There's an oddly momentous feeling to the idea of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor introducing a new class to the DRG universe. After all, the original four have been the only ones we needed for eight years now. What can you possibly add to a quartet that's stood the test of time for that long?

I love that developer Funday Games' answer is simple: "What if a dwarf had a car?"

The Demolisher: A New Way to Play Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

Introduced in the new Heavy Duty expansion, the Demolisher class comes with a full complement of new weapons and three subclasses, much like the core four. But unlike them, this class brings an industrial vehicle that is essentially a cross between a go-kart and a bulldozer.

I didn't actually expect him to control like a car, but he does. Instead of running around freely like the other dwarves, you have to manage acceleration, reverse, and navigate a turning radius. It even makes a cute beeping noise when reversing.

You really feel the weight and heft of the vehicle as you play. Smaller enemies can be rammed out of the way with the front plow, and the vehicle mines through terrain faster than a standard pickaxe. This completely changes the feel of the action in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.

Retraining My Muscle Memory

After 150 hours with the game, I'm suddenly having to retrain my muscle memory. No longer is survival about juking around hordes or slipping through gaps with agile feating. The car is simply too wide and bulky for that level of precision.

Instead, I am looking for parts of the swarm free enough of larger bugs that I can simply slam my way through. My strategy now involves planning wide, circular routes to take advantage of faster digging while avoiding sharp changes in direction.

The new gameplay loop focuses on:

  • Prioritizing health and armour upgrades over pure agility.
  • Using artifacts that trigger on damage to survive the thick of it.
  • Utilising close-range weapons that leave a path of destruction.
  • Carving paths with elemental mines and rear-facing flame jets.

New Biomes, Modes, and Massive Updates

The expansion also introduces the Glacial Strata biome. While the slippery ice and falling icicles aren't revolutionary, retroactively adding this level to every existing sector provides a welcome influx of new challenges.

Even more exciting is the new Egg Hunt mode. The objective is to hunt for eggs buried in each level and bring them back to a containment cell. This creates a different rhythm than Elimination mode; rather than clearing the map, you are making repeat trips that encourage carved-out, efficient routes.

However, there is a catch: every egg uncovered triggers a swarm event. This can quickly become overwhelming if you attempt to min-max too aggressively. The ultimate challenge arrives in the finale, where a giant worm monster—the Brood Nexus—bursts from the ground to demand your eggs back.

Unlike the Dreadnoughts in Elimination, this boss is rooted to the ground, requiring much sneakier tactics and better range to survive.

For the price of $10 / £9, it is a massive amount of extra content for a game already bursting with replayability. Additionally, a new patch has launched alongside the DLC, offering even more for veteran players:

  • A robust endless mode for true sickos.
  • An expanded tag system for weapons, including new upgrades and overclocks.
  • New mastery milestones to earn bonus stats for your runs.

If anyone feared that leaving early access would slow down the pace of support for gaming's best Vampire Survivors-like, they can certainly put those worries to rest this week.