Deep Rock Galactic is turning five, and it's giving players a birthday present in the form of cosmetics and doubled performance points. Players won't get another chance to earn this year's exclusive party hat, and they won't want to miss the boost to their seasonal progress, either.
As is the yearly tradition, Ghost Ship Games is putting on a two-week celebration to commemorate the day Deep Rock Galactic first hit early access. Now well into its third post-launch season, Ghost Ship is not only bringing back the Anniversary Bonus assignment with a brand-new cosmetic, but is offering miners a way to double their seasonal progression by celebrating, too.
How to Complete the Assignment
After selecting "Anniversary Bonus" from the assignment board, players will have until the event ends March 16 to complete six missions in sequence. This assignment cannot be aborted once begun, and while players may only have one assignment at a time, there is no penalty for playing other missions in between progressing the assignment.
The exact name and location for the assigned missions will change every half hour, so double-check that the mission site has a glowing diamond symbol above it before queuing. The missions in order are:
- Egg Hunt: Gather and deposit alien eggs from fleshy outcroppings around the cave.
- On-site Refining: Build and maintain three oil pumps from a central refinery.
- Mining Expedition: Gather Morkite ore as you travel deeper underground.
- Salvage Operation: Locate and repair Mini-MULE units, then defend the drop pod.
- Point Extraction: Mine Aquarqs from blue-speckled walls and bring them to the mine head.
- Escort Duty: Protect and refuel the Drilldozer through a journey and boss fight.
What You'll Be Earning from the Assignment
After completing the Egg Hunt mission, players will earn the Paper Crown, a cosmetic headwear item that is available only during anniversary events. This year's exclusive event item, the Year 5 Party Hat, is unlocked by completing Escort Duty and all prior missions. Players will additionally earn credits and crafting minerals whenever they complete an assignment mission.
Players wanting to earn these rewards as quickly as possible may be tempted to take these missions at lower hazard levels, to reduce time spent in combat and minimize the chance of a team wipe. On the flip side, it may be faster to jump into any queue available, especially off-peak hours, at the risk of potentially wiping on a higher hazard level. Ultimately, there is no wrong choice when it comes to mission difficulty, and so players may choose whatever hazard level is within their comfort-zones.
Earning Double Performance Points on Missions
Regardless of if they are doing the seasonal assignment or not, players will be able to earn double performance points during this even by locating commemorative five-year anniversary trophies in the caves. Much like the Oktoberfest and Lunar New Year events earlier this season, every non-Deep Dive will feature a golden statue that can be deposited into the MULE to trigger this bonus.
When passing within five meters of a trophy, it will be permanently tracked on the player's Terrain Scanner as a pink T-shaped marker. The player will know that a trophy has been marked when their dwarf announces that the Terrain Scanner has been updated. Trophies emit a faint golden glow, making them possible to locate even in low light.
Trophies can appear in any exposed ground, but are easiest to find when they spawn along the main path. Biomes with sprawling or wide-open caves like Magma Core or Sandblasted Corridors may require the player to search more thoroughly before discovering a trophy. Some mission types like On-site Refining or Point Extraction can further complicate the retrieval by depriving the player of a MULE, forcing them to use static deposit sites on the objective point instead.
Hunting Effectively as a Team
Because Deep Rock Galacticencourages cooperative play, it does not matter which dwarf deposits the trophy, as the entire team will be granted double performance points at the mission's rewards breakdown. This can lead to situations in which teammates are not on the same page about if the trophy has been found, so players should remain aware of some convenience features to minimize confusion.
Mission Control will always announce when a trophy is successfully deposited, which can be recognized by him saying "performance point bonus activated". The player may also pull out their laser pointer tool at any time to bring up the resources pane, which will list the trophy at the bottom if collected.
If a mission is nearly completed and the trophy has not been deposited, it may be courteous to ask through the player's teammates through voice or text chat if they would want to find it before calling the drop pod. While the party's willingness to search for the trophy will depend on factors like hazard level, cave layout, and individual preference, public lobbies usually don't mind taking an extra moment to search, as long as the mission is not already a snafu.
Remember that while collecting the trophy may double performance points at the end of the mission, the vast majority of performance points are earned in the first place by completing the mission's primary and secondary objectives and surviving. Doubling performance points is never worth a team wipe, and as any high-hazard level miner can attest to, sometimes it's better to cut your losses and run.
The fifth anniversary event is currently ongoing and will remain available until March 16 at 8:00 EST. Deep Rock Galactic is available for play on Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.