Drone Neurobinding
Drone Neurobinding is an unusual two-part process that combines neuroforging with skill training, breaking most of the rules the neuroforging mechanic follows for other item types. Neurobinding a drone requires a single Bindomite per drone, as other item types do, but a drone can only have one Neuromod each, chosen from three options. Once a drone is neurobound, it can be Neuroforged at any time - rather than enhancing the drone's modifier, this allows the player to freely swap which modifier a drone has.
As an inherent benefit, a neurobound drone will inherit "passive mods" from non-augmenter gear items - if the player has Poseidon Shield equipped on their ship, for example, that player's neurobound drones will inherit the Energy Max mod from that item, in addition to the stats on the player's augmenters. It is currently assumed, but not fully confirmed, that this inheritance is affected by Drone Ops. Additionally, a neurobound drone is affected by three special skills that directly boost several of the drone's stats. As a cost to offset these significant benefits, the charging electricity consumed by a neurobound drone is increased by 100%, doubling its base charge amount.
Where to Train
The three Neurobound Drone Skills, as with the neuromods that inherit them, are named Watchful, Insatiable, and Fortified, and all three are trained at the same places, with the same requirements.
| Location | Base Name | Accessibility | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platonic Academy | Apodyterion | 5 Honorary Mention | |
| Platonic Academy | Gymnasium | 10 in Infinite Knowledge | 3 Honorary Diploma |
| Paxian Foothold | P.S.S. Pacification | P2P Only | 2 Honorary Doctorate |
The minimum cost to train each skill totals 50 Honorary Mentions, 30 Honorary Diplomas, and 6 Honorary Doctorates, for a total training cost of 150 Mentions, 90 Diplomas, and 18 Doctorates.
Skill Effects
Each Neurobound Drone Skill grants multiple stats to the drones, scaling with level.
| Skill Name | First Effect | Second Effect | Third Effect | Total Effects at Skill 23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortified | 2.61% Range | 4.35% Shield Bank | 60% Range, 100% Shield Bank | |
| Insatiable | 2.17% Critical Strength | -1.3% Electric Tempering | 50% Critical Strength, -30% Electric Tempering | |
| Watchful | 1.39% Damage | 1% Resilience | 10.87% Radar | 32% Damage, 23% Resilience, 250% Radar |
As an added layer of this mechanic, Neurobound drones do not get the full benefits of all three skills. Instead, based on the Neuromod chosen for the drone, it will inherit a percentage of each skill's total bonuses, in the following pattern:
| Drone Mod | Inherits Fortified | Inherits Insatiable | Inherits Watchful |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fortified | 100% | 10% | 50% |
| Insatiable | 60% | 100% | 10% |
| Watchful | 30% | 10% | 100% |
As a result, when all three skills are trained to 23, Neurobound Drones get the following spread of benefits for each neuromod:
| Drone Mod | Range | Shield Bank | Critical Strength | Electric Tempering | Damage | Resilience | Radar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortified | 60% | 100% | 5% | -3% | 16% | 11.5% | 125% |
| Insatiable | 36% | 60% | 50% | -30% | 3.2% | 2.3% | 25% |
| Watchful | 18% | 30% | 5% | -3% | 32% | 23% | 250% |
