River #!%&$@ Raptors

[Wisqa]

So I have my base in the fertile holy lands, and have defensive walls all around my base with two gates on each side. These ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hordes river raptors break down the huge metal gates (not makeshift) and eat all my crops 95% of the time, and theres so many of them that it's nearly impossible to stop them unless you probably have a bunch of mercenaries guarding your base(which is way too expensive to reliably have).
All i want is for river raptors to be unable to siege my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ town. Make it so that if I close all my gates they dont break down my huge metal gates with their teeth. Thanks.

[Nailfoot]

I wanna build there too but wont because of those things.

[Hatsune Neko Gaming]

get stronger or hire mercs

[wordwaster]

River raptors are not powerful enemies. If you can’t fight them off with the help of mercenaries (which are not at all expensive to keep around), then you built your base waaaay too early.

[Socrates Johnson]

I had similar problems with swamp raptors. Built a bughouse next to the farms and installed crossbows on the roof, so whenever the raptors break through I send my farmers up top to take them out.

I also set the AI to shoot first ask questions later and it helps immensely, including vs bandits.

Once I'm ready to have dedicated turret defenders there will be no problem at all. I'm building some harpoon mk2's and the slaughter they cause at my gate is beautiful to behold. Raptors are no problem anymore.

[Rommel]

I welcome them with open arms! They feed my animals and put meat on the table for my men.
What's the problem?

[Wisqa]

All fine advice. But I don't think it's an unreasonable request/suggestion to make it so that animals don't siege your base if gates are closed.

[wordwaster]

It is too much to ask, yes. That area is one of the easiest to settle in, and you are asking for it to be easier.

You are attempting to build a base too soon. Get stronger before building stuff that others want. Player made settlements are late early game/early mid game endeavors.

The dev made a point of placing MANY destroyed settlements around the map to clue the player in on how hard it is to have a place of your own

[Wisqa]

Originally posted by wordwaster:

It is too much to ask, yes. That area is one of the easiest to settle in, and you are asking for it to be easier.

You are attempting to build a base too soon. Get stronger before building stuff that others want. Player made settlements are late early game/early mid game endeavors.

From my experience so far all enemies travel in packs of 8-10 or more, how are you supposed to spend your time "early game" poor and outnumbered exactly?

[wordwaster]

Getting stronger. Recruiting more people. Buying buildings in town to research, craft, and train. You can help town guards and patrols fight to safely gain combat exp.

Loot the corpses of river raptors that hn patrols kill. Build a tanning bench in town. Choose who you want to be your armoursmith and have them start training by tanning leather. Sell the leather for funds.

There are MANY options

[Wisqa]

Originally posted by wordwaster:

Getting stronger. Recruiting more people. Buying buildings in town to research, craft, and train. You can help town guards and patrols fight to safely gain combat exp.

Loot the corpses of river raptors that hn patrols kill. Build a tanning bench in town. Choose who you want to be your armoursmith and have them start training by tanning leather. Sell the leather for funds.

There are MANY options

Thanks for the advice.

[wordwaster]

I’m at work and keep getting interrupted.

My personal preference is to loot the dead on the battlefield of Bast. It requires patience and a bit of stealth, because if you get seen stealing the army of the faction you stole from will turn on you. And you have to be careful of people “playing dead” by making sure your chance of stealing is always 100%.

Some people like to just mine and sell copper, but that is kind of boring to me.

Others like to start off as slaves...for some reason.

Trading is also an option.

Hiring some bodyguards can make hunting small bounties possible early game, too.

Stealing is tricky to do without save scumming, but can be the most profitable early game. Just be careful never to try to steal from a shop you will want to do business with in the future, as the shopkeeper will no longer talk to your faction once they have caught you. Best to practice on things other than stores until you get your skill up.

[The Old Bear]

Originally posted by marcus:

I welcome them with open arms! They feed my animals and put meat on the table for my men.
What's the problem?

your men can't eat raptor meat...it's foul.

[Socrates Johnson]

I do have to say that walls and gates are way too weak in this game.The upgraded thick walls feel as strong as makeshift wall should be, and makeshift walls are like paper. It literally takes only a few seconds for 10-15 bandits to bash their way through a gate too. It seems like such a huge oversight considering how complex the combat damage system is. You don't need special siege equipment or anything to take down a gate.

I use walls and gates in this game more as a funnel-like system to make raids run through a corridor of death from turrets. Building a proper, realistic wall does nothing.

[76561188078797539]

Originally posted by Wisqa:

So I have my base in the fertile holy lands, and have defensive walls all around my base with two gates on each side. These ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hordes river raptors break down the huge metal gates (not makeshift) and eat all my crops 95% of the time, and theres so many of them that it's nearly impossible to stop them unless you probably have a bunch of mercenaries guarding your base(which is way too expensive to reliably have).

As Thulsa mentioned, wall (or structure!)-mounted crossbows are a hard deterrant. Assuming you do not have the numbers to handle this by workers alone.

River raptors have very short attack range, which means no-combat-skill workers with a wakizashi or a katana should be able to handle them unless severely outnumbered (which would indicate your attempt at expansion being either too soon, or lacking one or two sufficiently trained defenders). Polearms, and naginata in particular shine here with their 50% damage bonus and fast swing speed, even if all you have is crummy Rusted ones. Though waki/katana train dexterity at a higher rate, so I never bother with dedicated "crop defense" loadout even in hotspots like Okran's Pride.

Note that you can put a mounted crossbow or two even on top of a storm house. I generally have one set up right by the fields anyway to serve as the kitchen. If you position it in the way to be between fields and expected approach of the crop-eatin' varmint, you're pretty much set even with basic crossbows. On top of that, you'll get easy Perception training.

If you're playing with the max of 4x number of group spawns (and/or increases squad sizes), you might need to combine the two approaches, and also take proactive measures to kill off any nearby nests. It's doable.

Hell, I'm currently colonizing the Gut with four 20-30 "fighters" and a bunch of untrained labor drones (and 4x group spawns), and I still hold on to that place after two weeks of constant Beak Thing visits (*intact limbs not guaranteed) :)

Originally posted by The Old Bear:

your men can't eat raptor meat...it's foul.

Somebody didn't get his share of gristle flaps[kenshi.wikia.com] :)

Originally posted by Thulsa Doom:

I do have to say that walls and gates are way too weak in this game.The upgraded thick walls feel as strong as makeshift wall should be, and makeshift walls are like paper. It literally takes only a few seconds for 10-15 bandits to bash their way through a gate too. It seems like such a huge oversight considering how complex the combat damage system is. You don't need special siege equipment or anything to take down a gate.

I fully agree. Luckily, there are several mods that change this to better even if you don't feel like dabbling in customizing your own solution.

That said, base game absolutely should have more resistant walls and gates to start with.

[iokimg]

Import, and set nests to the lowest number in the advanced options.

Or when you start a new game.

You can also adjust the likelihood of wandering squads attacking you in the options menu.