Socks is still here. I found him yesterday while grinding in the Jade Forest after about ten hours or so. Make sure you're looting nothing, so that you have the highest chance of not missing the legendary drop.
Does the resting stat work properly? Because it seems like my rests only rest for the base amount. For example, my Forest local says that it takes away 37 stress, but it continuously takes away only 35. Not a huge difference, but still.
For level five, building reactors everywhere helps, as do the mortars. I found that repulsers aren't that needed for the bottom creep. Level seven involved mortars, lasers, repulsers, and creators (not needed, but rather fun), with shields up front. After that, the lasers, then the mortars, then the creators, and finally the repulsers. I made sure I had at least the first fire rate ans range, putting more importance into the rate upgrades than the range.
For those whos characters move around by themselves: Press the key that moves in the direction you're going (or if you're moving in multiple directions, then in both directions). This seems to be a work around.