APD-B317

"Developed by R&D to support solo miners with mining, lighting, and fighting. The APD is not meant as a true replacement of a co-worker, but it is known to be a bit more reliable. The APD is popularly referred to as 'Bosco', but Management strongly disapproves of the use of nicknames for equipment. Personification is known to cause depression among workers in the event of malfunctioning equipment."

- Item Description

When starting a multiplayer match by yourself, or playing in Solo Mode, players are accompanied by a hovering All Purpose drone nicknamed Bosco. Bosco can be directed using the [SHOUT] button and the Laser Pointer. He can mine for minerals, fight off enemies, revive you when you're down, and helpfully light up locations using his spotlight.

In Solo Mode, Bosco will remain with you for the entirety of the mission, but only appears when you are alone in a multiplayer match, immediately self destructing on the entry of another player into your game. However, if all players but the host leave the game, Bosco will re-spawn.

Pressing the [SHOUT] button ("X" by default) will make Bosco abandon his current task and come to your location.

Icon Bosco Mine.png Mining
Bosco can be directed to mine out minerals and tunnel through compacted dirt. He can't be used to mine through common/solid rock unless you mark a wall with a large resource in it, where he will stop excavating the stone as soon as the resource is freed. Bosco must be manually ordered to mine deposits with the Laser Pointer; he won't automatically mine out anything by himself. When in mining mode, Bosco will ignore enemies. Equipping the Mining Expert modification greatly increases the speed that Bosco mines through ores, dirt, and terrain.

Gold mined by Bosco is not affected by the Pots O' Gold Beer, as its boost to gold acquisition only applies when using the pickaxe to mine.

Bosco can be directed to dig out and deliver large resources such as Aquarq, Jadiz, Alien Eggs or mini-M.U.L.E. legs - anything you can carry, Bosco can carry too. When directed to mine out a large object, he will emit a sound upon uncovering it, then automatically pick it up and start slowly moving towards you. If Bosco is within 10 meters and has line of sight to you while holding a object, pressing the [SHOUT] button will direct him to throw it to you. Otherwise, he will simply drop it. In any case, you can catch the object with the default [Interact] button (E). Bosco cannot deposit large minerals on his own; you'll have to pick up whatever he's carrying and deposit it in the M.U.L.E., Mine Head, or Drop Pod yourself. He also cannot pick up small ore chunks or secondary objective resources - with the exception of Gunk Seeds, which Bosco can pick up and carry, but only after they've been freed from their sacs.

When directed to mine, a blue pickaxe will appear above Bosco for a few seconds. His spotlight will also turn blue.

Close Range Combat
Bosco is armed with a pair of submachine gun-type automatic weapons for close-range combat, and will automatically use them to engage threats he encounters, provided the threat is within a certain range of both Bosco and the Player. Bosco can use them to quickly kill off smaller Glyphids, leaving the player free to engage larger threats. If a Cave Leech, Nayaka Trawler or Mactera Grabber ensnares you, Bosco can assist in rescuing you. You can have Bosco prioritize rescuing you by calling for him using the [SHOUT] button.

When engaging an enemy (either by your command or under his own initiative), Bosco will display a hologram of a fist over his chassis/head, and his spotlight will turn red. To direct Bosco to attack a specific enemy, highlight them with the Laser Pointer.

Rockets
After the Rockets modification has been purchased and equipped, Bosco will gain the ability to fire explosive missiles. Rockets are fired by clicking the right mouse button when using a keyboard and mouse or pressing the Left trigger on an Xbox One controller while holding the Laser Pointer. Bosco will fire a rocket at the creature or space you marked, although terrain obstacles in the direct path between Bosco and the designated target might be hit instead. Rockets will automatically regenerate over time, similar to Flares.

Like any other explosive, they can destroy terrain. This gives them a potential, if unconventional, use for destroying terrain in hard-to-reach areas if necessary, such as freeing resource chunks that Bosco has mined.

Icon Bosco Revive.png Reviving
When the Player is incapacitated, Bosco can rescue the player by reviving them. Bosco will let out an electrical shock before reviving the player, which scares away any surrounding enemies. While Bosco will attempt to revive you automatically, you may want to call him over using the [SHOUT] button.

A display on the back of Bosco's chassis indicates how many revive charges he has left. The amount of charges is also displayed on the HUD, and can be increased using modifications. If the player is downed when Bosco is out of charges, the mission will fail.

Icon Bosco Light.png Light
When aiming at a location that isn't a mineable resource, dirt, or an enemy, using the Laser Pointer will direct Bosco to fly over to the target location and shine his spotlight on whatever you're aiming at for up to 20 seconds or until ordered otherwise.

Icon Bosco Repair.png Repair
Exclusive to On-site Refining missions. When selecting the buildable node of a pipeline, Bosco will start constructing the pipeline until it is finished, or he will repair if it is leaking (it can be cancelled if the player makes a new order, or press the [SHOUT] button).

Note that Bosco cannot lay the pipeline frameworks - solving the pathing puzzle is entirely on you. Another thing to keep in mind when pinging pipes is that your marker must be close to the section that requires attention.

Icon Bosco Guard.png Guard
Exclusive to Escort Duty missions. When selecting the Drilldozer, Bosco will focus on defending (it can be cancelled if the player makes a new order, or press the [SHOUT] button). This means that Bosco stops following the player and stays in the vicinity of the drilldozer until ordered otherwise.

Modifications
Since Update 20: Bigger, Better, Bosco, Bosco can be customized using modifications. Modifications can be purchased and equipped using a special terminal in the Space Rig.

Unlike other modifications, player rank is used instead of character level.

Mastery
Each modification that is purchased advances a mastery bar by one unit.

Mastery unlocks:
 * Three modifications – Abyssal Frost Bosco Paintjob Icon Skin APD Abyssal Frost.png
 * Five modifications – Corporate Mint Bosco Paintjob Icon Skin APD Corporate Mint.png
 * Seven modifications – War Veteran Bosco Framework Bosco WarVeteran.png
 * Nine modifications – Scorched Bosco Paintjob Icon Skin APD Scorched.png
 * Eleven modifications – Primal Blood Bosco Paintjob Icon Skin Primal Blood.png
 * All (13) modifications – Cyber Ninja Bosco Framework Bosco CyberNinja.png

Cosmetics
Bosco has a small array of different Frameworks and Paintjobs that can be unlocked as progression rewards as more modifications are purchased.


 * Framework

The Cyber Ninja and War Veteran skins first were added in Update 26, then a plethora of different paintjobs were added in the 2020 Anniversary Update as additional progression rewards, along with a Supporter Upgrade DLC exclusive Gilded paintjob.

Trivia

 * According to the item description, Corporation advises against the personification of robots because of decreased morale in the event of a malfunction.
 * Pressing the [Salute] button ("V" by default) will make Bosco return it with a salute of his own and a robotic bark.