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[Iamblichos]

Has anyone found a workaround for the utterly fort-destroying animated bits that can't be pulped, killed, or harmed in any way?  This basically renders any fort unplayable in a reanimating zone.

[Loud Whispers]

Cage traps to catch them, then put them in some form of creature smasher

[freeze]

Had to memory edit a reanimated goblin head on a tree to get rid of it. Most of them climbed the tree to get at it, couldn't cut the tree down, couldn't build a way up, couldn't even collapse the tree due to it being on a tree near my main stairwell entrance and everyone outside after fighting off the siege.

[vjek]

Has anyone found a workaround for the utterly fort-destroying animated bits that can't be pulped, killed, or harmed in any way?  This basically renders any fort unplayable in a reanimating zone.

Here's a glib & sarcastic answer:
Yes.
I don't play in re-animating biomes.
I check the status of this bug every day, patiently waiting for re-animating biomes to be viable, once again.

[Findulidas]

If you have dfhack you can put the kursor on the skin and type "exterminate him". The skin instantly is vaporized or slain. Works for all creatures, but I only use it for bugged creatures such as this.
You can also type "exterminate undead" and it slays all undead on the map. Although that will of course also destroy other undead which arent bugged.

I usually think cheating makes the game much more boring but when its so blatantly bugged like this its fair.

[PatrikLundell]

As Findulidas said, "exterminate him/her" will kill it. And, like Findulidas, I consider it a fair counter to a horrible bug, as long as you refrain from using it on the parts that aren't head.

As been mentioned above, cage traps work, and once caged you can build the cage, hook it to a lever, and release the bug onto a garbage compactor (a.k.a. atom smasher). You can, of course, also atom smash the cage or or burn the cage with magma, but then you run the risk of masterworks destruction.

@freeze: You can get rid of a tree by hitting it with a ballista arrow. That completely disintegrates the tree (and if it was standing in water, there will be a hole in the water, until waves cause the walls to collapse). I use that method to get rid of cavern trees standing in water and blocking me from obsidianize cavern lake map edges.

[Iamblichos]

Agreed, I think it's a legit use of DFHack, I was just hoping that there was a non-hacky solution (since I'm playing .43.04 haha)

Thanks for the bug link... I will join you in meditating on its strong thwartish vibrations.

[NCommander]

I though macedwarfs could actually pump these heads when they got reworked. My last reanimator biome didn't have the usual unkillable undead, but its possible I got lucky.

[Iamblichos]

This fort didn't have any macedwarves, so I can neither confirm nor deny your assertion.

I did have a dwarf who was a Competent PIKEMAN, though, so... I'm not sure what Toady is doing with weapon skills tbh.  Urist McBuddy was pretty good with a weapon I had no way to make, and was not near enough to the humans to trade for.  Thanks, RNG!

[PatrikLundell]

Aren't pikes too large for dwarves to wield as well?

The best non hacky solution I can provide comes from the forum:
Surround (as in directly adjacent) your butchery, tannery, and spinning farmer's workshops with cage traps, and have a disposal facility just nearby (I used a chute with an atom smasher at the bottom). Whenever you butcher something, have the militia stationed in the area, and process the remains immediately. Regardless, you'll get animated part from time to time. The militia will make short work of any non head reanimated parts, while the head ones require cage trapping and suitable disposal.
The cage traps around the workshops serve two purposes: They catch many of the reanimated thingies, and the civilian dwarves will sometimes dodge and get caught, and thus get out of harm (provided you release them in a timely manner).
One annoying thing is that killed reanimated bits (in particular original skin) tends to multiply on "death" into head, leg, etc. parts, and some of these bits get stuck in workshops, so you have to dismantle and rebuild the workshops to get the pieces out (and I suspect reanimation will get them out by magic).

[freeze]

Has anyone found a workaround for the utterly fort-destroying animated bits that can't be pulped, killed, or harmed in any way?  This basically renders any fort unplayable in a reanimating zone.

Here's a glib & sarcastic answer:
Yes.
I don't play in re-animating biomes.
I check the status of this bug every day, patiently waiting for re-animating biomes to be viable, once again.

I was in a normal savage biome near a tower. Trees are the real enemy here =P

I though macedwarfs could actually pump these heads when they got reworked. My last reanimator biome didn't have the usual unkillable undead, but its possible I got lucky.

Maybe. Is it mace-specific? I was getting pages of this

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

The lye maker punches goblin head in the head with her right hand, but the attack glances away!
The militia captain kicks goblin head in the head with his right foot, but the attack glances away!
The clothier bashes goblin head in the head with her (bronze war hammer)!
The trader stabs goblin head in the head with his (bronze spear)!
The trader hacks goblin head in the right eyelid with her (copper battle axe), but the attack passes right through!
The chief medical dwarf punches goblin head in the head with her left hand, but the attack glances away!
The trader lashes goblin head in the head with his (+iron whip+)!
The clothier bashes goblin head in the head with her (bronze war hammer)!
The armorer punches goblin head in the head with his left hand, but the attack glances away!


Where cleaving or a pulping action might be expected there was ... nothing.

@freeze: You can get rid of a tree by hitting it with a ballista arrow. That completely disintegrates the tree (and if it was standing in water, there will be a hole in the water, until waves cause the walls to collapse). I use that method to get rid of cavern trees standing in water and blocking me from obsidianize cavern lake map edges.

I wanted to recover manually but it just wasn't happening. People with picks were in the tree ignoring station and burrow. Noone else could get back into the fort proper. I tried letting units get panicked and activating them some distance away, thinking they would be unable to climb with both hands full, then setting station/kill/burrow by turns inside the fort. They all climbed. I think it's down to having such a small pop at the time. That and not keeping trees cut back properly doh

[Melting Sky]

If you have dfhack you can put the kursor on the skin and type "exterminate him". The skin instantly is vaporized or slain. Works for all creatures, but I only use it for bugged creatures such as this.
You can also type "exterminate undead" and it slays all undead on the map. Although that will of course also destroy other undead which arent bugged.

I usually think cheating makes the game much more boring but when its so blatantly bugged like this its fair.

There is a difference between cheating and using a hack tool to fix known bugs.

[Fleeting Frames]

If you have dfhack you can put the kursor on the skin and type "exterminate him". The skin instantly is vaporized or slain. Works for all creatures, but I only use it for bugged creatures such as this.
You can also type "exterminate undead" and it slays all undead on the map. Although that will of course also destroy other undead which arent bugged.

I usually think cheating makes the game much more boring but when its so blatantly bugged like this its fair.

There is a difference between cheating and using a hack tool to fix known bugs.

Pretty sure killing an enemy that could end your fort and requires a complicated setup to kill otherwise after they are present qualifies for cheating, whether they're bit of yak hair or a steel spider.

It may also be counted as bug, sure, but lets be fair - most bugs and features will remain for the foreseeable future and lot are over half a decade old. At that point, it definitely qualifies for part of the vanilla experience =D

(I'd still love hack to fix uniform conflict tho, would greatly simplify no-clothes fort without bad thoughts.)
Though, hair can be easier to deal with than steel spiders at inception. Here is a proposed setup:

Spoiler: Legend (click to show/hide)

B = Butchery
 . = empty space(build butchery on constructed floors then deconstruct)
^ = cage trap on floor
 . = diagonal magma dumping pit
▒ = wall
O = smoothed wall

Z1
▒. .  .
▒ . B .
▒ ▼ .  .
Z0
▒^ ^^
▒^ ▒^
O▲ ^^
. O▒
Up ramp can also contain here stockpile for caged undead/reanimatable bits.

If it has escaped, though, then perhaps using cage traps and digging upwards from beneath to bait it?
It would likely give one of your random dwarves mechanic experience however, as you won't be able to spare your mechanic beating on hair.

[Iamblichos]

I don't consider it a part of the normal experience because:

1) there's no effective way to kill it, unlike all other legitimate enemies (FBs, weres, etc.) - "hard" is one thing, "impossible" is another, and
2) it is guaranteed to cause fort death, because all your dwarves run over to it and start beating it, stop eating and drinking, etc., thus
3) there's no way to deal with it once it appears, since anyone who could get close enough to trap it starts whaling on it until they pass out.

[Fleeting Frames]

....What do you use to kill firebreathing steel spiders that doesn't work on reanimated skin? n.n°

Or is it ´exterminate him´ for both? I suppose it does make planning defences a bit simpler...