Deep Rock Galactic

Deep Rock Galactic

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Machine Events for Greenbeards (Out of Date as of Season 1)
By Stoffy and 1 collaborators
Do you find yourself in the company of Greenbeards (yourself included) and struggling with Machine Events? This simple guide might be just the thing to help you conquer Deep Rock Galactic's failed expedition efforts in the depths of Hoxxes IV.
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Introduction
Greetings, miners! Welcome to this simple guide explaining how to conquer the failed expeditions efforts left by previous mining parties on Hoxxes IV and get that sweet, sweet loot, Experience and Credits. This guide will go over what each Machine Event is, how to approach them and when it is optimal to start one.

The contents of this guide is entirely written by me, with pictures borrowed from the official Deep Rock Galactic Wiki.[deeprockgalactic.gamepedia.com]
What is a Machine Event?
A Machine Event is one of four types of hidden timed optional objectives that you might cross on your expeditions into the depths of Hoxxes IV that can be started by inserting a Tritilyte Key into a Core Infuser. You will easily be able to recognize when you find a Machine Event as they tend to have a flat section of a cave which serves as an arena for you and your fellow miners' upcoming fight, along with the contraption that is the Machine itself.
Additionally, the arena might even be incredibly rich in both Nitra and Gold!

Be aware that to even start a Machine Event, you will need a Tritilyte Key which is awarded to you upon your first Promotion. It doesn't matter which class you Promoted with, just as long as you have Promoted at least once.

The four types of Machine Events are, in no particular order;
An impenetrable Tritilyte Crystal
A swarm of Ebonite Mutated Glyphids
The infamous Omen Modular Exterminator
A swarm of mutated Kursite Infected wildlife

Each of the four types of Machine Events have different strategies and should be approached with caution, meticulous planning and communication as you will only have a limited time to finish the objective before the event fails.

One thing that is almost always necessary is to set aside at least 80 Nitra so you can order a Resupply before the fight; Better to be safe than sorry, and running out of ammunition during a Machine Event is a sure-fire way to fail and disappoint not only your team, but more importantly, Mission Control.

Now, you might be thinking "Alright, but why should I, a lowly Greenbeard, even attempt this clearly optional objective? It isn't even on the list that Mission Control gave us!" and the answer is simple... Overclocks. These are one of two things;
Special weapon modifications that can do anything from boosting some minor stats to completely changing the way you use your weapon.
Unique and more flashy cosmetics that makes you stand out and will have fresh Greenbeards turning their heads. It shows that you know what you're doing!
But just because you finish a Machine Event doesn't mean you get Overclocks for free. To get an Overclock from the Core Infuser at the end of a Machine Event, you'll need a Blank Matrix Core. These can be earned by doing the Weekly Core Hunt from the Assignment Board and the two weekly Deep Dives.

Additionally, you will also be awarded with a hefty sum of additional Experience and Credits upon mission completion. (Even if you fail.)
When should you do a Machine Event?
When you should do a Machine Event is affected by a bunch of factors;
What type of Mission is it?
How long has it been since the last Swarm?
How much Nitra does your team have?
Is the team together or split up?
... and more.

Now, the big one that I keep seeing is people starting an event at an inopportune time; Refinery missions being the biggest offender with Escort missions as a close second, but let's go down the list.

Mining Expedition; Not too much to worry about here. Since these missions are linear and you will be with your team (most of the time. Looking at you, Scout.) when you find a Machine Event, you can quickly determine whether or not you're all ready to attempt it. Make sure you have enough Nitra for resupplies and determine when the last Swarm happened so you don't get overrun before or after the event. You should not attempt a Machine Event after calling the drop pod.

Egg Hunt, Point Extraction, Elimination; These ones are a little more tricky as people tend to split up on these missions to do their own things, and to gather resources and doing the objectives. When you come across a Machine Event on these missions, make sure you don't start it before your whole team is gathered in the arena, make sure you have the Nitra for resupplies and determine when the last Swarm happened so you don't get overrun before or after the event. You should not attempt a Machine Event on these missions after calling the drop pod.

On-site Refining; Alright, this is the mission type that and make or break the mood of a match. What is important to remember with these missions is that once you start the refinery, bugs will not stop spawning. Ever. If you come across a Machine Event while finding the pump-jack sites and setting up the pipelines, announce it to your team. Once you meet up make sure you have enough Nitra for resupplies and determine when the last Swarm happened so you don't get overrun before or after the event. Do not attempt a Machine Event during refining or once you are done refining.

Salvage Operation; This one is a little more tricky as people tend to split up to do their own things, and to gather resources and repair Mini M.U.L.Es. When you come across a Machine Event on these missions, make sure you don't start it before your whole team is gathered in the arena, make sure you have the Nitra for resupplies and determine when the last Swarm happened so you don't get overrun before or after the event. You should not attempt to do a Machine Event after starting the Uplink/Refueling processes.

Escort Duty; This one is a bit tricky as you have a very big, yellow, screaming Drilldozer to babysit for the majority of the mission. When you find a Machine Event on these missions, it will be in one of the connecting rooms that Doretta have drilled into. The thing about Escort missions is that since you have to protect Doretta until after you've collected the Ommoran Heartstone, you will want to put off doing the Machine Event until after you've collected the Ommoran Heartstone. Once you have that, head back to the Machine Event arena, make sure you have enough Nitra for resupplies. You do not have to worry about Swarms after collecting the Ommoran Heartstone as they will stop spawning. You might see some stragglers or micro-swarms, but no large scale Swarms.

Keep these things in mind when finding Machine Events as they can make or break a match, and you might outright fail an entire mission if you're not prepared and focused. Alright, onto the good stuff now...
The impenetrable Tritilyte Crystal

This Machine Event can either be the simplest absolute cake-walk or a frustrating mess depending on how favorable RNGsus is feeling today. To activate the event, insert the Tritilyte Key into the Core Infuser and activate the four lasers surrounding the crystal. Remember to prepare and ask the rest of your team if they're ready!

Once you start the event, a health bar will appear at the top of your screen and a red supply drop marker will appear nearby the arena. Make sure to locate this quickly as a special supply drop stocked with heavy explosives called Nanite Bombs will land there, quickly set up a direct path between the supply drop and the Tritilyte Crystal, either by drilling a tunnel, using ziplines or building bridges with platforms, and now is when the event starts for real.

The objective is simple; carry the Nanite Bombs from the supply drop and towards the Tritilyte Crystal where you will toss the Nanite Bombs at the crystal to damage it. Every few seconds, the supply drop will dispense fresh bombs so if you miss the toss, you can simply go get a new bomb. Repeat this until the health bar at the top of your screen is completely empty.

Now, since who ever is carrying the bomb is completely defenseless, the team will need to coordinate and cover whoever is transporting the bombs as a continuous swarm of enemies will swarm towards the commotion. It can be pretty hectic, but keep focus and you will come out on top.
The swarm of Ebonite Mutated Glyphids

Alright, this Machine Event is a doozy. The nearby Glyphids have evolved to become impenetrable to bullets, and that poses the question of how do we kill them? Simple! Time to rock out with your pick out, miners! To activate the event, insert the Tritilyte Key into the Core Infuser and push the four buttons on the Overcharge Sprinkler. Remember to prepare and ask the rest of your team if they're ready!

Once event starts, a counter will appear in the top right of your screen, and Ebonite Grunts and Ebonite Praetorians will start spawning along with a whole host of regular enemies. You will not be able to damage the Ebonite Glyphids with your firearms and you will have to use your melee attacks to kill them. (If you're a Driller, your Impact Axes also damage Ebonite Glyphids.) Killing an Ebonite Grunt will award one point, and killing an Ebonite Praetorian will award two points.

Now, as you probably know, your melee isn't exactly too powerful, but that's where the Overcharge Sprinkler comes in. It will continuously spit out blue glowing canisters in random directions that you can pick up by walking over them, which will give you a buff that increases the damage and recharge of your power attack! This will be the primary way of damaging the Ebonite Glyphids.

The recharge is insanely fast and you can pretty much spam it to completely melt both the Ebonite Glyphids and the regular enemies, but don't let that make you think you're invincible. You need to be careful and balance being on the offense and defense in turn or you will go down. Don't be afraid to juggle between shooting regular enemies and melee attacking the Ebonite Glyphids, keep a cool head, and you'll beat this one no problem.
The infamous Omen Modular Exterminator

Hoo, boy... Although Mission Control haven't said it themselves, I'm sure this one is the Greenbeard killer. This thing will kick your ass if you don't know what you're doing. It's big, it's intimidating, and despite being a big stupid cylinder, it's very, very angry. Communication, spacial awareness and focus are the most importants part to beating this Machine Event.
To activate the event, insert the Tritilyte Key into the Core Infuser and push the four buttons at the base of the tower. Remember to prepare and ask the rest of your team if they're ready!

The Omen is constructed of three stacked layers chosen at random from a selection of four parts. These are;
Radial Pulse-gun, an Area-of-Effect attack. The deadliest game of jump-rope in the galaxy.
Drone Replicator, a slow-moving homing projectile. Very slow explosive drones that will relentlessly follow the Dwarf they home in on.
Heavy Burster, a Line-of-Sight hitscan attack. Huge gun that will rip through shields and health in an instant, but it takes a second to line up its shots.
Twin Slicer, an Area-of-Effect attack. Relatively easy to dodge, but still hits like a truck.
The thing to remember about the Omen is that it hits very hard and all of its attacks are lethal, and you need to know which to prioritize. Use your laser pointer too see which parts it has.

When the event starts, three health bars will appear at the top of your screen and you can begin the fight, but to even damage the thing, you need to expose its weakspots. Around the tower there are three Maintenance Platforms that a player has to stand on for a few seconds which will expose the weakspot linked to the platform. I'll do my best to explain it.
• The Opposite platform links to the bottom layer of the tower.
• The Left platform links to the middle layer of the tower.
• The Right platform links to the top layer of the tower.

Now this is where preferences come in, and it is all about which order to take the layers out of commission in.
• The bottom layer is almost always the Radial Pulse-gun and the one I always prioritize. The constant barrage of lasers makes it extremely difficult to focus on all the stuff going on, so once that's taken care of, it gets significantly more manageable.

• The middle layer tends to be either the Twin Slicer or Heavy Burster, but lets focus on the Heavy Burster first. This thing isn't too hard to deal with once you know how it works. Pay attention to the red light being shined around the arena. Do not step into that light. You see it coming closer to you? Run from it. Once you're in that beam of light, the Heavy Burster will go off, but with a small delay. If you're quick enough, you can run through the path that the light is taking without being torn to shreds. It's risky, but it's a risk worth taking since it might save you a few seconds on the timer.
• The Twin Slicer isn't much of a problem. Well, as long as you don't get hit by it. Every few seconds, it spins around and changes the elevation of its beams. Sometimes they are dangerously pointing outward in Dwarf height, other times they're pointing at the ground or at the ceiling where you don't have to worry about them. Still, you should keep an eye on it, because if it hits you, it'll hurt.

• The top layer tends to be either the Heavy Burster or the Drone Replicator. This thing is deceptively deadly with its seemingly goofy slow moving drones that just float towards players, you might be forgiven to think that it isn't as important as the other attacks the Omen can have, but I've seen more players get destroyed by those drones than I can count. Good thing is that you can actually kill the drones which keeps them from blowing up entirely. Always keep your eye out for the drones and kill them fast if you see one going for you or your fellow miners.

All of these things combine into one hell of a difficult encounter if things start going awry, but once you beat it, it's an accomplishment. Just be careful!
The swarm of mutated Kursite Infected wildlife
Phew, we're over the hard stuff. This one is a lot more straight-foward and almost relaxing to do, and my personal favorite Machine Event. It's as simple as it can get, so let's get into it. To activate the event, insert the Tritilyte Key into the Core Infuser and push the four buttons at the base of the Kursite Grinder. Remember to prepare and ask the rest of your team if they're ready!

Once you start the event, a counter will appear in the top right of your screen. The nearby bugs have been infected with this yellow crystal-y stuff called Kursite. It's glowy, has a limited lifespan and is heavy enough that you need to carry it, much like the Nanite Bombs from the Tritilyte Crystal event.

The infected bugs can be one of three types and each event will only have one type of infected bugs; Glyphid Acid Spitters, Glyphid Praetorians and Mactera Spawns. When you kill an infected bug, they will explode and drop a Kursite crystal which you will need to transport to the Kursite Grinder where you can deposit it. During all of this commotion, regular enemies will start swarming towards the arena too of course, so this Machine Event is all about fighting big swarms and coordinating with your team, and it is a lot of fun.

Don't be afraid to coordinate with your team to quickly transport the Kursite over long distances when the Kursite infected bugs dies far from the Grinder. Toss the Kursite between each other by forming a line and it becomes an excercise in team coordination and trust. This Machine Event is bound to make you appreciate your fellow miners more than before.
Conclusion
Machine Events is an excercise in team trust. If you don't communicate, things will go wrong and it'll sour the mood for the rest of the mission and no one wants that. I will attempt to keep this guide up-to-date. Keep in mind that I'm just one guy and I wont pretend to know everything about the game, because that's just flat out not the case. I still mess up and I'm not perfect, but I will do my best to be as accurate and helpful as possible, and I'll be taking advice from the comments with how to make the best guide I can for you all.

Thank you for reading, and stay safe out there!
Rock & Stone, Miners
- Stoffy


(Not sure when I'll update this guide, but it's up to date as of Update 34.)
17 Comments
Ninja Zyborg 23 Feb, 2021 @ 5:59am 
:pickax:
Stoffy  [author] 22 Feb, 2021 @ 10:24pm 
Woops lol fixed that. Thanks for pointing it out!
Sul 20 Feb, 2021 @ 12:14pm 
Great guide! I recommend it to every greenbeards I meet!
Without a doubt one of the best guide available on Steam
Great work miner R&S! :pickax:
Stoffy  [author] 19 Feb, 2021 @ 2:04am 
Oh! Of course, didn't consider Haz 3. Sorry! I'm so used to playing Haz 4/5. Like I wrote in the Conclusion, I'm not perfect and I make mistakes. Go for it on Haz 3 and below! :D
BlindLight98 19 Feb, 2021 @ 1:45am 
Solo-ing Omen towers is 100% achievable, I do it all the time on haz 3
Stoffy  [author] 18 Feb, 2021 @ 2:35am 
I suppose you could do the Tritilyte, Kursite and maybe Ebonite. iirc the Kursite and Ebonite events scale depending on whether you're solo or in a group, and depending on the landing zone of the Nanite dispenser the Tritilyte event can be done in like 45 seconds. You could always attempt it! I'd stay away from the Omen though as I don't think that one scales in difficulty depending on how many players there are.

Remember that if you don't recognize the events by appearance of their machines, you can use your laser pointer. I sometimes get Kursite and Ebonite mixed up myself, lol
fnarp.jds 17 Feb, 2021 @ 5:07pm 
This is some useful inf; thank you! Was encountering these items for a while and had no Idea what they were. I asked in a discussion and someone let me know tat they were machine events that were not accessible until I promoted a character. I've got them all promote now; but after reading your guide I have a question. Would you recommend doing any of these while playing solo? Would Bosco be of any help?
Emanouche 15 Feb, 2021 @ 4:13pm 
Someone started the exterminator event one for one of my first game, I wasn't even at the location when they started it... I didn't even know what to do. Needless to say we failed miserably.
Drillboy Jenkins 15 Feb, 2021 @ 1:43am 
IMHO it would be nice to have here some tricks mentioned for specific machines, like plats for the tower or ability to use most effects on ebonites in order to slow down (and freeze for ez win).

Also, for newbies it would be great to know that the best way to do machines on PE is either ASAP after arrival if you were lucky to find it within first seconds after landing, OR after the first swarm, better with getting 80 nitra and calling the resups at the arena. For second scenario it is better to fight the first swarm at the arena so you can start it instantly after the swarm.
After the second swarm it starts to get way more difficult and poses serious risks if you are not playing with a non-newbie who succeeded in building team coordiantion.
ARZIAC 14 Feb, 2021 @ 8:55am 
Yeah, you pretty much nailed the other events in a nutshell.

For the Tritilyte Crystal I would add a footnote stating that the bomb supply 99% of the time will spawn in a awful location, so be prepared to make a path from the crystal and drop.