Why can’t Driller drills actually mine minerals?

[pcdeltalink]

I mean, I know it’s a fairly minor thing but this has always stumped me. You have a pair of “titanium drills” as the trailer proudly states but apparently the minerals on the wall are too hard for titanium to drill. Why?

It wouldn’t change much except save a little time and cost a tiny bit of fuel but I feel like the Driller would more so live up to his name if he was at least able to mine minerals faster using drills.

It just slightly annoys me that I’m the best digger when playing him but wait, I can’t drill these ores even with a perfectly good set of drills. I have to use the slow pickaxe instead. It’s just never felt right to me.

Have devs ever addressed this question previously on why this is the way it is? Or is that the answer right there? That’s just the way it is.

[Skearn]

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

I mean, I know it’s a fairly minor thing but this has always stumped me. You have a pair of “titanium drills” as the trailer proudly states but apparently the minerals on the wall are too hard for titanium to drill. Why?

It wouldn’t change much except save a little time and cost a tiny bit of fuel but I feel like the Driller would more so live up to his name if he was at least able to mine minerals faster using drills.

It just slightly annoys me that I’m the best digger when playing him but wait, I can’t drill these ores even with a perfectly good set of drills. I have to use the slow pickaxe instead. It’s just never felt right to me.

Have devs ever addressed this question previously on why this is the way it is? Or is that the answer right there? That’s just the way it is.

you are partly wrong, you cant mine them directly but you can mine them by removing the dirt around it so it falls because minerals cant float^^

and i think that was an answer to it iirc yea

edit: just wanna add, pots o gold only works with the pickaxe not the drills ^^

[pcdeltalink]

Originally posted by Skearn:

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

I mean, I know it’s a fairly minor thing but this has always stumped me. You have a pair of “titanium drills” as the trailer proudly states but apparently the minerals on the wall are too hard for titanium to drill. Why?

It wouldn’t change much except save a little time and cost a tiny bit of fuel but I feel like the Driller would more so live up to his name if he was at least able to mine minerals faster using drills.

It just slightly annoys me that I’m the best digger when playing him but wait, I can’t drill these ores even with a perfectly good set of drills. I have to use the slow pickaxe instead. It’s just never felt right to me.

Have devs ever addressed this question previously on why this is the way it is? Or is that the answer right there? That’s just the way it is.

you are partly wrong, you cant mine them directly but you can mine them by removing the dirt around it so it falls because minerals cant float^^

and i think that was an answer to it iirc yea

edit: just wanna add, pots o gold only works with the pickaxe not the drills ^^

Yeah that method of removing the terrain around the minerals is really only effective if the ore is spawned in a certain way such as on a pillar for example where removing the surrounding rock doesn’t take much effort.

For most deposits in the walls though it would take more time (and more fuel) to drill out all the surrounding rock than just mining it normally since it could be very easy to miss a sliver or two of terrain that would continue to hold the whole ore vein up. Then you’re wasting time checking where it’s still connected to the wall, etc.

[Ser Pounce]

The reason was the following :

The devs didn't want any dwarf being the designated "miner" of the team that would be in charge of mining minerals and doing only that. That's the same reason as to why we're never getting a medic class basically.

They wanted to go around the usual expectations of people when talking about classes.

Also, for the balance and design of the game : any way of mining very quickly the minerals usually ends up nerfed, because of how it can change the whole gameplay. To expand on this : every mission is on a timer, except for elimination. If you take too much time, you'll end up having no nitra and no ammo left and dying.

This is not something that happen often but it's part of the balance of the game. Taking time to mine the nitra is part of that balance. Any ways to get that nitra mined extra-fast affect that balance.

It's why TCF mining (and C4 mining and they nerfed the hell out of Q-mining for that reason too) got nerfed. And adds on why we probably won't ever be able to directly drill ore veins.

[Skearn]

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

Originally posted by Skearn:

you are partly wrong, you cant mine them directly but you can mine them by removing the dirt around it so it falls because minerals cant float^^

and i think that was an answer to it iirc yea

edit: just wanna add, pots o gold only works with the pickaxe not the drills ^^

Yeah that method of removing the terrain around the minerals is really only effective if the ore is spawned in a certain way such as on a pillar for example where removing the surrounding rock doesn’t take much effort.

For most deposits in the walls though it would take more time (and more fuel) to drill out all the surrounding rock than just mining it normally since it could be very easy to miss a sliver or two of terrain that would continue to hold the whole ore vein up. Then you’re wasting time checking where it’s still connected to the wall, etc.

yep^^

[Erin the Angry]

because we can EPC mine already. ;)

[marcusaddamsson]

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

Yeah that method of removing the terrain around the minerals is really only effective if the ore is spawned in a certain way such as on a pillar for example where removing the surrounding rock doesn’t take much effort.

For most deposits in the walls though it would take more time (and more fuel) to drill out all the surrounding rock than just mining it normally since it could be very easy to miss a sliver or two of terrain that would continue to hold the whole ore vein up. Then you’re wasting time checking where it’s still connected to the wall, etc.

Well, I'm pretty good with those drills. I can 'spot' a mineral, drill/jump to it and know that I'll clean a lot of the rock away from the back side in one pass, if I'm on my game. Then you just start mining normally, and you'll get a number of break offs too.

FWIW, I think that's why drills don't drill minerals.

[Nosteru]

Originally posted by Ser Pounce:

snip

So they gave EPC mining to Driller later in this sentiment.
Joke aside, overall you are right.

[Vandal Savant]

What smooth-crotched, flower-kissing, barrel-humping wasteful gullet of carbon with a subscription to Leaf Lover's Weekly would drill minerals? You'd just grind them down into useless dust!

[Pride Lizard Pride Lizard]

I always find it a little funny that the drills can't /specifically/ mine anything, but I don't mind it too much. In a pinch, there's always your satchel charges for carving out rock if you need to!
(though I build mine for combat.)

[GIRL]

Drills turn rock into "granite smoothies," as stated by the Driller himself. Drilling valuable minerals into slush is not the Dwarf's job - that's for the fellas at the off-site factories to do. Turning rock into mush before depositing it wouldn't be a very good idea.

...But yes, the real reason is that they tried this before, and noticed that testers would just ignore minerals and ask the Driller to do it (kinda like how Scout is the "ceiling miner," but worse). Everyone has pickaxes, so everyone should be using them. It helps build the sense of team unity that DRG utilizes so well.

[Sokaku]

While to the common layperson, a Dwarf mining minerals off the wall looks like they are just hacking away at rock or Glyphid skulls. On closer inspection you will see that each swing is accurately placed to position the tip of the pickaxe delicately within a fissure in the vein and with a quick, powerful flick, dislodges a chunk just the right size for their pouch.

If the driller didn't purposefully keep his drills away from the deposits, they would need to bring brooms & dustpans.