| “ | Developed by R&D to support solo miners with mining, lighting, and fighting. The APD is not meant as a true replacement of a co-worker, but it is known to be a bit more reliable. The APD is popularly referred to as 'Bosco', but Management strongly disapproves of the use of nicknames for equipment. Personification is known to cause depression among workers in the event of malfunctioning equipment. |
| — Item Description |
When starting a multiplayer match by yourself, or playing in Solo Mode, players are accompanied by a hovering All Purpose drone nicknamed Bosco. Bosco can be directed using the Shout button and the Laser Pointer. He can mine for minerals, fight off enemies, revive you when you're down, and helpfully light up locations using his spotlight.
In Solo Mode, Bosco will remain with you for the entirety of the mission, but only appears when you are alone in a multiplayer match, immediately self destructing on the entry of another player into your game. However, if all players but the host leave the game, Bosco will re-spawn.
Pressing the [Shout] button ("X" by default) will make Bosco abandon his current task and come to your location.
Mining
Bosco can be directed to mine out minerals and tunnel through compacted dirt. He can't be used to mine through common/solid rock unless you mark a wall with a large resource in it, where he will stop excavating the stone as soon as the resource is freed. Bosco must be manually ordered to mine deposits with the Laser Pointer; he won't automatically mine out anything by himself. When in mining mode, Bosco will ignore enemies. Equipping the Mining Expert modification greatly increases the speed that Bosco mines through ores, dirt, and terrain.
Gold mined by Bosco is not affected by the Pots O' Gold Beer, as its boost to gold acquisition only applies when using the pickaxe to mine.
Bosco can be directed pick up large resources (such as Aquarq, Jadiz, Enor Pearls, etc.) and carry them to you, but cannot deposit them on his own; you'll have to pick up whatever he's carrying and deposit it in the M.U.L.E., Mine Head, or Drop Pod yourself. When directed to mine out a large resource, he will emit a sound upon uncovering it and pick it up automatically. If Bosco is hovering too high for you to grab the resource from him, you can direct him to drop it by pressing the [Shout] button. Bosco cannot pick up small ore chunks or secondary objective resources; the player will have to collect these manually.
When directed to mine, a blue pickaxe will appear above Bosco for a few seconds. His spotlight will also turn blue.
Combat
Bosco's HUD.
Close Range Combat
Bosco is armed with a pair of submachine gun-type automatic weapons for close-range combat, and will automatically use them to engage threats he encounters, provided the threat is within a certain range of both Bosco and the Player. Bosco can use them to quickly kill off smaller Glyphids, leaving the player free to engage larger threats like Glyphid Praetorians. If an enemy capable of incapacitating you, such as a Cave Leech, Nayaka Trawler or Mactera Grabber, ensnares you, Bosco can assist in rescuing you. You can have Bosco prioritize rescuing you by calling for him using the [Shout] button.
When engaging an enemy (either by your command or under his own initiative), Bosco will display a hologram of a fist over his chassis/head, and his spotlight will turn red. To direct Bosco to attack a specific enemy, highlight them with the Laser Pointer.
Rockets
After the Rockets modification has been purchased and equipped, Bosco will gain the ability to fire explosive missiles. Rockets are fired by clicking the right mouse button when using a keyboard and mouse or pressing the Left trigger on an Xbox One controller whilst holding the Laser Pointer. Bosco will fire a rocket at the creature or space you marked. Rockets will automatically regenerate over time, similar to Flares.
Like any other explosive, they can destroy terrain. This gives them a potential, if unconventional, use for destroying terrain in hard-to-reach areas if necessary, such as freeing resource chunks that Bosco has mined.
Reviving
When the Player is incapacitated, Bosco can rescue the player by reviving them. Bosco will let out an electrical shock before reviving the player, which scares away any surrounding enemies. While Bosco will attempt to revive you automatically, you may want to call him over using the [Shout] button.
A display on the back of Bosco's chassis indicates how many revive charges he has left. The amount of charges is also displayed on the HUD, and can be increased using modifications. If the player is downed when Bosco is out of charges, the mission will fail.
Light
When aiming at a location that isn't a mineable resource, dirt, or an enemy, using the Laser Pointer will direct Bosco to fly over to the target location and shine his spotlight on whatever you're aiming at. This can be useful if you want to light up the ceiling of a cavern.
Modifications
Since Update 20: Bigger, Better, Bosco, Bosco can be customized using modifications. Modifications can be purchased and equipped using a special terminal in the Space Rig.
Unlike other modifications, player rank is used instead of character level.
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| APD-B317 Modifications | ||||||||||
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| Mod | Description | Effect | Price | |||||||
| Tier 1 |  High Velocity Rounds |
+2 Damage | The primary damage of the weapon is increased. |
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 Extra Revive |
+1 Revive | One extra revive kit to bring back to action an incapacitated dwarf. |
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 Mining Expert |
+100% Mining Expert (Mining speed) | Improves Bosco's capabilities to mine minerals, dirt, or any kind of terrain. |
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Tier 2 2
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 Rockets |
+2 Rocket Attacks +120 Rocket Area Damage +2.5m Rocket Damage Radius Rocket Regeneration Time: 90s |
A secondary weapon that can shoot explosive rockets. Bosco's AI is not ready to handle this kind of weaponry, use the Laser Pointer for manual activation. |
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| Tier 3 3
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 Let There Be Light |
+20m Light Radius | A significant lumens increase that can make the difference in some of the darkest caves. |
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Extra Revive |
+1 Revives | One extra revive kit to bring back to action an incapacitated dwarf. |
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 Extra Rocket |
+1 Rocket Attacks | Increases the total amount of rockets Bosco can fire before regenerating. |
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| Tier 4 4
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 Fear The Rocket |
+50% Rocket Fear Factor | There is a chance to scare enemies away from the explosion of the rockets. |
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 High Frequency Explosion |
+600% Rocket Armor Breaking | Higher chance for the rocket explosion to shatter armor. |
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 Cryo Explosion |
+Cryo Grenade +1m Rocket Effect Radius |
Adds cryogenic liquid to the explosion of the rocket. Cold slows down enemies and can eventually freeze them. The explosion deals almost no damage, but the area of effect increases. |
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| Tier 5 5
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 Bigger Explosion |
+2m Rocket Effect Radius | Increased area of effect for the explosion of the rocket. |
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 Fast Regeneration |
-50s Rocket Regeneration Time | It takes less time for the rockets to be ready to shoot again. |
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 Overcharged Rounds |
+30% Electrocution Chance | Bullets coming out of the primary weapon have a chance to electrocute. |
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Mastery
Each modification that is purchased advances a mastery bar by one unit.
Mastery unlocks:
- Three modifications – Abyssal Frost Bosco Paintjob
- Five modifications – Corporate Mint Bosco Paintjob
- Seven modifications – War Veteran Bosco Framework
- Nine modifications – Scorched Bosco Paintjob
- Eleven modifications – Primal Blood Bosco Paintjob
- All (13) modifications – Cyber Ninja Bosco Framework
Cosmetics
Bosco has a small array of different Frameworks and Paintjobs that can be unlocked as progression rewards as more modifications are purchased.
- Framework
Company Standard
Cyber Ninja
War Veteran
- Paintjob
Abyssal Frost
Corporate Mint
Primal Blood
Scorched
- Icon Skin APD Gilded.png
The Cyber Ninja and War Veteran skins first were added in Update 26, then a plethora of different paintjobs were added in the 2020 Anniversary Update as additional progression rewards, along with a Supporter Upgrade DLC exclusive Gilded paintjob.
Gallery
Bosco, idling.
Bosco mining Nitra. Note the blue pickaxe hologram above his chassis.
Bosco returning the salute.
Bosco in his aggressive state, preparing to fire at enemies.
Trivia
- According to the item description, Deep Rock Galactic Corporation advises against the personification of robots because of decreased morale in the event of a malfunction.
- Pressing the [Salute] button ("V" by default) will make Bosco return it with a salute of his own and a robotic bark.
See also
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