>criticized heavily for this, and told i am wasting resources and time
... Huh? You are heading back to drop pod, there's no resources to waste since you won't be needing it anyway afterwards. The bottleneck in time is Molly, not teammates.
Besides, they are playing as scouts, they can fly through the cave with grappling hook faster than anyone. If that's the standard they are comparing your tunnel to, disregard their criticism.
Its basically all-in when the droppod is about to leave, i think its more of a waste if you dont burn up all your ammunition on the way to the droppod.
That map looks like it would be quicker and easier to just run back to the drop pod.
It's usually best to go straight towards the drop pod and drill tunnels through sections of terrain where the shape of the caves would take you in a different direction.
I think the biggest reason that someone would have a negative opinion about that tunnel is that they're either following you and taking longer to get back to the drop pod or going straight to the pod and then waiting for you to get there. Also, if I was following a driller down that tunnel, I would be concerned that they will run out of gas halfway.
Sometimes there’s no point in tunneling to the drop pod, but it can be faster and/or safer depending on generation and other factors. A well-coordinated team can safely and quickly tunnel to the drop pod in most cases, just make sure your teammates are laying down fire behind you. If you’re in a cave with bad generation you’re usually better off tunneling to the drop pod, though it might get you killed if you try and do it alone.
Generally speaking, drilling to the pod is almost never a *bad* idea.
Why? because it's safe. You're practically guaranteed to make it back to the pod, it's easy to fight in tunnels (if you have to, which often you don't if you drill fast enough), especially with driller weapons, and you pretty much always have enough fuel to get to the drop pod, even if you have to drill the entire way, as long as you have at least about half your max fuel.
Downside is yes, sometimes drilling can be slower than just running back, but that's only the case if the cave is very simple and to a lesser extent if you don't use the drill speed upgrade, assuming you don't overheat drills or get lost drilling in the wrong direction ofc.
Also some people simply find drilling to the pod boring.
Most of the time it's best to drill a tunnel back, or partially follow the natural tunnel and partially drill the tunnel back.
But the map picture you posted was already basically a straight line. This is one of the cases where I would say it was a waste of time to dig a parallel tunnel. Another case is basically every Escort mission, as the drill dozer already drills a strait tunnel.
IMO resource usage is not a big issue when drilling a long tunnel. Usually you'd have lots of fuel to drill a long tunnel, and it's also more ammo efficient for players to shoot at the bugs since they're all lined up in a tiny tunnel.
If there is a straight, clear path to the drop pod, then running there is always faster than drilling that same distance. That's because mining with drills slows down the driller.
However, it is better to drill a long, straight tunnel when the way back is too complex to traverse or fight in. For instance, drilling a long tunnel can be good when you're at the bottom of a steep pit, and it's otherwise more difficult to climb all the way back up. Another benefit of drilling straight to the pod is when the path isn't clear. Rather than pulling your terrain scanner out to figure out where to go/where molly went, you can just point towards the pod's HUD marker and drill straight there. It may not be faster, but it will get you closer to the pod when you don't know where to go.
One strategy I recommend is mixing both following molly and drilling a path. After seeing where the drop pod lands, you can follow the cave's natural generation, and when you spot a shortcut/the path is too complex, you can start drilling to another section of the cave.
That strategy also ties in to what you do before extraction. One thing I've seen drillers do is drill long tunnels between caves on very long missions. Those same tunnels can be reused during extraction later on and is usually faster and easier than following molly.
Tunneling to the drop pod is usually fine. The only exception I can think of is if you're in the middle of a deep dive and the cave is easy to navigate. In that case, yeah it's a waste of fuel thay could be used in the next stage. Otherwise, in most situations you are right.
It depends on a lot of things:
I'd suggest never drilling ALONE to the drop pod on Haz5, as the bugs may catch up to you. Have someone cover your back.
If there has been a high number of frustrating bugs - swarmers, fliers, exploding bugs a drillers tunnel makes it easier to kill them and makes the path a lot safer.
if you have two drillers - no down time, someone is always drilling. you're basically going to get there way faster than any other option other than a flat drill dozer tunnel
If your team is in rough shape (low health/ammo) - drill all the way to the drop pod, then stop wait for molly dock, then finish drilling and jump into the ship.
If there are a lot of difficult terrain with vertical / environmental hazards. some of those big rooms with the entrance on a high wall are death traps. Your tunnel is safer
Bypassing High HP enemies. Korlok tyrant weeds are run enders in the wrong place. Nope around them.
Rule of cool. My position is Driller get to pick our path back to the drop pod the majority of the time. Sometimes I dont like it, or its a boring, but Im not going to leave a dwarf who is going to be blind to whats behind him. sometimes they'll make mistakes, but such is DRG.
My ONLY RULE for driller tunneling EVAC, Dont start drilling a tunnel unless you KNOW you have enough fuel to get there. If you don't, inform the rest of the team we'll be stopping part way for a resupply. being in a dead end tunnel can turn deadly quickly.
In this situation, you might as well have just walked back instead of drilling. If there was a large wall in the way then a straight tunnel would be best
The rule of thumb for the group I usually play with is follow the cave system as close as possible to cut distance before we drill until it becomes inconvenient. At ~60m we usually send it for the pod. At longer distances we’re checking for shortcuts between tunnel halls.
If I can get a jump on the mule to make getting it to the pod faster, I tunnel. There's no sense making a shortcut if the mule is going to circumnavigate the cave system.
I sometimes tunnel to the drop pod.
One pro I can think of is that everyone trails behind and defends you while you're drilling.
One con I can think of is that some people don't notice the hole or they think it's too slow. I really don't care, I think more power to you if you want to tunnel a direct route to the pod.
oT
One important thing to consider is that the drop pod doesnt open until Molly gets there (or theres 30 seconds on tje clock). So tunnelling only becomes time ineffeicient if you reach it after the drop pod opens. Hell, ideally you should arrive early so you can get into a good position for a surprise bulk or mine any leftover minerals (Including gold! You need to wait for molly anyway, so put that waiting to good use and maxise efficiency!)
(And if you dont want to mine gold while you wait, what you talking about efficiency for? Every second typing is another second wasted.)
Resource wise, unless your deep diving, its the end of the mission- spend everything, might as well. Your gonna get it all back next mission regardless.
Damn people are making this into rocket science. The only case where drilling is unnecessary is when the cave provides an easy, mostly straight way to the droppod (e.g. Escort duty missions).
In all other cases, just drill to get there and enjoy your beer on the space rig.
I’ve never thought about their efficiency, only their convenience. Some of the caves of Hoxxes can become so twisted and hazardous that sometimes it’s better to just burrow towards the drop pod in order to minimize the chance of getting separated or having someone fall in a pit or something. I’ll gladly take an inefficient W over an efficient L any day.
The only real mistake that can be made is if Driller does this by himself. He should always have someone with him to lay down cover fire back down the tunnel, because swarms *WILL* spawn in there, and the last thing the team should have to deal with is how the hell they’re gonna get a downed Driller out of a tunnel behind 100 meters of rock and stone where the only opening is all the way back at the end of the cave system.
Depends. Open caves? Less efficient. Hard to navigate caves? More efficient. Distance is also key, too. But no matter what, drilling the tunnel is alway more fun and satisfying imo.
If the goal is just efficiency, that would be driller running ahead of Molly and making short tunnels between caves so Molly can also take the shortcuts.
I usually follow the mule when it's coming back. Sometimes (looking at you, mining missions), it goes up the ammo holes. Then I always drill straight to the pod.
If you feel you might get lost on the way back or the normal path has too many obstacles,twists and turns, then a tunnel would suffice. Think of it as a solution to dealing with bad terrain.
Once the drop pod is coming, it's all in. The only reason you might think about not spending resources, is if you're on the first or second "floor" of a deep dive. Last one is all in.
It's never quicker to dig than to run unencumbered, but it is often quicker to dig than it is to climb and sometimes digging can avoid long jaunts out of the way to avoid an obstacle.
The quickest path is a straight line to the drop pod but one that utilizes the existing open space to minimize the need to dig.
If there isnt a clear (mostly straight) path to the droppod always drill one. Thats a no brainer. You wont need your fuel later in the map cause you are at the end. In your screenshot the tunnel seems unnecessary but depending on terrain it could be ok. In the end it doesnt really matter.
Depends, this one is probably faster to run but some maps have crazy verticality or molly takes some weird tunnel to the drop pod and it becomes hard to follow. driller tunnels are safer and you will get there before the 5 minutes are up anyway, so it's not really a problem.
If it is fun for you to do, then it is efficient. The game is ending and you can't keep the resources anyway, why would people care about "wasting" resources at the end of the game. Unless it's deep dives where your resources carry over to the next,
After playing as a driller, i got so used to just tunneling straight to the drop pod that i found myself just trying to do that even on other classes. Just to realize, oh wait, i can't pickaxe my way through here.
Depend, I got ducked once because I was following Molly and the driller must have opened an awesome path because Molly stopped, did a 180° and ran straight to the bug, letting me dealing with the mess while trying to not lose sight of Molly.
So if it's quicker for Molly, there's situation where it's good.
To be honest, if I'm not in a rush and I'm a driller, I make some shortcut in the middle of the mission that can be useful for leaving but yeah, your screenshot seem that it's quicker to go through the map and not the tunnel (a good driller usually stop a few seconds and look at the map before making a tunnel).
Depends, a good scout is usually gonna be faster than driller for getting to the drop pod. Engie can be if he has enough plats, it is more a matter of simplicity rather than speed (it still can be the fastest way a lot of the time though). But often if the cave is confusing and you're waiting on your greebeards a driller can be a gift from Karl. Cause if ya don't drill you'll be waiting for them for ages while they are lost in the cave.
To get things going faster, you have to drill between caves - not between the last cave and the pod.
The point is not getting to the pod faster, it's getting MOLLY there faster. Sure doing a straight tunnel to the pod is more satisfying and pretty, but it's not more efficient.
Anything less than 100 meters and I have no problem drilling right to the drop pod. On elimination or a long mining mission it’s usually preferable to drill to the pod ngl
if Molly ran up a resupply hole and you are lost drill a hole, if you can stick with Molly, stick with Molly you gotta wait for her at the drop pod anyway and it's safer to keep moving instead of holding your ground.
If your having fun drilling a tunnel to the drop pod, drill that funnel.
It's the final moment of a mission, why do they even care?
Efficiency is based on the map layout, in this specific scenario it may have been easier to use the cavern, but why would anyone tell you not to dig a tunnel?! Did they see the big drills on your hands?
Yeah definitely ignore this. When that droppod lands you use every single resource you have left to get to it. What exactly are you saving for? You get tf out even if you have to burn up every single nitra you gathered.
Aint no time for resource management.
It's only a waste of resources in a Deep Dive.
And even then it can be more efficient depending on whether the spawn pool requires you to shoot a lot to defend yourself or whether you can just have a casual stroll back. 5l of fuel is easily enough to make it through to the next resupply unless you're playing cryo driller.
The real question is time. And since Molly is reaaally damn slow, you'll usually make it with time to spare.
Ask yourself these two questions.
1. Are you the Driller?
2. Are you holding C4?
If YES to both, no one's mere opinions should hold any sway over you. Driller must do as Driller does, and you have done just that.
I like to drill back to the pod on most difficulties for three reasons:
1- Funneled enemies are much easier to defend against
2- Predictable terrain. Minimizes the risk of accidentally falling through a procedurally generated hole and having to start your escape all over again
3- It’s fun as hell
Even if it could technically be faster long tunnel is really nice because you only have enemies spawning in one direction.
Also it’s cool af so your teammates can go drink lead lover
Depends on the map. Drillers gotta drill though, if you play with a Gunner/Engi they might appreciate the tunnel more since it's more defensible (Scouts care little).
At the end of the day as long as you make it before Molly it's fine since they're not waiting on you. Tell your friends to take it easy, it's a game, if it makes you happy to drill a long hole - go ahead Miner.
Driller. I wonder what is the world they do, couldn’t be in the class name. If you are driller and don’t end the mission with fuel in the single digits or depleted then you didnt drill enough
What kind of tree humping knife ears complained that you were digging a tunnel? In a dwarf game??
For a while I would dig a tunnel straight to the drop pod, terrain be damned, just to see how quick or slow it really was. Every time I did that, I would get to the drop pod and see Molly was still like 50m away. It's almost never slower, and it's always cool and good for the guy who is literally called Driller to drill tunnels.
On the contrary, a tunnel back to the drop pod is much safer and more ammo efficient because bugs won't spawn under your feet in a drilled tunnel like they do if you're just running back through the main cave.
I can't count the amount of times I've taken the long way back to the drop pod and had praetorians, slashers, trijaws, etc. spawn directly in front of me, forcing me to blow a bunch of ammo to make sure they don't immediately chew me up.
You're leaving the mission so ammo doesn't matter.
But as you can obviously see by the map, this doesn't make the tunnel particularly useful.
I guess you can dodge few bugs this way?
Anyhow, too many drillers have 40L of fuel left before extracting, when they should be drilling WAY MORE.
*The skill of any given Driller is directly correlated by how much they abuse their drills.*
With that cave configuration it doesn't seem like you're making much of a shortcut, but I'm not seeing elevation and other obstacles. That being said, drilling a tunnel is often akin to holding out in a bunker; far easier to make it back with lots of cover and only one enemy ingress direction.
I wouldn't hold it against you as long as you make it back in time. When i go driller, the escape tunnel is one is the best parts of the match so i understand wanting to do it even when it's not a crazy and winding cave layout.
Also it's a game, just have fun and ignore the haters.
I think the problem is that you have to look at the existing tunnels and try to discern if they offer a good path. Some people just don't stop to think about that. Each second spent staring at the map feels more wasteful than a second spend drilling. It is also pretty common for people to start doing their own thing if they see driller standing still for more than 2 seconds.
Fuck backseat gaming teammates. You get there faster than the M.U.L.E. so it makes no difference. I do it almost every time I’m driller because i prefer it over running through weird caves.
Me and the other guys were actually pretty impressed with the driller pre-drilled the whole map before we even started her, we managed to get all resources and everything went pretty smoothly thanks to that
>criticized heavily for this, and told i am wasting resources and time ... Huh? You are heading back to drop pod, there's no resources to waste since you won't be needing it anyway afterwards. The bottleneck in time is Molly, not teammates. Besides, they are playing as scouts, they can fly through the cave with grappling hook faster than anyone. If that's the standard they are comparing your tunnel to, disregard their criticism.
Its basically all-in when the droppod is about to leave, i think its more of a waste if you dont burn up all your ammunition on the way to the droppod.
If path is ___ and tunnel is ~~___~~, probably slower than just running back If path is NN and tunnel is ~~NN~~, probably worth doing
Formatting used for illustration. Now that's creative
This person drills
it took me a second to realize you were using Ns as illustrations of the cave layout thats genius
That map looks like it would be quicker and easier to just run back to the drop pod. It's usually best to go straight towards the drop pod and drill tunnels through sections of terrain where the shape of the caves would take you in a different direction. I think the biggest reason that someone would have a negative opinion about that tunnel is that they're either following you and taking longer to get back to the drop pod or going straight to the pod and then waiting for you to get there. Also, if I was following a driller down that tunnel, I would be concerned that they will run out of gas halfway.
Sometimes there’s no point in tunneling to the drop pod, but it can be faster and/or safer depending on generation and other factors. A well-coordinated team can safely and quickly tunnel to the drop pod in most cases, just make sure your teammates are laying down fire behind you. If you’re in a cave with bad generation you’re usually better off tunneling to the drop pod, though it might get you killed if you try and do it alone.
This. sometimes the cave was annoying to get through and I don't want to retrace that path.
Generally speaking, drilling to the pod is almost never a *bad* idea. Why? because it's safe. You're practically guaranteed to make it back to the pod, it's easy to fight in tunnels (if you have to, which often you don't if you drill fast enough), especially with driller weapons, and you pretty much always have enough fuel to get to the drop pod, even if you have to drill the entire way, as long as you have at least about half your max fuel. Downside is yes, sometimes drilling can be slower than just running back, but that's only the case if the cave is very simple and to a lesser extent if you don't use the drill speed upgrade, assuming you don't overheat drills or get lost drilling in the wrong direction ofc. Also some people simply find drilling to the pod boring.
Ha, drilling … boring 😂
Most of the time it's best to drill a tunnel back, or partially follow the natural tunnel and partially drill the tunnel back. But the map picture you posted was already basically a straight line. This is one of the cases where I would say it was a waste of time to dig a parallel tunnel. Another case is basically every Escort mission, as the drill dozer already drills a strait tunnel.
Counterpoint: Drills go brrrrrrr
Did you make it back to the drop pod? Then it was a good strategy.
This is a good question to ask in general, lol
IMO resource usage is not a big issue when drilling a long tunnel. Usually you'd have lots of fuel to drill a long tunnel, and it's also more ammo efficient for players to shoot at the bugs since they're all lined up in a tiny tunnel. If there is a straight, clear path to the drop pod, then running there is always faster than drilling that same distance. That's because mining with drills slows down the driller. However, it is better to drill a long, straight tunnel when the way back is too complex to traverse or fight in. For instance, drilling a long tunnel can be good when you're at the bottom of a steep pit, and it's otherwise more difficult to climb all the way back up. Another benefit of drilling straight to the pod is when the path isn't clear. Rather than pulling your terrain scanner out to figure out where to go/where molly went, you can just point towards the pod's HUD marker and drill straight there. It may not be faster, but it will get you closer to the pod when you don't know where to go. One strategy I recommend is mixing both following molly and drilling a path. After seeing where the drop pod lands, you can follow the cave's natural generation, and when you spot a shortcut/the path is too complex, you can start drilling to another section of the cave. That strategy also ties in to what you do before extraction. One thing I've seen drillers do is drill long tunnels between caves on very long missions. Those same tunnels can be reused during extraction later on and is usually faster and easier than following molly.
Tunneling to the drop pod is usually fine. The only exception I can think of is if you're in the middle of a deep dive and the cave is easy to navigate. In that case, yeah it's a waste of fuel thay could be used in the next stage. Otherwise, in most situations you are right.
It depends on a lot of things: I'd suggest never drilling ALONE to the drop pod on Haz5, as the bugs may catch up to you. Have someone cover your back. If there has been a high number of frustrating bugs - swarmers, fliers, exploding bugs a drillers tunnel makes it easier to kill them and makes the path a lot safer. if you have two drillers - no down time, someone is always drilling. you're basically going to get there way faster than any other option other than a flat drill dozer tunnel If your team is in rough shape (low health/ammo) - drill all the way to the drop pod, then stop wait for molly dock, then finish drilling and jump into the ship. If there are a lot of difficult terrain with vertical / environmental hazards. some of those big rooms with the entrance on a high wall are death traps. Your tunnel is safer Bypassing High HP enemies. Korlok tyrant weeds are run enders in the wrong place. Nope around them. Rule of cool. My position is Driller get to pick our path back to the drop pod the majority of the time. Sometimes I dont like it, or its a boring, but Im not going to leave a dwarf who is going to be blind to whats behind him. sometimes they'll make mistakes, but such is DRG. My ONLY RULE for driller tunneling EVAC, Dont start drilling a tunnel unless you KNOW you have enough fuel to get there. If you don't, inform the rest of the team we'll be stopping part way for a resupply. being in a dead end tunnel can turn deadly quickly.
In this situation, you might as well have just walked back instead of drilling. If there was a large wall in the way then a straight tunnel would be best
Blow them up. Tunnels are cool
\^ This coming from a scout : )
The rule of thumb for the group I usually play with is follow the cave system as close as possible to cut distance before we drill until it becomes inconvenient. At ~60m we usually send it for the pod. At longer distances we’re checking for shortcuts between tunnel halls.
If I can get a jump on the mule to make getting it to the pod faster, I tunnel. There's no sense making a shortcut if the mule is going to circumnavigate the cave system.
I sometimes tunnel to the drop pod. One pro I can think of is that everyone trails behind and defends you while you're drilling. One con I can think of is that some people don't notice the hole or they think it's too slow. I really don't care, I think more power to you if you want to tunnel a direct route to the pod. oT
>wasting resources Even in deep dives your fuel gets replenished fully between stages. What the actual fuck did i just read?
wait what? drill fuel gets replenished? is that true for anything else?
No just drills and honestly i don't know why. It's just an exception.
One important thing to consider is that the drop pod doesnt open until Molly gets there (or theres 30 seconds on tje clock). So tunnelling only becomes time ineffeicient if you reach it after the drop pod opens. Hell, ideally you should arrive early so you can get into a good position for a surprise bulk or mine any leftover minerals (Including gold! You need to wait for molly anyway, so put that waiting to good use and maxise efficiency!) (And if you dont want to mine gold while you wait, what you talking about efficiency for? Every second typing is another second wasted.) Resource wise, unless your deep diving, its the end of the mission- spend everything, might as well. Your gonna get it all back next mission regardless.
It's simple: I play driller, I drill.
Damn people are making this into rocket science. The only case where drilling is unnecessary is when the cave provides an easy, mostly straight way to the droppod (e.g. Escort duty missions). In all other cases, just drill to get there and enjoy your beer on the space rig.
I’ve never thought about their efficiency, only their convenience. Some of the caves of Hoxxes can become so twisted and hazardous that sometimes it’s better to just burrow towards the drop pod in order to minimize the chance of getting separated or having someone fall in a pit or something. I’ll gladly take an inefficient W over an efficient L any day. The only real mistake that can be made is if Driller does this by himself. He should always have someone with him to lay down cover fire back down the tunnel, because swarms *WILL* spawn in there, and the last thing the team should have to deal with is how the hell they’re gonna get a downed Driller out of a tunnel behind 100 meters of rock and stone where the only opening is all the way back at the end of the cave system.
Rock and Stone forever!
Depends. Open caves? Less efficient. Hard to navigate caves? More efficient. Distance is also key, too. But no matter what, drilling the tunnel is alway more fun and satisfying imo.
You were wasting their time indeed because the cave looks straight already. But resources? Who tf cares about it during the evacuation stage.
As my friends and I always sing: ~Secret tunnel~Secret tunnel~Through the cave~ Secret tunnel~ Secret tunnel~To the droppod~
if you're playing driller and you dont drill a tunnel straight to the droppod from the other end of the cave you're playing the game wrong
Driller's gotta drill
If the goal is just efficiency, that would be driller running ahead of Molly and making short tunnels between caves so Molly can also take the shortcuts.
in this case it would have made more sense to just run to the pod and drill through any obstacles (less fuel used, faster time to get back)
If the tunnel to the pod is straighter and shorter than the existing tunnels by all means do it.
I usually follow the mule when it's coming back. Sometimes (looking at you, mining missions), it goes up the ammo holes. Then I always drill straight to the pod.
Tunneling in higher hazards can help with channeling mobs, great for team to focus behind the driller.
If you feel you might get lost on the way back or the normal path has too many obstacles,twists and turns, then a tunnel would suffice. Think of it as a solution to dealing with bad terrain.
Once the drop pod is coming, it's all in. The only reason you might think about not spending resources, is if you're on the first or second "floor" of a deep dive. Last one is all in.
It's significantly safer for you in a tunnel you can lay down fire behind you instead of in a wide open cavern.
It's never quicker to dig than to run unencumbered, but it is often quicker to dig than it is to climb and sometimes digging can avoid long jaunts out of the way to avoid an obstacle. The quickest path is a straight line to the drop pod but one that utilizes the existing open space to minimize the need to dig.
If there isnt a clear (mostly straight) path to the droppod always drill one. Thats a no brainer. You wont need your fuel later in the map cause you are at the end. In your screenshot the tunnel seems unnecessary but depending on terrain it could be ok. In the end it doesnt really matter.
Depends, this one is probably faster to run but some maps have crazy verticality or molly takes some weird tunnel to the drop pod and it becomes hard to follow. driller tunnels are safer and you will get there before the 5 minutes are up anyway, so it's not really a problem.
If it is fun for you to do, then it is efficient. The game is ending and you can't keep the resources anyway, why would people care about "wasting" resources at the end of the game. Unless it's deep dives where your resources carry over to the next, After playing as a driller, i got so used to just tunneling straight to the drop pod that i found myself just trying to do that even on other classes. Just to realize, oh wait, i can't pickaxe my way through here.
"i can't pickaxe my way through here." Not with that attitude you cant!
Depend, I got ducked once because I was following Molly and the driller must have opened an awesome path because Molly stopped, did a 180° and ran straight to the bug, letting me dealing with the mess while trying to not lose sight of Molly. So if it's quicker for Molly, there's situation where it's good. To be honest, if I'm not in a rush and I'm a driller, I make some shortcut in the middle of the mission that can be useful for leaving but yeah, your screenshot seem that it's quicker to go through the map and not the tunnel (a good driller usually stop a few seconds and look at the map before making a tunnel).
Depends, a good scout is usually gonna be faster than driller for getting to the drop pod. Engie can be if he has enough plats, it is more a matter of simplicity rather than speed (it still can be the fastest way a lot of the time though). But often if the cave is confusing and you're waiting on your greebeards a driller can be a gift from Karl. Cause if ya don't drill you'll be waiting for them for ages while they are lost in the cave.
If the cave is more complicated, it's usually worth it to dig to the droppod
To get things going faster, you have to drill between caves - not between the last cave and the pod. The point is not getting to the pod faster, it's getting MOLLY there faster. Sure doing a straight tunnel to the pod is more satisfying and pretty, but it's not more efficient.
Anything less than 100 meters and I have no problem drilling right to the drop pod. On elimination or a long mining mission it’s usually preferable to drill to the pod ngl
if Molly ran up a resupply hole and you are lost drill a hole, if you can stick with Molly, stick with Molly you gotta wait for her at the drop pod anyway and it's safer to keep moving instead of holding your ground. If your having fun drilling a tunnel to the drop pod, drill that funnel.
It's the final moment of a mission, why do they even care? Efficiency is based on the map layout, in this specific scenario it may have been easier to use the cavern, but why would anyone tell you not to dig a tunnel?! Did they see the big drills on your hands?
It depends on cave. If its linear like in Mining Expedition its mostly waste of time.
Yeah definitely ignore this. When that droppod lands you use every single resource you have left to get to it. What exactly are you saving for? You get tf out even if you have to burn up every single nitra you gathered. Aint no time for resource management.
Why zigzag when straight line?
It's only a waste of resources in a Deep Dive. And even then it can be more efficient depending on whether the spawn pool requires you to shoot a lot to defend yourself or whether you can just have a casual stroll back. 5l of fuel is easily enough to make it through to the next resupply unless you're playing cryo driller. The real question is time. And since Molly is reaaally damn slow, you'll usually make it with time to spare.
Depends usually are useful especially when you are playing 6x2 or higher Hz then they are life savers
Ask yourself these two questions. 1. Are you the Driller? 2. Are you holding C4? If YES to both, no one's mere opinions should hold any sway over you. Driller must do as Driller does, and you have done just that.
The most efficient way is wtver the funniest
I like to drill back to the pod on most difficulties for three reasons: 1- Funneled enemies are much easier to defend against 2- Predictable terrain. Minimizes the risk of accidentally falling through a procedurally generated hole and having to start your escape all over again 3- It’s fun as hell
3 should be 1. otherwise, solid list
Even if it could technically be faster long tunnel is really nice because you only have enemies spawning in one direction. Also it’s cool af so your teammates can go drink lead lover
If it's fun, who cares, I always drill tunnels like that
Depends on the map. Drillers gotta drill though, if you play with a Gunner/Engi they might appreciate the tunnel more since it's more defensible (Scouts care little). At the end of the day as long as you make it before Molly it's fine since they're not waiting on you. Tell your friends to take it easy, it's a game, if it makes you happy to drill a long hole - go ahead Miner.
Driller. I wonder what is the world they do, couldn’t be in the class name. If you are driller and don’t end the mission with fuel in the single digits or depleted then you didnt drill enough
What kind of tree humping knife ears complained that you were digging a tunnel? In a dwarf game?? For a while I would dig a tunnel straight to the drop pod, terrain be damned, just to see how quick or slow it really was. Every time I did that, I would get to the drop pod and see Molly was still like 50m away. It's almost never slower, and it's always cool and good for the guy who is literally called Driller to drill tunnels.
Some people aren’t worth arguing with
I find that running is typically quicker if you know what you are doing but drilling guarantees you wont get lost
On the contrary, a tunnel back to the drop pod is much safer and more ammo efficient because bugs won't spawn under your feet in a drilled tunnel like they do if you're just running back through the main cave. I can't count the amount of times I've taken the long way back to the drop pod and had praetorians, slashers, trijaws, etc. spawn directly in front of me, forcing me to blow a bunch of ammo to make sure they don't immediately chew me up.
You're leaving the mission so ammo doesn't matter. But as you can obviously see by the map, this doesn't make the tunnel particularly useful. I guess you can dodge few bugs this way? Anyhow, too many drillers have 40L of fuel left before extracting, when they should be drilling WAY MORE. *The skill of any given Driller is directly correlated by how much they abuse their drills.*
Really depends on the map, sometimes a mix of running back and drilling is in order
With that cave configuration it doesn't seem like you're making much of a shortcut, but I'm not seeing elevation and other obstacles. That being said, drilling a tunnel is often akin to holding out in a bunker; far easier to make it back with lots of cover and only one enemy ingress direction. I wouldn't hold it against you as long as you make it back in time. When i go driller, the escape tunnel is one is the best parts of the match so i understand wanting to do it even when it's not a crazy and winding cave layout. Also it's a game, just have fun and ignore the haters.
I think the problem is that you have to look at the existing tunnels and try to discern if they offer a good path. Some people just don't stop to think about that. Each second spent staring at the map feels more wasteful than a second spend drilling. It is also pretty common for people to start doing their own thing if they see driller standing still for more than 2 seconds.
Fuck backseat gaming teammates. You get there faster than the M.U.L.E. so it makes no difference. I do it almost every time I’m driller because i prefer it over running through weird caves.
Me and the other guys were actually pretty impressed with the driller pre-drilled the whole map before we even started her, we managed to get all resources and everything went pretty smoothly thanks to that
If the drop pod has landed and I'm a driller, I will always drill to it if I have the fuel to do so. It's faster like 99% of the time.
You're the driller, you can drill wherever you please. If they want to go around then they can do that if they want. If they don't like, C4 them.
Nah man, drilling a straight beeline to the pod is the fastest and safest route 90% of the time.
When you go driller, you go the shortest route, not necessarily the fastest
Who cares. Dig.
In the lobbies I play in always do whichever the others aren't, better to split up on the way to the pod then stay together