Drop Pod

The  is a special vehicle available to players.

Drop pods are a unique type of vehicle, with players placed into them automatically upon spawning on a Spawn Beacon, being subject to a Steel Rain, or when using Join Combat. Drop pods will always immediately begin dropping down towards the ground, with the passenger having limited directional control over the exact landing location. Upon landing on the ground, the player is immediately ejected and the drop pod despawns shortly afterwards.

The drop pod is a solid object, can be destroyed, and is also capable of colliding with vehicles. Destroying a drop pod while it is inhabited by a player will kill the occupant. Collisions with vehicles typically destroy the drop pod and damage the vehicle, knocking it aside, with the exact amount of damage dealt to the vehicle determined by the speed of the drop pod (which accelerates as it falls).

Automated anti-air turrets, such as a Hoplon Anti-Aircraft Phalanx Tower powered by a Turret AI Module, will fire on drop pods.

Variants
Despite its highly temporary nature, the drop pod can have its appearance modified, whether willingly or as a result of festivities throughout the year.

Players can customize drop pods, directly under Vehicle tab, in the main menu.

Pumpkin Pods
The Pumpkin Pod is a cosmetic variant of the drop pod. It typically replaces the standard drop pod during the Nanite of the Living Dead event.

Trivia

 * Prior September 29, 2021 Update, drop pod visuals could only be changed at Nascent Expeditions shop on Sanctuary, by interacting with the drop pod on display on the right-hand side of the shop.

History

 * Game Update Number 12
 * Fixed some issues with the drop pod deploy radius not always behaving as intended
 * Performance Update Number 1
 * Squad deploy will no longer drop pod players into the center of a bases. It will instead spawn the player at the closest hard spawn point to the squad leader, which includes facility spawn points, deployed Sunderers, and squad spawn beacons.
 * Increased the drop speed of drop pods. They now accelerate as they approach the ground. *Collision damage multiplier reduced to account for the higher pod velocity.
 * Reduced the horizontal movement speed of drop pods so they land closer to their origin points
 * Players exiting a Drop Pod should now render more quickly.
 * August 5, 2014 Update
 * Drop Pods will sometimes cause death or launch into space after hitting the ground.
 * December 18, 2014 Update
 * Added drop pod zones to Kessel's Crossing.
 * May 12, 2016 Update
 * Drop Pods can once again steer east and west.
 * June 1, 2016 Update
 * Decreased Drop Pod damage resist for resist type 22 (Walker and Deployed AA turrets) to -500 from 0.
 * Auto AA turrets now attack drop pods that drop from above them
 * October 11, 2018 Update
 * Pumpkin Pods - All Drop Pods have been converted into luxurious pumpkin pods.
 * November 13, 2018 Update
 * Pumpkin Pods have returned to their normal Drop Pod selves.
 * June 6, 2019 Update
 * Players using Join Combat to travel to a new continent (like in the event that they are leaving a locked continent) will now spawn at the Warpgate, instead of being dropped from orbit without a drop pod.
 * June 20, 2019 Hotfix
 * Join Combat changes from the last update were partially reverted, and will now only use Drop Pods as a backup spawn method.
 * July 25, 2019 Update
 * Players exiting a Drop Pod should now render more quickly.
 * March 25, 2020 Update
 * Drop pods should no longer get stuck inside Bastion collision.
 * November 20, 2020 Update
 * Players will be able to customize Drop Pod cosmetics by visiting the Nascent Expeditions shop on Sanctuary.
 * December 16, 2020 Update
 * Drop Pods no longer appear in the remote vehicle spawn menu.
 * September 29, 2021 Update
 * The Drop Pod has been added to the vehicle loadout screen vehicle list.