Whats better? Defense bots or Exosuit?

[Witch ~]

I can't decide 😭

[Greb]

I can't see Defense Bots doing much against Veteran Mudraptors or Outpost Security Personnel, which are about the only things that usually get on board the submarine, and I imagine they're very wasteful with their ammunition and also probably pretty fragile too. Not to mention probably having difficulty navigating complex subs.

Exosuit isn't something I'm interested in either BUT I can see it being more useful being player controlled, with a human brain behind the wheel (and a genetically engineered super soldier) I imagine an exosuit could take on everything, probably an entire swarm of Mudraptors or an entire Outpost Security Force all on its own, so I guess I'll have to pick the Exosuit.

[kingmagma111]

Defense bots, in my experience, are crap. They break easy and need to be carried up ladders, and as far as I know are completely useless outside. It’s better to give a AI crew member an smg. Exosuit, on the other hand, is useful as a one-man mobile mining rig, a ruin exploration tank, and a heavy combat unit. Its built-in inventory and high protection values, plus its ability to negate gun recoil (particularly for the HMG) make it useful in many different situations. It’s the quintessential Europan piece of engineering: A hardy multi-use hunk of metal guaranteed to get its operator through pretty much any jam.
Definitely, DEFINITELY go for the Exosuit. Even if you leave it sitting in a corner and only use it in specific circumstances, it’s still more useful than defense bots and easier to maintain.

[CapoFantasma97]

Exosuit: Stand by for TItanfall
Defense Bot: Weaponized flying roomba

Your choice

[lunaris80]

Defense bot only useful for terrorist stakeout. Fixfoam grenade however more useful than Exosuit and the suit it self tied in usefulness with scrap cannon.

[Witch ~]

Originally posted by Greb:

I can't see Defense Bots doing much against Veteran Mudraptors or Outpost Security Personnel, which are about the only things that usually get on board the submarine, and I imagine they're very wasteful with their ammunition and also probably pretty fragile too. Not to mention probably having difficulty navigating complex subs.

Exosuit isn't something I'm interested in either BUT I can see it being more useful being player controlled, with a human brain behind the wheel (and a genetically engineered super soldier) I imagine an exosuit could take on everything, probably an entire swarm of Mudraptors or an entire Outpost Security Force all on its own, so I guess I'll have to pick the Exosuit.

Wait defense bots dont work outside???

[Chudrick Westfallen]

Originally posted by Witch ~:

Originally posted by Greb:

I can't see Defense Bots doing much against Veteran Mudraptors or Outpost Security Personnel, which are about the only things that usually get on board the submarine, and I imagine they're very wasteful with their ammunition and also probably pretty fragile too. Not to mention probably having difficulty navigating complex subs.

Exosuit isn't something I'm interested in either BUT I can see it being more useful being player controlled, with a human brain behind the wheel (and a genetically engineered super soldier) I imagine an exosuit could take on everything, probably an entire swarm of Mudraptors or an entire Outpost Security Force all on its own, so I guess I'll have to pick the Exosuit.

Wait defense bots dont work outside???

They do

[Rotiart]

Exosuits by far. They aren't an upgrade over any other suit, but they do have really strong physical damage resistance, so they'll facilitate cqc with mudraptors or threshers pretty well.

Defense drones just don't compare. They're okay if you get them to follow you outside the submarine because they're essentially a laser SMG. They do good damage, and they don't miss. It's just that inside the submarine they are completely worthless, and they are prohibitively expensive

The Exosuit is Mechanic's best T6. Which is a little sad if you think about all the other T6s other classes get. But at least the Exosuit isn't bad

[FourGreenFields]

Crafted one before 1.0 once. Kept following the same dude, seemingly no way to make it stop following (other than closing doors) or follow somebody else. Didn't see it in combat.

Originally posted by Greb:

I imagine they're very wasteful with their ammunition

Whether true or not, that's made up for at least partially with material-efficiency and mark-efficiency.

Maths: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Vp-PO6pLo-ks_hYEShmsBXoic-XTnsfj58H896HuDPo/edit?usp=sharing

One ammunition box costs one lead and one magnesium to fill. 200 shots, 5 bleeding and 5 damage per shot. Total 1k damage, 1k bleeding. 1k per Pb and per Mg.

The HMG, most material-efficient gun by far gets 1.2k. Assault rifle gets 600. Third place are depleted revolver rounds at 420 (with a depleted fuel rod counting as "lead"), followed by depleted SMG ammo in an SMG getting 409.5.

Mark-efficiency is also high (180 buying cost -> 5.55 damage/mark; other firearms get 3.43 or less assuming base price for the ammo).

So generally, if the defence bot was twice as "wastefull" with its ammunition as a player, it'd still be just as cost-efficient.

[Rhapsody]

The layout of the submarine also matters for defense bots. Heavily compartmentalized subs don't get as much benefit, though you could always drag the bot to airlock access and leave it there. They should be more useful in large rooms with multiple floors and frequent visitors like Typhoon 2's command room or perhaps Berilia's cargo and ballast.

Exosuits are too slow to make use of unless you have swim speed traits. The MECHanic talent provides universal movement speed so that works too. A Frogman in exosuit can be pretty tanky diver and the inventory space of the suit makes any type of gathering mission faster.

Still, it's not the choice between just the capstone talents. You need to look at the entire talent tree.

Machinist tree is the generally most useful one, albeit if you take the tree on a bot, you still won't be able to use portable pumps. Brawler on the other hand is a decent tree for bots, but the downside is that, as mentioned above, Exosuits are pretty clunky without movement speed bonuses. Scrapper is least useful for bots, although Iron Storm can be game-changer and the final features of the tree are suitable for bots.

If you have a player mechanic, Exosuit ultimately wins in utility over other options, but it's up to the crew to decide when they need it.

[Yumemirareru]

Defense bots are low health and constant resource drains to rebuild or, if one survives, rearms, and have a number of other limitations. I'd say a better investment would be a bodyguard (human) bot. Not by much but they're at least a bit more survivable.

Exosuit is kind of eh but I'd personally take it over defense bots.

[Figas]

The one time I got defense bots they got sucked out by a hull breach the first time I got attacked.