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[arkhometha]

While we're on this subject, is there a preference for dodging direction? Are the 3 tiles behind, left of, right of, or in front of the enemy given priority?

They seem to prefer to dodge backwards, away from the enemy. You can see this in a 1v1 fight with a dwarf and a cavern creature. The better fighter will push the other one backwards over time due to the lesser fighter continually dodging backwards to avoid attacks.

They seem to prefer to dodge into pits, chasms or magma pools.

[wuphonsreach]

On a semi-related note, the "Trap" page on the wiki doesn't explain a few things for setting up "Dodge This" traps where you want the critters to fall to their doom.  Obviously, it looks like you build a "weapon" trap [T][w] on the walkway with (deep) pits to the left right. 

- Do we then have to worry about innocent dwarves wandering over that tile and getting hurt by the trap? 
- Do we need to link it to a lever and disable it until siege time?

[gtmattz]

I dont know if there is any REAL science in this, but my impromptu findings are that simple training spears work best, loaded 10 to a trap preferrably.  I am not sure, but I think that training weapons have a higher dodge chance or something?

[EveryZig]

On a semi-related note, the "Trap" page on the wiki doesn't explain a few things for setting up "Dodge This" traps where you want the critters to fall to their doom.  Obviously, it looks like you build a "weapon" trap [T][w] on the walkway with (deep) pits to the left right. 

- Do we then have to worry about innocent dwarves wandering over that tile and getting hurt by the trap? 
- Do we need to link it to a lever and disable it until siege time?

Weapon traps don't attack dwarfs unless something knocks them out. Repeating spike traps harm everything on them. The pit itself should only be a danger to your dwarfs if they are in combat for some reason (which might happen if you send your military to fight on the bridge or something)

[Girlinhat]

Upright spears are blind.  They hit anything they please.  Weapon, cage, and stonefall traps are smart.  Or rather, your dwarves are smart (shocking, I know).  Since your dwarves witnessed the construction of the traps, they simply don't step on the trigger.  Goblins are dumb, and rush in over the traps loudly, triggering everything.  Pressure plates can be designated whether or not citizens can trigger it.

[EveryZig]

Tested: traps with just hammers in them do indeed get jammed.

[mrbaggins]

Can you link one upright spear trap to many plates, and one plate to many spears, at the same time?

I have visions of goblins running in over a mixture of plates and spears, and as each on hits the plates, inadvertantly stabs his comrades in the left eye, feets and appendages.

Or causing his friends to jump of the sides into the "Target practice" pit next to the marksdwarf training arena.

So..

^^^^_^^^^_^^^^ where both plates are linked to all 12 spikes... would that work (Yes, I know that would be a buttload of mechanisms)

[gtmattz]

Pretty sure the answer is yes, but all it would take is a medium size pile of mechanisms and some spears to give it a try and make certain.

[Girlinhat]

Any trigger may be linked to any actor.  You can, in theory, make a checkerboard of pressure plates and upright spears, with every plate connected to every spear, so that any time any plate is stepped on they all pop up.  Or, more complicated have them connected to various other non-adjacent spears.

[wuphonsreach]

So, after great success with my 1 tile wide "bridge o' dodge to yer death", I'm curious...

How well will a 3-tile wide bridge filled with weapon traps (bCw) work out?  Obviously, if they're dodging a trap in the middle, it won't, unless I load the traps with multiple weapons.  And instead of a 6/8 chance of falling to their death there's now only a 3/8 chance if they're already along an edge.

In my last fort with the 1 tile wide bridge, no enemy made it more then 6 tiles across before falling to their death.  So my current plan is to string a few 3x11 bridges between floating islands (with fortified kittens as bait to draw them onward).  There's a 2x11, 8Z deep, pit on both sides of the 3x11 path sections.

[entrance] -- 3x11 path -- [kitten] -- 3x11 -- [kitten] -- 3x11 -- [kitten] -- 3x11 -- [fort]

If they fall during the first section, they come up the stairs at the first kitten (they advance a section).  If they fall in the last 3 sections, they come back up the stairs at the middle kitten (which puts them back 1-3 sections).  So I'll get them coming or going.  If I don't like what is happening, I have dwarven atom smasher drawbridges covering any square that isn't trapped that can be cycled.

The major downside is that I need 3x as many traps and four sections of 3x11 pathway to ensure that they have good odds of falling off in a particular section.  Plus I have to allow for weapon trap reset time.  On the other hand, my entrance is now compatible with wagon traffic (even though there aren't any in .18).

[wuphonsreach]

A pack of monkeys decided to invade the fort last night, most of them dodged off of the partially completed 1st section (it only had a trap patchwork of maybe 25% coverage).  About half made it to the 2nd section, and one really lucky monkey made it to the 3rd section before dying.  A few of the monkeys died up top, which means they took damage from all of the training spears, the rest were "dodge to death".

[Carnes]

That's actually a good idea.  Takes forever for my hunters/wood cutters to go through the 1-tile wide trap path (when the bypass bridge is closed).

[EveryZig]

A trap bridge that is wide enough for wagons and (if you use repeating spikes) can even kill flying/trap-immune enemies (keeping the bridges closed makes the shortest rout the part with the traps). Make longer for increased trap number (or make it spiral around to make it both effective and pretty).

#  Wall
U  Upwards ramp to surface
D  Down ramp to fortress
<  Down starirs (leading to bottom of pit and to caverns)
=  Retracting bridge
+  Floor (cover mostly with repeating spikes with a few weapon traps mixed in)


##########
##=======##
##=======##
##==+++==##
##==<#+==##
##==+#+==##
##==+#+==##
##==+#+==##
##==+#+==##
##UUU#+==##
######DDD##
###########

[wuphonsreach]

That's actually a good idea.  Takes forever for my hunters/wood cutters to go through the 1-tile wide trap path (when the bypass bridge is closed).

That was the issue I had in the previous fort (along with a design flaw in the corridor's overall design), the 1-tile wide path was too narrow for all the traffic after a siege.  So I'm trying a 3-tile wide design this time.

If it doesn't work well, then I'll put a 1x11 drawbridge down the center and retract it when the siege starts.  That will turn the 3x11 path into a pair of 1x11 paths with a solid wall (drawbridge) on the middle tiles.  Which will increase the chance that the enemy will dodge to their death off the sides.

Repeating weapon traps of some sort will be added to the tunnels that connect the pits back to the up stairs too.

The issue with the previous design:  When the goblin leader fell off, the fall wasn't fatal (it was only a 6Z drop).  Because the stairs to the pits was before any dodge-this section, the rest of the goblins just wandered down the stairs and hung around in the bottom of the pits.  Any wounded, but not killed, enemies were also able to wander back up the stairs and exit the fort without having to dodge traps.  I wasn't happy watching all of my goblinite get up and wander off like that.  So this time if you fall off in the 1st section, you come up before the 2nd section; where you can either retreat across the 1st section or press onward through the 2nd/3rd/4th section.  Which increases my chance of a solid kill and yummy goblinite.

[JmzLost]

[entrance] -- 3x11 path -- [kitten] -- 3x11 -- [kitten] -- 3x11 -- [kitten] -- 3x11 -- [fort]

The only change I would make is to replace the kittens with something that won't adopt dwarfs.  Kinda defeats the purpose if Urist McKittenLover runs out in the middle of a siege to free his new owner and gets killed.  Or maybe that's just an unintended benefit?  And I do seem to recall Toady saying pets could be assigned to pastures now, so the kittens could be placed in a 1x1 pasture...hmm, maybe I won't change anything, after all.

JMZ