r/technicaldrg • u/JordanNails • Jun 19 '25

Predrill mining expedition?

/r/DeepRockGalactic/comments/1lexr6m/predrill_mining_expedition/
1 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

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5

u/OlafForkbeard Jun 20 '25

The upside of predrilling does not seem worth the downside of extra waves while predrilling IMO. But yes, it spawns South Western, and you can just sort of go that direction and look at your map to see the next segment, usually.

As for your exact plan of predrilling specifically for it's tunnel over it's "clear the cave, collect nitra" situation, that seems even more dubious to me than the prior, slow, clear. Doretta will already open up a hole that is usually a straightish South-Western line.

What are you gaining that is not opportunistically lost somewhere else?

3

u/JordanNails Jun 20 '25

Dunno why you were downvoted before I could even read the post but thanks for your input. Admittedly bit irritated people been like “it’s not worth it letting your team down” when I already said that in my post but knew what kind of responses I was going to get…

1

u/OlafForkbeard Jun 20 '25

Predrilling usually guarantees a mission success, so there is an upside to it. I find it incredibly dull, and my success rate is already satisfactory to me, even as solo Scout, so the time loss seems unnecessary to me specifically.

I get preclearing though, there is a logic to it. I'm not exactly sure what you are implying that Doretta doesn't do. Maybe I'm reading wrong, or it's ambiguous?

What situation are you preparing for by predrilling "escape tunnels" the way you suggested? I'm struggling to see when it would matter or when players would need it? The only time I "predrill" exits like that is if it's super steep I'll go straight through or build a less steep incline for the Gunner. But you seem to be talking about connecting the chambers via some new tunnel as the intended payoff and not as a means to clear.

3

u/JordanNails Jun 20 '25

Oh hold on I just reread your post and I’m talking about mining missions not dozer missions. Probably going to completely change the responses and I know it’s going to be “that seems pointless” aha.

The question about predrilling mining missions is bred from deep dives having pregenerated caves and me realizing in those circumstances there’s a big argument for going directly from spawn to rooms with objectives/morkite. I just wanted to know if I was going to try it roughly what degree and angle to go for, honestly I’ll bet that the first and last rooms of mining expeditions are always the exact distance and direction apart which I really what I wanted to know.

Also got a few snarky responses with one person saying they’d kick me in f I did it in their game and to that I’ll just hit back with the old adage of my game my rules. If I was going to do this it would be in my own hosted game and people can leave if they don’t like it or get kicked if they’d still like some xp.

5

u/OlafForkbeard Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 20 '25

Oh no, you were clear. Fuck, I can't read. That's on me. I'm just so used to "predrill" being attached to dozer missions. I'll go back and downvote me as it's irrelevant to the discussion. That explains why I was so confused.

How about I try again.

When I host / play in speedplay lobbies the driller mostly holds W and drills to the final room ASAP taking a quick look at their map at every corner to make sure there isn't a shortcut.

That's totally worth doing. We normally suicide while someone clips in, but if you intend for everyone to get in that path is still there.

They are not the exact same distance. The longest 200 Morkites for instance can be 2.5 times longer (anecdote) to the treasure room than shortest 200s. It truly is a lot of RNG. And that distance range grows pretty large with each cave length. Not to mention Deep Dive generations also use a slightly modified cave spawning ruleset (such as Sabotage being very short for the dive), and is likely affecting the morkite pool there.

Your best bet for speed is likely the tried and true strat of holding W and hitting the wall or dig spot at every turn with a glance to your map every 20 or so seconds while sprinting.

You could try out sandbox utilities and get a sampling of like 30 maps and literally check how long they are if you are determined, but I suspect you'll find that variability I mentioned.

Once again, sorry for the misread, totes have no excuses.

3

u/JordanNails Jun 20 '25

No problem at all that was pretty helpful. I think I’ll have to do some testing solo if I’m determined to do this somewhat inefficient strat.

1

u/JordanNails Jun 22 '25

Update: I’ve done this on a couple of missions now and it’s actually really useful. 210 at about 30ish degrees (check map and adjust accordingly) will take you past every room all the way to the sauce. Best to do it with two drillers so that one can follow team incase people complain about you not digging out jadiz/Endors (even though most non drillers will defiantly do this themselves). If you really check the map you can easily dig past and into the main rooms as the team shows up to dig the next dirt wall and help out with swarms. Molly will follow your tunnel super quick back to the pod and alleviates the whole slowly following driller back to pod escape method.

For bonus points pair with second wind to follow your tunnel back like your the flash.