This guide is intended to give basic gameplay advice to new players.
How to Play
Starting the game for the first time will launch the player immediately into a tutorial. This tutorial is optional and can be exited out of, it can also be revisited at any time using a terminal in the Space Rig. The tutorial will teach you the basics of the game and specifically the Gunner class.
Upon completing the short tutorial mission, you will be transported onto an orbital space station, the Space Rig. Here you can relax between missions, purchase vanity and equipment upgrades, begin and abort assignments, or drink at the Abyss Bar.
As a new player, you are required to complete a 9 mission long assignment, named the Probationary Period, before you are allowed to access the various planetary regions of Hoxxes IV.
Assignment missions are marked with a small white diamond. 
Complete the mission to advance the assignment and receive Crafting Resource and 
Credit rewards that you can use to upgrade your equipment or purchase items from the Accessory Shop.
Once you have completed the Probationary Period assignment, you are free to do whatever you want. Visit the various Planetary Regions to mine crafting resources, complete more assignments to unlock new weapons and terminals, purchase cosmetic items to become a fancy dwarf, or face challenging mutators for large Experience and Credit rewards.
Starting A Mission
Dwarven employees are dropped from the Space Rig onto Hoxxes IV to complete a variety of missions. After interacting with the Mission Terminal, you can select which planetary region to complete a mission in, what mission type to complete, and which game mode to play in. Stepping into the Drop Pod after selecting a mission will begin the launch countdown timer, and once it ends, you will be transported to the appropriate cave system to get the job done!
Planetary Regions
- Main article: Hoxxes
Currently Hoxxes IV has eight different areas to explore, with each area having a different look and different challenges to overcome. Only a handful will be available at any given time, with new missions in a different shuffled set of areas available every thirty minutes. In order to upgrade your equipment, you must visit the various regions in order to mine crafting resources from each region. The current planetary regions available are:
- Crystalline Caverns - (Abundant
Jadiz , Scarce 
Bismor)
- Among the most spectacular sights on Hoxxes IV, the aptly-named Crystal Caves are truly a sight to behold. Massive crystals erupt from every surface, glittering and twinkling in the dark. Alas, the larger crystals are mostly worthless silicate, but abundant deposits of valuable minerals dot the caves too.
- Fungus Bogs - (Abundant Croppa, Scarce Jadiz)
- We're almost sorry to send employees in here, but the rewards are just too great to ignore. So therefore: Welcome to the Fungus Bogs! A truly awful region, built mostly from slime, mold, stinging insects, fungus, stinking mud, and corrosive lichen.
- Glacial Strata - (Abundant Magnite, Scarce Umanite)
- At least one of our xenogeologists quit in a rage when research started on this region. Instead of having conventional polar ice caps, and in violation of all physical laws we know of, the continental plates of Hoxxes rest on top of a planetwide permafrost layer several miles deep. As always, DRG recommends a "don't ask" approach when dealing with the peculiarities of Hoxxes' makeup.
- Dense Biozone - (Abundant Bismor, Scarce Umanite)
- Whoever said plant life needs access to sunlight has obviously never visited Hoxxes. This region is dominated by what can best be described as a subterranean rainforest - masses of writhing, (mostly carnivorous) plant life, producing entire microcosms of life deep within the crust of the planet. Tread with care.
- Radioactive Exclusion Zone - (Abundant Umanite, Scarce Enor Pearl)
- Ravaged by thousands of years of high-intensity gamma radiation, this region of the planet is now a veritable hellhole of radioactive ash and decrepit, mutated flora. Move with great care, and pay particular attention that you maintain full detox procedure upon return.
- Magma Core - (Abundant Magnite, Scarce Croppa)
- Among the deepest of our mining sites, the Magma Caves are a mellow 250-400 degrees and helpfully lit by the churning, molten innards of the planet. We advise that you do not touch anything not mandated by the mission objectives, as your employee insurance does not cover burns.
- Salt Pits - (Abundant Enor Pearl, Scarce Bismor)
- The Salt Pits of Hoxxes IV was once the location of a huge underground lake. It dried up billions of years ago and left huge crystallized deposits of red salt. Red salt - though worthless - tastes really good on Glyphid omelettes.
- Sandblasted Corridors - (Abundant Enor Pearl, Scarce Magnite)
- This region is dominated by windblasted and arid tunnels reaching dozens of miles below ground. The particular composition of the surrounding rock means practically no moisture, resulting in one of the driest regions on the planet. With water being so precious, the inhabiting wildlife is particularly aggressive, ravenous for whatever fluids reside within their prey.
Mission Types
- Main article: Missions
Once you've selected an area, you'll be given a list of mission types currently available in that area. Each mission has a primary objective and a bonus objective, as well as a Mission Length and a Cave Complexity. Sometimes two missions of the same type will be offered, but with such different objectives that they will play very differently, so take note! The current Mission Types are:
— - The original and simplest mission, these will ask you to collect Morkite. You will be dropped into the top of a cave system, and typically have to go down through multiple cave layers to gather the required minerals, before making your way back to a landing zone near the top of the caves to make your escape.
— Egg Hunt
- Your main objective is to locate and deposit a specific number of Alien Eggs. The mission takes place in a nonlinear cave system, and you can collect the eggs in any order. The Alien Eggs are surrounded by dull, pink, organic material that can be mined to free them. Beware, as breaking the eggs out of the organic matter will summon enemies, potentially even an entire swarm.
— - These missions are focused on finding and eliminating a number of Glyphid Dreadnoughts, which are busily maturing in cocoons until you find your way through the caves to them. After they're all dead, make your way back to a landing zone for extraction via the Drop Pod.
— - The main objectives do not focus on mining. You must repair up to three Mini-M.U.L.E.s, after which you set up triangulation as well as fuel cells for a rundown Drop Pod. You must defend and stay in a zone around each of these. Once that's complete you'll have to hold out until Mission Control prepares the now linked up drop pod for your escape.
— - These mining missions will have you collect Aquarqs in a radius around your drop site, which is protected by the turrets mounted on the Mine Head, while being attacked by constant waves of enemies and periodic larger swarms. Once all of your materials are gathered, they are launched out with a rocket and you must make your way to a separate landing site for extraction via the Drop Pod.
Once you've launched a mission, your primary and secondary objectives are displayed at the top right of the screen.
Mutators
- Main article: Missions#Mutators
Mutators are special events which may modify the mission for better, for worse, or for both. These can vary from the dwarves having greatly increased movement speed to exploder infestations. Warnings are negative mutators and anomalies are positive or neutral mutators.
Warnings
Exploder Infestation Warning Exploder Infestation: More Glyphid Exploders will spawn than usual.
Shield Disruption: Shield is disabled.
Mactera Plague: There will be twice as many Macteras.
Cave Leech Clusters Warning Cave Leech Clusters: There will be many more Cave Leeches on the ceiling.
Haunted Cave: You will be pursued by an invisible, unkillable monster.
Lethal Enemies: Enemies melee attacks deal double the normal damage.
Low Oxygen: You will need to return to Molly or other sources of oxygen or else choke on toxic air.
Parasites: All medium sized and larger enemies will spawn carnivorous parasites upon death.
Regenerative Bugs: All enemies replenish their health if the have not taken damage recently.
Anomalies
Gold Rush: Large gold veins will appear more frequently.
Mineral Mania: Crafting minerals will be more common.
Double XP: Doubles the experience points you gain at the end of the mission
Low Gravity: Significant reduction to gravity but you can still receive fall damage.
Critical Weakness: Enemy weak spots increase damage even further.
Golden Bugs: Every kill will drop 1 unit of gold.
Rich Atmosphere: You will move much faster, will be able to sprint while carrying large minerals, and your voice will be higher pitched.
Cavern Combat
As you explore the caves you'll encounter various creatures, including Glyphids, flying Mactera, Cave Leeches, Spitball Infectors, and many others. Periodically, Mission Control will announce that they have detected an incoming swarm, and large numbers of enemies will converge on the Dwarven Employees' location for a fight. Make sure you are ready!
If you are low on ammunition, you can order a Resupply Pod for 
80 Nitra.
Understanding Your Role
A good team can be made up of any combination of Dwarven employees, but it's important to understand what makes each one unique, and how to put their special talents to use to help your team. A well balanced team with good communication will stand a better chance at surviving deep down in Hoxxes IV.
Playing As the Driller
- Main article: Driller
The Driller's primary responsibility is crowd control with his CRSPR Flamethrower, and using his Reinforced Power Drills to quickly create entrances and staircases to help others access difficult to reach locations or materials. The Driller is also armed with powerful Satchel Charges that can deal huge amounts of damage to his foes. His default throwable is the Impact Axe, capable of dealing significant damage to single targets.
Playing As the Engineer
- Main article: Engineer
The Engineer has two powerful support tools, An LMG Gun Platform and a Platform Gun. Set up turrets to defend against swarms of enemy creatures, and use your Platform Gun to provide your team with ground to stand on and platforms to reach high up minerals. Team up with the Scout to reach resources that are high up on cave walls. His default throwable is the L.U.R.E., capable of attracting the attention of the hostile wildlife.
Playing As the Gunner
- Main article: Gunner
The Gunner is equipped with a powerful powered minigun to protect the team from the monsters of the deep. The Gunner's responsibility is all around defense. His Zipline Gun gives the whole team the ability to cross distant chasms and with holdable items. The Gunner is also equipped with a Shield Generator that he can throw to protect his team and recharge their shields. His default throwable is the Sticky Grenade.
Playing As the Scout
- Main article: Scout
The Scout collects hard-to-reach ores using his Grappling Gun, and helps defend the team using his Deepcore GK2 and Jury-Rigged Boomstick, and launches flares using his Flare Gun to provide light in the darkness. His default throwable is the Inhibitor-Field Generator which slows down enemies and causes them to take more damage.
Ranking Up
Character Rank
The character badge.
As you play each of the game's four classes, you will gain experience and ranks separately for each of the different classes, up to rank 25. Some weapon and equipment upgrades require you to have a certain rank before you can unlock them. Your current rank and experience progress are indicated at the top left of the screen below your Class Badge.
Player Rank
Your progress as a player is also tracked at the top right of the screen on the Player Badge, the blue gem which shows your name and player rank in title and number form, as well as your current credit balance. You rank up each time the blue gem fills all three of its sections up, and one section fills up each time you gain a rank with one of the four classes.
The player rank titles are as follows:
| Rank | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Greenbeard |
| 2 | Rock Hauler |
| 3 | Cave Runner |
| 4 | Stone Breaker |
| 5 | Pit Delver |
| 6-7 | Rookie Miner |
| 8-9 | Authorized Miner |
| 10-11 | Senior Miner |
| 12-13 | Professional Miner |
| 14-15 | Veteran Miner |
| 16-17 | Expert Miner |
| 18-20 | Elite Miner |
| 21-23 | Supreme Miner |
| 24-26 | Master Miner |
| 27-30 | Epic Miner |
| 31-35 | Legendary Miner |
| 36-40 | Mythic Miner |
| 41-45 | Stone Guard |
| 46-50 | Honor Guard |
| 51-55 | Iron Guard |
| 56-60 | Giant Guard |
| 61-65 | Night Carver |
| 66-70 | Longbeard |
| 71-75 | Gilded Master |
| 76 and onward | Lord of the Deep |
Equipment
- Main article: Equipment
All dwarves start with a basic set of a primary and a secondary weapon, some grenades, a Pickaxe, throwable flares, basic armor and their respective special tools which are described above.
Usage and ammunition
Your weapons, grenades and special tools work like one would expect: If you fire/throw/use them, you spend ammunition of the respective tool.
Throwable flares refill over time at no cost. If you throw too many you will have to wait a short time until the next one is ready, but you will never have to stay in the dark for too long.
Your pickaxe can be used forever.
Your armor consists of two layers: An energy shield, which gets used up if you take damage but refills slowly if you don't take any more for some time, and the bare skin of your dwarf ("Hit Points") which gets exposed as soon as your shield gets used up completely and can only be healed with Red Sugar and at Resupply Pods.
Improvement
All of your equipment can be improved by buying modifications at the Equipment Terminal. Each object features multiple slots for mods which must be earned by leveling up with the respective class. For most slots multiple mods can be purchased - however, only one mod per slot can be used. This still leaves room for a hefty amount of personalization and improvement. Available mods can be found on the pages of the respective weapons.
Unlocking new gear
Beside the improvement of your starter set, each class has access to one additional primary, one additional secondary weapon and two more grenade types. All of them must be earned and then purchased. While the grenades are only level locked (to prevent greenbeards from playing around with Cluster Grenades), the weapons must be earned by completing the corresponding assignment.
Assignments
- Main article: Assignments
An Assignment orders you on a short set of missions, which must be played and accomplished in a particular order (albeit not necessarily in direct succession) to fulfill the Assignment. Most assignments are in place to reward you with something unique in the game: New weapons, access to higher hazard levels or the Mineral Trading Terminal. Two assignment types deviate from this: Weekly Priority assignments, which are renewed every week, that pay a nice amount of credits and crafting minerals upon completion; and Promotion assignments, which are unlocked when one of your dwarves reaches the maximum class level, and are used to promote the Dwarf and reset your class level (unlocked weapons and upgrades are kept).
Perks
- Main article: Perks
Aside from improving your gear you can also improve yourself. This is realized with Perks. In your Cabin, at the Key Performance Indicator Terminal (screen at the wall), you can see your milestones (e.g. play 5 rounds in this biome). Upon completing a milestone, you can claim Perk Points 
which in turn can be invested in Perks. Perk Points and Perks are permanent and consistent across all classes. Your perks can be equipped at the Equipment Terminal.
See Also