Deadzone Rogue Beginner’s Guide – Weapons, Tech Upgrades & More

Deadzone Rogue is a masterful blend of fast-paced FPS combat, an arena shooter, and a whole bunch of roguelike mechanics, which make every run feel unique. It can be a lot to learn at first before you settle into the groove, so here's a quick and comprehensive Deadzone Rogue Beginner Guide to help you get started.

Best weapons in Deadzone Rogue

Deadzone Rogue has no shortage of weapons and weapon types, each with a distinct feeling they bring to the gunplay. However, some weapons stand a head above the rest when it comes to absolutely melting or obliterating enemies. Here are some of the standout weapons that can carry you through your first run.

Best Assault Rifle

Use the PR20x Pulsar if you prefer a standard automatic rifle, or if you prefer precision shooting with a designated marksman rifle, try the MP-18L Revenant, which is a devastating precision AR. Both these rifles have great DPS, but the Revenant is potentially the best AR in the game once you master it.

Best SMG

VLR Arcblade is the go-to best SMG in Deadzone Rogue thanks to its high proc rate, large magazine size, and incredibly fast fire-rate, which lets you spam your procs and elements with the right build.

Best Shotgun

The T30 Nova Burst is the best shotgun option due to its high rate of fire, large magazine size and multiple pellets each with their own proc chance per shot. It's best paired with Void or Freeze to get the most value.

Best Machine Gun

VLR-Tempest is potentially the best weapon in Deadzone Rogue, with the only caveat being its heavy to lug around. However, once you get the right build set up, the VLR-Tempest can go infinite and melt anything that stands in your path.

Best Sniper

Snipers are fairly underrated in Deadzone Rogue because they require a bit more skill and precision to wield. While you might not be impressed with their DPS on paper, their time to kill is second to none and makes them the weapon of choice for experienced players who enjoy their ridiculously high proc rates and damage multipliers.

Best Secondary

If you want a secondary that can spam bullets like an SMG, pick the Snapdragon, but if you want a pocket shotgun, go with the AS-12 Rampage sidearm. They're both the best-in-class pistols for their respective use cases.

Best Tech Upgrades in Deadzone Rogue Early

Each Tech upgrade provides you a set percentage amount bonus in a particular stat, going up to level 10. You will eventually unlock most of the tech upgrades, but their priority goes like this:

Damage > Defense > Utility

Best Defense Tech Upgrades

Here are the Defence Tech upgrades you should prioritize:

• Health Orb Drop Rate: +100% drop chance per level
• Health Orb Value: +20% healing per level
• Starting Health: +20 HP per level

Best Damage Tech Upgrades

The best Damage Tech upgrades to get early:

• Weapon Damage: +5% per level and applies for both primary and secondary weapons, making this one of the most important Tech Upgrades.
• Primary Damage: +5% damage per level to your primary weapons.
• Proc Chance: +5% elemental proc chance per level for all weapons.

Best Utility Upgrades

The most useful Utility Upgrades to invest in:

• Tech Pickup: +10% Tech dropped by enemies per level, making Tech upgrades easier to collect.
• Sprint Speed: +5% sprint speed per level in a game where movement matters a lot.
• Grenade Cooldown: -5% cooldown per level, making your grenades a consistent weapon.

Best Augments, Perks, and Items in Deadzone Rogue

Best Early Perks

Bot Companion is the best Perk in the game for beginners and those looking for utility. The bots respawn and attack on your behalf, and they're also excellent distractions that can act as shields for you.

For defensive Perks, the health Perks are the most consistent, and Void and Lightning are the best elemental Perk options.

Best Early Items

While the best items will often depend on your weapons and build each run, some items are simply too consistent to pass up. Here is a quick list of the must-have items in Deadzone Rogue:

• Brass Boot: The best ammo item in the game.
• Hair Dryer: Excellent for applying debuffs to crowds.
• Mag Clip: Up to 100% extra magazine capacity.
• Magnifying Lens: Up to 60% bonus damage to enemies past 10m.
• Small Antenna: Grenades make enemies vulnerable, great for assassinating Elites.

Other upgrades involve increased Crit Rate, Crit Damage, and other bonuses to either hipfire or range, depending on the weapons you're running.

Best Early Augments

Either take Aiming: Crit or Aiming: Elemental, depending on whether you're going for a physical damage or elemental damage build. Both of these outline enemies through walls, which is essential for recon.

Hipfire Crit and Elemental Augments are also incredibly powerful if you're going for a run-and-gun playstyle. The Ammo Augments are a bit underwhelming, so we suggest avoiding them at the start.

Best Elements in Deadzone Rogue Early

Your best bet in terms of Elements early on is either Lightning or Void. Freeze is a close runner-up, but its utility shines more in front of elite enemies, which you won't run into too many of, especially early on and in Zone 1.

Lightning can bounce between groups of enemies and loop on the same enemy, which when paired with a high fire-rate weapon, can melt enemy healthbars.

Void shoots out tendrils that can group up enemies in a large area and hold down chokepoints while providing devastating damage on every proc.

How to Get All Hidden Achievements in Deadzone Rogue

How to Get the Jazz Hands Achievement

To unlock this one, head to the Fabricator area and look for the small side room or escape pod that’s playing music. Step inside and remain there without leaving for about 60 seconds. After waiting, the achievement will unlock automatically.

How to Get the Ponder Orb Achievement

On the lobby ship bridge, just before the mission elevator, turn right and look out the window at Earth. Simply stare at the planet for 2–3 minutes without moving away. Once you’ve reflected long enough, the achievement will unlock.

How to Get the Invincible Achievement

This achievement requires finishing a mission without taking any damage at all, not even to your shield.

• Best strategy: Play in multiplayer and stay behind teammates while they handle enemies.
• Alternative: Choose an early mission with low enemy density, stay in cover, and move cautiously.
  If you take even a single hit, you’ll need to restart.

This is one of the harder achievements in Deadzone Rogue.

How to Get the Botanist Achievement

You’ll need to collect 5 specific hidden logs scattered across Zones 1 and 2.

How to Get the Back to Basics Achievement

This one is all about discipline: complete a mission on Adventure or Normal difficulty using only your starting pistol. You're not allowed to switch your weapon or use grenades or melee weapons.

You're allowed to pick up Perks, Augments, and Armor. You're also allowed to upgrade and reroll the stats on your Starting Pistol. Environmental kills are also allowed. The Zone 1 Mission 'Pinpoint' is the easiest mission for this achievement.

For more Pro Game Guides, check out all Synergies in Deadzone Rogue and how to grab the free Twitch Drops.