Tiny Eden drones: getting them to work

Buying one, and the quest that has to come first

Drones are sold in the shop, and players point to its search box: one found the agri-drone by searching for agri. Players collect it the way they collect other purchases, from the parcel station in front of the elevator.

When you buy matters more than how. The developers replied that an agri-drone bought before its connected quest disappears once you take it out of the package, and reappears only when the Drone Station is up and running.

One player who bought it for the quest describes the next step: after collecting it, the quest moved on to talking to the original drone. Getting the station itself built has its own blockers, covered on the Drone Station project.

Why a drone does nothing

Several threads about idle drones come back to skills, though some players had bought them and still saw nothing. Each drone task is a skill: a player whose drone would not sow turned out not to have the Drone activity: Sowing perk, which another player placed in the Emergence section of the skills screen.

The second switch is on the planter. A player whose drone did nothing found each pot has a switch that assigns a drone to it, though another player who turned it on saw no change. Early reports of drones that would only water and sow came before Update #4 on 11 September, which lists fixed drone abilities and a fix for drones not harvesting in some situations.

The watering perk in particular is covered on the drone watering skill page.

• Unlock the job as a skill; players place the sowing perk under Emergence
• Turn on the drone switch on each planter you want tended
• Have the Drone Station running: one player says that without it drones only water and pull weeds
• Expect watering only when a plant really needs it, as one player found
• Update #6 on 14 September lets drones uproot dead plants

The six-drone ceiling

Buying more does not always add capacity. Players who bought extra drones saw the hub report every drone busy while the new ones never joined, and one described spending 750 on three that could not be assigned.

Where the limit sits is reported rather than documented. Players put it at about six in the apartment, with a second hub on the roof taking six more for the rooftop greenhouses; one says the rooftop drones can use seeds placed in the apartment station, another that they only serve the roof.

That sits oddly with the Spare Hands achievement, which asks for 16 agri-drones working at the same time. When Steam's achievement list was checked on 15 September, 0.2% of players had it.

No XP for drone work

One player noticed that jobs done by drones earn no experience. The developers have not replied in that thread, and the players who answered are split on whether that would be a bug or the design.

It matters because skills level from doing the work yourself. The developers say Emergence rises from pouring soil into planters and sowing seeds, and one player measured a single Emergence point for sowing four seeds. If drone work earns nothing, as that player reports, the sowing a drone takes over would not add to it. The Recycling tree had its own experience problem, covered on recycling XP stuck at 0.

Since Updates #7 to #9: what broke and what was fixed

Drones were touched in every update from #2 to #9, and the last three changed how they behave around stations. Players reported a regression on the day of Update #8, and Update #9 lists a fix, so a thread dated 17 or 18 September describes the middle of that sequence.

Update #10 on 21 September removed duplicate Agro Drone listings from the Shop, fixed the Drone Station disappearing in older saves, and lists an improvement to the stability of abilities without saying whose. Its notes list no other change to what drones do.

1. Update #7, 15 SepDrone Care can be enabled for composters and the biopolymer press, drone station storage is shared, idle behaviour and positioning around stations were fixed, and a fix was added for existing saves.
2. Update #8, 17 SepDrones can now be correctly removed from their stations, and the drone quantity quest counts drones correctly.
3. 17 SepPlayers wrote that drones stopped clearing dead plants and got stuck, that some hovered over a dead plant, and that roof drones seemed to vanish. A developer listed three issues: drones may or may not replant, fill compost or water; they do not clear dead plants, and get stuck if they try; and, unsure, roof drones vanish.
4. Update #9, 18 SepDrones no longer get stuck on tasks or pull out plants instead of working with them, and drone collision issues were fixed.

The six automation skills step

A drone quest asks you to unlock six automation skills, and players who already had more than six skill points were confused by it. One reply reads it as the skills with drone in their description, and a player on the same step says unlocking six through normal levelling did not complete it.

The developers asked for the exact quest title and text so they could check it. Update #6 lists a fix for rooftop automation quests not starting; whether that covers this step is not stated.

• "Quest tells us to unlock 6 automation skills. If you already unlocked 6 by random progression and leveling skills, it doesn't complete"

Frequently asked

How do I buy a drone in Tiny Eden?

Players search the shop for the agri-drone and collect it from the parcel station. The developers say one bought before you complete its connected quest vanishes when unpacked.

How many drones can I have?

Players report about six per hub, with a second hub on the roof. The Spare Hands achievement asks for 16 working at once.

Why won't my drones harvest?

Check the drone skills and the drone switch on each planter. Update #4 fixed drone abilities and harvesting in some situations.

Do drones give XP?

One player reports they do not; the developers have not said whether that is intended.