Deep Rock Galactic is a co-op shooter where you play as dwarven miners working underground. Overclocks are endgame upgrades that push a weapon past its regular modifications, and most come with a trade-off. They open up once a dwarf makes their first promotion, and each one is built for a single weapon used by the Driller, Engineer, Gunner or Scout.
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What Are Overclocks in Deep Rock Galactic?
Overclocks are endgame upgrades for your weapons. They sit on top of the modifications you already buy for each gun, and they can change a weapon's numbers or how it works entirely.
You can't use them right away. A dwarf has to reach their first promotion before overclocks open up, and a weapon needs at least one modification bought in each of its tiers before it can take one. Each overclock also fits only one specific weapon, so the overclock you make for one gun won't carry over to another. The setup takes some investment, but that makes sense, because an overclock is meant to build on a weapon you've already committed to.
What the Clean, Balanced and Unstable Tiers Mean
Every overclock belongs to one of three tiers, and the border around its icon tells you which. Clean overclocks have a green border. They give a boost with no clear downside, so they work like an extra tier of modification.
Balanced overclocks have a yellow hexagon border. They give a bigger boost, usually with a matching penalty. Unstable overclocks have a red square border and bring the biggest changes, often with heavy drawbacks, which makes them the most transformative of the three.
The border is the quickest way to know what kind of change you're signing up for. A Clean one fits in with the least disruption to how you already fight. The other two can change how a weapon feels in your hands, so it's worth thinking about your usual playstyle before you pick one.
How to Get Overclock Infused Matrix Cores
You don't buy overclocks outright. You craft them from Overclock Infused Matrix Cores, and those come from a handful of regular activities. The weekly Deep Dives, both regular and Elite, give cores. Breach the Core does too, and it unlocks the Weekly Core Hunt, which also gives cores.
Some special event assignments give cores as well, and so do promotions. Forge Mastery adds more as you forge Matrix Cores at the Forge. Blank Matrix Cores can also be processed at a Core Infuser, which turns them into an Infused Matrix Core of your choice from the options it offers.
Because the cores come from so many places, your supply builds up over the week instead of depending on one activity.
Crafting Overclocks at the Forge
Once you have the cores, they show up at the Forge, where you craft them into overclocks. The game picks which overclock a core gives at random when you receive it, not when you craft it. That means you can't choose the one you want in advance.
The randomness is the thing to plan around. If a specific overclock is on your wish list, it may take several cores before it shows up. Keep an eye on which ones you still need so you know when a new core is worth the trip.
Which Overclocks Change Your Weapon the Most
There's no single agreed ranking, so the best overclock for you depends on how you play. A few stand out as the most dramatic, though, and they show what the tiers look like in practice.
Ice Storm on the Cryo Cannon doubles its damage and adds bonus damage against frozen targets. The trade-off is less freezing power and less tank capacity. Hyper Propellant on the Deepcore 40mm PGL greatly boosts direct damage and projectile speed, but it shrinks the blast radius and cuts ammo. Scorching Tide on the CRSPR Flamethrower lets holding reload charge a spread of eight fiery projectiles, at the cost of extra fuel and slower movement while charging.
Each of these trades a big gain for a clear loss. Before you commit to one, check whether the thing it takes away is something you rely on, like ammo, mobility or area damage.
Balanced ones aren't always just about damage, either. Rotary Overdrive, a Gunner overclock for the Lead Storm minigun, raises the rate of fire a lot and adds coolant charges to deal with the extra heat.
Collecting Every Overclock in Deep Rock Galactic
Every overclock you craft stays unlocked permanently, so your collection only grows over time. Since the list is long and the cores are random, keeping track of which ones you still need for each class saves a lot of guesswork when you decide where to spend your week.
FAQ
Do all Forge Mastery rewards give overclocks?
No. Forge Mastery gives one core for every five Matrix Cores you forge, and its rewards alternate between overclock cores and cosmetic cores. That means every other reward is a cosmetic core instead.
How much does it cost to craft an overclock?
It depends on the overclock. Each one lists its own price in Credits plus a mix of minerals such as Croppa, Umanite, Bismor, Jadiz or Enor Pearl, so check the price at the Forge before you commit.