Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
The caves may be dark and dangerous, but there’s laughs to be found down there too.
- The various Ascended Meme voice lines.
- Seeing four kitted-out badass space dwarves standing around a giant fungus, unable to say anything but "Mushwoom/Mushrüm" like a bunch of fascinated kindergartners. Season 3 adds new voicelines in response, as Mission Control is brought to the end of his rope.Mission Control: Oh shut up about the bloody mushroom already! Move it, team!
Mission Control: Focus, team! Leave the damn mushrooms alone!
Mission Control: "Mushroom, mushroom," shut it! Get back to work!
Mission Control: ENOUGH about the mushroom! We all know it's a mushroom, we get it! - The "richual," in which the entire team stops what they are doing to stand around a gold nugget or bittergem and ping it to chant "WE'RE RICH" repeatedly. As with the "mushrüms", Season 3 added Mission Control responses to this as well, just as displeased:Mission Control: Yes, yes, "you're rich", time to get a move on! I've got Management breathing down my neck here!
Mission Control: Oh, my aching head... would you lugs please bloody focus?
Mission Control: I told them letting you keep the gold for yourselves was a mistake...
Mission Control: Tick-tock, team! We're not getting any younger here! - Even the Rival Nemesis gets in on it, with two of its new Season 3 lure voice lines based off "Mushroom!" and "WE'RE RICH!"
- Seeing four kitted-out badass space dwarves standing around a giant fungus, unable to say anything but "Mushwoom/Mushrüm" like a bunch of fascinated kindergartners. Season 3 adds new voicelines in response, as Mission Control is brought to the end of his rope.
- Many regular lines can be humorous as well:
- Too many incidents with the M.U.L.E.'s spotty AI? The dwarves have noticed this as well.Dwarf: What kind of fiendish technology makes Molly constantly get in the way?
Dwarf: I want to punch the guy in R&D who programed Molly.- Calling Molly often have the Dwarves saying something funny.Dwarf: Just take your sweet time old lady! I've got all day!
Dwarf: Donkey! Come here!
Dwarf: Move your tin ass over here and hurry, please!
- Calling Molly often have the Dwarves saying something funny.
- Killing a Q'ronar Shellback.Dwarf: Go roll on the highway, you freak!
Dwarf: Worst pinball game ever! - Grinding on a pipeline:Dwarf: Look at me! I’m Stony Rock!
- Killing a harmless Hexawing Gniffer:
- Pinging an Oppressor:Dwarf: Oppressor! Slow but tough! Just like me mum!
- Killing a Praetorian usually leads to comments about the toxic "death fart" being rank as hell.Dwarf: What's that smell!? Oh, right.
Dwarf: Beware of the death fart of the Praetorian!
Dwarf: Farty one down!
Dwarf: I'll never get the smell out of my armor.
Dwarf: Should've left my nose on the bloody Space Rig!
Dwarf: And STAY down, stinky!
Dwarf: Like these things weren't bad enough alive! - Glyphid Stingtails are one of the nastiest regular enemies, though at least you have a chance for the Dwarves to taunt it postmortem.Dwarf: Hey, Stingtail! If you need a new one, maybe visit the retail store! AHAHAHA!
- Finding a battered suit of armor on the cave floor, all that remains of a fellow miner:Dwarf: Either something horrific happened, or a naked dwarf is running around somewhere.
- Complete a grueling battle to defeat a Caretaker and recover its data core:
- Pinging a Rival Nemesis usually has the Dwarves advise others to stay out of its grabbing range, and keeping mobile. Occasionally however...Dwarf: It's one of those Nemi... Numa, uh...? Big things that hurt.
- One of their kill quotes has the dwarves trying to be witty only to fail miserably.Dwarf: Nemesis! More like, uhhh no more-uh-sis... uhhhhh... that sounded better in my head...
- One of their kill quotes has the dwarves trying to be witty only to fail miserably.
- Occasionally, a Dwarf who is downed will emphasize the urgency of their state in the most Dwarven way possible.Dwarf: I can't feel my beard, HEEEEEEELLLLPPPP!
- Normally reviving another Dwarf has them say a line genuinely thanking their savior. Very, very rarely however:Revived Dwarf: About time, fat boy...
- The quotes while in the drop pod in a multiplayer game have the Scout and Driller saying something. Scout is usually trying (and failing) to keep his cool while the Driller is rather blasé about the dangerous caves they're about to go in. note
- Or...
- Or...Scout: We're all gonna die!!!
Driller: SHUT UP! I’M TRYIN' TO SLEEP!! - Or...Scout: Can we go back!? Please!
Driller: STOP WHINNING!!! - The Dwarves also have some rather creative insults after friendly fire incidents.Dwarf: Trigger discipline, whale-piper!
Dwarf: You leaf-fondling son of a mud golem! We're on the same side!
Dwarf: It's ME, you arsewipe!
Dwarf: Hold your fire, you addle-brained lump of lard!
Dwarf: I'm with YOU, you beardless blunderbuss!
Dwarf: Why are you shooting me, you slackjawed dimwit?!
Dwarf: Hey, HEY! Trigger discipline, bullet brain!
Dwarf: You interplanetary goat! Why are you shooting at me!
Dwarf: I'm with YOU, you goblin bastard!
Dwarf: Stop shooting me, you bloated bag of troll plop!
Dwarf: Watch it, you blindsided pig!
Dwarf: I'm not one of them, you knobhead!- Or amusing commentaries:Dwarf: Mind yer bloody fire or your funeral's gonna be a sober occasion!
Dwarf: That's gonna cost you a round at the Abyss Bar!!
Dwarf: OW! Friendly fire isn't actually that friendly!
Dwarf: I'm your friend! Let's keep it that way!
Dwarf: PRO-TIP, hotshot: We're here to shoot the ones WITHOUT beards!
Dwarf: Hey, beardo! There ain't no points given for shooting your own teammates! - Even their more "mundane" angry voice lines are funny.Dwarf: Watch where you are shooting! Moron!
Dwarf: I ain't telling you again...!
Dwarf: I hope that wasn't on purpose!
Dwarf: Watch your fire, moron!
Dwarf: Shoot THEM, not ME!!
- Or amusing commentaries:
- The Dwarves have a surprising amount of things to say about the disgusting "Corpse Feeder" woodworm-maggots of the Hollow Bough.Dwarf: That reminds me of something I've been trying to forget!
Dwarf: (ulp) I just had a vurp!
Dwarf: (almost nonchalantly) Yeah, that's going to cause trauma.
Dwarf: I just lost my appetite... oh, wait, it's back. - Season 04 added new lines for when your dwarf wakes up in their room on the Space Rig.Dwarf: I have more power than I give myself credit for, and today I'm going to use it! At the bar!
Dwarf: Ugh, what a terrible nightmare! I dreamt I worked for a soulless mining corporation... wait. Aww, crap. - Then there's the Dwarves hamminess. Sometimes they celebrate killing a Fester Flea as if they took down a massive glyphid.Dwarf: Feeester Fleeeeeeeeea DOWN!!
- Then there are some commentaries while Dwarves are emptying their canisters.Dwarf: Consider this: legally speaking, rocking is more legal than stoning. (sounding very happy with himself) Eh? EH?
- Dwarves react to the potential infecting of lithophage in the most dwarven way possible:Dwarf: If I get infected by rockpox, quarantine me in the Abyss Bar!
- Too many incidents with the M.U.L.E.'s spotty AI? The dwarves have noticed this as well.
- The "Rich Atmosphere" Mutation not only causes the Dwarves to move faster, but also gives them Helium Speech. If their quotes weren't funny enough, try hearing them all in a high-pitched, squeaky tone.
- It's even funnier if you happen to be playing Driller or Gunner, considering what those two usually sound like.
- The whole "promotion" process is an absolute farce, as you get to pay the company thousands of credits for the privilege of a purely cosmetic upgrade ("All accounts must be settled with DRG prior to getting a promotion. This covers room and board, wear and tear on gear, damaged properties of DRG, as well as whatever tab you have built up in the bar. DRG is not a charity, after all.") Your dwarves don't take it too seriously either.Dwarf: All this and a beer? What more could ya ask for?!
Dwarf: (choked up) This... (sniff) I have no words... (normal voice) Just kidding, let's get it done. - Play as the Scout long enough, and you're bound to miss a key grappling hook shot and plummet to your doom. One of the Scout's voiceline for this? note Scout: Mommy!
- Once upon a time, Bismor was the only crafting mineral that lacked call-out voice lines when pinged. Nowadays, the dwarves are overcompensating about it.Dwarf: I'm so glad to announce that I found some Bismor!
Dwarf: Bismor! Feels so good to say it!
Dwarf: Bismor, Bismor, Bismor!
Dwarf: BIIIIISMORRR!! - Some of the reload-on-full-mag animations can be funny by themselves.
- The Breach Cutter has the Engineer reach out tentatively into the weapon, only to recoil when the weapon's arc zaps his finger. Complete with an "Ouch!"
- A Gunner using the Hurricane has him pick up a rocket and play with it like a toy airplane, complete with noises. If you try it while completely out of ammo, he'll reach in, realize there's none left, and shake his fist in anger.
- Gunner's Minigun (although technically it's always full) also has the Gunner sometimes imitating the sound of the gun revving and others times it firing.
- The Dwarves' odd obsession with barrels, to the point Mission Control isn't even surprised if you belt one into a Drop Pod seat and try to take it on a mission with you.Mission Control: It breaks my heart to tell you this, but no, the barrel will not accompany you on your next mission.
- The fact that there's an achievement for NOT kicking barrels for 10 missions in a row is hilarious in and of itself.
- There are also achievements for kicking barrels into the Drop Pod's four seats ("Well done?"), kicking every barrel in the Space Rig into the launch bay ("You are why Mission Control drinks"), and stuffing every barrel into the Drop Pod ("Management weeps").
- The November 2021 update introduced a new skin for Bosco : "Surplus Barrel". Basically, it makes Bosco look like a miniature barrel with a pair of arms. Which means that from now on, you can have a barrel accompany you on a mission, if you're playing solo!
- Plaguefall added lithophage sample containers all over the Space Rig, apparently in place until R&D can pick them up... the dwarves can knock on the glass in the meantime and snark on it like a kid on a fishtank, much to Mission Control's displeasure.Dwarf: Okay, guess this isn't the water dispenser.
Mission Control: Before you even ask: No, it's not submerged in alcohol, and no, you can't drink it.
Dwarf: Wake up!
Mission Control: No taunting the lithophage, please. - Speaking of Plaguefall, the update brought several changes to the Space Rig; other than the aforementioned lithophage samples, most doors now have decontamination mechanisms that spray you whenever you cross them, and Mission Control likewise mentions on several occasions how important decontamination is in order to make absolutely sure that the plague that Rockpox is doesn't spread aboard the Space Rig... But, upon inspecting the hub closer, you'll notice that there are lithophage samples growing unchecked out of their vials (or even out of a noodle box that was left under a desk), there are smashed vials and spilled lithophage samples in the medbay, and other samples have invaded the Abyss' fridge, which is now kept closed with a chain as tendrils are growing out from behind its door. That mixture of Serious Business safety rules, decontamination areas and squeaky-clean containment vats, and the utter gross negligence some of the samples are treated with, is both hilarious and perfectly in-character for both DRG and the Dwarves.
- Rarely, one of the lithophage containment tanks will have the lithophage sample replaced by a barrel. When, how and what the dwarves did to get the barrel inside there without causing a lithophage infestation is not explained.
- The Dwarves are, understandably, utterly disgusted by the Rockpox and vocally express it while cleaning up lithophage contagion spikes. What makes it funny is that their lines treat it as something really gross instead of the horrifying, Body Horror-inducing alien plague it really is.Dwarf: Eeeeww! The Rockpox is touching me!
Dwarf: Don't touch the Rockpox, guys! It's worse than salad!
Dwarf: (more annoyed than angry/scared) Get this crap off me!!
- Doretta may come across as The Scrappy, but admit it, it's funny to see that big drill One-Hit Kill literally everything in her way. Bunch of Glyphids? They're paste now. A Praetorian or Oppressor? They get mulched too. A goddamn Bulk Detonator? Also very vulnerable to being ground down into dust. Though that last one may not be so funny since it still explodes on death and takes out an entire armor segment in the process. Still, the fact that an otherwise very vulnerable machine can vaporize anything that gets caught in her drill can elicit some laughs.
- Culminating in events like this
that are such an Epic Fail that you have to laugh.
- Culminating in events like this
- Hollow Bough is a creepy biome, but getting hurt by the thorns can be pretty funny. Why? Because the Dwarves will say lines like "I'm gonna need surgery" in the same tone you'd spout an action movie one liner. Among other lines; the dwarves find thorn pokes to be some of the most aggravating injuries in the depths, and they make it known at every opportunity, complaining they're gonna "pop like a balloon" or "bleed out" from injuries that might not even breach their shield, in a biome that has much worse threats.Dwarf: Oh no — that will let the moisture in.
- Similarly the Dwarves react with hilarious pain when getting burned.Dwarf: Hot, hot, hot!!
Dwarf: I smell bacon.
Dwarf: My boots! My poor boots!! - Dancing at the Abyss Bar for long enough will have Mission Control occasionally chiming in to remark that he hopes you're better miners than dancers. On top of watching them slack off, he seems to offended by the Dwarves having atrocious dancing skills.Mission Control: Orders from Management — stop dancing and get to it!
Mission Control: You boys better be better miners than you are dancers...
Mission Control: Classy moves, team. Now quit it! - There's amusement to be had in the fact DRG's hacking pod isn't some kind of extra-advanced technology or automated, contained AI digitally carrying out the hack. It's a computer with a Bosco-like robot (complete with white hat and RGB fans) grafted into it giving its keyboard such an absolute Hollywood Hacking-style mauling that the sheer noise draws every bug in the cavern. Hacksy is also responsive to your acts: Saluting will have it salute you back with a visible lack of enthusiasm like it just wants to get back to work, and petting it will cause it to slump forward and faceroll all over the screen and keyboard for a moment before sitting back up.
- Sometimes, the ragdolls for Q'ronar Shellbacks take off flying depending on how fast they were moving.
- When Glyphid Menaces are killed, they drop off the ceiling/wall. Unlike Acidspitters and Webspitters, Menaces have a rather round body, which causes their ragdoll to roll around like an inflatable ball for a short while.
- The Prospector Drone looks like it could be reasonably strong, doesn't it? Nope - it's an utter coward like the Huuli Hoarder. As soon as a single bullet so much as grazes it, it goes from blissfully wandering around to madly flailing its tentacles and flying away in a panic. It's a complete wimp compared to the Facility Caretaker!
- On that note, the Huuli Hoarder itself can also get a laugh just because of its behavior - it's literally the only life form on Hoxxes that not only does not attack the Dwarves, but actually runs for its life when it's being fired upon. Combined with its rather goofy Gonk appearance, and its entire character is rather comical. Especially the noise it makes when running away, sounding like it's screaming and pissing itself.
- The various special craftable beers available at the Abyss Bar range from cool to hilarious. In no particular order:
- Mactera Brew makes your character become a major Gasshole, complete with buzzing flies and green clouds around them.
- Gut Wrecker does something similar, except your character lets out a thunderous, Rig-shaking belch. Going by their comments, it's good for indigestion.
- Flintlocke's Delight causes the imbiber to explode and get sent flying in random directions.
- Smart Stout is essentially the Smart Ball in drink form. Consuming it makes the Dwarf spout something incredibly intelligent... only to trail off and resume being their usual selves. They'll even figure such wonders out like how to make the Drop Pod always land where they call itnote , where Karl actually is, and that maybe they should put guns on the MULE before completely forgetting the idea.Dwarf: Hang on, I'm starting to think Deep Rock is exploiting us common working folk! If we joined forces and founded our own mining company instead, we'd be raking in the dough! But... we could just have another round of beer!
- Wormhole Special teleports you to random places aboard the Space Rig... and potentially outside it. You won't die from lack of air, but you will get frozen (Space Is Cold after all) before getting warped back.
- Blacklock Lager makes your character's vision darken and they hallucinate after imbibing.
- Blackout Stout... just makes you pass out almost immediately. It's rated "Legendary" for a reason! "Might as well skip straight to the hangover" indeed.
- Blackreach Blonde makes you start dancing on the spot while jukebox music plays.
- Burning Love causes you to become a Dwarf On Fire!
- Malt Rockbearer makes you giant sized and gives a Heavy Voice to boot. The mug its served in has a narrow base that flares out into a wider rim that subtly indicates the growth in size after drinking.
- Seasoned Moonrider makes you floaty as if someone turned off the artificial gravity. Have fun getting back down until it wears off!
- Underhill Deluxe shrinks you down. It can be pretty funny to see one of the more badass dwarves like the Driller or Gunner looking substantially smaller than the rest of the gang. Also your character gets Helium Speech because they're so small... and the Scout already has a high pitched voice to start with already adds to the comedic effect. Also the mug it is served is shaped like a spoutless kettle, in which it has a narrow base that flares into a wide body around the middle it tapers into a narrow rim at the top in contrast with the mug that Malt Rockbearer is served in.
- Arkenstout subjects you to Harmless Freezing, as if you managed to call in a blizzard from the Glacial Strata!
- Randoweisser completely randomizes your loadout and appearance for the next mission. While this can possibly result in a build that's really bad, it can also make for major comedy.
- Oktoberfest 2022 brings a new seasonal beer, Best Wurst Beer. While it lacks a unique effect, it has its own humor given how there's an actual sausage that gets put in the mug. And your dwarf even pauses to eat the sausage before drinking up!
- Normally Dwarves are very enthusiastic about ordering beer. If one orders a Leaf-Lover Special, however, they do it conspicuously polite or in a very hushed tone as if they were deeply ashamed of what they've ordered.Dwarf: (quietly) Can I have a Leaf Lover's Special?
Dwarf: One Leaf Lover - and can I get it thinned with some water?
Dwarf: Could I get a Leaf Lover's Special!
- Glyphids spawn by crawling out of any solid surface. This includes surfaces too small for them to fit in, so you might get to see something like a Glyphid Praetorian crawl out of a stalactite half its size. They also spawn closer to you during an escape, so if you get to the drop pod before the MULE you can watch Glyphid after Glyphid crawl out of the drop pod itself.
- The Gem-Studded Headcover hat's description assures us that it was "Certainly not made from bits and pieces found behind the Mineral Exchange."
- A story in two parts, from a pair of sideburns options."Berserker" description: Anger Management Courses every Tuesday at 7 on Deck 12.
"Valiant Berserker" description: For when the Anger Management Course tells you that it's okay and in the Company's favor to be angry. - The explanation for how DRG reverse-engineered the Rival Shredders for the Engineer's use: Dwarves were coming into the medbay with injuries and the medic-bots were pulling out Shredders that got stuck in them. That's not the funny part. The funny part is why the Shredders got stuck: they were getting caught in the Dwarves' beards and got stuck attempting to claw through decades-old dirt-encrusted facial hair. Guess those beards aren't just cosmetic after all!
- It's also a Call-Back to one of the lines the Dwarves can say when fighting Shredder drones.Dwarf: "Shredders! Don't get them in your beard!!"
- The dwarves clearly hold a slight grudge over this as well: Not only you're entirely allowed to slap the Shredders around unprompted, but there's even lines for it.
- The hacked shredder bots are smaller than the regular Rival ones, and that makes them higher-pitched. This turns their threatening hums and mechanical whirring into high-pitched whistles and chirps that sound like robotic guinea pigs.
- It's also a Call-Back to one of the lines the Dwarves can say when fighting Shredder drones.
- If you have paid attention to the company PSA's and the description of the Salt Pits, glyphid omelettes are apparently served in the cafeteria. So that's what the egg missions are for.
- The 5 year anniversary event added helium tanks to the space rig which you can huff some and gain Helium Speech like you would under the Rich Atmosphere effect. The funniest part comes from drinking the Mactera Brew while under the effects of helium since it somehow makes your dwarf's burps and farts also squeaky!
- The sheer fact you can actually go onto missions while wearing a hospital gown. Extra amusing if you find jet boots which has the thrusters attached to the soles of their bare feet.
- An update was made to fix the Gylphid Septic Spreader since they were trying to shoot at players through the walls. However, the fix created another bug where the Spreader was more content with walking up to a player and gently push them around as if to boop them. Another patch later on fixed the issue with the patch notes stating that the Spreader will "no longer boop the player".
- A Running Gag for seasonal events is the presence of the Dwarven delivery service Longbeard Freight, who are low cost but wildly incompetent, regularly dropping reward items onto the planet by crashing into Hoxxes rather than stopping at the Space Rig. It's heavily implied that a combination of long hours, drunk driving, and being too short to see over the console is why these morons constantly lose deliveries, and it's their incredibly cheap prices which cause Management to keep hiring them. This results in an endless cycle of Management getting what they pay for and Dwarves finding increasingly weird items in the caves, such as trophies, clockwork elves, and pool floaties.
- Part of the humor comes from just how badly these delivery idiots have failed in their jobs—it is not only possible but inevitable to find their various cargo drops in caves that are kilometers underground, heavily implying that they crashed their space trucks through the surface of Hoxxes and into its subterranean layer. It's a wonder the Dwarves have not yet been tasked to recover bits of Longbeard Freight craft.
- The utter contempt Mission Control has for the pool floaties is hilarious; he seems incapable of referring to them without insulting them, calling them things like 'dollar store kids' toy' and 'cheap plastic rubbish' and sarcastically noting the miners' ancestors would be proud when they recover them. He even comments that he agrees with the pilot's loss of this particular cargo. The dwarves themselves are bemused by them since the Space Rig doesn't have a pool to use them in. The fact they look like multi-color inflatable glyphids is the icing on the cake.
- With some patches, the developers will go the extra mile by having the summary be written from the viewpoint of management or another person affiliated with the company. One example coms from the patch notes published after season 4's beach themed event where they note how some dwarves were abusing the drop pod's targeting system to let them clock out early, but has now been fixed and thus the dwarves can "enjoy" a long walk home at the end of each shift.note The devs also note that there was a bug that doubled mission payouts in some cases and how Mission Control isn't made of credits.
- The 2023 Oktoberfest announcement notes that some miners have proposed renaming the event to Rocktoberfest, calls it a good idea, but states that Management already ordered the merch with Oktoberfest printed on it, and they’re not going to pay for all the stuff twice.
- After Red Dead Redemption 2 won "Labor of Love" at the 2023 Steam Awards, many Deep Rock players were baffled, seeing it as an Award Snub or ill-fitting for the category.note While not bitter, Ghost Ship got in on the joke by declaring RDR2 Deep Rock's Employee of the Month for January 2024.
- It is possible to accidentally hitch a ride on the M.U.L.E., a seasonal NPC like the Spring Bunny, or some local fauna, and in some cases get incapacitated by them accidentally dropping you from far too high. Should be hard to not have a chuckle over these incidents.
- Cave Leeches can cause one due to the sheer Yet Another Stupid Death-fueled brainfart one can have about getting downed by one, being revived... and then grabbed by it again because you somehow forgot about the damn thing, usually because you're in a hurry to get back to your team, the mission or a swarm coming your way.
