Mining Rig Defense (NGS)

Main article: Emergency Quests

Mining Rig Defense (also known as Defense EQ's) is a type of Emergency Quest , during which you are tasked with defending ARKS' Resource Mining Rigs in a specific area from Waves of enemy attacks.

Much like other Emergency Quests, occurrences of this quest will be announced in advance, and the start point will appear on your World Map.

In those quests, while the day/night cycle remains synchronized with the server, the weather is not. It will always be Clear weather, however upon a Sudden Incident, the weather will turn into Storm-type weather of that region for the wave's duration, however a Gigantix will not spawn.

Progression in Mining Rig Defense

Progression during Mining Rig Defenses is semi-automatic, each wave has allotted time that if breached, will end the wave automatically. Therefore, time is on your side during Defense EQ's, as all enemies bar ones who self-destruct at the end of it, will despawn. However, you can end the wave early by killing all enemies that can spawn during that wave, which you will get notifications about.

Wave 1 will start automatically upon quest start, after that there is a 30 second wait time between waves, which is a good time to heal, go back to collect Resta/Reverser Signs which are typically at the back of bases and collect Collect Signs, explained below.

Each of the Mining Rigs have a color associated with them, as well as their own health bar that represents their structural integrity. As the integrity falls, you will get notifications and the base will start flashing red. When the health bar of a Mining rig drops to zero from being attacked, it is destroyed. Unlike in base PSO2's Mining Base Defenses, the enemies will not despawn upon Rig destruction, instead they will go attack another rig.

Enemies during Mining Rig Defense can spawn as regular enemies, Megalotix or Equalizing Enemies. They will be initally going straight at a Rig, but attacking them, you can let them target you like normal. However, after significant time has passed, the enemy will flash white-red and the aggro icon will turn into a red base. This indicates that the enemy will now target purely the base and no aggro-increasing skills will work on it.

Be careful, there are special enemies during these types of quest that on time out or at will, will self-destruct, dealing one-shot damage to players and severe damage to a Mining Rig! In addition, there are bosses with unique entry animation that have special attacks that can outright one shot Rigs, let alone players! Therefore, if the enemy seems to be oozing with energy or charging up a big attack at the base, it is likely that if not stopped, it will deal potentially lethal damage.

The quest will end whenever final wave is completed by either time out or by eliminating all hostiles. You are ranked purely on your ability to defend the bases, as indicated by the rank bar on left side of your screen, that sums total HP of all bases left. 80% or more is S rank, anything from 40 to 79% is A rank, anything lower then 39% but reaching the end of the quest is B rank. This only affects clear rewards, as Mining Rig drops are purely enemy-based.

However, should you fail to defend and the last Rig will fall, the quest will end prematurely. You will be ranked C and your Clear Rewards will be severely reduced (including any additional rewards like Capsules and Ores, unlike simply clearing the quest), but all drops that you earned up to that point will be rewarded normally.

Gimmicks of Mining Rig Defense

These mechanics are common across Mining Rig Defense quests.

Collect Signs and Merit Points

Collect Signs can be found throughout the Emergency Quest area. By collecting them, you obtain Merit Points that can be used to access support functions of the Mining Rigs and Delivery Devices.

Obtained Merit Points are rewarded to all players, and each player can use them independently on their own choice of support functions.

As the quest progresses, they're worth more and more points. At waves 1-3, each is worth 10 points, at waves 4-6, they're worth 20 points and, if the quest supports later waves, at waves beyond 7th, they're worth 30 points.

Support Functions

As you obtain Merit Points from Collect Signs, the available support functions accessible from either Mining Rigs or Delivery Devices expands. Available uses of a function can also be restocked. Depending on the quest, the required amount to restock will be different. You will be getting notifications of both whenever the Support Function is available and who used which function.

Support Functions available at a Mining Rig.

There are 2 Support Functions available from the Mining Rig itself when enough Merit Points are collected.

• Barrier Shield: Upon use, cast a small Area of Effect field around the base, damaging anyone in the vicinity(1700 PA Power). It also makes the base immune to damage for 5 seconds after use.
• Restore Durability: Heals the Mining Rig. This heal counts towards the Rankings and can bring you up the ranks again should you fall below them.

Support Functions from Delivery Devices

Main article: Special Weapons

When available to be used by collecting enough Merit Points, Special Weapons can be called down by a player temporarily via Delivery Devices for increased firepower/mobility.

DOLLS Weapons

It's not just ARKS who have access to special stuff during Mining Rigs. DOLLS too pull of all the stops and use their own special weapons. They will start using them from wave 2 at semi-random times. There are 3 types of DOLLS Weapons:

Backhack

A weapon that attaches to a Mining Rig and damages them over time, starting at dealing 100 PA Power worth of damage to the base every 3 seconds. After 30 seconds, the Backhack powers up, dealing 290 PA Power worth of damage. It has a pre-summon period during which the base has red aura, before it appears. It has a core and it's own HP bar. Attack the core to destroy the weapon. Using Barrier Shield will destroy the backhack instantly, even in it's pre-summon period.

Meldrum

A weapon that attacks Mining Rigs from a distance. The red laser pointer indicates which base is currently under threat. It takes 36 seconds from it's appearance to laser being fired at a Rig. Once it fires it will keep firing at the base for 13 seconds, dealing 450 PA Power worth of damage every second. A player that crosses the laser's path will be dealt the same amount of damage and knocked back. Guard Frames will not work against this attack. They're especially threatening as a group, a singular Meldrum is insignificant, but multiple Meldrums attacking a single base can be potentially lethal. Attack it directly to destroy it.

Barrigale

Barrigale create vertical barriers to obstruct player movement. They appear only during Sudden Incidents. They rarely cover the entire field however, only a specified area, so you can go around them if necessary. Attack all three of its cores to destroy it.

Sudden Incidents

At the start of a wave 2 to 5, there is a chance a Sudden Incident might happen. Should it occur, a red warning will appear below the wave start information,the weather will turn to a Storm-type,and you will recieve a Sudden Incident information. This might be an effect that just adds more weapons (2 extra Meldrums/Backhacks) but it might also be an effect that can happen only with a help of a Sudden Incident (Barrigale summon/Enchanced Enemy apperance).

At the start of wave 6 and beyond, a Sudden Incident is guaranteed. This will be shown as Extreme Danger below the wave start information. However, the behavior is exactly the same as with regular warnings.

List of Mining Rig Defenses

Location	Quest Name	Max Waves	Rank	Enemy Level	Recommended Power Level	Available Special Weapons
Halpha Grasslands	Mining Rig Defence: Aelio	8	Rank 1	Lv.20	1243	Mobile Cannon
			Rank 2	Lv.40	1898
			Rank 3	Lv.65	2878
Al-Demmond Desert	Mining Rig Defence: Retem	6	Rank 1	Lv.40	1898	Mobile Cannon
			Rank 2	Lv.65	2878
Danan Snowfields	Mining Rig Defence: Kvaris	6	Rank 1	Lv.60	1243	Mobile Cannon Floating Board
			Rank 2	Lv.65	2878