Small Digger

From RRU Knowledge Base
Official artwork of the Small Digger

The Small Digger is a vehicle from the LEGO Rock Raiders theme. It is a small four-wheeled motor vehicle that seats a single driver and is equipped with two chainsaw blades for mining. It can cut through rock at a moderate speed, and has a cargo hold for hauling back any minerals it excavates. The Small Digger appears in the LEGO set 4980 Tunnel Transport, where it can be carried by the eponymous Tunnel Transport with a magnetic connection. Small Diggers can be used in the video game LEGO Rock Raiders, but do not appear notably in any Rock Raiders books or comics.

In LEGO Rock Raiders for Windows

In the Windows version of LEGO Rock Raiders, the Small Digger is classified as a small vehicle, and requires only one energy crystal for power. A Rock Raider must be trained as a driver to use a Small Digger.

A Rock Raider driving a Small Digger

The Small Digger can drill through all types of rock faster than a Rock Raider can, though nowhere near as quickly as the Chrome Crusher can. Without upgrades, it takes 2 seconds to drill dirt, 4 seconds to drill loose rock, 180 seconds (3 minutes) to drill hard rock, and 32 seconds to drill seams. It moves at a decent speed of 2 blocks per second. Though the Small Digger is poor at mining hard rock, its cheap cost, fast speed, and dedicated function can make it extremely useful early on in missions.

Despite the Small Digger having a cargo hold, it is not able to carry anything in-game.

Dependency

The Small Digger costs one energy crystal and requires the following for teleportation:

Upon telelporting down a Small Digger for the first time, the help window will display this message:

You have just transported your first digging vehicle - the Small Digger. You can use this vehicle to dig through Dirt, Loose Rock and Hard Rock.

Upgrades

A fully upgraded Small Digger

There are three upgrades available for the Small Digger:

  • Drill: Costs ten pieces of ore. Adds a third chainsaw to the vehicle. It now only takes 1 second to drill dirt, 2 seconds to drill loose rock, 150 seconds (2.5 minutes) to drill hard rock, and 16 seconds to drill seams.
  • Engine: Costs ten pieces of ore. Adds a third pair of wheels to the vehicle between the original two pairs, doubling the vehicle's route speed from 2 blocks per second to 4 blocks per second.
  • Scanner: Costs five pieces of ore. Installs a scanner aboard the vehicle, with a scanning radius of 4 blocks.

In-game appearances

  • In 7. Drilling With Vehicles, a Small Digger is in the tiny cavern behind the first wall that the player is instructed to drill. The player is then instructed to order a Rock Raider to drive their vehicle, demonstrating both how Rock Raiders will automatically train when a task requiring training exists, and how the Small Digger can drill faster than a Rock Raider can.
  • In Explosive Action, a Small Digger is trapped in an exposed cavern next to, but inaccessible from, the cavern containing the starting Tool Store. The objective of this mission is for the player to use dynamite to blast through hard rock to reach the vehicle, then train a Rock Raider as a driver and drive it back to the base.
  • In Water Lot Of Fun, a Small Digger can be found in the winding cavern hidden on the other side of the river, near the destroyed base.
  • In Run The Gauntlet, a Small Digger can be found in the second hidden cavern, along with a Small Transport Truck. The player can use the Small Digger to move the Rock Raiders quickly through the tunnels without having to exit to drill walls. There is a second Small Digger in the penultimate cavern, which serves little purpose as only one wall between the player and the Tool Store remains to be drilled.

In LEGO Rock Raiders for PlayStation

The PlayStation version of the Small Digger

The Small Digger can frequently be used in the PlayStation version of LEGO Rock Raiders, though it does not appear in any of the later missions of the North American version. It can usually be found near the start of any missions it appears in, and cannot ever be teleported down. The Tunnel Transport can carry the Small Digger, and the mission Express Delivery is entirely based around this.

Unlike in the Windows version, it cannot drill through hard rock at all, essentially making it a faster Rock Raider with an extra health bar. The advantage to this is that, unlike with other mining vehicles, the player can usually afford to lose a Small Digger without causing the mission to instantly be marked as failed, though it may make missions with time limits harder.

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Czech Čeština Malý kopáč
Dutch Nederlands Kleine graafmachine
Finnish Suomi Pieni kaivuri
French Français Excavatrice légère
German Deutsch Buddler
Hebrew עִבְרִית
Ivrit
חפרן קטן
Khefren katan
Italian Italiano Piccola scavatrice
Japanese 日本語
Nihongo
スモールディガー
Sumōru digā
Korean 한국어
Hangugeo
소형채굴기
Sohyeong chaegulgi
Norwegian Norsk Liten drill
Polish Polski Koparka
Russian Русский
Russkiy
Малая врубовая машина
Malaya vrubovaya mashina
Spanish Español Excavadora pequeña
Danish and Swedish releases left this vehicle's name unchanged