanism, reducing ammo capacity and fire rate.*

*Conductor Bullets is a rework of the 'Turret Arc' Overclock, and is effectively just a plain buff: It adds the ability to electrify your platforms, giving you more options for electric area control.

• Scorching Tide (CRSPR Flamethrower) - A supercharged injection system and integrated duckbill choke allows the weapon to blast a blistering horizontal wave of flame by holding reload. Using this mechanism eats up additional fuel and makes the weapon unstable, reducing movement speed during charging.
  
• Crystal Nucleation (Cryo Cannon) - A new cryoctane fuel blend creates razor-sharp formations of ice crystals on impact with terrain, which damage and slow enemies attempting to walk through them. These ice crystals melt over time, but can be maintained by cooling them. This modification results in a smaller overall fuel tank capacity in order to make room for a new fuel injector.
  
• Volatile Compound (Corrosive Sludge Pump) - Adding ammonium nitrate to the sludge mixture makes it explode when exposed to high temperatures. This new sludge mix has a thinner consistency, increasing the ammo cost of the pump's charged shot. It also smells even worse.

For the daring, the bold, the foolhardy and the sweaty: we’re upping the difficulty with Hazard 5+. This mode adds four adjustable options to boost the Hazard 5 challenge: Aggressive Enemies (affects speed and attack rate), Player Vulnerability (you take more damage), More Enemies (guess what this one does), and Tough Enemies (bugs are more bullet sponge-y).

Each of the four options can be adjusted individually between two levels of increased intensity. Regardless of which specific modifier switches are active, all Hazard 5+ games will be grouped together in the server list. This difficulty switch feature is only available for Hazard 5+, and it must first be unlocked via an assignment.





With Season 05, we’ll be introducing a new attack pattern to the Ommoran Heartstone in the existing Escort Duty mission.

Right now, the Ommoran sequence has four fixed phases: two bug swarms, and two “Heartstone special attack” phases. We’re adding a third special attack, where the Ommoran sends up rock spikes from below to encase you in a stony trap.


If you’re encased in the rock, you’ll have to spend precious time mining yourself free. And if you happen to be on top of Doretta while the rock spikes target you, you’ll end up causing tons of damage to our beloved Drilldozer.

This attack pattern will have an equal, random chance of being one of the Ommoran Heartstone's special attack phases, making each encounter more fresh and unpredictable.



Surprise! We’re adding two new secondary objectives to accomplish during your missions.

• Bha Barnacles: This pernicious and rather gross invasive species has taken up residence in the caves, and they prefer to nest in the ceilings. Look up, and shoot them out wherever you see them.
  
• Swarmer Eggs: We’ve noticed new clutches of Glyphid eggs popping up. Like most eggs, they are completely defenseless. Track them down and smash them with any tools at your disposal.

You’ll be seeing a couple ways to add a twist to your missions:

• [Warning] Duck and Cover: Macteras, Infectors and Spitters, oh my! Jump into a cave packed with an extra helping of projectile-shooting enemies. This time, the bugs shoot back.
  
• [Warning] Ebonite Outbreak: The caves have an unusual concentration of stony-armored Ebonite Glyphids. Their only vulnerability is melee damage. Better keep those pickaxes close at hand.
  
• [Anomaly] Secret Secondary: Management has tacked on another side objective for you. A second secondary, if you will. You’ll find out what it is once you’re down in the dig site.
  
• [Anomaly] Blood Sugar: Bad news: The caves are filled with airborne toxins that constantly drain your health. Good news: These toxins also make Glyphid blood crystallize into healing Red Sugar. You’ll need to kill to survive.

We’re implementing the ability to reactivate any existing season of Deep Rock Galactic, and play through it whenever you like. We’ve done a deep dive on this feature in this Q&A explainer post – but here’s how it works in a nutshell:

• In the Season Terminal, there will be a new tab called ‘Season Selection’. You’ll use this to pick any available DRG season and activate it.
  
• When you select a season, it’ll reload your Space Rig with your selected season’s theme, and activate that season’s Performance Pass.
  
• Party members don’t need to have the same season active in order to join you. You’ll progress on the season you have active, and they’ll progress on the one they have selected.
  
• As part of this, we’re replacing the “Disable Season Content” option with a season simply called Vanilla. This option has no associated Performance Pass, and a balanced chance to spawn Events and Warnings from all seasons.

Here at the Deep Rock Galactic Corporation, we know that a motivated employee is a productive employee. That’s why, instead of health insurance or worksite safety measures, we’re introducing an all-new Performance Pass and Cosmetic Tree for Season 05! Deposit Core Stones, complete daily challenges and earn XP to be rewarded with Scrip, which you can use to purchase glimmering new cosmetics, such as the Neo-Tekya weapon framework.



When we introduced the Weapon Maintenance reward system, we said we’d only add one new paintjob per season. But we’re doing three this time! Pranked ya!

Three new tiers to complete, three new paintjobs to unlock:

1. WM 5.1 'Liberty'
   
2. WM 5.2 'Heavy Metal'
   
3. WM 5.3 'Dragon Scale'

Graybeards rejoice: We’re adding an expanded promotion tracker that will indicate how many times you’ve promoted your dwarf past the (formerly maximum) Red III rank. This system will be retroactive, so it’ll count all promotions you’ve had up to this point.





It wasn’t easy to teach the dwarves to twerk. But it was worth it.
Also busting out on a dance floor near you: the Bully Maguire and the Spongebob Shuffle.




We’ve implemented a few handy options to keep track of your growing wardrobes. You’ll now be able to filter your cosmetics by subtype, style and season, making it quicker to put the perfect look together. We’ve also introduced a ‘Novelty’ and ‘Company Approved’ toggle for the Randomize option, to give you a bit more control over your randomized outfits.



In addition to the cosmetics coming in the Season 05 Cosmetic Tree and Performance Pass, we’re also adding some shiny new unlockables into the Lost Pack and Cargo Crate loot pools, in order to make up for the seasonal cosmetics that are being migrated as part of the season reactivation feature. Oh, and we’re adding some fresh new skin tones, too! Those are going in The Shop.

We can’t wait to see all the fresh and funky new ways you style your dwarves.



We've reworked, animated and expanded the screen overlays that happen when you get a status effect – like getting webbed, or set on fire, injured, or your shield breaking.

Now all the visuals for different status effects look a bit cooler, and some got animations. Nice!




Soon, you’ll be able to don the armor of the Order of the Deep, a venerated dwarven mining guild. It’s your turn to represent the Order as you brave the perilous depths – for Rock and Stone.

You can add the Order of the Deep DLC to your wishlist here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2934390/Deep_Rock_Galactic__Order_of_the_Deep_Pack/

Obligatory note: This armor is purely cosmetic, and doesn’t make you better at the game. It simply makes you look like a stone cold baller.

---

We’ve got some more smaller stuff coming too, but Management’s telling me to quit typing and get back to the mines. Stay tuned for the Season 05 patch notes for the full breakdown of every single thing we’re adding!


If you absolutely can't wait to get your hands on it, you might want to check out our experimental branch, which goes live today. You can read more about getting set up with that right here.

Buckle up, miners. You’ll need all your rocks and stones for this one.

With Love,
-The Ghost Ship Crew

There's a distinct smell of Season 05 in the air. The wait is almost over.

On Tuesday, we'll be premiering the Season 05 Narrated Trailer, your most in-depth look yet at all the features (and still a few surprises) coming in Season 05: Drilling Deeper.

We hope you'll join us live on YouTube for the big reveal. The trailer goes live on:

Here's the link.

---

Oh also, a lot of folks have been asking about a text-free version of the Season 05 key art to use as a wallpaper! Sure thing, here you go:



We hope you'll tune in on Tuesday for the premiere. It's our longest trailer yet, and we're psyched to share it with you. In the meantime, have a lovely weekend. And don't forget to tip Lloyd.

Rock and Stone to all you beautiful dwarves.

With love,
-The Ghost Ship Crew

It's a beautiful day to share some key art! We've spent all week clearing the dust away from the obscured teaser image we shared last week, so now we're ready for the big reveal.

Here's the full key art for Season 05: DRILLING DEEPER.

In 'Drilling Deeper,' Management is expanding your range of operations, sending you further toward Hoxxes' core in pursuit of precious Morkite Seeds. It's business as usual: four dwarves up against a planet full of hungry, hostile bugs. But as you can see in the art above, there are some new enemies joining the ranks. Keep the safety switched off, and brace yourself for deadly encounters with the Vartok Scalebramble, Barrage Infector, Glyphid Stalker, and... a mysterious new horror.

All that and loads more, coming on June 13th.

But wait -- what are those dashing new duds the dwarves are wearing? Why, it's none other than the new Order of the Deep DLC armor set, which will go live with Season 05!

Soon, you too can don the armor of this mighty dwarven mining guild, as generations of graybeards have done before you. Let your pickaxe pierce with the Order's might, and claim the depths -- for Rock and Stone.



https://store.steampowered.com/app/2934390/Deep_Rock_Galactic__Order_of_the_Deep_Pack/

---

That's it for now! More cool stuff on the way, stay tuned.

Sending a big ol' ROCK AND STONE to all you delightful dwarves all around the world.

With Love,
- The Ghost Ship Crew

When we released that cryptic teaser on Tuesday, many of you keen-eyed gamers were impressively quick to spot the numbers that we'd hidden in the image.

It wasn't long before you cracked the code: 06 13 24.
In other words, Deep Rock Galactic's Season 05: 'DRILLING DEEPER' is releasing on:
It'll hit Playstation and Xbox up to two weeks after that, following the usual console certification delay.

The dust still hasn't settled on the key art. We'll clear the dust away and publish the full artwork next week. We'll also be revealing the DLC for Season 05 -- you can catch the grand premiere right here.

Oh also, we've received a strange transmission. Something we haven't seen before.


With Love,
-The Ghost Ship Crew

We’ve got a big one here! As you may (or may not) have heard, we went live last week for our On the Horizon dev stream. During the broadcast, we lifted the curtain on loads of juicy new details about Season 05 – as well as some news on our overall roadmap, and updates from our Ghost Ship Publishing titles. Thanks to everybody who tuned in, and for all the enthusiasm and great questions you brought to the stream.

In case you weren’t able to catch the broadcast live, we put together this post to run through all the highlights. We’ll take it in chronological order. Throughout the post, you'll find timestamps for the whole recorded broadcast on YouTube, in case you want to see more.

---

We kicked things off by touching base with a few of the games coming out via Ghost Ship Publishing.
Here are the highlights! Three games, three bullet points for each. Easy peasy.

First to join us was Anders from Funday Games, one of the developers behind Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.

• Update 2 is on the way, and set for a May release. They’re planning on introducing the Huuli Hoarder, implementing a Dreadnought rework (including new attack patterns), and also an UI/UX overhaul, to help give more insights to the calculations behind your build.
  
• Update 3 is planned for sometime in the summer. This one’s going to be a design-heavy update, says Anders. He says the ambition is to “transcend the survivor genre” – and they’ll share more about that as they get closer to release.
  
• The Funday Games team is excited about the idea of DRG:S coming to consoles or mobile, but they’re not looking at that before the game launches as Version 1.0. They’re taking things one platform at a time.

To catch the whole segment with Funday Games and DRG: Survivor, go ahead and jump to the 14:00 mark on the recording.

Next came Tim from Guidelight Games, with some updates on the dice-rolling deck-builder, SpellRogue.

• Tim and Thorbjørn have been super happy with the game’s Early Access launch, and especially grateful for all the fan feedback that they’ve been able to take in for the first two updates! You can join the SpellRogue Discord here.
  
• Their big ambition at the moment is to add a fourth playable wizard, with an arsenal of air elemental spells. They’ve had this ‘air wizard’ planned for over two years, and now it’s time to get it implemented.
  
• Prompted by a fan question, Tim confirmed they’re looking at adding new rare spell types, or “legendary” spells. They’d like to introduce more powerful spells near the end of a run, to incentivize switching up your build throughout each playthrough.

If you’re interested, you can see the whole SpellRogue spotlight starting at 31:05 on the recording.


After that we wound the clocks back to 1002 AD and headed to feudal-era England, to hear from Michael at Northplay Games about their medieval dinosaur mashup Dinolords.

• The team just released a new teaser trailer! If you haven’t already seen it, you can watch that right here.
  
• On the stream, Michael confirmed you’ll be able to control the dinosaurs yourself – including mountable dinosaurs you can use as your ferocious personal steed.
  
• The Northplay team is currently tinkering with ways to make the game multiplayer, and have an experimental, “buggy but fun” build they’ve tried with four people at once. “We want to have that experience of building a castle with your friends,” Michael said.

For all the details, you’ll find the Dinolords segment at the 46:45 mark on the recording.

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After checking in with some of our Ghost Ship Publishing pals, we zoomed out to look at the broader horizon for Ghost Ship.

We’ve published an updated roadmap (including both Ghost Ship Games and Ghost Ship Publishing), which you can see right here! Key takeaways are just beneath it.


Among the many dates on that roadmap, there are two key things to note:

1. On our first roadmap for Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core, we said we’d have a closed alpha live right around now. In retrospect, that was a little too optimistic. We’re now aiming for that closed alpha in Q1 of 2025, with the Early Access launch following after.
   
2. We’re realizing that it’s really tough for us to balance development of both Rogue Core and Deep Rock Galactic. That’s what’s caused some delays on the Rogue Core timeline. So, we’ve made a decision: We’re not going to look at planning Season 06 for DRG until we’ve got Rogue Core launched into Early Access.

A wise philosopher once said: Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.

We’re taking that to heart for Rogue Core, so we’ll be taking some time to give that our full attention once we’ve released Season 05 for Deep Rock Galactic.

If you want to see the whole segment about the Ghost Ship road map, including CCO and Game Director Mikkel Martin Pedersen’s explanation of how we’re balancing Deep Rock Galactic with Rogue Core, you’ll find that in the recording here.

Now let’s talk Season 05.

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During the stream, Mikkel Martin Pedersen (CCO/Game Director) and Mikhail “Mike” Akopyan (Lead Game Designer) lifted the curtain on lots more features coming in Season 05. We’ll run through all the highlights below.

If you want to watch the whole Season 05 presentation, including every screenshot and little detail, you can click here to jump to where that starts in the broadcast.

NOTE: We’re still tweaking and refining all this seasonal content. Everything below is still a work in progress. Final details may be subject to change.




Management’s got their sights set on mineral riches deeper down toward Hoxxes’ core. We’re increasing your depth of operations. In other words, we’re drilling deeper.




The Deep Rock Galactic corporation has identified a potent new source of Morkite: Morkite Seeds. They’re located deeper within Hoxxes, in dazzling Morkite Geodes. You’ll need to locate the Geode, get down to it, extract the Morkite Seeds, and get back alive. Let's take a closer look.



The mission starts with locating Resonance Crystals. Use your Telemetric Rangefinder to determine their location in the cave, and dig them out to expose the crystal. Your Rangefinders will beep more intensely the closer you get to a crystal.


Once you’ve got a crystal exposed, call down a Resonance Scanner and hook it up to the Crystal. You’ll need to do this a few times, locating different crystals throughout the cave system, in order to determine the location of the Morkite Geode.


With the Morkite Geode located, the next trick is drilling all the way down there. That’s where the Drillevator comes in. Mission Control will send it down over the location of the Geode – and you’ll need to survive the trip down.

No, you can't pet the Drillevator.

The Drillevator makes a lot of noise, and sends shuddering vibrations through the depths of Hoxxes as it drills. This will provoke the local Glyphid population, who will seek to destroy the Drillevator and everyone on it. Keep the Drillevator running smoothly, and expect a violent ride.



Welcome to the Morkite Geode. Don’t let the glitz and glitter distract you – you’re here to get the Morkite Seeds, then extract. Since the Drillevator is a one-way ticket, Management has seen fit to give you a quick way back up: some extra-powerful Mark II Jet Boots. Put ‘em on, blast back up, and get home with the Morkite Seeds.

For the full walkthrough of the new Deep Scan mission, head here in the recording.




There’s a peculiar new mineral formation appearing in the caves. We’re still waiting to receive lab analyses from R&D here, so exact details are unclear here. For now, all we know is that these formations contain something called a Core Stone. Let’s hope extracting it is as easy as it seems.



We’ve received word from DRG naturalists of some new organisms discovered down in the caves. You can catch all the details at this spot in the recording, but here’s what you need to know about them for now:

It’s hard to get a good picture of this thing.

The Glyphid Stalker is a cunning predator that utilizes chromatophores in its chitin exoskeleton to render it practically invisible. It’s an elusive ambusher, capable of burrowing and repositioning itself to disorient enemies, and disabling dwarven shields with a sneak attack. If you hear its telltale call, group up and watch each others’ backs.


The Barrage Infector is a mutated variant of the Infector species. Its enlarged venom sac allows the creature to spit out multi-shot salvos of volatile bile, turning its surroundings into an explosive hazard. Treat as a high-priority target in any situation.


There’s a new danger coming to a cave ceiling near you. The Scalebramble consists of an impenetrable core that attacks targets with acidic ichor projectiles, and sensory feeler nodules that it spreads across the cave system to detect prey. You’ll need to take out the nodes to make the core vulnerable.



We’re not sending you up against these new threats empty-handed. R&D has cooked up some new Overclocks for all primary weapons – 12 brand new ones, and one rework.


We’ve got a few to tease below. Here's the timestamp in the recording for everything on the new Overclocks.

• Pump Action (“Warthog” Auto 210) - Converts the weapon into a whopping 6-gauge pump action capable of dealing massive damage and punching through multiple enemies. The intrusive old-school pump mechanism requires a smaller magazine and disables full-auto fire, and you can't fit as many of these big ol' shells in your pockets.
  
• Mortar Rounds (“Thunderhead” Autocannon) - The weapon has been reworked to fire heavy mortar projectiles. These modifications slow down the rate of fire significantly -- but even if you can't carry as many, the high-explosive rounds more than make up for it in damage. Just remember to account for drop.
  
• Firewall (CRSPR Flamethrower) - A supercharged injection system and duckbill choke allows the weapon to blast a blistering horizontal wave of flame by holding reload. Using this mechanism eats up additional fuel and makes the weapon unstable, reducing movement speed during charging.
  
• Marked for Death (M1000 Classic) - Focus Shot now fires a dart loaded with an inflammatory catalyst which causes enemies to temporarily take more damage from all sources. While faster to focus, the direct impact of these darts does negligible damage, and requires an increased Focus Shot ammo cost as well as a smaller magazine.

A new season means new loot to earn. You can watch the full segment on cosmetics and the Performance Pass, but here are some highlights:


Introducing the new Season 05 framework: Neo-Tekya. Sleek, modern, lethal. Purchasable using scrip in the Season Terminal.




In space, it’s always fashion week. We’ve got loads of cool new cosmetics to earn: some going in the Performance Pass and Cosmetic Tree, others in the Lost Pack and Cargo Crate loot pools and Cosmetic Cores. Expect slick hats, smoking-hot facial hair, and fresh paint jobs for both weaponry and armor.



We’re turning up the heat. We’re bringing the sting. We’re cooking with neurotoxins.

For the most daring miners, we’re introducing a new difficulty level: Haz 5+. “It’s like Haz 5 – But Plus!” is the tagline we’ve come up with for it. Feel free to compliment this good tagline in the comments!

We’ll explain how it works down below – or, you can get the full breakdown in the recording here.


Here are the main details:

• Must be unlocked via an assignment.
  
• The mode adds four switches to boost Haz 5 difficulty: Aggressive Enemies (affects speed and attack rate), Player Vulnerability (you take more damage), More Enemies (guess what this one does), and Tough Enemies (more bullet sponge-y).
  
• Each of the four options can be adjusted to your tastes, and each offers two levels of increased intensity.
  
• All Haz 5+ games will be categorized together in the server list, and you’ll be able to see which specific modifier switches they have.
  
• This feature will only be available at the Hazard 5 difficulty.

We’re implementing the ability to reactivate any existing season of Deep Rock Galactic, and play through it whenever you like. We’ve covered how this works in detail in this Q&A explainer post – but if you’d rather have all those details explored in video format, jump to this spot in the recording.




Did you promote your dwarf to max rank ages ago? Wish you could show off how many hours you’ve truly spent down in the mines? We’ve got good news. We’re adding an expanded promotion tracker, to indicate the amount of times you’ve promoted past the maximum Red III rank. This system will be retroactive, so it’ll count all promotions you’ve had up to this point. Full details at this timestamp in the broadcast.



We’re adding a few new ways to add some extra spice to your missions. A brief description is below – and the full scoop can be watched here.

• BLOOD SUGAR: Bad news: The caves are filled with airborne toxins that constantly drain your health. Good news: These toxins also make Glyphid blood crystallize into healing Red Sugar. You’ll need to kill to survive.
  
• DUCK AND COVER: Macteras, Infectors and Spitters, oh my! Jump into a cave packed with an extra helping of projectile-shooting enemies. This time, the bugs shoot back.
  
• SECRET SECONDARY: Management has tacked on another side objective for you. A second secondary, if you will. You’ll find out what it is once you’re down in the dig site.
  
• EBONITE OUTBREAK: These caves have an unusual concentration of stony-armored Ebonite Glyphids. Their only vulnerability is melee damage. Better keep those pickaxes close at hand.

With Season 05, we’ll also be introducing a new attack pattern to the Ommoran Heartstone in the Escort Duty mission. You can hear about it here in the recording, or we’ve got a description for you below the images.



Right now, the Ommoran sequence has four fixed phases: two swarms, and two “Heartstone special attack” phases. We’re adding a third special attack – where the Ommoran sends up rock spikes from below, trying to encase you in a stony trap. If you’re on top of Doretta, the spikes will deal big damage to her – and if you’re encased in the rock, you’ll have to spend precious time mining yourself free. This attack pattern will have an equal, random chance of being one of the Ommoran’s special attack phases, making each encounter more unpredictable.



We’ve got even more coming. Cool stuff. Stuff like:

• 20+ new cave formations for the cave generator, for more depth and variety in every mission
  
• 3 new levels of unlockable paintjobs for the Weapon Maintenance reward system
  
• Loads of cosmetic filtering options, to sort and organize your wardrobe
  
• 3 delightful new dance moves for the dwarves
  
• 20+ reworked status effect overlays (for things like taking damage, losing your shield, being frozen, etc.)
  
• Game optimization to make game run more fast
  
• A sweet new DLC armor set

You can catch all the rest at this point in the recording.

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Phew! That’s all of it... at least for now. We’ll have more details on all this in the weeks to come. Hope you like what you see!

Sending you all a big huge ROCK AND STONE and tons of love. Talk to you soon!

With Love,
-The Ghost Ship Crew

We found and fixed a small bug with weapon maintenance xp, and optimized the game a bit.

With Love,
The Ghost Ship Crew

- Fixed a bug with weapon maintenance xp where it would not carry over correctly
- Tweaked the emblem on Scale Brigade for Gunners “Bulldog” Heavy Revolver
- Added some minor render optimizations

We’ll be broadcasting our On the Horizon stream in just a week! You can expect lots of new details on Season 05, updates from our Ghost Ship Publishing titles, and more on Rogue Core. We’ll be going live on Thursday, April 25th at 14:00 CEST (UTC +2). You’ll be able to tune in on Twitch and Youtube. If you’re not able to catch it live, don't worry! A recording will be available after.

We’ve got the full agenda to share with you here. Please note that all times below are approximate, and in Central European Summer Time (CEST / UTC +2).

• 14:00 - Welcome!
  CEO Søren Lundgaard and CCO/Game Director Mikkel Martin Pedersen say hello and introduce the stream.
  
• 14:10 - Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
  We’ll bring on Funday Games to talk about the launch of DRG: Survivor, what they’re planning for Update 2, and how they’d like to see this game grow in the future.
  
• 14:25 - SpellRogue
  Next, we'll talk to Guidelight Games to take a look at SpellRogue's ongoing development. Tim and Thorbjørn will discuss their journey since launch, including the two previous updates, and a glimpse into what's next for SpellRogue.
  
• 14:40 - Dinolords
  Northplay’s going to take the stage to show their brand-new trailer for Dinolords, and talk about how things are going with the game’s development.
  
• 14:55 - Living Roadmap - Rogue Core and beyond
  We'll zoom out and look at Ghost Ship's long(er) term roadmap, including Rogue Core, Deep Rock Galactic, and all the Ghost Ship Publishing titles.
  
• 15:15 - Spotlight on Season 05
  Mikhail “Mike” Akopyan (Lead Game Designer) joins Mikkel to reveal lots of new details about what’s coming in Season 05, including some screenshots of what we're working on.
  
• 15:45 - Q&A time
  Mike and Mikkel take some time to answer some questions! You’re welcome to tune into the chat feed and ask them something.
  
• 16:00 - The end
  That’s a wrap! We say thanks and close down the stream and go home. Maybe have a beer after. Who knows.

Editor's note: We've updated the schedule as of April 24th.

Once again, it’s all going down on Thursday, April 25th at 14:00 CEST.
Hope you can join us!

With Love,
-The Ghost Ship Crew

On the Horizon is coming back! That’s our big developer livestream where we share news from our Ghost Ship Publishing projects, as well as what we’ve been up to here at Ghost Ship Games. Among plenty of other goodies, it’ll include a lot more details about Season 05 for Deep Rock Galactic.

We’ll be going live on Twitch and Youtube on Thursday, April 25th at 14:00 CEST.

Just like last time, Søren Lundgaard (CEO) and Mikkel Martin Pedersen (CCO and Game Director) will be hosting the event. You can also expect a feature from Mikhail “Mike” Akopyan (Lead Game Designer), and some other guest appearances too.

A full agenda for the livestream is coming next week, but here are a few reasons to tune in:

• We’ll be going through the full list of features and content coming in Season 05
  
• The chat’s open for questions in a Q&A segment with Mike and Mikkel
  
• We’ve got some development news from GSP developers Funday (Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor), Guidelight (SpellRogue) and Northplay (Dinolords)
  
• We’ll talk about where we’re at with Rogue Core, and the road ahead

We’ll be back next week with the full agenda for Ghost Ship Publishing: On The Horizon. We just wanted to put the word out now, so folks can mark their calendars. If you're not able to tune in live, we'll also have a recording of the whole thing available once it's done.

Talk to you soon!

With Love,
-The Ghost Ship Crew