Direct answer
Transport Drones are for resource logistics, not animal capture. Use them after you have remote drills or outpost mining running: place the drone destination at your base, power it, then link the remote drill to that destination so mined ore can be moved back without constant Airship collection runs.
The current safest workflow is:
- build the mining outpost first: drill, enough power, and access to the ore vein
- place and name the Transport Drone destination where you want resources delivered
- interact with the drill and choose that destination from the available drone list
- do not move the drone base casually after linking, because current community reports say relinking may be required
- troubleshoot power and drill setup before assuming the drone is bugged
Transport Drone vs Animal Transport
When to build Transport Drones
Build drones when the time cost of collection is higher than the setup cost. Good candidates are:
- a Quartz/Silicon route you keep revisiting
- later ore islands that require long Airship trips
- mining outposts with drills that already have reliable power
- resource loops that feed crafting, batteries, circuits, or airship progression
Do not rush drones before your power system is stable. A powerless drill or destination is still a broken logistics chain.
How to set up a drone route
- Pick the resource first. Silicon starts from Quartz, and later resources may require specific island access.
- Place the drill on the correct deposit. Confirm the drill is actually extracting the material you want.
- Power the drill. Weather and weak power planning can make a working route look broken.
- Place the drone destination at base. Name it clearly, such as
Quartz,Silicon prep, orRemote ore. - Link the drill to the destination. Current Steam community guidance says the drill selection should show the placed drone destination.
- Test with one production cycle. Confirm delivery before leaving the outpost alone for a long time.
Drone not working: checklist
What not to claim yet
Because drone behavior is patch-sensitive, this page avoids exact throughput claims, hidden range numbers, and every recipe quantity unless a current release source clearly verifies them. Use this page as a safe setup and troubleshooting route, then verify exact recipes in your current build.