First things first, there will be ONE more chapter left before we finish the second arc. After that one chapter, I will be taking a break for an undetermined period of time. Next arc, the drones will be going further south and east, exploring Hetten and also dealing with the undead.
The fun part here is that both the undead and the drones are almost similar. They don’t tire, they don’t have morales, and they are tough to kill. However, they have a few key differences which would be shown in the next arc.
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As of Chapter 48, there are four main drone types: Daedelus, Non-magical, Magical, and Others.
DAEDELUS:
The most advanced drones Custodians have. This includes the ten drones the A.I. started with, plus Minos who was obtained through a Forced Bypass Evolution and Red who was obtained in Mount Varangia.
NON-MAGICAL:
Main evolution tree: Slave -> Serf -> Peasant -> Churl (limited shock magic)
This type is slower (in terms of thinking), but capable of having bigger bodies. This is usually used for worker drones and other controllers such as the mechanics used for opening gates automatically.
Examples of non-magical drones: Steadfasters (used as mounts or movers), Worker Drones (the small spider-like ones and the humanoid kinds).
MAGICAL:
Main evolution tree: Freeholder (Most warrior drones are referred as Freeholders) -> Thanes
This type thinks faster at the cost of being smaller. Usually, the more magic-intensive a drone is, the slower it would process things, which is why warrior drones wouldn’t use magic too often (though, they sometimes do). There are two subtypes: combat drones and auxiliary drones. The easiest way to differentiate is whether the drone would be hacking and slashing more or standing around just throwing fireballs everywhere.
As of the latest chapters, the latest combat drone models of this type have three commonly produced kinds: Freeholders, the most common warrior drone (includes spider-like drones and bigger drones), Huskarls (just slightly upgraded Freeholders with more equipment), Thanes (used as officers and elite warriors).
The auxiliary drones are turret drones, mage drones, and specialized worker drones (used for hunting).
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OTHERS:
There are two other types of drones, but there’s only one or two in each category, so they’re placed in ‘Others’ for now. Others has ‘PRODUCTIVE’ and ‘SPECIAL’ type.
There’s two productive chips - Factory Core and Mk1 Forward Outpost Mind.
Factory Core’s job is to churn out resources, create objects, fix objects, and process materials. On the other hand, the Forward Outpost Mind can only create chips, which means that it’s supposed to be used with a Factory Core.
Originally, Custodian wasn’t supposed to get Mk1 Forward Outpost Mind, but Memory 3 got corrupted which somehow activated the Incursions Protocol.
There is only one special chip - Forced Bypass Evolution. This is a one-time use blueprint which upgrades a chip into a discount Daedelus (the smartest of the smart).
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SECURITY AND TERMINATION
[https://i.imgur.com/xc5X1ucl.jpg]
As of Chapter 48, there are three Daedelus drones designated for ‘Security and Termination’ aka Custodian’s military branch - Slayer, Exarchi, and Minos.
Let’s explore what we know about them so far.
Slayer is a straight-forward drone. He is a mixed bag of ‘Everyone charge!’ and ‘Don’t charge yet!’. In terms of commanding, he can get the job done with average results (for a drone general). His style usually involves plain and simple tactics and strategies. The most basic example of his style is that he would move his army as one coherent pack across places, as opposed to Exarchi (will be discussed below). Other than that, he’s also a great fighter, able to learn and adapt on the go.
Exarchi is the cunning drone. While he may not be the best fighter, Exarchi has excellent control of the drones to the point that he has the ability to create localized hivespeaks with greater efficiency than any other Daedelus. This allows him to use absurd tactics to achieve maximum efficiency with minimal loss. Sadly, his plans are usually more expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes not usable for anything that isn’t a drone. The most basic example of his style is that he would move his army in separated chunks across every path available - whether they be the rivers, mountains, and forests, he’ll get his army anywhere quickly and stealthily… as long as he’s only handling drones.
Minos is the newest kid in the block, but he’s already got his fair share of organic termination. His experience as a scout drone (getting thrown into a river, beaten up by all types of monsters, and dragging himself all the way back to Custodian with only one working leg/claw) had led him to be very vicious when it comes to problem solving. Does the problem exist? Punch it until it’s gone. His battle tactics are plain and savage, probably due to his young age (relative to the other drones), but his combat skills are the best among the Varangians. Despite his savage fighting style and his history with organics (prior to becoming a Daedelus), he is strangely amicable to organics that aren’t on the receiving end of his axe.