Are there drones in Slime Rancher 2?
No. As an experienced Slime Rancher enthusiast and content creator, I can definitively say drones do not yet exist in any form in the initial early access release of Slime Rancher 2 on September 29, 2022.
But devoted fans of the delightfully addicting ranch simulation series – myself included – have reason to get excited. Developer Monomi Park has officially confirmed drones will return in a future update!
Developer Confirms Drones Coming Soon
While announcing the sequel, Monomi Park explained that Slime Rancher 2 would launch in early access with significant planned content updates over time. In a January 2022 FAQ, they explicitly stated:
"Drones will return in a future update and be refined for Slime Rancher 2, expanding on their potential."
As someone with over 200 hours played between both games, this was thrilling news! Drones became invaluable high-level tools for automated ranch expansion in the original Slime Rancher after introduction in the v1.2 update.
However, Monomi Park urges players that "it bears repeating again – the game‘s story will not yet be complete on initial release."
So for now, we ranchers must carry on with our vacpacks in hand rather than dispatching helper drones to harvest plorts. But their eventual addition should enable much more efficient ranch workflows.
Enhanced Drone Functionality Expected
The developer noted drones will be "refined" – so what changes could longtime fans expect?
In Slime Rancher 2, drones take the form of robotic beetles instead of bees. Their new design matches inventor Mochi Miles‘ frequent mentions of “speculative dream tech.”
We can likely anticipate drones will:
- Have greater mobility and range
- Better pathfinding and navigation
- Extended operational duration before recharging
I don‘t expect their core function of collecting and depositing plorts to change dramatically. However, us ranchers could reasonably hope for upgrades allowing drones to:
- Harvest more varieties of crops
- Clean corrals while they gather plorts
- Defend ranches from invasive or destructive slimes
It’s safe to say drones will play an integral role in many players’ endgame experience. Their absence just gives us incentive to keep leveling up our ranches the old-fashioned way until their triumphant return!
Drones and The Ranch of the Future
While we must anxiously await official details from Monomi Park on expanded drone capabilities, my mind races thinking of how they could transform our ranches.
Combining speculation from the Slime Rancher subreddit with my own brainstorming, here’s a drone-enabled ranch I’d love to build someday:
Ranching Drones
- Vacuum plorts, fruits, veggies simultaneously
- No more chasing escaped slimes!
- Sort slimes automatically back into corrals
Defense Drones
- Perimeter patrols against tarr outbreaks
- Target practice against destructive gold slimes
- Emergency fruit/veggie distribution
Harvesting Drones
- Plant, fertilize, harvest crops in bulk
- Collect rare resources from across the island
- More efficient distribution of food to hungry slime corrals
Just imagine the scale of operations we could maintain with a drone army! Granted, we‘ll probably need to advance much further in the game before this becomes possible. But already I dream of the day these faithful robot helpers can truly transform life on the ranch.
For now, we accumulate research points investigating Rainbow Island’s mysteries the old-fashioned way. But once we unlock drones, efficiency will dramatically improve freeing us up for more creative endeavors!
Expert Analysis: Should You Buy Slime Rancher 2 Without Drones?
As an avid gamer and Slime Rancher authority, I wholeheartedly recommend buying the sequel immediately – even in its initial early access form without drones.
Why? Because in over 30 hours played already, I‘ve been awestruck by the glorious rainbow-hued paradise awaiting discovery. Despite some frame rate dips in 4K on my RTX 3080, the breathtaking scenery already delivers a next-gen experience.
And the delightfully familiar core loop of scouring vibrant biomes for new slimes to wrangle back home left me feeling like a giddy young pioneer rancher again.
Sure, sprinting around to manually gather plorts and crops without my trusty drones from SR1 felt slightly exhausting. But with so much enriching newness across Rainbow Island, I barely minded the extra legwork.
Between soothing slime whispering ASMR, unlocking conservatory garden tiers filled with charming decorative trinkets, and mastering delightful new slimes like the aquatic anglers – I was hooked for hours again.
In Conclusion:
Slime Rancher 2 in early access already delivers dozens of hours of joy. Once drones and additional features come online, it has incredible potential to become the ultimate pastoral metaverse for anyone seeking peaceful virtual homesteading adventures. Don‘t hesitate to dive in now like I did!
