Dome Keeper: How to Automate Mining with Drillbert

To automate mining using Drillberts in Dome Keeper, deploy them along horizontal layers to carve out rock autonomously, handle their fatigue cycles, and reallocate your resources from personal drill upgrades into hauling support and base defense.

Drillbert Movement and Tunneling Mechanics

Drillbert operates as an autonomous, ground-bound unit that digs horizontally across dirt and rock without requiring player steering. Once set on an open floor or inside an excavated tunnel, Drillbert moves forward and chips through blocks until it hits an impassable obstacle, reaches the map boundary, or falls down an open drop.

To keep Drillbert digging productively, manage its pathing constraints:

• Horizontal Exploration: Drillberts are most effective when carving single-tile horizontal corridors. Placing them on newly exposed layers reveals iron, cobalt, and water veins without spending your own drill energy.
• Vertical Drop Prevention: A Drillbert drops straight down whenever it encounters an open vertical opening. Cap your central elevator shaft or vertical drops with solid tiles so Drillberts cross over them rather than falling into deep pits.
• Hard Rock Resistance: Deeper biomes feature harder rock that slows unupgraded Drillberts down significantly. While they continue digging, their progress drops unless you invest in drill-hardening upgrades.

Managing Sleep Cycles and Wake-Up Systems

Fatigue is the primary limit on Drillbert productivity. After breaking a fixed number of blocks, Drillbert stops, curls up, and falls asleep until you wake it up.

During early runs, waking a Drillbert requires flying down and interacting with it manually. Because spending combat cooldowns flying between scattered sleeping units negates the efficiency of automation, transition to automated stimulation as soon as possible:

• Treat Dispensers and Automated Stimulation: Installing treat systems keeps Drillberts active without requiring your physical presence. Feeding treats resets their fatigue meter and provides a temporary boost to drilling speed.
• Staggered Placement: Position Drillberts along adjacent horizontal layers. This layout allows you to sweep through a single shaft, wake multiple units in sequence, and collect loose resources along one consolidated path.

Managing the Resource Hauling Bottleneck

Drillberts only break blocks and uncover resources; they do not collect or carry materials back up to the dome. As multiple units mine through deeper layers, loose iron, cobalt, and water accumulate on tunnel floors, shifting your primary bottleneck from excavation to hauling.

Pair Drillbert setups with transport gadgets whenever available. If you have the Lift, sweep loose ores from side tunnels into the main vertical shaft so lift orbs carry them upward. If operating without automated hauling gadgets, prioritize suit carry capacity early to move large resource clusters without stalling your flight speed.

Recommended Upgrade Progression

Relying on Drillberts shifts your upgrade priorities away from individual digging strength toward logistical speed and survivability.

1. Leave Personal Drill Upgrades Low: Keep your personal drill at baseline or level one during the early game. Spend early iron on Drillbert digging speed, egg replication, or wake-up upgrades instead.
2. Prioritize Keeper Flight Speed: Your primary role becomes transport and maintenance. High movement speed allows you to reposition trapped units, collect mineral clusters, and return to the surface before alien waves hit.
3. Unlock Hostile Wave Sensors: Operating deep in automated mines increases travel time back to the base. A wave sensor gives you the precise timing needed to abandon deep shafts before attacks begin.

Dome Defense Timing

Automated mining often leaves players stranded underground when combat starts. When the wave warning sounds, immediately drop any resources you are carrying and return to the dome. Mined resources remain safe in tunnels between rounds, but leaving dome weapons unmanned leads to shield failure and run-ending structural damage. Spend collected resources on weapon tracking and shield strength immediately after each wave before heading back down to manage your Drillberts.