Your Drill Loadout DOES NOT WORK The Way You Think... | Deep Rock Galactic

Follow me down the rabbit hole as I discover exactly how the Reinforced Power Drills operate when modded with Hardened Drill Tips vs. Barbed Drills. I get to the bottom of what each mod actually does, how they affect your drill mechanics, and what the heck mining rate is.. The answers may surprise you...
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d3ltaprops.ets...
MeatShield’s Reinforced Power Drills Blog Post:
karl.gg/blog/24
MeatShield’s DPS Calculator:
github.com/drg...
Karl.gg:
karl.gg
DRG Wiki:
deeprockgalact...

[@siirvend]

Dude, this is insane! The fact that it looks and sounds faster with HDT equipped really did feel like a reason to use it but I guess I'm a barbed drills guy now. With how often I have vampire equipped it's pretty much a no-brainer for me now!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you Siirvend! Much appreciated!

[@zombeebear30]

IMO 20% faster (and 36% faster with speed boost) is fine, and I think the only reason barbes drill used 3L of fuel is because it didn’t go the same distance. If you went 2 more meters, you probably would use up another L, as as far as I know, the upgrade says nothing about increased fuel consumption

[@commandernullex6774]

Also, to add to that, if you take see you in hell, its got a passive that Right after an enemy hits you with a melee attack you get a temporary melee damage bonus. That means your drills AND your axes. boom baby!

[@lonejohnwolf]

Turns out it is faster, I tested it myself and it's MUCH faster. You just have too little movement speed to go straight horizontal, but if you try going straight up (like to get an ore) with barbed drills, it takes FOREVER...

[@Kacper7521]

I use That Drill for Making Tunnels or other mining related stuff not as a combat melee🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@bgbong0]

Honestly, they could better reward Hardened Drill Tips users by causing the user to be propelled forward by a small amount every time the drills break terrain. This may also have the added effect of allowing drillers to move faster while mining than walking normally, which sounds awesome to me.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

I love that idea!

[@CoolSs]

you mean i can do drill jumping to reach ledges that may be farther . or even do it with the perk dash so i can go even further by bit . that can be cool . also if i know one thing about game physics . that if you do this move with the buff you suggested . it mean you could drop from high place but before hitting the ground . drilling the cave wall close to you will cancel the fall damage . that would be great .

[@wulfski]

Or have that perk allow sprinting while drilling.

[@themarlboromandalorian]

@@wulfski why waste the perk slot though? If somebody opts for faster drill speed, one should be able to drill terrain faster. They should just tweak the drills so they pull you through terrain at the rate they can drill. I don't know programming though. Might be harder than one thinks. If they can't, they could alter movement speed with the drills running. Yeah it ends up affecting other situations but it's just kinda a bonus incentive. If it's overpowered, then tweak the barbed tips too.

[@tandemic4232]

This is a really cool way to add a little more skill ceiling and utility to his kit, I really like this idea

[@RedStar441]

A driller main calling the drill audio rock knocks is the most driller thing ever. I love it.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Knock & Stone, brother!

[@cosmicsquid1285]

Rock knocks lithophage CHX4 in a can

[@bluegolisano7768]

Heads up, there's a fair chance the issues described in this were fixed somewhat recently. HDT and the t3 mod both give an extra 20% movespeed while drilling each now, so this likely needs a follow-up vid!

[@SmittyWerbenjagermandragon]

CONFIRMED (sort of) The HDT and Supercharged Motor each give 10% movement speed for a combined 20% movement speed while drilling.

[@The0nlyy]

Are you sure about this?? Source?

[@ratcrusher3251]

@@The0nlyy The stats directly state this.

[@Rewdy04]

According to calculator we reach 3.168 speed with mods now

[@AeciusthePhilosopher]

Tested it; it's not fixed - hardened drill tips will still only get you 12 meter in a straight line.

[@Uriel238]

Driller was my first promotion and I majored in home improvement. This is to say I'm _always_ running short of fuel because I'm clearing floors, joining adjacent chambers, joining nearby plateaus, constructing staircases and inscribing the epic of the ancients in bas relief. I use a _lot_ of fuel making sure my crew has open access to everywhere.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Carving bas relief would certainly take up a lot of that fuel! You ever make a Mt. Rushmore of the four classes?

[@ImDaRealBoi]

If you were my teammate I'd definitely buy the daily special for you

[@antonioscendrategattico2302]

Dude, same. I'm a scout main, but I'm trying to play the other classes more as well, and with driller I *always* try to look for terrain in the way I can drill through. I once made a shortcut for the drop pod rush by carving a staircase into a giant salt crystal directly to a hole in the ceiling to let my team skip about two entire tunnels.

[@Firesgone]

Same, all the random floor structures get in the way and provide enemy cover. I don't want everyone tripping over some random rock pillar in a tight caves, when the drop pod is coming down. Sometimes I even dig out sharp ledges so bugs enter line of sight/fire lines sooner. Also, the engineer and gunner greately benefit from having random tunnels going up sheer ledges. Im not always right next to them so it helps to dig extra tunnels for everyone to navigate rather than bet a poorly timed swarm wont push us off a dangerous ledge. Some drillers just dig straight up or down for themselves, but that doesn't help when backtracking or when we need a quick retreat from tougher enemies in a swarm. Retreating to the drop pod especially should always be a straight shot through the tunnels, and so far my team has always made it back under 1 minute since I made this routine.

[@mole741]

Management needs better equipment

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

😂

[@Mal-bec]

The issue is, the fastest way to drill with HDT is in fact not to hold the mouse button down constantly, but 'tap' it. Every two or three chunks of dirt destroyed, you let go and walk the distance to the edge of the tunnel you made, giving you a speed-up and conserving a bit of fuel. You just can't walk while drilling fast enough to make use of the upgrade as is.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

I have tried that, I just don't like it when I'm drilling long distances (i.e. to the dropship or making pipeline tunnels). I've been using Barbed Drills since making this video and still use the drills to terraform just as I used to.

[@TheUltimoSniper]

This. It would take a lot more practice and experimentation to properly compare them, though. DITNO already forgoed overheat management with this video's testing method, so that also could be a factor.

[@Sandblaze1]

I think the drills should pull you forward at the rate it digs and completely remove the movement speed factor

[@aarepelaa1142]

Yeah, drills sometimes get stuck on stuff and screw in there, i know from messing up drilling a hole through a metal sheet that got pulled.

[@forloveofthepage2361]

That's an elegant solution IMO.

[@CasualEnjoyer701]

def makes sense cause that's how drills work irl

[@slimeinabox]

While I agree with that, the drills don’t actually drill through the terrain. The grind it to power. A long or conical drill would pull you through the terrain.

[@gigabone3832]

Rocket drills?

[@Aeotiz]

Ok so I had to sit on my hands to watch this whole thing before commenting and I’m glad I did b/c you address the whole “what is mining speed” issue partway through, but I still have to posit my experiences here as a case for using both speed upgrades. I would like to see the digging experiment done straight down and as straight up as possible. I play haz5 as exclusively as my local pub lobbies will allow and taking both mining speed upgrades gives me the terrain-deleting power to flash-excavate fast enough to duck into a foxhole to avoid mactera, dig & ledgegrab repeatedly up to high places, out-pace grunts on a direct-down charge to a fallen teammate in a ravine, etc etc etc. Comes in handy on elimination or salvage missions where i can stand still, sweep my cursor around at a rock face, and carve out a shelf or half-dome for extra breathing room for my team. My point is, your horizontal digging distance test feels to me like the one form of experimentation that does not showcase any of the applications where a terrain removal rate outpaces your walking speed. There are so many times where digging faster than you can walk come in handy!! Like, any point in time when you’re digging, and doing anything else besides walking! (Jumping, falling, standing still). AWESOME video, you’re doing Karl’s work, and shoutout to Meatshield/ppstac2 for their indomitable data work.

[@Aeotiz]

Also in the application of “digging as straight a line to the drop pod as possible”, the digging speed upgrades will backfire on you if you hold down the trigger, as I assume your test entailed. With the rapid terrain removal & cooling rate, you can tap fire the drills while moving forward to conserve ammo & heat while never “whiffing” the terrain on a removal tic. This video mentions how your barbed drill test made you realize you were bumping into the wall every tic but you didn’t point out that the opposite issue with the double speed upgrade experiment can be negated with some simple technique.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

That's a great point! I was just so surprised at the initial test that I kind of hyper-focused on drilling pathways. I'm going to make the switch to Barbed Drills and see how much of a difference I notice with the terraforming aspect. I'm definitely a haz 5 player and very pro-bunkie when the situation calls for it, so that should be interesting. I do think that after seeing the discrepancies between mining rate and movement speed and how little a difference there is in straight-on drilling, plus the fact that MR and MS match up with BD, it becomes harder and harder to deny that the massively powerful melee boost of BD makes it the overall better choice.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

@@Aeotiz circling back to this, I did leave the burst drilling technique out of the video and left it for those who read MeatShield's post, which I mention at the very end. I don't personally enjoy drilling that way, but it absolutely is effective at avoiding overheat and conserving that bit of fuel you lose on the 7th terrain break. I've been using Barbed Drills exclusively since making this video, and I have to say I honestly don't notice much of a difference with the other drill applications. I did a Haz5 mactera plague and built an emergency bunkie in a really dire situation, and it didn't feel like it took any longer than when I had HDT. Not noticeably anyway. Either way, all of these points probably warrant a follow up video!

[@tristanspahr6164]

To expand, you also never dig horizontally to the drop pod, but usually diagonally. Does this play into mining speed as well? Also is mining speed align with attack speed? If so, that could be a trade off between faster attacks or more damage per attack. However, I suspect you run into the face-planting your enemies as well.

[@panzergott5622]

Yea alot of times when playing Driller I end up drilling in a diagonal line instead of a straight one. Obviously that isnt easy to test consistently while you spam the jump button but more breaks would mean easier traversal while drilling weird angles.

[@Failzz8]

So this video randomly popped up on my main page again almost a year after watching it, which prompted me to do some testing of my own and despite being mostly a driller player for said year, I'm now very unsure about my drill loadout once again. I reread the blog post and everything seems to make sense, but decided to do some more "real world" testing anyways, by which I mostly mean digging at different angles until overheat and measuring with the laser pointer. First off, what's easily noticeable and makes sense, is that the tunnels are much smoother with hardened drill tips and relatively consistent in length, about 15m at any (walkable) angle and indeed even straight tunnels seem to go a bit further than in this video, so there might have been some changes in the meantime. But *without* HDT is where things get fucky. The tunnels are very rough, presumably due to the lower drill rate. Straight tunnels are still pretty consistent in length, but angled tunnels varied wildly in length, with some of them even being noticeably LONGER than with HDT, especially when digging upwards at an angle while spamming jump. What I think is happening is the slower digging rate allows the player to walk right up in the corner of a dug out cube when going diagonally, which causes the next cube to be dug out at a slightly farther point than with HDT, resulting in higher distance and rougher tunnels. In conclusion idk, I'll probably just pick HDT for the smoother tunnels since it's pretty easy to get stuck in rough tunnels, both while digging and passing through later.

[@alexvirgo0]

Underrated comment. This is exactly what I was looking for.

[@thetruecakehead]

Thanks man, was about to switch over so this comment helps alot

[@MeestahreL]

No change for me. I've been taking additional fuel anyways. It really is funny tho. It's like a race car with wooden wheels. It CAN go fast, it's just holding itself back.

[@captainkarrian7892]

as a fairly long time player this kind of shocked me, I had always assumed that taking the barbed drills was a stupid choice, believing that more drill speed would be more beneficial in more scenarios, but for me that cryo combo is just too good to pass up regardless. really well put together video with fascinating results, rock and stone.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you very much, Rock & Stone!

[@Failzz8]

Now it makes so much sense why drilling a steep "staircase" upwards while jumping worked so much better and faster with both drill speed upgrades while just drilling to the escape pod didn't seem to take much longer with the double damage lol.

[@Coulroperation]

They really need to boost your movement speed while drilling, because you are definitely drilling faster than you're moving! I tried stacking both speed addons once and it caused me to run out of fuel incredibly fast with almost no distance gained because of how fast they spin, without buffing your movement speed enough to actually utilize it.

[@Coulroperation]

@@shaunhayes3072 the problem is the 10% doesn't compete with the increased drilling speed, so you end up drilling more air than dirt.

[@nikkeri99]

There appears to be a increase in movement speed while drilling with the HDT now, i would think this propably makes the more viable now.

[@zga042]

was it changed? any confirmation?

[@nikkeri99]

@@zga042 You can see it in the stats.

[@ProzacStylings]

@@booben5477 Uh, no. Even if nothing changed, this video was never good or accurate. Read the MeatShield blog linked in the description. It's actually correct and balanced, without pretending to be shocked by obvious facts, like this video. Generally, barbed drills are better with cryo and HDT are better with CRSPR/Sludge. If enemies aren't frozen you shouldn't be drilling them, and 16-33% faster drilling with zero downsides is in fact a good thing.

[@TurtleKnite]

So just because this piqued my curiosity I wanted to do some testing of my own. I got these numbers doing 3 test digs in each direction up to overheat, using the permanent waypoint to make sure I was in my starting location before I measured. I felt like this was missing one of the big things about the way we use drills which is that more often than not we're not drilling straight into a horizontal wall, but up or down as well and I wanted to know how the addition of falling/vaulting changed these distance numbers. Barbed 10.5-11 at 0 Degrees 16-17 straight down 12-13 at 35 degrees down 15 -16 at 35 degrees up Hardened 12-13 at 0 Degrees 23-24 Straight down 15-16 at 35 degrees down 17-18 at 35 degrees up As it turns out, the vaulting from upwards drilling helps both about equally which is something I really wasn't expecting. I also wasn't using tap drilling as a lot of other people have pointed out, and during the vault drilling I noticed the hardened drill tips in particular definitely had times when they weren't drilling anything during the process. It's possible a different angle might make a difference here more, because we can see from the straight down that absent of movement speed, it is a pretty significant difference in how far they drill, so with more vaults on a more vertical path you might get further faster. But it's unclear. I might come back and edit this with more data but for now I gotta get going lol.

[@Milkman-bu9es]

Very glad to have found a DRG KZbin channel that is as obsessed with the driller as I am, I still can’t explain why I just have the most fun by a huge margin when I play as him

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Couldn't agree more! I'm just now getting into engineer, but driller will always be my favorite. More drill videos coming in the near future!

[@blackwoodknight4913]

Literally booted up my game to check this, I've been playing with the double speed problem for nearly 60 player ranks, I can't believe it.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

I couldn't either!

[@MusNothus]

This really is mind blowing

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

🤯

[@QtheAllmighty]

Thanks for the deep dive (haha) into these mechanics. I had no clue the drills functioned like this.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Happy to help! I've been a die-hard HDT driller since day one so it kind of shattered my world haha.

[@Nicolae_Mew]

Thx for taking the time to make this. There are some situations where I would take ammo in tier 1 to maximize total fuel, especially in salvage missions where I like to flatten out the terrain as much as possible.

[@PurpleCyanideTube]

I personally haven't done vampire drill yet but I will mention the double speed upgrade does still have a purpose. As you stated in the video it is best to use the drill intermittently so you don't overheat. So the fact that you are moving faster than you are drilling doesn't really matter. If you have to have delays between drills then you will catch up with the terrain during the delay and therefore won't be missing any terrain destruction. That's why your calculations of just multiplying the distance of one overheat to the whole capacity is off. You would have to actually do the whole on and off to prevent overheating and over breaking giving you more efficiency overall. All that being said it is very possible that even that benefit is not worth losing the capability to vampire drill effectively.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Pretty much what you said at the end there. I'll do a follow-up to go into it further, but vampire with double melee is just so powerful.

[@SIMULACRA37]

You should try drilling straight down to figure out how far you can go, because you won't be hindered by move speed.

[@jakejorge9527]

unless you drill too fast for gravity

[@adammcmillen4462]

The disappointment of the drink made me laugh lol

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Haha thanks. It was good but that's like a $25 bottle and it definitely wasn't $25 good so I was a bit let down.

[@GIScartography]

Nice breakdown!!! One thing I've incorporated into my driller playstyle (especially solo during Macterra Plague) is to rapidly dig a foxhole almost straight down. Like a trap door spider, this does work well with cryo .... and as a big plus, the bug pathfinding takes a moment to update, giving me just enough time to whip out a c4. If I'm getting overwhelmed or my cryo overheats, you will see me plummet straight down into the earth like an ostrich. Since gravity is on your side, it negates the walking movement penalty. The same concept also applies to traversing tall caves and pits -- getting to the bottom without any fall damage. But if Minecraft taught me anything, it's that you really ought to not dig straight down. And also, vertical pits are usually not appreciated by teammates all too much! Overall excellent video though!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you!

[@leodesalis5915]

Yeah until Molly decides she wants to walk up the hole you dug and you've got to try dig 100m up in a spiral staircase 😂

[@LeonBelmont1000]

One thing I would have liked to see was if sweet tooth/iron will had a significant effect on the drill efficiency, since both give you an additional 20% movement speed increase each (according to the wiki). I understand the circumstance is completely inconsistent for a regular game, but it would have been neat to see just how much those perks affected the overall results individually, and both at once.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

That's really interesting and something I didn't consider!

[@justincasebro1567]

Bro, this is an incredible find!! Respec'ing driller right now. You're a legend man, and speaking of legends shoutout Meatshield, (ppstac) what a lad!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you sir!

[@randomname930]

Just did 4 total runs where I drilled through solid terrain until the drills were completely dry. Run #1 was hardened drill tips and magnetic refrigeration only, total distance drilled = 136.1 meters Run#2 was barbed drills and magnetic refrigeration only, total distance drilled = 136.6 meters Run #3 was hardened drills, magnetic refrigeration and supercharged motor, total distance drilled = 133.8 meters Run #4 was barbed drills, magnetic refrigeration and supercharged motor, total distance drilled = 135.3 meters I think variations in distance measured were due how uneven the terrain surfaces break when digging. The tunnel was started by digging down with the pickaxe, then staying at 0° inclination on the HUD and maintaining a heading of ~290° on this weeks deep dive. Once out of fuel the measurement was taken with my back as far against the wall with the laser pointer. I marked a waypoint at the greatest distance I saw and ran down the end to verify that I was picking up off the wall of the tunnel I started with the pickaxe. If I perform the same tests as found in this video, drill until overheat and then measure how far I go, I got roughly the same results here.

[@DrunkGeko]

AS a game dev myself that implementation actually makes the most sense, it's just the default basic way of making it work Since you can also drill by standing still it would make no sense to have the mining speed be mesured in meters/second. the most straight forward solution is to have a clock that periodically breaks whatever terrain is in front of you and the such clock speed is the mining speed. And if you do it like that, while possible, matching it with movement speed perfectly is extra work to do (either math or trial and error, regardless it still is extra time)

[@mbk337]

This is the kind of scientific breakdown every minute thing in my life needs. What could go wrong?!

[@theworkshopwhisperer.5902]

There's a story about (if I recall correctly) the first Wolfenstein game that had multiplayer. One of the class hand either a Thompson or MP40 depending on which team. Everyone said the MP40 was better and early Internet forums were flooded with complaints of unbalance. You know where this is going. The only difference between the two weapons was what sound was used.

[@thefroggybannana]

This is fascinating, I had always wondered if movement played a larger part in mining speed then it first seemed

[@aetherblackbolt1301]

I think it would be useful to compare fuel efficiency and not just speed. Tap drilling, only drilling up till a terrain break and then walking normally to contact the next piece before restarting, bypasses the issue of "Walk Speed < Drill Speed" and also makes heat management a non-issue. If you did that, then you can measure the distance you dig and then compare its fuel efficiency properly. Another test you can do is dig and L shape underground so you have a "roof", then dig straight down. You can measure distance up to the roof. In theory, your fall Speed should be much faster and allow you to reach the next terrain piece as fast as you drill it. Comparing both setups like that would be neat.

[@Nateson]

thank you for this! Love the work you've done on this channel

[@Real_gandalf]

Didnt think i’d see you here

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you my friend, that means a lot!

[@Wavuvi_Speedruns]

This seems to follow a similar design philosphy as many other equipment in the game. To oversimply, you're adjusting a slider between DPS and Sustainability. So your fuel may be more efficient not taking the second drill speed upgrade, but when you need to do a long drill it adds up pretty quickly. It makes for a compelling choice depending on your play style, which is great game design. :)

[@MusNothus]

That's true to an extent, but the really surprising thing is that hardened drill tips don't increase mining rate and movement speed proportionately, so this mismatch leads you to be able to dig faster than you can walk with hardened drill tips, and therefore: 1) in effect you don't actually get as much of a boost to your drilling rate as you think you are, and 2) you waste fuel without realizing it unless you "burst fire" which is tedious and has its own issues. Having this discrepancy between mining rate and movement speed seems like it might not have actually been intentional, since the higher mining rate is essentially pointless if the rate limiting step is movement speed (i.e., you could have a mining rate of 100 but if it were faster than you could walk then you wouldn't be able to actually drill faster). Furthermore, as the video shows, it really seems like with this knowledge, barbed drills are just objectively better regardless of play style since barbed drills give you more DPS, more fuel efficiency, and only a negligible difference in the actual drilling rate (if we call "drilling rate" the true rate that you can drill straight through terrain, which is dependent on both mining rate and movement speed).

[@timothye.2902]

the issue still being that for a small increase in overall tunneling-speed, you lose a lot of fuel efficiency. When doing a long drill like to a drop pod, you're choosing between two risks. First is the chance that you won't drill fast enough and the bugs will overwhelm your team. Second is the chance you run out of fuel before you reach the drop pod. That first scenario is far, far more recoverable than the second, not least of which because the driller can turn around and lay some smack down on bugs. The second scenario is also more likely to occur specifically when the trip to the pod is extremely long, not only because of the fuel cost but also because you might not have time to drop a resupply if somebody punched the MULE button already.

[@EnderSpy007]

I feel like based on how the physics of the drills work it should be sort of pulling you in, kind of like a motor or propeller getting tangled pulls in whatever is on the other side. You should be able to sprint (or at least get a movement speed buff) when using drills

[@timon6427]

You can turn faster than you can walk. So for clearing out circular areas faster drilling seems better. But rarely you need to be faster at that and drilling tunnels is much more useful function to optimize. So barbed it is.

[@ProzacStylings]

HDT is optimal for tunnels as well. Barbed is only optimal for drilling bugs.

[@timon6427]

@@ProzacStylings consider that Hoxxes's crust is made up of 10% glyphid.

[@therealbahamut]

Fascinating. I guess this does open up an option for the driller, though I find that with my cryo driller I usually have an abundance of ammo; having drills be an effective weapon is...almost overkill on most of my situations. Still, I see the advantage.

[@chrismaloney7562]

This is so funny. I switched to Barbed drills back in Feb when I started doing EDDs. I had noticed there didn’t feel like a difference in the 2 and I wanted that damage bump.

[@El-Burrito]

At least you know that specifically for any movement speed modifier missions you can take 2 mining speed upgrades

[@raiseyourback1388]

That's why i damn didn't feel the difference why still have a sensation of a change, damn sound. Great job !

[@boomstickYT]

this is really informative and well made, good job dude. subbed

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you!!

[@guillaumeboursier9323]

Feels like the drilling speed might less useful when drilling straight horizontally, but the benefit could still be real when drilling at certain angles down, or even up while sort of bunny hopping.

[@KryptoKn8]

Okay, the Beer clip made me sub... that was hilarious!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

XD thank you!

[@JC-di2my]

I have been using barbed drills for a while because I didn't feel much difference in drilling speed or fuel efficiency, and I thought that was kind of weird... now I know why! 😂

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Haha, well ignorance was bliss, but I'm definitely happy to have more reason to use my drills as a melee weapon with Barbed Drills now. Rock & Stone!

[@TheRyderShotgunn]

i figured hardened drill tips probably weren't worth it when i noticed that a fair amount of drill time was spent spinning the drills in emtpy air because it was destroying terrain in front of me faster than i could walk forward into the next chunk of terrain

[@kevingriffith6011]

You got me doing a quick dive over all the perks and other class abilities to see if there was *any way at all* to increase movement speed while drilling... and sadly I came up short. The only one I could come up with was Dash and that was mechanically tricky and not worth the cooldown to drill an extra 3ish meters at double speed. Still, if you're not tunneling then this still clears terrain much faster, since it's not limited by your movement speed if you're sweeping your drills around.

[@rockowlgamer631]

thanks for the findings now i know how to optimize my playstyle for Driller

[@ApolloMclaren]

When you said enough about drills i didnt feel like i had heard enough. Please make a video going into more depth with more tests like straight down or straight up 🙏🏼

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you!! Definitely considering a follow-up video, though I have a lot in the works already! Rock & Stone!

[@LemurMaster]

This is very enlightening. I noticed the "mining beat" distinction between mods, but was not aware of the limitations of movement speed. Nonetheless, this mod could be beneficial to diggers who are looking to undertake terraforming endeavors -- there have been many times in Dense Coral where I'd appreciate drills that cut a little bit faster as I clear. Still, that would not be enough to counter barbed drill's usefulness. Rock and Stone!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thanks! Yeah, I think in terms of terraforming, HDT is still very useful. I just think it was already tough to argue against the melee power of BD, so to find out they're actually one of only two ways for mining rate and movement speed to match up, plus the fact that they take less fuel and can drill longer overall, it seems to me like the far superior mod.

[@adambasinger6239]

To me, this seems like just a very simple oversight, in that they were punching in numbers for the upgraded versions of the drill and simply did not notice, much in the same way that none of us did, that it outpaces the rate at which you walk leading to this weird situation where barbed drill is better. This makes further sense that most of the traversal tools have largely remained untouched since launch, so this would be something they did once then left, and also it being back when they were less experienced, meaning they wouldn't have done the math like they did now. Hopefully now that they have, this might get some small buff suck as the ones that people are suggesting here to make it less weird.

[@user-fs7rb1nw1y]

I think one of the solutions to this problem could be making hardened tips also automatically stop when you're not drilling anything. That way at least you won't waste much fuel and it will take longer to overheat. Since you won't be using drills for combat with this upgrade it won't have any drawbacks with this.

[@Mithguar]

I went with Barbed Drills straight away for simple reason. Speed upgrade is a 50% increase (With other upgrade already present, it is actually only 33% increase). Fuel increase is even less % wise. Barbed Drills double the damage so it was biggest upgrade at that tier.

[@ProzacStylings]

The game doesn't tell you drilling bugs uses 5x fuel, though. And, of course, if they're not frozen you'll likely take damage.

[@RevolutionaryOven]

Why am I only just now finding out about this channel? Nice humor at the start, even though I don't main driller, might sub.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you!! I plan on branching out to other classes eventually, though I'll always be a driller at heart. If you're a scout, check out my friend's in-depth cryo minelets tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJ7KlZR8qNGte6s

[@MrH2O1998]

Thank you so much for this video. I always use Vampire but never thought about getting Barbed Drills because I thought the speed and fuel efficiency was too good to pass up until now. This kinda blew me away.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Happy to help!

[@NickMaovich]

I like how adult men do scientific research on the 1% aspect of the beloved game. This is what we dwarfs (men?) are about. Thanks for the video!

[@connorshaw7649]

Those extra 2 metres per overheat are more than worth it to me. It only matters a little bit in regular drilling (I'll typically resupply weapons by the time I need more fuel anyway). But when the escape pod is 80m away with 2 minutes on the clock and the cave is a complete hellscape filled with vertical caverns and ridiculously long tunnels (cough cough Hollow Weald), I wanna dig a tunnel straight to evac as fast as is possible. I'll admit there have been occasions where I've had to mine the last 15m manually, but now that I know my maximum mining distance is roughly 3m per litre of fuel left I should be able to pick an appropriate starting point to avoid running out. Thanks for the vid!

[@exosuit3950]

Do we know if this still stands true? Or has it been patched?

[@nerddotcom5817]

That craft beer joke earned you a sub.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Cheers!

[@Trenchfox1917]

Loved your detailed traversal rate stats. Would have like to have also see damage per second and the fear chance over time curves for both. Personally I use mining speed with flamethrower because it gives a more reliable fear against praets.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

I'll get around to a follow-up someday!

[@derthebeast1949]

Great video, I have not come across many DRG KZbinrs but you set a high bar. Solid info and very entertaining, you earned my sub for sure. Gonna review my Driller loadouts now lol Looking forward to more, Rock and Stone!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you, much appreciated!! Rock & Stone!

[@tontoepfer]

Picked up the game a few days ago, thanks for your tutorials, they've been very helpful. You seem to be having fun on youtube, only suggestion I have is to use the same mic closer to your face in the sections where we see you. The difference in sound quality is big enough to be a bit jarring when you cut between the two styles of commentary. Keep it up and Rock and Stone!

[@crestfallensunbro6001]

for the question as to why mining rate is how often it breaks terrain and not the speed it moves through terrain, is most likely because... its a weapon and its almost certainly constructed like one in the back end which would make "mining rate" just rate of fire, increased fuel is just larger ammo reserve, heat and its releated properties can be seen in weapons as well

[@ValiantGoat]

Something I hadn't thought about but really interesting information to hear. Thanks fellas for the work involved. Rock and Stone!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Rock & Stone!

[@theclassyviking7351]

This is nice to watch, just got into playing driller after playing nothing but engineer for my first 2 promotions

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Engi is my number two! Probably going to switch things up and do some engineer videos eventually.

[@sriganesh_ninja]

I will be going Maths, if you are this much depth. God Damn it. This much details. Good Brother.

[@ArcticWraith06]

I demand a revision of this video. and not because its outdated, but it ticks me off that you never showed a control demonstration.

[@adamfosmore2913]

This is some great information. Rock and stone brother!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Rock & Stone!

[@randomcontent789]

I have an idea: traversal tool overclocks. Sounds dumb and it probably is, but it’s fun to think of the possibilities!

[@fausto123]

I knew it, I fucking knew it that drills sounds different with some perk. Thanks for confirmation.

[@beerasaurus]

This knocks me in my rock.

[@rileysheehan943]

Some of those that shoot spiders. Are the same that light fires. DRILLING IN THE NAME OF

[@ezzardeyethief]

So the HDT gets you there faster (barely), but uses more fuel to do so. That honestly sounds like it may have been intended. It's meant to get from point a to point b as fast as possible, it's not meant to conserve fuel for a long trip (omega tunnels). It would still be nice if that speed increase was more significant.

[@xPumaFangx]

I am a big fan of vampire stuff in this game. I knew that drills and axes where melee. Now that I know there is a big advantage to barbed drills. I know what I am going to do when I play that class. Thank you for your research.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Have fun! Let me know how it goes!

[@zimmie03]

one of my fave drg channels, funny and informative

[@austinh4709]

Does anyone know if this has been tweaked after the new season / patches?

[@inquisitorbenediktanders3142]

Reminds me of how I noticed that the yellow OC that increases ammo for the deepcore pgl is lower than the one that allows you to nade jump. It's just a difference of 3 yeets, but one gives you just more ammo and removes some damage, while the other decreases your dps just slightly more AND you get a grenade jump on top of that.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Good to know!

[@Torresgamingchannel]

Math teachers everywhere are salivating at this video

[@derekdrake8706]

I'm an exclusively solo player, so having double drill damage with vampire and iron will has saved my idiot butt way too many times. My Bosco can only revive me twice. I don't use the cryo cannon as much anymore though, since the toxic goo cannon came out. Best gun in the game imo.

[@ethandallmann6178]

The first mining speed upgrade should add little rocked boosters (or Exhaust Funneling) to make you move faster to keep up with the drills.

[@GamingForTheRecentlyDeceased]

Hope you hit 1k Subs really soon brother

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you, brother! Congrats on the 6k, that's huge!!

[@Krozin]

i have never heard of this game until now, but this video is awesome

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you!! It's pretty awesome that you took the time to watch when you've never played the game!

[@andruman33]

really good find dude. i just switched to the cryocannon for the first time and thought oh my god im such a shitty driller now because it felt so slow.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Haha yeah I switched back to HDT for one specific mission after not using it for months and forgot how crazy it sounds. Felt like I was flying through the dirt.

[@lokylollygames8118]

So I wasn't dummying myself by using barbed thinking the speed was not really helping to mine faster, nice to know I was being smart without knowing

[@epicsandvich014]

Wow, I honestly don't play driller a ton because of how I do my personal progression but I found this interesting and I didn't know! I'll have to update my driller loadout and hopefully this gets changed to be accurate in the future.

[@turgonnaish]

Great video. Thanks, been wondering this myself.

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thank you!! Happy to help!

[@muslimann7483]

My man is looking like the driller himself

[@lceBox]

I usally do short holds with speedy drills. Feels pretty fuel efficient to me. At times I also use the sprint dash perk with full hold on the on drills. Would love to see some data on those things

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Definitely going to do a follow-up video in the future!

[@lceBox]

@@DrillingInTheNameOf Well if that aint' a cause for a sub, nice!

[@YouTenaza]

@@lceBox I also do that. If you do shorter holds it's like you have a "drill overheats slower" perk, so you end up drilling faster since you can drill more between waits. But it would be really interesting to see a side to side comparison aplying this method and without and switching perks.

[@ktheshow4391]

Shave my beard! I guess I'm a barbed driller now. Thanks for looking into this one. Rock and stone!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Happy to help! Rock & Stone!

[@cthulhuplus]

This video is amazing! Love the inclusion of Math Daddy!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

XD thank you!

[@CoolSs]

1:07 you know . i thought you were joking about it but now . i too have my reality about the drill shattered .

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Haha yeah I've been dying on the speed hill for a year and a half now so it's kind of wild. But Barbed Drills are really fun!

[@Mgis90]

please make a new UPDATED video please!!!!

[@Earthenfist]

Joke's on you, I use Expanded Fuel Tanks for my first level. More drilling!

[@bunkbeds3001]

Goddammit, I was JUST getting comfortable with my driller and now I gotta respec the whole thing. Thanks bud? Yes, thanks bud!

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Happy to, uh... help? :)

[@wyattbakken8942]

Fun fact I've notice while playing the driller, if you only tap/hold the drill going forward until it breaks a layer then let go and repeat you'll get the most use out of your drills as well as a faster drill

[@LL-kv1jk]

A great user by the name of Hexzyle discovered the discrepancies in fuel efficiency some time ago. Barbed has always been a sleeper S-tier choice. Also, everyone talks about Cryo-vamp drilling, but the flamethrower (and now Sludge gun) also allow easy vampire drilling. Simply meet foe's faces with your drills while they're burning/dissolving and you can clean up several grunt meals with very little risk to yourself. Not to mention it has Emergency CC if things have truly gone tits up. A driller that doesn't respect the combat utility of his drills risks trapping himself in mediocrity.

[@nipnip54]

What about drilling at steep angles? With the addition of gravity or ledge climb spamming you are technically moving a lot faster than the normal walking speed

[@AxisKronos]

Maybe if driller could stride it out a bit he shouldn’t have this issue. Great analysis, when I switched to barbed drills a while back it definitely didn’t feel like I lost 50% speed but I just took it as a lucky break and moved on. This certainly explains why it wasn’t a very painful change. ROCK AND STONE

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

Thanks Axis! Rock & Stone, brother!

[@polish_filipino]

Me laying in bed watching this video My brain: *Has panic attack in Driller*

[@DrillingInTheNameOf]

XD

[@antirevomag834]

I could be wrong but it might be intentional. HDT looks to be faster but less efficient, which would make it better for escape drilling, rather than combat or efficiency, more of a "there's a tunnel to our right, but we can't reach it, and we need to fast" sort of usability. So it'd be sacrificing a few benefits, to get a short burst benefit instead of efficiency. Baically, it sounds like it's purpose is more for an escape or defense purpose, rather than efficient utility or combat.