Point Extraction
This page is possibly not up to date. It was last updated for Update 33: New Frontiers| “ | Our scanners have picked up a massive deposit of Aquarq. We're sending you in alongside a heavily armed lifter to get as many out as possible. We're picking up extreme biosigns in the area, so keep it snappy! Aquarqs can be extracted from within the walls. Search for a blue, shimmering light. Get it done, team. |
| — Mission Control |
Point Extraction is a mission type in Deep Rock Galactic.
A huge deposit of a glowing, blue crystals named 
Aquarqs has been located, and the dwarves are sent in to extract as many as possible. The Minehead, a heavily armored mining platform, is sent in to assist them. Point Extraction is the fourth unlockable mission type, the third being Salvage Operation.
Collect Aquarqs
Point Extraction missions always take place in a large cavern filled with Aquarqs. The Drop Pod lands in the cavern, along with the Minehead, which lands shortly after the Drop Pod lands. The Minehead acts as a central playing point throughout the mission. Similar to On-site Refining, the M.U.L.E. is not present, and resources gathered by the team must be deposited into the Minehead.
The Aquarqs that must be collected for the primary objective are embedded in the walls of the cavern. Small, blue crystals dot the location they are buried, and they must be dug out using the pickaxe or other terrain destroying tools or weapons. Aquarqs are large resources, and must be carried back to the Minehead by hand.
After the primary objective has been completed, a red button on the Minehead platform will appear, and can be interacted with. Pressing the button using the [Interact] key ("E" by default) will launch the Minehead rocket and Mission Control will announce that they will send in the Drop Pod to extract the dwarves after the rocket has been secured at the Space Rig. The Drop Pod will take two minutes to arrive, after which the Drop Pod will land and open for three more minutes before departing, with or without the Dwarves.
While you must complete your primary objective to finish the mission, you can choose to collect an optional secondary objective resource for a 
Credit and 
Experience bonus upon mission completion.
Enemy Spawning
For more details, check the Main article: Swarm#Point Extraction
On Point Extraction, enemies will constantly spawn in "Pressure Waves", with each Wave spawning after a short delay. The delay starts at 55 seconds, then decreases by 1 second for each spawned Wave. The delay stops decreasing when it reaches the minimum delay, which is determined by the Hazard Level. The amount of enemies spawned in a Pressure Wave is determined by the "Difficulty" and "Enemy Count". The Difficulty will start to increase after the 10th Wave, and will then keep increasing after each subsequent Wave.
Pressure waves will mainly consist of Glyphid Grunts, Grunt Slashers, and Grunt Guards. If Glyphid Swarmers or Glyphid Web Spitters are present in the spawn pool, then they will also appear in Pressure Waves.
Swarms, that are announced by Mission Control (without prior notice), will happen at specific times: around 4m29s and 10m9s for first and second Swarms respectively (Hazards 1 to 4 ), and 3min59s and 9min39s (Hazard 5). On Hazard Level 3 and under, there's a chance that a regular Dreadnought will be spawned instead of a normal Wave.
After launching the Minehead, there will be enemy spawns until the end of the mission.
Cave
Point Extraction missions take place in large, expansive open caves with various height levels. They always have at least one small tunnel that leads to a medium sized cave. Keep a sharp eye out for this cave, as it can be hard to spot. The Minehead will always be positioned in the general center of the main cave.
Objectives
Primary Objective
- Collect 7-10 Aquarqs
The number of Aquarqs to collect is dependent on the length of the mission.
| Length | Complexity | Objective | Primary Payout | Secondary Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Collect 7 Aquarqs | 585 1575
|
195/325
|
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Collect 10 Aquarqs | 910 2450
|
280/350 1260/1120
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| Base Values (complexity/length bonus deducted) | ||||
|
|
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Collect 10 Aquarqs | 650 1750
|
200/250 900/800
|
Secondary Objective
Unlike all other mission types besides On-site Refining, Point Extraction missions have Dystrum as a possible secondary objective.
Possible Secondary Objectives:
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Minehead
The Minehead is a specialized heavy lifter deployed by Deep Rock Galactic to assist the dwarves during Point Extraction missions.
Appearance
The Minehead is a large, yellow colored platform with a massive auger drill at the base. It is delivered to the Point Extraction mission area, where it lands and unfolds, revealing a wide metal grated surface for the team to stand on, a red button, four ramps connecting it to the ground, and five solid yellow platforms where two floodlights and three large Sentry Turrets, similar to the Engineer's LMG Gun Platform, will be placed in a star formation. At the top of the Minehead lies a small rocket ship with two doors on either side. The doors will open when approached, allowing players to deposit their resources into a large mineral grinder.
Gallery
Floodlights on the Minehead
Large Auto Turrets on the Minehead
Trivia
- Deep Rock Galactic refuses to send in the Drop Pod to save the team until after the goods are secured. This is even more evidence showing they prioritize profit over employee safety, and consider employees disposable.
- The internal name for Point Extraction is still "Motherlode", which is original name of the very first iteration of this mission type.
- In the Closed Alpha, the floodlights and sentries present on the platform could be summoned similarly to the Resupply Pod by spending gold instead.
- As bugs can attack through the metal mesh of the Minehead, it's not recommended to fight on it.
- Dwarves are instantly downed by the Minehead if it lands on top of them, similar to Resupply Pods.
- As of Update 33, the Minehead has received a visual update to make it more aesthetically consistent with newer assets.
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