Drillers · Board game rules
Can I use Drone at the start of my turn if I finished last turn at the surface?
Quick answer
Yes — drones can be used at any point during your Operations phase, regardless of where your mech is or where it ended last turn.
Details
Drones let you perform effects that are normally restricted to the Surfacing phase — selling 1 mineral or buying 1 card — but you may use them freely during your Operations phase, which is the very start of your turn [p.9 — Drones]. There is no requirement to be on the surface to use a drone; the drone effect itself substitutes for that requirement.
To use a drone, simply flip a face-up drone face down and choose to either sell 1 mineral or buy 1 card, following the normal procedures described for Surfacing [p.9 — Drones] [p.10 — Sell Minerals] [p.11 — Buy New Cards From the Shops]. Since Operations lets you freely alternate between moving, drilling, playing cards, and using drones in any order [p.6 — 1. Operations], you can use a drone as your very first action of the turn, even if your mech is still deep in the mine from the end of your previous turn.
Watch out: Using a drone to buy a card does not let you use your shop refresh tile — that tile can only be used during the Surfacing phase [p.18 — FAQ].