Why are Drilldozer missions so hard to do solo?

[Vanta]

I need to do one for my assignment but IT IS PAINFUL solo, I end up getting stuck trying to repair the dozer whilst my bosco shoots peas at the things that are attacking it. and then the lasers come out from the cores. No one plays these near my region neither.

[V0lcanF1re]

yeah dozer mission not fun solo, basco not repair the dozer as he can repair the refinery pipe lines.

also basco not protect the dozer from bugs that "stuck" below the dozer while making lots of damage to it.

Pretorians, Opressors can easy get rampage on the dozer as well, and I did not mention bulks that spawn when you left the dozer alone to refuel it...

gunner shield can push bugs away from the dozer, engineer sentries + mines can kill the bugs before they eat the dozer.

1) try invite friends for Drilldozer missions if no one near your region playing it.
2) also if hosting Drilldozer mission set to Public, maybe some good supporting dwarfs will join.
3) in addition, can set the game to lowest hazard difficulty to have more change to success the mission.

[King Fossil]

Are you playing an appropriate class? Because if you saw escort and thought playing solo scout would be a good idea that's kinda your fault.

[Vault Traveler]

Originally posted by King Fossil:

Are you playing an appropriate class? Because if you saw escort and thought playing solo scout would be a good idea that's kinda your fault.

With enough grenade spam, scout is as good as every other class for escort.

[Vanta]

Originally posted by King Fossil:

Are you playing an appropriate class? Because if you saw escort and thought playing solo scout would be a good idea that's kinda your fault.

Twas playing as gunner. not scout

[Metameat]

leadstorm minigun is awesome for escort, in case you don't know, just shoot the tip of laser beamers, and as soon as you break it the whole thing is neutralized.

A neurotoxin exploding bulldog complements it nicely.

If you want to go with the auto cannon, you still can destroy the beamers with it, but as it's less accurate it takes way more time. Make sure to build bosco to have as many rockets as often as possible, then ctrl+ right click the tip of the laser beamers to have bosco destroy it with a rocket.

[vindicar]

1. If you are playing higher difficulties as solo gunner, consider using autocannon built to maximize AoE explosive damage. That will let you chew through the swarms quite a bit faster. If swarms are not the problem, you can stick to the minigun.
2. Keep in mind that you don't need to demolish the entire obelisk, just shatter the tip. Use your revolver for that, as AC takes a bit too long to bring to bear and stabilize. In a pinch you can try and land a sticky grenade at the tip. Do it quick enough and it won't even fire the laser.
3. If bugs are overwhelming the dozer, use max radius shield to push them away, and slaughter them with AC.
4. Bosco rockets are good at most difficulties. You can build one for quick recharge and use them to try and shatter/weaken the obelisks. Or you can build it for cryo rockets and mince the swarms extra-quickly.
5. Save up nitra so you can call down at least one supply pod in the immediate vicinity of the drilldozer. You will likely need it. It seems that when the Dozer arrives to the Heartstone, there is a lull until you start drilling - use it to go back and grab some nitra in adjacent caves if you are below the margin.
6. If all else fails, consider lowering difficulty a step. Playing solo is noticeably harder, even with Bosco there to help you, and assignment doesn't care what Haz level you are playing at. There is nothing to prove and nothing to be ashamed of.

[King Fossil]

Originally posted by The Slavic Driver:

Twas playing as gunner. not scout

I guess you're not killing fast enough then? If you're too slow on escort you have a real problem because everything snowballs. You need to spend more time repairing which gives more enemies time to spawn and attack which means even more time repairing and you get overwhelmed pretty quick.
So either your build needs to be better or you need to get better at aiming. Not sure which it is. And if it's the aiming one that's hard since it's not like you can magically just get better.

[Bubs]

my guess is leeches and rocks

[ShugoTheRipper]

Originally posted by Vault Traveler:

Originally posted by King Fossil:

Are you playing an appropriate class? Because if you saw escort and thought playing solo scout would be a good idea that's kinda your fault.

With enough grenade spam, scout is as good as every other class for escort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3j9muCo4o0

[Nosteru]

Escort Mission I always do as Engineer or Gunner solo. Im not a good shooter and it manageable on Haz3.

[ITS YOHANE]

Originally posted by Metameat:

leadstorm minigun is awesome for escort, in case you don't know, just shoot the tip of laser beamers, and as soon as you break it the whole thing is neutralized.

A neurotoxin exploding bulldog complements it nicely.

If you want to go with the auto cannon, you still can destroy the beamers with it, but as it's less accurate it takes way more time. Make sure to build bosco to have as many rockets as often as possible, then ctrl+ right click the tip of the laser beamers to have bosco destroy it with a rocket.

I'm pretty sure with U34 bosco can mine the beamers now

[Metameat]

Originally posted by ITS YOHANE:

I'm pretty sure with U34 bosco can mine the beamers now

thanks for the tip

[Waste_of_skin]

As ITS YOHANE said, you can use Bosco to destroy the beamers. Just direct him to a point near the top and he'll "mine" it (dig through it and stop the beam). But be aware that there is a bug and sometimes after a beamer is destroyed, the beam keeps firing and damaging the dozer. I've dug out the rest of the beamer, down to the ground, and the beam kept firing. I've only seen this twice, and both times it was when I had Bosco "mine" the beamers, so I'm guessing that there's a connection there. Just something to be aware of.

[ShockedHearts]

can we all agree that engineer is just da best lol. i can see the struggle with high difficulty escort missions but for some reason i find them really easy. its mostly just side objectives i struggle with which usually i can cover with my turrets/ grenades as well as having bosco stay there

[Bubs]

My engineer grenade launcher can destroy beamers, its basically an anti-tank weapon. I can also do it with a minigun. Just aim for the tip