I did some experimenting in Hero Lab, and from what I can tell the Direktionssekrettar is the best choice for a single, top-of-the-line anthropomorphic drone.
4/6 Handling
4 Speed
2 Accelleration
4 Body
4 Pilot
4/6 Sensor
Modifications: Armor Upgrade +3, Handling Upgrade +3, Sensor Upgrade +3, Realistic Features 3, Drone Arm (right) upgraded to Strength 6, Agility 8 with cybergun (Savalette Guardian w/ external clip port) and cyberlimb optimization (Munden Quickdraw), Drone Arm (left) with cyberlimb optimization (Munden Quickdraw), 2 Drone Legs with Water Jets, Amphibious level 2.
Equipment: Sleeping Tiger with Gel Packs, Nonconductivity 5, Thermal Dampening 5
Soak: Body 4 + Armor 6 + Sleeping Tiger 15 (+5 electric) = 25 dice (30 versus electric)
Total cost: 160,085
I took Amphibious because it would be a shame to spend that much nuyen and have the drone dropped into a pool. So, how would something like this function in play, paired with a rigger using a Control Rig 2
I spent a little time researching and playing around in Chummer. Looked at the Direktionssekretar, the Kenchiku-Kikai, and the Duelist; all with similar modifications. I couldn't add the water jets, must not have whatever book those are in enabled, but from the difference in cost between your build and mine, those must be pretty expensive. Or else I missed something...
So first off let me say that I don't think 160k nuyen--for a drone you are going to be risking on every mission--is a reasonable cost. Depending on the challenge of the run, and the way the GM calculates payouts, it could take a while to break even on the loss of it. Furthermore, you need 5% of the cost in parts to repair it, per box of damage. I don't know if that's the drone cost or the overall build cost, so you are talking between 2k and 8k nuyen per box of damage, and can take up to 9 of those before the drone is irreparably damaged. Even if it's on the low end of that, 5 boxes of damage is 10k nuyen, and you could end up having to repair that much every run, or more.
Next we have to look at what you are getting for the money. Body can not be upgraded, and it's the limit for modifications under the R5 rules, so it has some value to consider. But looking at these prices and the dice pool effect they have, there is only one reasonable choice:
Duelist - Body 4 - Cost 4,000
KK - Body 5 - Cost 20,000
Direkt... - Body 4 - Cost 40,000
I tried to leverage the advantage of the KK's higher body, but its other stats are lower and the extra slots aren't enough to get it to where the Direkt or Duelist can get with their lower limit. The extra point of body is one die on the
defense soak roll, and not enough to justify the 16k cost premium over the duelist.
Speaking of things that cost 16k and aren't worth it, Realistic Features 3 has that cost across all three drones. It's even hard to justify this on the Duelist as it adds 4x the cost of the drone for one feature. I would just consider playing an unrealistic looking drone and put a story behind it for fun.
Next up is the condition monitor, of which you have two, but not the two that metahumans have. You have a standard track (physical
and stun both go here), and a matrix track. One of the advantages of the really nice armor you put on this drone is that for metahumans it can reduce the lower-end physical damage to stun, splitting your intake between the two tracks depending on the mix of fire you are facing. For the drone it all goes to that main track,
which means corp-sec guys with tasers can bleed your wallet, and even scrap your drone given enough time but you can ignore the stun damage. On the matrix side, you are vulnerable to hackers who can also brick your drone from a distance, and there's no cover to use there. You may have the option of running silent while jumped-in, but once in combat you won't want to take any penalties and will be exposed to those attacks. Metahumans can turn wireless off until the fun starts, but you can't, so you are vulnerable to matrix perception tests against running silent.
Once you've taken damage in combat, there will be no medkits or slap-patches that can help you. The extended test for repairs has a duration of 1 hour with parts, and longer without them. The Nano-Maintenance modification (if I'm thinking of the right one) takes an hour to repair one box of damage at level 1. Even if higher levels are faster, they won't be relevant in combat. Plus metahumans can go a few boxes past their normal condition monitor before death. The drone drops at its max.
Relying on one drone in this case is a handicap. For example, consider one Direkt versus four Duelists. You are talking one condition monitor of 10 boxes versus 4 condition monitors of 10 boxes. At repair costs based on the drone purchase price, 9 boxes on the Direkt costs 18,000 nuyen to repair. Where as 9 boxes on all four Duelists cost 7,200 nuyen to repair. That's four times the damage taken, with no actual difference in the drone's body/armor/worn-armor between those two models. When you consider those differences, and that the four Duelists cost less than half of one Direkt, it just seems like the choice is obvious.
Plus the other three duelists could be covering you. You could jump to the one with the best shot, you could coordinate them to flank people, and other things that I'm too tired to think of right now. Of course you will be with a team, but that single point of failure with one drone could end up letting them down too. I think the idea that you can spend a bunch of nuyen on a drone to improve its chances of survival is true to a point, but it gets way too expensive long before it makes much difference. And there seems to be a ceiling on what can be achieved, even if you don't care about the cost.
There are other factors, the Direkt is faster--in both acceleration and speed--than the others. That could matter more than I realize, but both can be upgraded if need be, albeit at the cost of other combat related modifications. Noise could be a factor, but it wouldn't matter as far as drone selection. Still it could impact your ability to use the drone while jumped in. Running through a lobby with salt-water fish tanks? If they are between you and the drone, you are facing one point of noise per centimeter of saltwater. This is an extreme case, and water is the only major source of noise, but it has to be considered.
I'm not sure the agility upgrade in the cyberarm matters for being jumped in. Gunnery + Logic [Accuracy] wouldn't use it, and Pilot + Targeting Autosoft [Accuracy] wouldn't either. I'm fuzzy on the cyberarm/leg rules for strength and agility, but I think you want those same values in all limbs to use them in any effective way. Agility on a single arm can matter for a gun fired with one hand, but the drone rules don't seem to use that at all.
Another issue is the Smartsoft, which is the only way I know of for a drone to use the Smartgun link on a weapon. Is there a way for you to utilize that when jumped in? If so, great. If not, then it's a disadvantage over just ordering the drone to do stuff for you. Now the drone will likely have a lower Pilot skill and Targeting Autosoft than your Gunnery & Logic, so it could balance out, but it's something to think about.
Getting back to the point about noise. This affects all drones equally, but could determine when you are gimping yourself by being jumped in versus commanding the drone remotely. You can mod your RCC for +2 NR I believe, plus the Program that adds +2. Does the Control Rig add +1 just like a Datajack? If so then you can be at 5. That's pretty good and will work for most situations. At least until you walk into that room lined with saltwater fish tanks mentioned above. At +1 noise per centimeter and likely 60cm of tank width, you're doing nothing worthwhile when jumped in. That is an extreme example of course, but it shows how noise can matter when the environment is designed to use it. A Satellite Link can cap the noise at +5, but I'm guessing those only work outdoors.
I would go cheap. I would load your RCC up with high rating Autosofts and Swarm for when you aren't jumped in. I would have at least 3 or 4 cheaper drones running as a pack. You can certainly build one super drone and try to keep it alive, but you may run out of nuyen and have to come up with a new plan. This was certainly a fun thought exercise though.
