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Alright, keep it quiet.
—Driller

The Driller APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) is Epsilon's primary infantry transport, which moves underground, allowing it to bypass terrain obstacles or enemy strongpoints and take Epsilon infantry for surprise attacks.

Official description[]

Drillers are Epsilon's primary armored personnel carriers, with a twist. The Driller is equipped with a large, tungsten-coated titanium drill on the front, allowing it to quickly tunnel into the earth and avoid enemies and terrain obstacles altogether. Though this gives the Driller the ultimate element of surprise, it can only carry up to three passengers and is completely unarmed. The Driller's armor, though strong enough to withstand the dangers of subterranean travel, offers little resistance to enemy fire.[1]

Overview[]

Each Driller can transport up to three infantry units, higher than Halftracks and equal to Tigr APCs but lower than Stallion Transports and Borillos/Armadillos. The Driller, however, can travel underground and bypass natural obstacles such as mountains and cliffs, providing a better flexibility for Epsilon forces.

A common tactic used by Epsilon proselytes was to load up a Driller with Engineers (sometimes accompanied by escorts for diversions), burrow into the base and come out next to an important enemy structure (preferably a Construction Yard) and quickly capture (and sell or use) them before the enemy could respond. The same tactic can also be used to quickly capture tech buildings behind enemy lines and safely transport Infiltrators to the enemy base.

However, the Driller cannot burrow in or out of the ground if the area was either shrouded or had uneven terrain. Burrowing in or out an ore/gem field will cause the ore/gem at where the Driller burrows in or out to disappear as well.

AI behavior[]

Drillers controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:

Medium/Hard[]

  • 1x loaded with 1 Engineer proceed to unload near a captured Tech Oil Derricks before targeting it

Hard[]

  • 1x loaded with 1 Engineer then proceed to unload near a neutral Tech Artillery Bunker before targeting it
  • 1x loaded with 3 Engineers proceed to unload near a Construction Yard before targeting it
  • 1x loaded with 3 Bloaticks proceed to unload near a Barracks before targeting infantry

Appearances[]

This is an emergency. We have to deploy our secret subterranean transports.
—Epsilon intel during Operation: Focus Shift

Driller APCs often appear to deliver scripted ambushes or extra reinforcements in the campaign. In addition, they are also the primary means of transportation for critical Epsilon personnel.

Drillers also have an additional role in some Epsilon campaign missions: they will dismantle a critical structure and extract its contents to outside of the battlefield. They must be protected from enemy attacks until the dismantling operation completes.

Act One[]

  • In Beautiful Mind, after the MIDAS strike happens, a red Driller appears, sending out Desolators. These forces belong to Yuri, as implied later on in the Act Two mission Firewalking.
  • In Focus Shift, Drillers transport the starting PsiCorps Troopers. In the ending cutscene, a Driller can be heard during the tunnel collapse, which foreshadows Scorpion Cell's hidden involvement. This is later explained in the briefing of Obsidian Sands.
  • In Singularity, after all designated targets are destroyed, Malver, the Virus and the PsiCorps Trooper must reach a Driller to be evacuated. If the player takes too long to evacuate the trio, a Nuwa Cannon will emerge nearby and destroy it thus ending the mission in failure.
  • In Moonlight, once a Rocket Launch Bay is captured, a Driller will arrive to extract its contents, and both must be protected until the extraction is completed.

Act Two[]

  • Driller becomes first controllable and buildable in Memory Dealer.
  • In Divergence, three minutes after the old Chronosphere is captured, four Drillers will arrive to dismantle it, and they must be protected for three more minutes.
  • The Driller is unavailable to the Epsilon forces in Withershins, Hamartia and Babel, as the ground is too tough for subterranean units to dig through.
  • In Death's Hand, Yuri will evacuate through a Driller after the Kremlin is destroyed. However, he will resurface in one of many possible locations in the map, allowing the Soviets to finish him off once and for all.

Special Ops[]

  • In Survivors, when a Neurotoxin Vats is captured, a Driller will arrive to extract the neurotoxin; if either is destroyed prematurely, the extraction fails. Seven of the 13 vats present must be captured and extracted this way.
  • In Dawnbreaker, minutes after protected Palace and gained an MCV, a Driller will be seen that unloaded several Epsilon infantry and then defected to the Soviets, becoming controllable by the player.

Cooperative[]

  • Several Drillers can also be seen as PsiCorps enemy units in Enforcers, but the Allies believe the enemy are Russians.
  • The Driller is unavailable to the Epsilon forces in Metaphor but can be seen at the bottom, right after Rahn gathered information from an Atomheart. The Proselyte must evacuate the area by ordering him to enter this Driller.

Assessment[]

Pros Cons
  • Can travel underground and bypass natural obstacles.
  • Can load up to 3 infantry.
  • Guarantees an entry to enemy bases as it transports Infiltrators and Engineers into enemy territory.
  • Cannot be attacked when subterranean.
  • Unarmed.
  • Lightly armored.
  • Very slow.
  • Cannot surface from underwater and unexplored terrain.
  • Enemy commanders can detect and anticipate underground movements before they surface.

Trivia[]

See also[]

References[]

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