Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Foxite]

I assume everyone hates keas. They annoy, they steal, they interrupt, but they form absolutely no threat. They can only make scratches and pinch.

But when I try to attack one, it flies, and my militia strolls back to the barracks because they cannot reach the kea. Same thing for the archery unit, they can't shoot up.

How can I get rid of them?

[NJW2000]

Make ceilings over an outdoor area filled with junk, within easy access of the barracks, or with a buncha traps. Or just make floors on the level above, though I'm not sure if they're the same. THen attack them

[Foxite]

Make ceilings over an outdoor area filled with junk, within easy access of the barracks, or with a buncha traps. Or just make floors on the level above, though I'm not sure if they're the same. THen attack them

I was already making a ceiling over my outdoor fortress area. That's what they're interrupting, unfortunately. I guess luring them away is an option.

[Daris]

I had good luck with lining my fortress entryway (1 z high) with cage traps, then pulling my military back.  I caught entire flocks of them that way.

[PatrikLundell]

Some people have used archery towers where x-bow dwarves are stationed, but I suspect they still won't attack without explicit orders.
My way of dealing with keas is to build a floor above the courtyard as quickly as possible and then place cage traps at the entrance. I then try to ignore them/put up with it except collecting and replacing the traps. If their interruptions are too annoying you can reschedule your dorfs to do indoors work until the keas move away to pester someone else. I generally wait with placing my refuse QS mine cart in the courtyard until it's protected, because it's annoying to have it stolen.

As Daris said, cage traps in an entrance that's 1 level high to block them from flying works, but you'd then have to move your dorfs indoors or their coming and going will scare the buggers away before they get caught.

[Daris]

FYI: I legit lost a fortress to keas.  The constant attempts of my military to engage them gave equally constant "vengeful" thoughts to every single member of my fort.  It literally drove my fort insane.

Not a fan of the fact that "vengeful" thoughts transmit through universal telepathy, but it is what it is, so be warned.  If your military can see keas, your civilians are thinking vengefully and eventually you, too, will fall into the tantrum bucket.

[Beast Tamer]

Station you Marksdwarves where they tend to flock, and keep your valuable trade goods/items in warehouses with ceilings and doors. Using a diversionary stockpile is also a good idea. Combine that with putting a ceiling over the diversionary stockpile to funnel them in and cage traps and trap them, and you'd have an effective means of combating them.

[Bearskie]

My dear chap, it seems that you're exactly the sort of man who would appreciate a more... elegant solution to the problem at hand. What you need is not some mass militia effort, no no. Neither will cage trapping suffice for a gentleman of such fine taste like yourself.

No, you require something far more Dwarven. Something that will crush the soul of thy winged enemies without you even lifting a finger. What you need...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...is the Orbidal Defense Network.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Or just use hunters. That's what they're there for.

[Bearskie]

Hunters are kinda buggy when it comes to flying prey.

[Shonai_Dweller]

Hunters are kinda buggy when it comes to flying prey.

True, but with a few of them running around, they'll lure the keas in eventually and be able to deal with them when they do. Better than taking the military off duty constantly.

[Foxite]

My dear chap, it seems that you're exactly the sort of man who would appreciate a more... elegant solution to the problem at hand. What you need is not some mass militia effort, no no. Neither will cage trapping suffice for a gentleman of such fine taste like yourself.

No, you require something far more Dwarven. Something that will crush the soul of thy winged enemies without you even lifting a finger. What you need...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...is the Orbidal Defense Network.

Looks epic, but how does that work?

[Bearskie]

It's essentially a very large wall that funnels flying creatures up towards the top of the map. The upper parts of the wall are all minecart tracks. Using impulse ramps, minecarts are accelerated into a very fast cyclotron. Birds fly through the cyclotron, aaand thwack.

To be fair, it could be made alot more practical (lesser openings, more minecarts in each cycle, roller-based timing), but this was my first attempt And hey, it works. Nothing better than the sound of kea's falling out of the sky in the morning.

[mariankonieczny]

My dear chap, it seems that you're exactly the sort of man who would appreciate a more... elegant solution to the problem at hand. What you need is not some mass militia effort, no no. Neither will cage trapping suffice for a gentleman of such fine taste like yourself.

No, you require something far more Dwarven. Something that will crush the soul of thy winged enemies without you even lifting a finger. What you need...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...is the Orbidal Defense Network.

It looks like this >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duga-3
and it looks great!

[Pirate Santa]

FYI: I legit lost a fortress to keas.  The constant attempts of my military to engage them gave equally constant "vengeful" thoughts to every single member of my fort.  It literally drove my fort insane.

Not a fan of the fact that "vengeful" thoughts transmit through universal telepathy, but it is what it is, so be warned.  If your military can see keas, your civilians are thinking vengefully and eventually you, too, will fall into the tantrum bucket.

Oh man I had that exact thing happen to me in fort from the first thought rewrite version, before stress reduction was fixed.
Tried to build an aboveground fort.
Between rain and keas the place quickly descended into nonstop tantrums/depression/obliviousness.