How to hack Patrol Bots in Deep Rock Galactic

With the Rival Incursion update, Deep Rock Galactic introduced a host of new AI creatures for players to tangle with. Collectively known as Rival Tech, these enemies all have unique behaviors, pose different threats, and in the case of Patrol Bots, also present an opportunity to help players. In this quick guide, we will explain how to hack Patrol Bots, and why you should do it any chance you get.

Patrol Bots overview

These flying drones are normally encountered in Industrial Sabotage missions, but they will also show up to protect their brethren in any Deep Rock Galactic mission if players attempt to hack a Prospector Data Deposit or attack a Prospector Drone. Patrol Bots can fly but otherwise are not very dangerous, as their health pool is average and their head is a weak spot; they are almost always accompanied by Shredders.

When a player hacks a Patrol Bot, it temporarily becomes friendly and engages enemy AI. While in this state, the Patrol Bot will continuously lose health, until it inevitably shuts down.

How to hack Patrol Bots

In order to hack Patrol Bots in Deep Rock Galactic, you mostly need to get lucky. This is because Patrol Bots only become hackable at random, and there is no way to force it to happen. Whenever you destroy a Patrol Bot, it usually tumbles to the ground and explodes; however, if it doesn’t blow up and instead stands upright and motionless, you know you can hack it. In that state, you have 30 seconds to interact with the Patrol Bot using your Hacking Device, which will result in the Bot becoming friendly. However, if you don’t hack it with 30 seconds, the Patrol Bot will instead restore a bit of its health and fly up, attacking you and your Dwarven teammates again.

There are two circumstances under which Patrol Bots in Deep Rock Galactic cannot be hacked. If you destroy them using a fire weapon they overheat and detonate instantly, leaving nothing behind to hack. Also, Patrol Bots that show up during the Caretaker fight in Industrial Sabotage missions cannot be hacked by default. In all other situations, there is a chance a downed Patrol Bot will become hackable, though the odds of this happening are lower if you already have friendly Bots under your control.