Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core Retcon class is undoubtedly a polarizing figure in the community. With some fans declaring that it’s overpowered and the best in the game, while others, like myself, acknowledge her potential but think that her inconsistency makes her the lowest-ranked class in Rogue Core.
Much like all heated debates, the true answer lies somewhere in the middle. The Rogue Core Retcon’s base kit has a high ceiling that can carry games when RNG goes her way, but can feel mediocre without it. That’s why it’s important to understand how to build Retcon (more than any other class) to pull your weight on the team.
How does the Rogue Core Retcon play?
The Rogue Core Retcon is the coop roguelike’s most unique class, as it doesn’t cleanly fit into one established archetype. Classes like the protective Guardian is built to hold the frontline or go all-out with explosions, while the Slicer class is a nimble melee-oriented swordsman that can either clear hordes or do massive single-target damage.
If we have to assign a shorthand role to Rogue Core Retcon, she’s best understood as a Berserker with the caveat that she’s near unstoppable for a short duration. Here’s are the Retcon’s time-based abilities:
Rewind Time: Retcon snapshots her current state and position in time. Afterward, she has 20 seconds to do what she act before going back to the starting point, while also reverting back to her original state (Health, Armor, Ammo, and Grenades). Retcon can trigger the return at any point. Additionally, Rewind Time doesn’t prevent fatal damage incurred during the duration.
Rage: This ability charges up when Retcon receives damage. When available, she can activate it to deal 100% damage while also receiving bonus melee attack speed.
Contingency Plan (Passive): This passive ability triggers only once per mission. When the whole team falls, Retcon will revive with full Armor and Health.
The Rogue Core Retcon is all about doing as much as you can within the 20-second Rewind Time window. However, keep in mind that when you die during this time, it cancels out the effect. Because of this, Retcon wants to play more consevatively compared to other classes until her power spike.
Conserve as much Armor, Health, and especially Grenades before activating the ability, as this gives you more lee way to play aggressively. Buy some space for your team by running towards the enemies and kiting them away from the group. Additionally, taking hits during this time is also the safest way to stack up Rage.
Rogue Core Retcon Builds
The Rogue Core Retcon isn’t a class that can find success by building her on the fly, as she has many build paths she can take. But before any of that, it all starts with securing a good weapon at the start of the mission.
Generally, you’ll need weapons that preferable have a large magazine, high damage, and fast-firing rate. In short, look for powerful guns with inneficient ammo that can be mitigated by the Retcon’s Time Rewind. Submachine guns like the Bolt-Tec “Decker” or the Drak-25 Plasma Rifle are excellent choices.
Most Retcon builds would highly benefit from Heavy Weapons crate selected from the end of each round and found during the run. Once the Retcon gets her hands on a Heavy Weapon like the Deepcore 40mm PGL grenade launcher or the Breach Cutter, she can clear swarms on her own.
Conversely, and this is what makes Retcon so hard to build for, the melee-oriented Retcon needs to take guns with low magazine size to proc an important Bio-Booster upgrade. The Jury-Rigged Boomstick shotgun is perfect for this use case, but something like the Zhukov NUK17 can work in a pinch.
Regardless of the Rogue Core Retcon’s builds, she’s the best class to take upgrades that trigger when taking damage because of her abilities:
| Upgrade | Type | Effect |
| Ticking Bomb | Expenite Upgrade | Deal explosive damage in a small raidus after suffering 50 damage total. |
| Cold Blood | Expenite Upgrade | When taking damage, transfer cold damage to nearby enemies. |
| Adrenaline Charger | Expenite Upgrade | Getting hit replenishes ability and power attack cooldown. |
Additionally, the Retcon is the best carrier for the Cyro grenades since she has better economy with these powerful grenades. Although the Incendiary grenade also works as a way to blanket the caves in fire.
Retcon Build 1: Weapons Specialist
For the Rogue Core Retcon’s first build, we’ll be leveraging her weapon mastery during the Time Rewind duration. As mentioned, the weapons you choose here is the crucial component to this build, especially once you find the Heavy Weapon crate. Until then, focus on hoarding as many grenades as possible so you’ll have more explosives to throw during swarms.
| Upgrade | Type | Effect |
| Sleight of Hand | Bio-Booster | Faster reload, interaction, and revive speed. |
| Horology | Workshop | Longer ability duration. |
| Pelter | Expenite Upgrade | More magazine size. |
| Cool Precision | Expenite Upgrade | Weakpoint hits reduce active ability and power attack cooldowns. |
| Magic Missile | Expenite Upgrade | Chance to shoot a magic missile when firing your weapon. |
These are the crucial upgrades for this build to work. Workshop upgrades are better spent toward enhancing your weapon, rather than empowering her class abilities. Once you’ve unlocked deck swapping, consider removing the Retcon’s melee Recklessness deck in favor of the Falconer’s Mixed Tactics deck for ability cooldown reduction.
Additionally, look to stack elemental effects to match with your weapon’s element for even more damage. While your primary job is to clear hordes during the short duration, you can also add in a few more Weakpoint damage perks if your team lacks single-target damage.
Retcon Build 2: Melee Berserker
The Rogue Core Retcon’s second build is a riskier playstyle built around her melee damage and Recklessness bio booster deck. This is a build you’ll need to decide before entering the mission, as Enhancements can make or break this build. The Pommel Rebalancing, Handle Grip, and Skull Crusher Enhancements are needed for better power attacks and melee damage.
| Upgrade | Type | Effect |
| Axe Out | Bio Booster | Double melee damage for 8 seconds after emptying a weapons magazine. |
| Come Get Some | Bio Booster | More damage per enemy within a close range. |
| Temporal Buffer | Workshop | Activating your ability gives you Stoneskin. |
| Combo Strike | Expenite Upgrade | Dealing melee damage recharges power attack. |
| Cold Blood | Expenite Upgrade | When taking damage, transfer cold damage to nearby enemies. |
| Subzero Range | Expenite Upgrade | For every nearby frozen enemy you gain more melee damage. |
| Crippling Strike | Expenite Upgrade | Melee attacks stun enemies for a brief duration. |
| Vampire | Expenite Upgrade | Heal health on melee kill of medium sized or larger creatures. |
The gameplan with this Rogue Core Retcon build is to trigger Axe Out constantly with the Jury-Rigged Shotgun or a similar mag-dumping weapon, supplemented by the melee upgrades. This build does a surprising amount of damage, but you’ll need to balance it with defensive tools to stay alive, which is the purpose of upgrades like Vampire and Temporal Buffer. In this case, the best defense is the best offense as you’ll want a high uptime on Rage.
Cryo grenades, Cold Blood, and Cold damage keeps enemies frozen and helpless, while Crippling Strike is another layer of protection with stuns. Get used to playing with little to no armor and make sure you’re generating enough sugar to sustain yourself.
This build is a personal favorite of mine and highly effective once it comes together. So far, I’m having great success with it up to Depth 3, but you’ll need to play more cautiously once you get to higher clearance for harder difficulties.
