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Author Topic: question about spike traps  (Read 793 times)

stormyseasons

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question about spike traps
« on: October 29, 2010, 08:37:47 pm »

I've a fort where I finally want to grab the precious, precious, clownite. And I've heard that certain lever controlled spiky items are tolerable deterrants. Does the usefulness of such spiky items as deterrents increase with the number of spiky things inside, or will one spike each be enough?
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Re: question about spike traps
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2010, 09:03:28 pm »

The more spikes there are in a trap, the deadlier the trap.  This is obvious.  Since lever-operated spike traps do not jam, more spikes will always be more better for killing things.

Since you're using this for the deepest of beasts, the likes of which evade ordinary (automated) traps, you need not worry about jams.  However, for future reference, there is a chance for normal weapon traps to jam when they kill something.  IIRC in versions past the chance was 50%.  This only matters for the killing blow, though.  A mortal wound that causes something to bleed to death (or suffocate, or whatever) will not jam the trap.  That being the case, ordinary weapon traps are less likely to jam (but also less lethal) if they have only one weapon per trap.
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stormyseasons

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Re: question about spike traps
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2010, 01:58:07 am »

..so upright spikes on every tile of the passageway not being used for something, until I run out of steel or resort to green glass?
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Re: question about spike traps
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2010, 02:58:00 am »

..so upright spikes on every tile of the passageway not being used for something, until I run out of steel or resort to green glass?

If you like.  I wouldn't recommend glass, though.  It's apparently bugged in this release.  Its sharpness is undefined, so edged glass weapons usually deal no damage.  Blunt glass weapons work fine, supposedly, but upright spike traps don't use blunt weapons.
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JoshBrickstien

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Re: question about spike traps
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2010, 03:42:15 am »

As a note, if you haven't already found the Microcline, Just make sure you have a very long, single tile wide passage to the Vein. Put a Spike in every single tile along the passage. Make sure every single spike is attached to a single lever. I'd suggest putting poor Urist McLeverPuller into a small room, with the door locked, and all of his/her labors off.

Addendum: Try to make the Passage 100+ tiles long. Try to use Iron for the spikes. Unless steel has been fixed, and is no longer the equivalent to Kraft Cheese.
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