How to complete Escort Duty missions in Deep Rock Galactic

In Escort Duty missions in Deep Rock Galactic, you’re tasked with escorting the Drilldozer through a dark cave to a Heartstone. Once there, it needs protection from the Heartstone and any enemies that show up to try to stop its drilling. However, more complications crop up throughout these missions, making them more challenging. This guide explains how to complete Escort Duty missions, so you know exactly what to do the next time you take one on.

Step 1: Unpack and escort the Drilldozer

When you drop, the Drilldozer will still be in its cage. You need to unpack it and place the fuel cells in the back before starting to drill. There’s very little that can go wrong at this stage in the mission, except for a few bugs coming along to ruin your day. So kill off any bugs that approach, get the Drilldozer out of its cage, and send it on its way.

Once it starts to drill, you can follow the Drilldozer through the tunnel it creates. This is a great time to gather the resources you need to complete your secondary objective. Keep an eye out for the purple bugs that spray webbing on your face because this will seriously hinder your efforts. If a swarm approaches while the Drilldozer is still moving, hop onto it and fire from the back, or you’ll be left behind in the sea of enemies as they approach.

Step 2: Refuel the Drilldozer

After the initial bore, the Drilldozer will run out of fuel. You’ll need to pull out the fuel canisters and refill them with Oil Shale. To do this, you need to point the laser from the canisters at the shiny black and purple rock in the walls. This can appear anywhere in the cave, but there should be a good supply near the Drilldozer when it stops. You can only put the canister back in the Drilldozer when the canister turns green and is full. Then, you need to restart the Drilldozer and follow it through another bore before it finally reaches the Heartstone. Another swarm will hit before this, so be sure to stay on the Drilldozer and fight all the bugs that appear.

Step 3: Defend the Drilldozer

When the Drilldozer reaches the Heartstone, you can choose to wait before telling it to drill into the precious resource. This gives you a final chance to scour the area for resources before the big fight. When the Drilldozer begins to drill into the Heartstone, it will trigger a massive swarm, and the Heartstone will start to pick up rocks and throw them at the machine. You can shoot the rocks to prevent them from causing damage and do the same with the bugs. However, the Drilldozer will take some damage still, so make sure you repair it when it takes a few hits.

Occasionally, a Prospector Drone may pop in to make your life difficult. However, this boss really isn’t that tough to kill, and if you tackle it before the Drilldozer begins eating into the Heartstone, you’ll gain some valuable data to increase your earnings at the end of the mission.

The Drilldozer will finish when it’s cut through all the layers of the Heartstone. You can then pick up the mineral and deposit it. You can still explore the cave for resources to complete your secondary objectives at this point, then hit the big button and trigger the drop pod back to base.