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[Puck]

Shameless plug
That's how I passively defend my fortress...

[LegacyCWAL]

If you want to reduce maintenance workload, use piercing weapons in your weapon traps, like menacing spikes.  Weapons like axes and serrated discs tend to slice up enemies into several pieces, which makes for that much more hauling when you clean it up.

Also, weapon traps are more work-efficient than stone fall traps because they do more damage per hit.  It can take several hits from a stone fall trap to kill an attacker, which means several reload jobs.  Meanwhile, one ten-spear trap will kill pretty much anything that hits it, meaning an absolute maximum of one trap cleaning per kill.

[Albedo]

Except maybe undead.  Altho' 10 of any weapon, even large daggers, will hand out enough raw damage to take out most targets.

Problem is that piercing weapons get stuck more often - slashing don't.  If you put the traps outside and turn off "gather refuse from outside", you can let the parts rot.

[HatfieldCW]

I like to lock the bad guys in a room, then set my sheriff to shoot them through a murderhole one z-level up.  She's kinda bent, so she gets happy thoughts from the slaughter, and it's good practice for her.

NOt 100% passive, of course, but they can languish in that pit until I get around to putting her over there.

With regard to weapon traps, do whip traps ever jam?

[Shoku]

Yes, whip traps can jam. Only ranged weapons in weapon traps don't but that's because they must be loaded. A 3x3 block of traps will probably handle most groups marching over it.

-

I saw an impressive passive magma trap that didn't involve any sort of flooding or the like. The "Magma Curtain" switched a bunch of pumps on that pinned a siege between two 3wide magmafalls. They just marched on through the first for awhile but when they became horrified at the singed corpses of the front line troops and smell of burnt GCS cloaks they fled out through the rear one.

I also recently saw a thread where someone had nearly automated a freezing trap. Pumps push out some water into the harsh freezing air encasing invaders in ice and then pumps below belch out magma to melt the ice. This isn't quite automated though as all of the items encased in ice only fall out when you mine out the ice, not when it melts. As such from time to time you'll have to mine out the ice to have earthcrushing volumes of clothing and armor spill forth from them.

[LegacyCWAL]

Problem is that piercing weapons get stuck more often - slashing don't.

Is this true for traps as well?  I was under the impression that damage type didn't affect traps' jam rates.

[Derakon]

For weapon traps, personally I'd recommend hammers. Let's face it - if you're using weapon traps, then whatever gets hit by them is dead anyway. Hammers won't get stuck (assuming stuck-ins can happen for traps) and don't create excess body parts. Plus, they work on undead.

[Hyndis]

If you want to reduce maintenance workload, use piercing weapons in your weapon traps, like menacing spikes.  Weapons like axes and serrated discs tend to slice up enemies into several pieces, which makes for that much more hauling when you clean it up.

Also, weapon traps are more work-efficient than stone fall traps because they do more damage per hit.  It can take several hits from a stone fall trap to kill an attacker, which means several reload jobs.  Meanwhile, one ten-spear trap will kill pretty much anything that hits it, meaning an absolute maximum of one trap cleaning per kill.

As an added bonus, anyone with the cleaning labor will clean jammed weapon traps. Only mechanics can reload stone fall traps.

[Hyndis]

Problem is that piercing weapons get stuck more often - slashing don't.

Is this true for traps as well?  I was under the impression that damage type didn't affect traps' jam rates.

I don't think the weapon type matters.

Melee weapons have a 20% chance of jamming per use. Which means that on average, each weapon trap will gib 5 goblins before getting stuck.

Ranged weapon traps will fire until they run out of ammo. However, you'll get about the same mileage from each trap. Each type of weapon trap will give you a reliable 4 hits or so before needing maintnence.

[HatfieldCW]

Do better mechanisms jam less frequently?

[blah28722]

Surround area around fort entrance with drawbridges (including drawbridges that go over solid land). Wood would probably be the easiest material to use as you will be deforesting a good deal on most maps.

Command "Pull Lever", make it repeat.

Your fort is now defended by crushers. Just make sure you pay attention for merchants once or twice a year.

[Puck]

Seriously, the thing I mentioned is the most automated defense I can think of, and you only need weapon traps as a failsafe. And maybe for a flying critter now and then.

[LegacyCWAL]

I don't think the weapon type matters.

Melee weapons have a 20% chance of jamming per use. Which means that on average, each weapon trap will gib 5 goblins before getting stuck.

Ranged weapon traps will fire until they run out of ammo. However, you'll get about the same mileage from each trap. Each type of weapon trap will give you a reliable 4 hits or so before needing maintnence.

That's what I thought.  Albedo's post just sounded like he had found information to the contrary.

Do better mechanisms jam less frequently?

No.  AFAIK, better mechanisms make them attack as though using a higher weapon skill.



Edit: Just noticed that I'd managed to botch the formatting.

[Shoku]

Is this true for traps as well?  I was under the impression that damage type didn't affect traps' jam rates.

I don't think the weapon type matters.

Melee weapons have a 20% chance of jamming per use. Which means that on average, each weapon trap will gib 5 goblins before getting stuck.

Ranged weapon traps will fire until they run out of ammo. However, you'll get about the same mileage from each trap. Each type of weapon trap will give you a reliable 4 hits or so before needing maintnence.

That's what I thought.  Albedo's post just sounded like he had found information to the contrary.

Do better mechanisms jam less frequently?

No.  AFAIK, better mechanisms make them attack as though using a higher weapon skill.
[/quote]
Oh, I had thought they did affect that. Guess it's been quite awhile since I checked the mechanics of weapon traps :\

[Albedo]

Same here.

Can't say I've done heavy statistical analysis, but I thought my spear traps were indeed jamming more often than other types.  Maybe it was bad luck that reinforced that concept, or I was just letting myself believe it more every time any trap with a spear jammed. 

(And, personally, I think I'm going to stick with that paradigm until I see someone dissect the code on that.)