Is there a way to refill/recharge drone bays?

[Blind]

They seem a little too "one and done"y

[Snoopkirby]

Maybe at repair stations?
They can still be useful as armor because the heavier drone bays have high coverage/integrity.

[Kyzrati]

Yeah they make good backup armor, and they repair drones (as well as make it possible to store them in inventory for later), so they do have some other uses.

But you can also very well use them as a one-and-done thing, hence the command to dispatch them while they're still on the ground :)

[Diveyoc]

Are you able to give the drones orders to do something specific?

I had a bay in my last run, I launched the drones but not sure what they really did. They seemed to just fly around near me. Not sure if I needed to manually set them to explore or something.

[Perseus]

Escrito originalmente por Diveyoc:

Not sure if I needed to manually set them to explore or something.

You did, yes. You can give orders to blue allies from from the ally tab. (and also maybe from right-clicking allies? Not sure about that one, it's been a while since i last played.)
It's the top-center window, you might need to click the small "a" at the bottom right of it.
(There's definitely also keyboard shortcuts, but i don't know them.)

Here's a screenshot i found showing this window :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1182761790

[Diveyoc]

Escrito originalmente por Perseus:

You did, yes. You can give orders to blue allies from from the ally tab.

Oh wow, I totally overlooked the Allies option for that window. I've had it set to the combat log the whole time. Thanks.

[Snoopkirby]

Escrito originalmente por Diveyoc:

Escrito originalmente por Perseus:

You did, yes. You can give orders to blue allies from from the ally tab.

Oh wow, I totally overlooked the Allies option for that window. I've had it set to the combat log the whole time. Thanks.

Do the same with hacked mechanics when your cogmind turns red, they can repair allies and most of your parts to 50% integrity.

[Kyzrati]

Or not just hacked mechanics--some people fabricate allied mechanics for this purpose. (And in Beta 12 derelict Surgeons have been unlocked to do the same; they're also available from a new source.)

[Blind]

wow, i haven't played since 2019? time to play some more

[Diveyoc]

Escrito originalmente por Kyzrati:

Or not just hacked mechanics--some people fabricate allied mechanics for this purpose. (And in Beta 12 derelict Surgeons have been unlocked to do the same; they're also available from a new source.)

Cool, I managed to find 2 powered down robots and make them my allies and got to use the orders screen. Unfortunately, a few minutes later I ran into some swarmers. I decided to try out my rocket launcher. I destroyed the enemies but also turned my allies into scrap at the same time...good times.

So can you obtain schematics for robots from machines then? Same as other weapon schematics and such?

[Perseus]

Escrito originalmente por Diveyoc:

So can you obtain schematics for robots from machines then? Same as other weapon schematics and such?

Yep! Except you can't use a scanalyzer to scan a robot, so you'll need to use terminals.

[Diveyoc]

Escrito originalmente por Perseus:

Escrito originalmente por Diveyoc:

So can you obtain schematics for robots from machines then? Same as other weapon schematics and such?

Yep! Except you can't use a scanalyzer to scan a robot, so you'll need to use terminals.

Ok, thanks. I looked this up on the Cogminder site. From what I gather, I guess your bot schematics may be short lived since they will be outclassed as you change levels, unless hacking skill is good enough to obtain more (tier specific) bots at lower levels.

[Kyzrati]

Yeah depends on the bot. Like even earlier Mechanic variants are useful at any point, but if you're building combat bots to help out you'd want something more recent. You'll definitely have opportunities to get at-level bot schematics though, or in some cases unique schematics from a few branches. Most bots are still useful across at least a couple depths though. It more depends on what they are and what you're having them face off against--try to tank for friends that are going to be weak against particular enemies, or let them at it when the targets are bots they're especially good at fighting!