This reflects the state of the game as of Oct 7, 2024 .

TL;DR - rigging trivializes combat against many enemies.

1. The GM-Nissan Doberman, which ties for the most heavily armored drone in the game, is available in chargen.
2. Magic vs drone functionality doesn't exist (yet), meaning drones are immune to enemy spellcasting.
3. It takes ~21k nuyen of upgrades (dikote glazing + ultrasound module) after completing chargen and entering the game to make the Doberman able to handle most enemies.
   • With a hardpoint/firmpoint, gas vent IV, and foregrip/underbarrel weight (all of which are available in chargen), the Doberman suffers zero recoil penalties, even when firing heavy weapons at full-auto 10.
   • With dikote glazing, the Doberman is immune to any damage codes with attack power 15 or less.
   • With an ultrasound sensor module, the Doberman is able to target enemies who are using improved invisibility.
4. When mounted, a weapon's ammo capacity is increased by a factor of 5.

TL;DR - rigging lacks convenience and lacks survivability against higher power enemies.

1. Enemy attacks with power greater than 15 will almost instantly wreck your drone. This is because the rigger control pool cannot be allocated (yet), leaving the drone with no more than 4 dice for damage resistance tests.
2. Drones can only attack targets in the same room.
3. Drones can only ram or shoot firearms. The power of a ramming attack depends on the drone's speed, and their speed when indoors is limited, so there are some mobs that they are unable to defeat.
4. Drones with more than one weapon mounted will take multiweapon penalties, even when only one weapon is being fired.
5. Drones have no way to deal with doors.
6. Drones can only act while being controlled - they can't follow the rigger as the rigger does other things (like opening doors).

1. Allocating combat pool dice to offense adds to drone gunnery tests.
2. So long as the rigger has the smartlink cyberware and the mounted weapon has the smartlink accessory, the smartlink bonus applies (but not when multiweapon penalties apply).
3. An MCT-Nissan Roto-Drone can tow (i.e. lift) a Doberman over any terrain.
4. Drones can be upgraded with autonavs, and gridguide can be activated over remote control.
5. Drones can be upgraded with mechanical arms, which allow drones to interact with elevators and loot most items (but not cash or keys).
6. A high carrying capacity drone upgraded with heavy duty mechanical arms (neither of these are available in chargen) can easily loot large quantities of heavy armors with decent nuyen values. Along with good negotiation and intelligence, plus either the decrease intelligence spell (for spellcasters), kinesics (for adepts), or cultured tailored pheromones / biosculpting (for mundanes), the rigger can become one of the fastest nuyen farmers in the game.
7. While most reaction and initiative bonuses from 'ware don't apply while rigging, drugs do. In particular, Cram is cheap, long lasting, and has no crash effects. With sufficient initiative, it's possible for a drone to defeat more dangerous enemies by downing them before they can act.
8. The code for drone movement currently ignores initiative, so it's possible to enter a room, shoot, and then immediately leave the room without being delayed until your next initiative pass.