Is it just me or does the driller have the worst weapon pool?

[seththemighty]

The runs I've done, feels like the driller has many dud weapons that will get you killed if you take them in early game. Lots of weapons that apply status effects or do a bit of damage over time, but have overall subpar DPS.

Even some of the decent weapons he has, they make for a clunky weapon set overall. I haven't unlocked every driller weapon yet, but so far he doesn't have a single weapon that he can use to reliably clear a path ahead of him. He's got rotating beams, auto turrets, grenades, axes, backwards-facing pistol, you name it, but nothing to carve his way out of a swarm.

You can compensate for this to some degree by being careful with how you move, to try not to get trapped by a big swarm. But this is a game of big swarms, so that will only work for so long. The times I've had successful driller runs were either on lower Haz, or pure luck to get the right weapons, some legendary upgrades, and good overclocks. Feels like playing the game on hard mode.

Lots of you probably have more play time than I do... thoughts?

[trmcdougle]

the drillers "clear path ahead of him" is rock not bugs ;-)

[Node]

Have you tried cryo grenades? They're probably the most broken weapon in the game.

[Perplex]

Originally posted by Node:

Have you tried cryo grenades? They're probably the most broken weapon in the game.

You never played with the Seismic Repulsor have you?

[wwwJam]

I'm experiencing similar issues with Driller. My most successful runs are just when I make Subata so beefy it can solo the entire map of bugs on its own. And I've yet to have a really comfortable Interrogator run. Burn and Acid just don't feel very strong compared to raw damage.
Wave Cooker is pretty snazzy at least. It's a great trash-clearing weapon, but otherwise the early weapons you get aren't impressing me. Flamethrower is very difficult to make proper use of, Sludge Pump is extremely unreliable, Krakatoa Sentinel is okay-ish, but if you don't get the second beam then it's just not gonna be able to keep up as you go deeper.

My biggest problem is single target damage during a swarm. I COULD probably deal with the horde of lesser bugs with my weapons... if I wasn't forced to run from the... mini-elites? Champions? I don't know, the bugs that have health bars but aren't "Elites." The Subata (if I even have it) targets the closest thing behind me (I think), which often is not technically going to be those guys, so they only get the residual damage from everything else, which is quite slow, which delays killing the rest of a swarm. Which goes double for actual Elites, and of course Dreadnoughts. It's honestly a real drag.

I'm sub-level 20 on all dwarves, so I know there are more weapons to look forward to, but my current available Driller arsenal does not have very much "oomph" to it and it's a real bummer. He's my favorite dwarf in DRG proper, but he feels oddly anemic in Survivor.

[Lyon-CZ]

Agree, I don't know why devs hate driller so much. Every dwarf but driller has at least one great weapon that can carry the whole dive. Driller's strongest weapon is probably sludge pump or acid drones and that's just sad.

[Vukmir]

Only driller weapon that's good at single targets and clearing hordes was krakatoa sentinel. I don't know how it is after the update.

[Osmium]

Driller has some of the weakest weapons, but the strongest ability. At level one he can be chased by an elite bug and outrun it while burrowing a tunnel. With his backwards firing pistol, he'll be shooting it the entire time he's tunneling. Nobody else can escape from danger like that until after a lot of +mining speed upgrades.

The driller's playstyle excels at getting all their early xp from mining gold, nitra, and other minerals, not from combat. If you get an average or above average distribution of resources near your starting location, the driller can reach level 10-15 far faster than any other dwarf and they'll have more money to purchase upgrades for the weapons they'll get by then. While the weapons aren't as good as the other classes, I've single handedly killed a hazard 3 dreadnought with only flame turrets before.

They recently buffed the flamethrower and fire damage in general, so maybe consider giving it another try. Focus on bee-lining for minerals instead of trying to plink away at bugs early on.

[seththemighty]

Originally posted by Vukmir:

Only driller weapon that's good at single targets and clearing hordes was krakatoa sentinel. I don't know how it is after the update.

It got slightly better after the update, as the fire DoT ticks faster now. It's still the best driller weapon that I have access to right now.

And even though it's good against hordes and single targets, you still can't use it to clear a path out of danger.

[The Yeen Queen]

You get the backwards firing weapons because you should be spending most of your time with rock or ore in front of you. XD It's not that the weapons are bad, it's that you're not playing the class in the way it was designed to be played. You know. Something that the name kinda subtly hints at...?

[seththemighty]

Originally posted by trmcdougle:

the drillers "clear path ahead of him" is rock not bugs ;-)

True... except when there are bugs on the other side of the rocks, too. :-)

It's a very strong ability, for sure! But I don't feel like it compensates for weaknesses elsewhere.

Originally posted by Osmium:

Driller has some of the weakest weapons, but the strongest ability. At level one he can be chased by an elite bug and outrun it while burrowing a tunnel. With his backwards firing pistol, he'll be shooting it the entire time he's tunneling. Nobody else can escape from danger like that until after a lot of +mining speed upgrades.

The driller's playstyle excels at getting all their early xp from mining gold, nitra, and other minerals, not from combat. If you get an average or above average distribution of resources near your starting location, the driller can reach level 10-15 far faster than any other dwarf and they'll have more money to purchase upgrades for the weapons they'll get by then. While the weapons aren't as good as the other classes, I've single handedly killed a hazard 3 dreadnought with only flame turrets before.

They recently buffed the flamethrower and fire damage in general, so maybe consider giving it another try. Focus on bee-lining for minerals instead of trying to plink away at bugs early on.

I find the driller playstyle a fun twist on the game... until floors 3-5 where there are times when the entire map is made of bugs. Then his weapon pool is a hindrance, and he has to get lucky with terrain or just be able to wipe out all the bugs.

Krakatoa Sentinels are definitely strong and one of the few things that can carry the driller through floors 4-5 on Haz 3+. But as mentioned above, still don't allow him to "tunnel" through swarms of enemies to get to safety.

Originally posted by Node:

Have you tried cryo grenades? They're probably the most broken weapon in the game.

I haven't given them much of a try yet... I'll give them a shot next time and see how they do. Grenades in general feel like the problem for driller, rather than the solution, since they have long reload times and aren't targetable. But if cryo grenades are strong enough to cheese through tough floors, I guess that doesn't really matter... :-)

[MadConsular]

Driller has all the best weapons (if u choose strong-armed) IMO. He has Leadbursters (tons of AOE damage). Cryogrenades (Tons of CC). Flamethrower turrets and flame grenades (DoT), and neurotoxin grenades (DoT). Also has cyrocannon which is good but not as good as cyrogrenades

[seththemighty]

Originally posted by Night Foxx:

You get the backwards firing weapons because you should be spending most of your time with rock or ore in front of you. XD It's not that the weapons are bad, it's that you're not playing the class in the way it was designed to be played. You know. Something that the name kinda subtly hints at...?

This sounds nice in theory and is how I expected to play the driller when I first looked at his kit. But at Haz 3+, on the deeper floors, it hasn't worked out in my experience.

1. Subata is ONE weapon, and not an especially strong one. If your entire strategy depends on getting lucky with upgrades and OCs to make one weapon overpowered, that isn't a good strategy.

2. There are only so many rocks on a map. When the swarms are large and you need to spend most of your time tunneling, you *can* run out.

3. On higher Hazes and lower floors, the map becomes pretty much entirely covered in bugs. No amount of tunneling will get you out of that, you need a way to shoot your own pathway through the swarm. Nothin' doin' for the driller there.

I love the interesting playstyle they're trying to create for the driller, I just don't think they have it completely working yet. I haven't found it to be very viable in tougher situations, just due to the way the kit works.

[The Yeen Queen]

Well, yes, if you're relying exclusively on the one weapon, you're going to have a bad time. But if you need to hyperbolically misrepresent my argument like that to build a case against me, I don't see why I should bother discussing this with you further. Yes, I was justifying the one weapon. That in no way means I think it's the strongest in your arsenal or that you should be relying entirely on it. Get back with me when you're ready to discuss this honestly.

[seththemighty]

Originally posted by Night Foxx:

Well, yes, if you're relying exclusively on the one weapon, you're going to have a bad time. But if you need to hyperbolically misrepresent my argument like that to build a case against me, I don't see why I should bother discussing this with you further. Yes, I was justifying the one weapon. That in no way means I think it's the strongest in your arsenal or that you should be relying entirely on it. Get back with me when you're ready to discuss this honestly.

Hello, this is me checking back in. Already discussing this honestly. :-)

Unless I drastically misread your post, you were basically telling me that driller weapons aren't bad, I should just be drilling and hitting things with the Subata. I responded to that exact sentiment, so it wasn't a hyperbolic misrepresentation. If there's something else you want to add, please add it and we can continue discussing.

[Neomare]

Originally posted by seththemighty:

The runs I've done, feels like the driller has many dud weapons that will get you killed if you take them in early game. Lots of weapons that apply status effects or do a bit of damage over time, but have overall subpar DPS.

Even some of the decent weapons he has, they make for a clunky weapon set overall. I haven't unlocked every driller weapon yet, but so far he doesn't have a single weapon that he can use to reliably clear a path ahead of him. He's got rotating beams, auto turrets, grenades, axes, backwards-facing pistol, you name it, but nothing to carve his way out of a swarm.

You can compensate for this to some degree by being careful with how you move, to try not to get trapped by a big swarm. But this is a game of big swarms, so that will only work for so long. The times I've had successful driller runs were either on lower Haz, or pure luck to get the right weapons, some legendary upgrades, and good overclocks. Feels like playing the game on hard mode.

Lots of you probably have more play time than I do... thoughts?

I'm still a bit fresh as well I see some people mentioning a class and weapons I did not unlock yet.

I actually find the first driller super fun to play just drilling trough the map while running away form enemies, if you can get a nitra on mining or gold on mining upgrade its pretty cool. a lot of his weapons pasivly do things which supports the playstile I find it just amazing and super fun. I finished the gather 500 gold objective with him pretty easily using this strategy.


I struggle a bit killing elites but nothing a nice drop pod into the face cannot solve and dreadnoguth is very problematic indeed though :D.


I did have a run recently on Hazard 3 where he was on sliver of health and my 2nd and 3rd weapon were not overclocked yet so I would have it if they did. I think :D.


Is this the best way to play i dont know, but its is definitely fun for me :D.


I am glad the game has different options and the driller is something unique that other games do not have and I am very happy to try it out.


Well the mining thing is unique in general to this game as far as I know, as far as autoshooters go :D. So I guess that is why I am biased as well towards the driller its nice fresh and exciting.


So yea.. i guess what I am trying to say is even if i kind of have the similar experience with driller having lets call them weird weapons I do not feel he needs to suffer from it if you adapt.

It is a challenge to make it work but also a fun thing to do :D.


My advice, if you do not enjoy it or find it clunky play the other classes and subclasses or just lower the dificulty you usually play on for driller to make it just challenging enough but not to hard until you unlock some better weapons for it.


Stay happy and enjoy gaming!

Cheers! :)