Zombs breakin my stairs up to killing area

[Miniwyn]

Is there anything i can do to discourage zombies from destroying the stairs leading up to my killing window? They seem to fixate on one spot just before the top, but there is nothing different about it from the rest.

Using 1 block wide filled stairs with arches underneath them and I-beam pillars supporting. Stairs go in a straight line about 40 blocks up to our base, 2 sets spaced about 20 blocks apart lead to 2 killing windows. Only one set failed during raid night and other barely held on. Rather than the usual sort of hitting-as-they-pass damage, the zombies are acting stuck on a certain stair and standing there, hitting it. First time i'm seeing this.

Are ramps better? Will they be less likely to hit steel than concrete? Is my staircase too long and narrow and freaking the zombies out? Probably yes to all those things but sounds tedious to fix :D

[...👑 JOST AMMAN 👑...]

Put a Sledge Turret there and knock them off.

[jynx]

Zombie pathing is comical occasionally. You can do ramps or ladders. Might want to wire in a gate to drop them down if something comes up which can wreck your wall faster than you can kill it.

[Andi]

Make it wider. 1 block wide only makes them piling up and go into 'bash everything in reach mode'

[SiEgE]

Originally posted by Miniwyn:

Is there anything i can do to discourage zombies from destroying the stairs leading up to my killing window? They seem to fixate on one spot just before the top, but there is nothing different about it from the rest.

Using 1 block wide filled stairs with arches underneath them and I-beam pillars supporting. Stairs go in a straight line about 40 blocks up to our base, 2 sets spaced about 20 blocks apart lead to 2 killing windows. Only one set failed during raid night and other barely held on. Rather than the usual sort of hitting-as-they-pass damage, the zombies are acting stuck on a certain stair and standing there, hitting it. First time i'm seeing this.

Are ramps better? Will they be less likely to hit steel than concrete? Is my staircase too long and narrow and freaking the zombies out? Probably yes to all those things but sounds tedious to fix :D

If zombies perceive the required path as "hard or slow to get through", they might take alternative routes. They have no other reason not to pick it, otherwise(they do, however, have a very small and random chance to go nuts and pick a completely random target. So, if it is just 1-2 zombies per the wave of 50 I don't think the stair structure is the issue).

Follow those rules:
- Make sure zombies can see themselves moving up the path as 2 block tall entity(make sure the area over the stairs is not going shorter than 2 blocks of free space, and no other block is compromising the free area, including all the half blocks, triangle blocks and the stair blocks themselves).
- As a followup for the previous one: Make sure the path is not blocked by entities like spikes, barbed wire and mines. Consider the fact that sometimes, zombies perceive spikes as 2 blocks tall entities(yes, you've heard me right). if you want them to go that way - lower the spikes, or add more free space above the spikes(and allow zombies to think that they can jump ontop of them).
- Make sure zombies are not forced to break something that has more health than stairs have. If there is 5 steel vault doors blocking the stairs at the upper floor, there is a fat chance zombies would just go "nope" and focus on destroying the living hell out of your base, instead.
- Make sure zombies are not having to zig-zag around your place, or there is risk they'll stop at the first block that would make them go around it, or jump onto it. There is a limit to how smart you can expect zombies be. They absolutely don't mind destroying your base in the process of trying to get to you, so it is in your interest to make sure they see the direct path towards you.

[samcharles77]

I use something similar to make them walk up to a place across from my base which has a 5 block wide gap. I tried stairs for awhile but ramps are better. They still destroy it sometimes. However after reading this thread I'm going to widen it as it's only 1 block wide.

[Seftak]

Just add corner stairs to the 2 first blocks making your stairs. It will prevent them from seeing your stairs as a solid wall and making them destroy the fist 2 steps.

[Roland]

Give them multiple access points to the start of your path, put some ladders up in addition to your stairs. They love ladders.

[Marshall]

Originally posted by Miniwyn:

Is there anything i can do to discourage zombies from destroying the stairs leading up to my killing window? They seem to fixate on one spot just before the top, but there is nothing different about it from the rest.

Using 1 block wide filled stairs with arches underneath them and I-beam pillars supporting. Stairs go in a straight line about 40 blocks up to our base, 2 sets spaced about 20 blocks apart lead to 2 killing windows. Only one set failed during raid night and other barely held on. Rather than the usual sort of hitting-as-they-pass damage, the zombies are acting stuck on a certain stair and standing there, hitting it. First time i'm seeing this.

Are ramps better? Will they be less likely to hit steel than concrete? Is my staircase too long and narrow and freaking the zombies out? Probably yes to all those things but sounds tedious to fix :D

no. the devs made them this way. the AI will avoid your killing trap and simply attack your base foundations or make a hole in the wall/floor or even the roof.

[the.lovewyrm]

From what I remember it helps to surround the bottommost stair block with more stairs, corner ones, and the like.
Or ramps.
so that they can go on the main stair from every direction.

Alternatively, perhaps a really flat block with a short pole on it can make them use that to hop up to the main stairway, while having a harder time hitting the bottom.
Not sure, though.

Anyway, could also be their rage mode, which stops if they take damage, like bleed ticks, or getting hit by a trap. Then they'll stop hitting blocks and come back for you.

[Tahnval]

I don't think this will work, but it will probably be quick and easy to try:

Reinforce the block behind the block that zombies tend to attack. It's possible that the zombie pseudo-AI pathing calculates going through that particular block as the easiest route to you (even if it isn't). Adding extra resistance behind that block might change the zombie pathing calculation.

[Razorfish]

they prefer ladders.... even during a red moon, i barely take damage to the ladder path i use to bottle neck them....
Throw it a few electric wire posts for them to pass thru on their climb.. and it's really funny to watch